Early in the morning, Fierro and Sombra decamped and leisurely led their horses to cross the River Uruguay; the ride will take a few days during which they will exchange views on several subjects. The first exchange is on dueling.

“Fierro, you enjoy dueling. You could have been a gladiator.”

“Perhaps I was one, Sombra.”

“Tell me, then, Fierro, because you sound as if you had been there. Why did a gladiator fight at all? For he, or she, in being originally a slave, would be seen as less than a follower, certainly not a leader, therefore fit only for dying, tomorrow if not today. Why, then, would they fight at all?”

“The gladiator was not wholly deprived of dignity, Sombra. Even more telling, his dignity was reckoned by the audience who had power of life and death over him.”

“Would you say, Fierro, that more dignity was bestowed upon the gladiator then than today's societies are willing to bestow upon many of its workers at the saladeros?”

“I think so, Sombra. Think, if you wish, of the hordes of workers hauled into the saladeros every morning. What dignity is conceded to those people who toil, as they do in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo or Mexico, three to four hours a day in transportation alone, and in such appalling conditions! Only to earn a pittance after a full day's work, and only to reignite the ritual the next day?”

“But Fierro, more frequently than not, the gladiator is today seen as a slave forced to fight for his life. We rightly wonder, why would he bother to fight at all if his life were so miserable? For if continued miseries were the only outcome, why would the gladiator not prefer to die sooner rather than later?”