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THE LIBRARY
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LOS ANGELES
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IN HIS OWN IMAGE
By FREDERICK BARON CORVO
JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD LONDON y NEW YORK • MDCCCCI
Copyright, igoo By John Lane
All Rights Rtitrvtd
UNIVERSITY PRESS • JOHN WILSON AND SON • CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
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P 1 .A.
DIVO AMICO
DESIDERATISSIMO
D • D • D •
FRIDERICUS
A''^ Dio, Suo Gratia^ mi se mostra altrove, Piu che 'n alcun leggiadro e mortal velo; E quel sol a?no, perche '« quel si specchia. Michelangelo Buonarroti. Sonn. LVJ.
Contents
spring
Page I. About the Fantastical Fra Guilhelmo of
THE CaPPUCCINI 3
IJ. About the Holy Duchess and the Wicked
King 12
IIJ. About the Cheek of Fra Sebastiano of
THE CaPPUCCINI I5
IIIJ. About the Miraculous Fritter of Frat'
AGOSTINO of the CaPPUCCINI I9
V. About the Original Fritter of Sangiu-
SEPPE 26
VJ. Being an Epick of Sangiorgio, Protector
OF THE Kingdom 35
VIJ. Why THE Rose is Red 66
VIIJ. About the Witch's Head and Santignazio
OF Loyola 82
Vinj. About Sodom, Gomorrah, and the Two
Admirable Jesuits 97
X. About Some Kings 112
XJ. About Papa Ferretti and The Blest Here-
siARCH 119
XIJ. About the Love which is Desire and the
Love which is Divine 122
a. Why Cats and Dogs always Litigate . . 125
p. About Divinamore and the Maiden Anima . 130
X Contents
Summer
Page
XIIJ. About Doing Little, Lavishly .... 145
XIIIJ. About Doubles in General: and Sanve-
NANZIO AND SaNTAGAPITO, IN PARTICULAR l68
XV. About the Aforesaid, and Padre Dotto
Vagheggino, S. J 187
XVJ. About These Tales, the Key and Purga- tory 207
XVIJ. About So.me Friends 228
XVIIJ. About the Penance of Paisalettrio . . 252
XVIIIJ. About Our Lady of Dreams 273
XX. About the Four Things Necessary . . . 295
XXJ. About the Preface of Fra Cherubino . 303
XXIJ. About the Insistence of Sangiuseppe . . 311
XXIIJ. About a Vegetable Purgatory 323
XXIIIJ. About What is Due to Contrition . . . 336
These Six Tales were printed in THE YELLOW BoOK in 1895-6. // has been deemed advisable to include them in this instalment : but it should be remembered that they were related a year before the Spring and Summer Sections.
I. About Sampietro and Sampaolo 347
IJ. About the Lilies of Sanluigi 354
IIJ. A Caprice of Some Cherubim 368
IIIJ. About Beata Beatrice and the Mamma of
Sampietro 378
V. About the Heresy of Fra Serafico .... 391 VJ. About One Way in which Christians Love
One Another 409
" Hie est quern legis, tile quern requiris."
Mart.
Spring
" Prhnavera, giovetiiu delF anno: Gioventu, pfimavera della vita. "
In His Own Image
About the Fantastical Fra Guilhelmo
OF THE CaPPUCCINI
I SAID that, at sunset, Toto would drive me to Rome; for I intended to hear mass at San Giorgio ad Velum Atireum in the morn- ing, being the festival of England's Protector Regni.
Toto conveyed the news to my boys in this form, — that la sua eccellenza was going to adore Sangiorgio in Rome, on the morrow, he being the god who looked after my magnificent country; and to Guido and Ercole was given the charge of decorating the breakfast-table with English roses, ready for my return.
We started after Ave Maria. This boy fancied himself immensely, when officiating in an English dog-cart; and he looked divinely smart in dark blue, makroskeles, with tan gaiters buttoned. That kind of blue, with Toto's kind of brown, is fine. I learned the blend of him,
• • • .
