"Facino Cane" is an 1836 short story by French author Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) and included in the Scènes de la vie parisienne section of his novel sequence La Comédie humaine.
It first appeared in the Chronique de Paris on March 17, 1836[1] and in 1837 was classified by Balzac as a Philosophical Study (Étude philosophique).
[2] Father Canet is a pensioner in the Hôpital des Quinze-Vingts [fr] and a clarionet-player.
His interest being piqued by the appearance of the old man, the narrator begins a conversation with him, and Facino Cane mentions being from Venice.
The narrator promises to take Facino Cane with him to Venice some day, but the old man dies that winter.