Nano, Androgino, and Castrone, the three deformed creatures in the play, are according to Mosca, the illegitimate children of Volpone begotten on gypsies and beggar women. They form a part of the house-hold of Volpone, and sing songs and stage dramatic performances for the entertainment of their master. In Act I, scene ii, they stage a show in which they trace the history of the human soul from Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher, down to Androgyno, the Fool. The interlude is a satire on the doctrine of the transmigration of souls and Volpone finds it most entertaining. Latter in the play, they stage another interlude, and also sing songs.
They may or may not be the children of Volpone in the material or physical sense, but they are his offsprings certainly in a symbolic sense. They symbolise his spiritual deformity and his crookedness. They also symbolise the moral corruption and decay of the Venetian world which is pre-figured in their physical deformity.
They might be Fools and non-entities, but they, despite their folly, contribute to the undoing of Mosca. Mosca takes keys of the house from them, and than turns them out. When Volpone comes to know of this, he begins to suspect Mosca. His eyes are opened to his treachery by these deformed creatures, and so they rightfully sing:
Fools, they are the only nation Worth man's envey or admiration
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