On the main road I espied a significant cap- puccino trudging along before us. Coming up
About the Fantastical Fra
to him, I recognised Frat' Agostino, and I asked for the pleasure of giving him a Hft. He said he would ride as far as L'Arricia ; so I took the reins, and Toto bundled him into the machine, after- wards climbing up behind, supercilious, and nos- trils quivering. He did not admire cappuccini ; and he loathed this one, whom he held to be a sneak of sneaks for getting him into trouble about a certain baggage called Fiammina. (She was all that!) L don't blame Toto much. lean- not. For, wherever we went, a parcel of hussies buzzed about him, like hornets round honey; and Toto was a human being, — a fact which it is sometimes difficult to believe. But the circum- stances of this particular affair drew from me a flagellation so sound and solemn (all anglican rites being duly observed) as to impress Frat' Agostino, who was present on the occasion in an official capacity, with the notion that we English regarded the function as possessing something of a sacramental nature — indeed, he spoke after- wards of the twig as the outward and visible vehicle of inward invisible grace ! Heptakaide- ketes took the thrashing in his habitual sweet- tempered way, and bore me no malice for shedding his blood. He said that he knew himself to have been wrong; anyone could see that with half an eye : and, if he escaped punish- ment, he would become a sinner of vast dimen- sions as time went on ; and then there would be flaming divels to whip him in ssecula. It
4
Guilhelmo of the Cappuccini
was far better as I made it. Naturally, he pre- ferred to be flayed by me, because I was his patron who wished him well into the bargain, and never disgraced him before the youngsters. But Frat' Agostino — well, he was cappuccino, — antipaticissimo — and that was all about that!
This friar was an anaemic little creature, with a black beard, hollow chops, gorgonzola-coloured fangs, a carrion breath, and a voice of brass- After roaring the customary compliments, he began to cover the floor of my dog-cart in a phthisical manner and to give me the news of the day. He said that he had been the round of his patrons with a few salads from his garden ; and, producing a green and frowsy crumple from his bosom, he begged my acceptance of it, adding that the larder of his convent was empty. At once, I made the customary offering.
There is a part of the road between Velletrj and Rome, where you turn up to Citta Lavinia, which is said to be haunted by the horrible ap- parition of a coach with headless driver and headless steeds. While passing the spot, I in- quired whether Frat' Agostino had ever seen this spectre. He replied that he had not: and, bitten with an itch of inane modernity, he tried to raise himself in the regard of what he called a fashionable young man (meaning me'), by uttering ordinary ignorant scoffs at supernatural exhibitions.
5
About the Fantastical Fra
" But, fraticello," I said ; " Fra Guilhelmo of your own convent has seen the grisly thing, and told me of it with his proper lips not two weeks ago. He described it with minutest detail, also his glorious triumph over his tremors; and I always believe everything that a priest tells me, on principle, you know."
" Oh ! — Fra Guilhelmo ! " — the cappuccino chuckled ; " but we never believe him ! Why, he 's the most fantastical liar, and the butt of our community ! Haw-haw ! When I leave you, ask Toto to tell you about Fra Guilhelmo and the earthquake. I myself, on that subject, had better hold my peace, lest I sin against charity ; but, for Toto, it is another matter. (Sqwawk !) "
When we reached the shrine of Madonna, on the right, before entering L'Arricia, Frat' Agos- tino blessed us, and alighted, giving thanks for his ride. Toto offered up the stale salad at the shrine, pushing it through the grating; and he climbed into the cart with the charming reflec- tion that some poor old biddy might be glad to think that Madonna had sent her a supper. As we passed the church on the left, he asked leave to go in, to say five Az'c Jl/arias, because he felt as though he really needed them.
