Chapter 4

FESTA RIMANDATA

One day the bells were ringing for the festa of S. Somebody, but it was not really his day. Peppino told me that his proper day had been stormy or unsympathetic or the people had had some crops to get in or something else to do, and so the saint had had his festa shifted; or it may have been because some greater festival had fallen on S. Somebody's day owing to the mutability of Easter or for some other reason. I had been wishing I could have been at Castellinaria for the first anniversary of Ricuzzu's birth, I ought to have wished to be there for the festa of S. Enrico, but I did not know when it fell, nor did Peppino; but if festas might be transferred in this easy way, perhaps we might keep it now and find out afterwards to what extent it had been shifted. It would have been no use consulting the baby--besides, he would have been sure to agree--so as they were not very busy in the albergo it was decided that next day we would keep the onomastico of Ricuzzu and his padrino by driving down to the shore, throwing stones into the sea, and perhaps eating a couple of peperoni with a drop of oil and vinegar and a pinch of salt.

Next morning the mule, the cart and the harness were brought out; it was the first time they had all been used together, and when Peppino and Carmelo had harnessed the little beast, he trotted up and down in the sunshine as proud as though he had been clothed in a rainbow and freshened up with dewdrops.

I said: "Do you keep the onomastico of the mule also? It seems to me that he is as much pleased with himself as anyone. He looks as though he thought everything belonged to him. What is his name and when is his day?"

"We call him Guido Santo," replied Peppino. "We will make it his festa also and afterwards we shall be discovering his day in the calendario."

"And if it comes to that," I said, "why shouldn't we include you and Brancaccia?"

"Bravo!" shouted Peppino, "and Carmelo also. Festa rimandata per tutti!"

A chair for Brancaccia and the baby was tied in the cart among a multitude of parcels and baskets about which I thought it better not to inquire. Peppino and I sat on the floor in front, like the driver and his mate on an illustrated post-card, with our feet dangling down between the shafts among the mule's hind legs. Carmelo started us off and got in behind, and we drove to the sea, not the way to the station and the port, but by the road that descends on the other side of the headland. We passed by groves of lemon, star-scattered with fruit and blossom and enclosed in rough walls of black lava; by the grey-green straggling of the prickly pears and by vines climbing up their canes. We caught glimpses of promontories dotted with pink and white cottages and of the thread of foam that outlines the curve of the bay where a train was busily puffing along by the stony, brown beach, showing how much a little movement will tell in a still landscape. Behind the shimmering olives, first on one side, then on the other as we turned with the zig-zags of the dusty road, was the purple blue of the sea flecked with the white sails of fishing-boats and with the crests of whiter waves. Every one we met looked at us and admired the splendour of the cart and the sparkling newness of the harness until they caught sight of Brancaccia and the baby, and then they saw nothing but their beauty. We met the man who was riding up from the fishing village with baskets of fish for the town because it was Friday. Peppino and Carmelo disputed as to the amount he was carrying, and agreed at last that it must be about a hundred kilogrammes, partly by the quantity and partly because it had been good weather for fishing; when it is bad he cannot bring more than thirty, forty or fifty.

Peppino told me that our mule was the offspring of an ass and a mare. These, he says, are better than those born of a horse and a she-ass. Mules can be male or female, and Guido Santo was a male but, except for the fact that the males are stronger than the females, the sex of a creature that is incapable of reproducing itself is not a very interesting subject. Our mule was still young, and had not yet learnt the use of corners, nor how to pass things in the road. Carmelo often had to get down and continue his education. After one of these lessons he lighted his pipe with a sulphur match which tainted the morning air and offended Ricuzzu; but almost immediately we came to a forge and the blacksmith was striking a piece of iron on his anvil.

"Ricuzzu bello," said Brancaccia, "listen to the pretty music."

And Ricuzzu listened and laughed; the pleasant acid flavour of the note as it followed us corrected the sulphur, and he put up his face for a kiss. Brancaccia knew how to smooth away his troubles and how to deserve his thanks.

We passed a boy singing, and I said how pleasant it was to hear a real Sicilian melody sung by a modern Theocritus about the delights of his own country. But Peppino soon put a stop to that. The boy was one of a theatrical company that had arrived in the town from Piedmont where the song was popular; he did not know all the words, but it contained these:

Mamma mia, dammi cento lire Che in America voglio andar. Mother darling, give me a hundred lire For I want to be off to the States.

