Ernesto, a 16-year-old boy living in Trieste in 1898, has an affair with a 28-year-old worker simply called "the man". Ernesto subsequently has sex with the man frequently, but after an enjoyable experience with a female prostitute, he stops seeing him. He concentrates on studying the violin, and during a concert, Ernesto (now seventeen) meets a beautiful 15-year-old boy, also a violin player. He is called Emilio, nicknamed "Ilio" *Ernesto* is an unfinished novel by Umberto Saba (1883–1957), written in 1953 and published posthumously in 1975. It was largely autobiographical, including details about the title character's friendship and love for a violinist, and his attachment to his native Trieste.

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