After leaving Albano, we drove silently for some distance across the still Campagna. The sun had set in a conflagration of yellow and violet and yellow ; and now the moon arose, majestick, magical, a monstrous pearl afloat on an olive and
6
Guilhelmo of the Cappuccini
primrose sea. It was a moment of romance. I felt that the slow recitative of Toto's admirable counter-tenor would provide a backbone for my emotions.
I said, " Break silence, Toto ; " and I rolled a cigarette. I was about to enjoy.
The lad looked straight between the ears of Amfitrite. (Amfitrite is the white mare.)
" In obedience to the command of Frat' Agos- tino of the Cappuccini, I will recite the history of Fra Guilhelmo of the same convent.
" La sua eccellenza will remember the little earthquake which happened here, very early in the morning, a few weeks ago ; and of course you know that earthquakes have sharp edges. I mean, the earth will quake on this side of the road, but not on that. I mean, that they do not happen all over the world at the same time. Here, the ground will shake : there, no. It has an edge I say, this earthquake; and la sua eccellenza will know exactly what is necessary to be understood. Well, then ! This earthquake had a sharp edge : and, as it moved along under the convent of cappuccini, the edge was in the middle; that is to say, the building, which con- tains the cells of the frati, was shaken very sharply, but the quire of the church, which is at the other end, was not shaken at all.
" It was six o'clock in the morning, when the Padre Eterno remembered that Fra Guilhelmo deserved a good shaking; and, at that moment,
7
About the Fantastical Fra
the friar sat at the table in his cell, writing the lecture which he was to read before his novices that same day ; for, you know, he is the novice- master, and blessed am I who am not one of his novices. His crucifix hung upon the wall before him ; and Fra Guilhelmo, having had his eyes made badly by his parents, pored over his writing with his head close to the Feet of II Santissimo Salvatore. You have seen Fra Guilhelmo, sir?
" The other frati were singing office in the quire ; a few novices had been left to sweep the stairs; and, just as two of these had reached the door of Fra Guilhelmo, suddenly Domeniddio shook the ground.
" The crucifix, of which I told you, swang out- ward from the wall : Fra Guilhelmo felt a sort of heave, and took a tap on the forehead at the same time. As he started, and raised his head, again the earth quivered, and the crucifix swang towards him, as before.
" Fra Guilhelmo became a jelly. He leaped to his feet. He was mad with terror. But, in an in- stant, he had a tale all ready and complete. He can always explain. No; I do not know who provides his explanations. Not his angel-guar- dian : and of that I am most sure : but never yet has Fra Guilhelmo been caught ignorant of causes. Ah well ! Out he pranced into the cor- ridor, putting on his spectacles, his heart fat with fright; and behold two fearful novices standing
8
Guilhelmo of the Cappuccini
close by a window, as any decent person would be standing during an earthquake.^
" Fra Guilhelmo remembered that much is due to the dignity of a novice-master ; and, approach- ing the lads with a majestick air, he said, ' Re- joice, rejoice, my children ; for I have just spat upon and defied Sathanas, who assaulted me, being enraged at the damage which I shall do him with my lecture this forenoon.' Then he made them enter his cell, continuing, * Mark well, my children, what I say, that you may learn to withstand the fiery darts of the Wicked One, as I have done this day, by the Grace of God, the intercession of La Sua Madre Immacolata, and the assistance of Beato Fra Francesco ' (who has no more to do with cappuccini, sir, than has Amfitrite, except, perhaps, to weep over them). The friar went further. ' I was sitting on my stool, preparing my lecture; and I had just written down a spiritual maxim which, when exemplified in the spirit of holy obedience, by you, my children, for whose edification it is in- tended, will form an effectual defence against the attacks with which the foul fiend our enemy rav- ages the citadel of your chastity. Enraged at
1 Decent persons, of whom Toto Maidalchini is the chief, argue thus : if the earthquake be severe, the roof, floors, and interior walls, being the weakest parts of a house, will fall first If the earthquake be pernicious, why then all will go. But the outside walls will stand longest, and there may be a foothold there. So decent persons rush to an outside wall, ;'. e., one with a window in it, as being safest.