"Are they acting here?" I asked.

"They are reciting _Il Diavolo Verde_. You don't will go and see this evening?"

"If Brancaccia is not too tired, let us finish up Ricuzzu's festa by a visit to the theatre."

The baby was wide awake all the time, observing everything, and much interested. I said:

"I believe Ricuzzu understands that we are keeping his onomastico."

"Of course, yes," replied Peppino; "Ricuzzu very intelligent."

"I believe he even understands that it is not S. Enrico's day, and appreciates the idea of keeping his festa when it is convenient for everyone."

"Of course, yes; the idea is the thing. Always it is the idea. Did you know the idea of the girl who went to confess?"

"What is that?"

"Not now. Please expect. I am too much busy with Guido Santo. Please, when we shall be there."

On arriving at the shore we first found a cove where Brancaccia and Ricuzzu could be comfortable while Peppino, Carmelo and I went a little way off into a secluded place behind the rocks, undressed and bathed. We swam round and saluted the mother and child in their cove, but could not get near enough to splash them because the water was only a few inches deep near the shore and the proprieties had to be observed. When we were tired of swimming we came out and dressed. Then I took the baby while Peppino and Brancaccia went round into our dressing-room and he superintended her bath. Carmelo, in the meantime constructed a fireplace among the rocks and got his cooking things and all the parcels and baskets out of the cart. Peppino and Brancaccia returned, and we found a shallow, shady pool with a sandy bottom, undressed Ricuzzu, and put him into it. I observed that the baby's clothes were reefed with safety pins, but I said nothing about it, thinking the reefs could be let out when he had attained twice the age he was when they were bought. The proprieties did not matter with this bather, who soon learnt how to splash us. It may have been his padrino's vanity, but I thought he laughed loudest when he succeeded in splashing me.

The couple of peperoni had swelled into a regular colazione. First, of course, we had pasta, this time it was called lingue di passeri (sparrows' tongues), they have fifty different names for it according to its size and shape, but it is always pasta. Carmelo made a sauce for it over his fire with oil, onions, extract of tomatoes, and certain herbs; the recipe is a secret which is to be imparted to Ricuzzu when he is fifteen, but I think Brancaccia has already guessed it, though she is not supposed to know. As a rule, I try to get only half as much pasta as a Sicilian takes, and of that I can only eat half, but on this occasion, either because of Carmelo's cooking or the sea breeze, or the presence of Ricuzzu, I ate it all, and it made me feel like Rinaldo after the terrible fight in which he kills the centaur and stands at the wings panting for breath.

The pasta was followed by bacon and figs--an unexpectedly delicious combination; the bacon is uncooked and cut very thin, the figs are fresh and ripe, but it would not do in England because, although one could probably find the bacon in Soho, our figs never attain to Sicilian ripeness. Carmelo then surpassed himself with a pollo alla cacciatora, after which we had a mixed fry of all sorts of fish. Peaches out of the garden and cheese followed. Also we drank Peppino's own wine made from the grapes he had planted with his own hands and trodden with his own feet, and there was coffee with the cigarettes.

I said: "I did not know Carmelo was a cook, I thought he was a coachman."

"Also is he a cook. Also the nurse of Ricuzzu. Also a waiter. Very good boy Carmelo. We took him when Letterio went away."

"And Brancaccia is not afraid to have him as Ricuzzu's nurse?"

"Afraid? No. Why?"

"Because he has been in prison for stabbing his friend."

"Oh yes, in prison. But his friend was a bad man, was taking away Carmelo's girl."

"Did the friend marry Carmelo's girl?"

"Yes, and Carmelo got another girl. Plenty girls very fond of Carmelo. Look here, the girls always are liking the boy that has been in prison."

"Yes; well, of course, one can understand that. By the by, what was that about the girl who went to confess?"

"Did you know what is confess? All right, I shall tell you. The box is inside for the priest behind the railings, and the other place that is open is for the man or the woman that have sinned. And the girl is coming and is saying:

"'My father, I have sinned. I had the idea to rob my sister of a hen, but I would not do it. What is this?'

"The father was telling, 'It is a very bad idea.'

"And the girl was repeating that she don't be doing the wickedness, only the idea.