9
About the Fantastical Fra
this impregnable bulwark erected by me, between your young souls and his infernal onset, Sathanas rushed from the bowels of the earth up the inside of my wall ; and, amid sparks of fire and the crackle of thunder, he dashed my crucifix into my face, intending to spill my brains over my writing, so spoiling my lecture : and this I have seen him do twice.'
" Don't laugh, sir ! Keep it in, till I have told you about the novices.
" Those miserables were frightened out of their wits ; for, indeed, Fra Guilhelmo can be most terrifying. One stood speechless, staring at the crucifix. The other took him by the ear, putting him outside the door, still frozen with horror : then, returning, all in a moment, he kneeled down by Fra Guilhelmo; and, beginning Confiteor Deo Ornnipotenti, without any more ado, he made a general confession of all the sins which he had ever committed, from the creation of the world until the end of time. While this went on, the other novice recovered his senses, and made several attempts to enter the cell, wishing also to confess ; and confess he did, as soon as the first was shriven.
" Not till then was Fra Guilhelmo free to publish his exploit; but the other frati, having been in the quire where the earthquake did not pass, and also, having had some experience of Fra Guil- helmo's improvisations, laughed at him, and were inclined to scoff; indeed, the Fra Guardiano
ID
Guilhelmo of the Cappuccini
talked about giving him a penance for gammon- ing his brethren with childish fables, and called him a cock-brained beast. But when Fra Guil- helmo brought the two novices to swear that they had felt the convent shaken by Sathanas his rage, this Guardiano, who is the hard mean vulgar bit of dirt called Fra Sebastiano, began to think that he might be doing an injustice to Fra Guilhelmo. But several masses were waiting to be said, and there was no time for many words just then.
" However, when that Fra Guardiano had finished his duty at the altar of Santantonio, the widow of the son of Ricardo stopped him to inquire whether any damage had been done to the convent by the earthquake which, she said, had tossed her out of her bed just in time for mass.
" And so the mystery of the conflicts between Sathanas and Fra Guilhelmo was laid bare, to the amusement of the peoples, the nations, and the tongues."
II
About the Holy Duchess
IJ
About the Holy Duchess and the Wicked
King
HERE Toto drew up at a lonely place where the road was rather narrow. The sky was of that dark luciferous blue, cold, vast, profound, spangled with pale stars, which you can only get on the Roman Campagna, late in spring. It was chilly, and I asked Toto why he stayed.
" But, sir, don't you know that this is the place where la santa signora duchessa, iji requiescat in pace, refused a salutation to the Wicked King.
" Bomba was his name, a fiend from hell, stained red with women's blood and gangrened with the salt of tortured murdered children's tears. Yet he was the friend of Papa Ferretti, and it is hard to understand why the Santo Padre should have a were- wolf for His friend.
" In the war-time my father often drove la santa signora duchessa along this very road, for there was no iron road then ; and often they met that king coming to his camp from Rome.
" When my father saw the royal outriders he would draw up the carriage at the roadside and
12
and the Wicked King
bare his head ; and if there were any gentlemen in the carriage with la santa donna, her hus- band, or her sons, they would alight, and stand, holding their hats in their hands until that king had passed. But la santa signora du- chessa was proud and brave, and she never let it be supposed that she was aware of any kings passing along that road, for she glanced high, and her face was as hard as though it were cut in cameo.
" That fiend marked her beauty and her haughtiness, and one day, at this very place, he stopped his chariot, and he bowed to la santa donna, looking straight in her face. She did not move an eyelash.
" Then that king stood up in his chariot, and bowed to her a second time, holding his hat in his hand.
" Sir, then, la santa signora duchessa, looking disdainfully into his very eyes, put up her para- sol, and held it between her holy face and the face of the wicked king.