"'Never mind,' was telling the father, 'it is the idea that is the thing, and you would be fined with five francs to the church to make the Messa and the church would give the Messa for the sin and the sin would be delivered after the Messa.'

"The girl takes from her pocket the five francs and put to the railings. The father is telling:

"'It is not possible to touch. Please give me from the door.'

"The girl was answering:

"'Never mind; you have the idea to take the money and it is the idea that is the thing.'

"Did you understand? All right, please take to eat. Some more fish?"

"No, thank you," I replied.

"Please take some more pollo."

"Thank you, Peppino, I have eaten too much already."

"Please take to the drink."

"I have had quite enough, thank you."

"Some more wine? Do not think about Letterio. You shall not be meeting your dolce cuore--your sweetheart, this day. You have not yet taken one glass."

"Excuse me, I have drunk quite as much as is good for me--much more than a glass--nearly a bottle."

"It is good till you shall drink the three glasses of Noah. Did you know what is the glass of Noah? All right, I shall tell you."

Then he told me about Noah and the Devil.

The patriarch Noah was working in his field one day when the Devil came along, put his arms on top of the gate, and looking over, said in a friendly way:

"Good morning, Mr. Noah."

"Good morning, Mr. Devil," replied Noah. "And what can I do for you?"

"Do not let me interrupt; you seem busy this morning."

"Yes," replied Noah; "I am planting the vine."

"Oho!" said the Devil, "but this is rather interesting."

So he slipped inside the field and took a seat on a large white stone. Noah went on with his work.

A lion was prowling round and came through the gate which the Devil had carelessly left open. The Devil killed the lion and watered the vine with its blood.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," said Noah testily.

The Devil paid no attention. A monkey dropped down from a tree and came skipping up to them to see what was going on. The Devil killed the monkey and watered the vine with its blood.

"Can't you leave the poor beasts alone?" said Noah, who had always deprecated cruelty to animals, and was beginning to lose his temper.

The Devil paid no attention. A pig was wallowing in the mud close by--there had been a good deal of rain lately. The Devil killed the pig and watered the vine with its blood.

This was too much for Noah. He shouted: "Haven't you got any work of your own to do, you lazy devil?" He was so angry he forgot to say "Mr." "You had better go home; your dinner will be getting cold."

"'Hot' you mean," replied the Devil, looking for his hat, which had fallen behind the large white stone. "What an ungrateful husbandman you are! I have been helping you to make your wine. When you have drunk the first glass, you will feel strong and behave furiously. When you have drunk the second glass, you will forget how to think for yourself, you will imitate other people and behave foolishly. When you have drunk the third glass--Need I continue? I think not. Good morning."

Whereupon the Devil put his hands into his pockets, tucked his tail up under his left arm and swaggered away, thinking of his next job and whistling "La Donna e Mobile."

"And the glass of Noah," said Peppino in conclusion, "was containing one bottle. Did you understand? All right; I give you a medal."

"I hope it will be a real medal and not like the idea of the girl."

"We shall see. Please take to drink the milk of Ricuzzu."

The baby had had one bottle of milk, but there was another ready for him. I said:

"My dear Peppino, I could not eat or drink another mouthful of anything. I could not even eat a slice of Ricuzzu himself; besides, I don't believe Carmelo knows how to cook babies--not so as to make them really tasty."

Brancaccia understood enough to know we were talking about Ricuzzu. She left off clearing away, and snatched the baby out of Carmelo's arms, whispering to me: "I know it is all right, but I shall feel safer if I have him."

Peppino, who was lying on his back, observed her agitation out of the corner of his eye and said to me, maliciously speaking Italian so that she should understand:

"If you would like to eat the baby, please say whether Carmelo shall boil him or cut him up and stew him alla cacciatora."

"Thank you, no. I prefer Ricuzzu alive."

"You are a bad papa," said Brancaccia, "and the compare is a good man."

So she gave me the baby as a reward and slapped her husband's cheek as a punishment. Peppino naturally retaliated, and in a moment they were rolling over and over and bear-fighting like a couple of kittens at play, while Carmelo and I sat and laughed at them, and the baby crowed and clapped his hands and grew so excited I could scarcely hold him.

There came a pause and Peppino said: "My dear, if you will leave off boxing my ears I will tell you a secret."

Brancaccia instantly desisted and went and sat apart to recover herself.

Peppino continued: "I knew the compare would refuse to eat the baby. He does not like our Sicilian dishes. Every time he comes to see us it is a penitenza for him, because he cannot eat food grown in our island. But I know what I shall do. I shall send a telegram to London: 'English gentleman starving in Castellinaria. Please send at once one chop, one bottle of stout.'

"Look here," he continued, suddenly sitting up and becoming serious. "It is the clime. Here is the country not adapted to the beast, few rain, few grass, few beefs, few muttons, and all too thin and the land is good only for the goats and we must be eating such things that are doing bad to the stomaco--the little chickens and the poor fishes and the pasta--not other. In England shall be falling always the rain and plenty grass shall be growing and the beefs and the muttons shall be fat and much nourishment shall come to those who are eating them."

I said that if I could have chops and stout instead of the few odds and ends which Carmelo had managed to scrape together for our ridiculously inadequate luncheon, of course I should stay at Castellinaria and never go home any more.

So that was settled for the time, and Brancaccia, having put herself tidy, proposed a visit to the grottoes. Carmelo packed up his kitchen and took it off to the cart. On the way he met his cousin, borrowed his boat and came rowing in it--for Carmelo is also a fisherman. We got in and rowed round the promontory and into the caves. The baby was a good deal puzzled, he thought he was indoors, and yet it wasn't right, but he was pleased. When we were tired of the grottoes we rowed back, restored the boat to Carmelo's cousin, packed ourselves into the cart and Guido Santo took us up the zig-zags to Castellinaria after a day which we all enjoyed very much; Ricuzzu, who understood least, perhaps enjoyed it most, but then this baby enjoys everything. If we could have remanded his festa for a few years, instead of only a few days or weeks or whatever it was, he might have understood more and enjoyed less.

Ricuzzu did not come to the theatre, he was supposed to be tired, so Brancaccia put him to bed and, leaving him with Carmelo, accompanied Peppino and me to see _Il Diavolo Verde_. We took our seats while the fiancee of Don Giuseppe, assisted by her lady's-maid, was endeavouring to make up her mind. The difficulty was that Don Giovanni, the brother of Giuseppe, had sent her a case of jewels and, like Margherita, in _Faust_, she could not resist the temptation to try them on in front of a looking-glass. We saw in the glass the reflection of a devil in green with pink trimmings. He appeared to be standing behind her, looking over her shoulder, but he was not really present; it must have been a magic mirror. Don Giovanni came and denounced his brother who, he said, was a bastard and no gentleman, proving his words by the production of their father's will written on a sheet of brown paper which he always carried in his belt. This convinced the lady, and she went off with Giovanni. Don Giuseppe, who had been carried away by armed men, escaped and returned to meditate on the crisis of his life. Remembering that the green devil was a retainer of his family, he summoned him and laid the case before him. This time the devil really came and told Giuseppe that there was a way out of his trouble, but that it would involve (1) the perdition of two souls, (2) the shedding of blood, (3) sacrilege, (4) perjury, and (5) all his courage. Don Giuseppe agreed and the curtain fell.

The next act was in the cemetery in front of the tomb of the father of the two brothers. Don Giuseppe and the green devil came in, carrying another will, engrossed on brown paper, but not executed, a bottle of ink, and a quill pen. They stood in front of the door of the tomb and spoke some sacrilegious words. The door opened and revealed the corpse of the father like a Padre Eterno, standing upright, clothed in white, with a white face, a flowing white beard and white kid gloves. Brancaccia was, I believe, really as much frightened as Don Giuseppe pretended to be and I did not like it. The green devil encouraged his master to approach the corpse, which he did, first dipping the pen in the ink-bottle. He offered the pen and held in a convenient manner the new will which would put everything straight, begging his father to sign it. The corpse slowly raised its stiff right arm, took the pen in its hand and signed the will; it then dropped the pen on the ground, lowered its stiff right arm and the door of the tomb closed. Except for this, it did not move and it did not speak at all. It was a ghastly scene and the house was as still as though it had been empty.

In the next act we returned to Don Giovanni whom we found playing dice with Fernando at an inn. When Fernando had lost his money and his jewellery and his lands and his castle and his furniture, he played for his wife, and Don Giovanni won her also. Whereupon Fernando wrote two letters to his wife, one, which they sent by a messenger, told her to come to the inn at once, the other was for Don Giovanni to give to her when she came. Fernando then went away, leaving the coast clear, and the lady entered.

DON GIOVANNI: Donna Inez, I love you.

DONNA INEZ: Silence, Sir. I am here to meet my husband. Where is he?

DON G (_giving her the second letter_): He left this for you.

DONNA I (_reads_): "Dear Inez: We have been playing dice. Don Giovanni has won. You now belong to him. Your affectionate husband, Fernando." It cannot be! 'Tis false! My husband would never behave in so ungentlemanly a manner.

GIOV: On the contrary, Madama. And is not this his handwriting?

IN: Now that I look at it again, it is. Ah, Cielo! Betrayed! Surely, Sir, you do not expect me to consent?

GIOV: Certainly I do.

IN: Never. I am a Spanish lady of high degree.

GIOV: Inez, I love you. Be mine.

IN: Are you of noble birth?

GIOV: Yes.

IN: Are you valorous?

GIOV: Yes.

IN: Don Giovanni (_hiding her face_), I love you!

GIOV: My own, my beautiful one!

IN: There is, however, one little difficulty about which, of course, you could have known nothing. Some years ago I foolishly took an oath. I swore I would be true to my husband during his life.

GIOV: Well, but--let me see--yes, I did bring my sword with me. Suppose I were to step round and run him through the heart--if you don't mind waiting?

IN: I'm afraid it would be troubling you?

GIOV: Not at all. Any little thing of that kind. So glad you mentioned it.

IN: Thanks. I suppose you could not manage to bring it off within sight of the window?

GIOV: I don't see why not. Anyhow, I'll do my best.

[_Exit_ GIOV.

IN: Waiter! (_Enter_ WAITER.) Lay the cloth for two (_She meditates while the waiter lays the cloth_. Exit WAITER.) Being a Spanish lady of high degree, the only course open to me is suicide. Fortunately, this ring contains a dose of poison strong enough for two, otherwise I should have had to die unavenged or to send round to the chemist's for more. (_She pours out two glasses of wine_, _splits the contents of her ring between them_, _and goes to the window_.) Ah! here they come. It is annoying that they are so far off. I cannot distinguish them in the dark; however, they are fighting. Now one is killed and the other is coming in. I wonder which it will be.

_Enter_ DON GIOVANNI.

GIOV: There! my own, my beautiful one. I'm afraid you did not have a very good view, but your poor husband was such a damned bad swordsman that I inadvertently killed him before I could get him as near as I intended.

IN: Well, I confess I should like to view the body, just to make sure you have not killed the wrong gentleman--if you've no objection?

GIOV: None whatever. You'll find him in the gutter up the street, under the third lamp post. (_Exit_ DONNA INEZ. DON GIOVANNI _observes the two glasses of wine and smells them suspiciously_. _Re-enter_ DONNA INEZ.)

IN: Perfectly satisfactory and I thank you.

GIOV: My own, my beautiful one! I love you! Be mine.

IN: Shall we not first have a little supper? You must be fatigued after your exertions. And see! here is a nice glass of wine for you.

GIOV: After you, Madama. (DONNA INEZ _hesitates to drink_.) You see, my beautiful one, I have had some experience in these matters, and now I never drink anything poured out for me by a lady unless she drinks some of it herself.

IN (_aside_): Being a Spanish lady of high degree I cannot possibly refuse. I can only trust that as he is of noble birth and valorous, he won't be such a blackguard as not to drink. (_Drinks_.)

GIOV: Brava! But--do you know?--after all, I think I should prefer a fresh bottle, if it's quite the same to you, my beautiful one. (_He empties his glass upon the floor_; _the wine flows about the stage in a stream of fire_. DONNA INEZ _dies in agony_. _Exit_ DON GIOVANNI _laughing_. _Curtain_.)

During the applause that followed, Brancaccia rose, exclaiming:

"Such a thing could not possibly happen."

She collected her wraps and we left the theatre, although the play was in nine acts and we had only seen three. As soon as we got home, she retired. I said to Peppino:

"I wish we had not gone to that play. I am sure Brancaccia has been frightened by it."

"No," said he, "not frightened."

"But she's gone away to recover herself?"

"Look here, Brancaccia don't be thinking of the drama. She don't be thinking of nothing--only the baby. She go to see if Ricuzzu is sleeping."

PALERMO