" And Bomba went green with rage. He cursed his coachman for stopping, though he himself had ordered so. And he flung back on his cushions and was driven away.
" My father always stopped here, after that, to say his Gloria Patrj twelve times in honour of a brave and noble lady who disdained a wicked king. But she was English, as you know, sir, therefore she had no fear.
13
Holy Duchess and Wicked King
"ijl May our Lord grant her that cool place for which she always yearned.
" And, sir, I have said my Gloria Patrj twelve times while you were looking at the stars."
He chirruped to the mare, and on we flew.
H
The Cheek of Fra Sebastiano
nj
About the Cheek of Fra Sebastiano of
THE CaPPUCCINI
" '^ T'OU do not love cappuccini, Toto?" I ^^ said.
J. " Well, sir, to tell the blind and naked truth, I prefer other Religions. Of course there must be some good cappuccini, for there are always some good people everywhere. I am sorry for them for being cappuccini ; but it is not their fault; for, more often than enough, one cannot help oneself. But it does surprise me that there should be so many unenlightened per- sons collected together in this one convent."
I asked why he had called the Guardiano a hard mean vulgar bit of dirt?
" For an exquisite reason, sir. Listen? Last summer, behold an artigiano who came seeking work. You know that these cappuccini have a little hill behind their convent, with the Via Crucis along a winding path ; and at the summit, a large Calvary of bronze, which, they pretend, can be seen from a distance of fifteen miles.
" The artigiano discovered this bronze to be rotting away, the surface having been left with- out protection; and the damp air had bitten
15
About the Cheek of Fra
it with a kind of rust, grey-green, — a very serious matter.
" To the Fra Guardiano, he explained the damage, saying, that, for preserving the piece, it would be necessary to clean off all the rust, using a very virtuose lotion ; and next, to polish the bronze till it shone like the nimbus of San Michele Arcangiolo. Also, to keep it like that, he said it must be well rubbed with an oily rag once a week until the consummation of the world. Lastly, he offered to do the work with his own hands, asking, in return, for food and lodging and spiritual direction as long as he should be employed by the convent ; but for no money, for he despised it; and, moreover, the work was a pious one which would gain him the good graces of his angel-guardian; and, at the time, he had the humour to amuse himself in that way.
" The Fra Guardiano smelt advantage in the acceptance of this offer. He jumped at it, and closed a bargain, telling the Signor Caio to collect his tools ; also, to come to the convent at Ave Maria of the next day, when he should be lodged in the guest-house.
" Early on the morning after, Fra Sebastiano came with impudence to this artigiano, saying that he had been thinking, and he had remem- bered that there were several strong novices in his convent who could do the work, supposing that they knew the way: and this cappuccino
i6
Sebastiano of the Cappuccini
with his face of brass was not ashamed to ask the Signor Caio for the secrets of his handicraft as a free gift, that is to say, of the sovereign lotion which would clear the bronze Calvary of decay. It was a case of a rich man — rich by beggary — robbing a poor man who earned a living with his hands and brain."
Toto snorted, and cracked the whip viciously.
" Well," I said, " and what did Signor Caio do?"
" Do, sir? Why he did what you would ex- pect of a man of uona gente. He laughed with open scorn in the face of that wretched cappuccino ; and then he wrote down for Fra Sebastiano, very carefully, instructions for the making of that very virtuose lotion ; also he wrote full and exact direction for completing the whole work, so that not even a clumsy boor of a novice could make a mistake by any chance. Yes, to that Guardiano asking, he freely gave the means of breaking his bargain ; and then he shook off the dust of his feet at him, and retired to seek work in another place, and of honest men."
" But do you mean to tell me that your cap- puccino used the knowledge gained in this dis- graceful manner?" I asked.
" Of course he did, sir. He has not a fine
conscience, he knows nothing of honour; he will
buy, sell, bargain, and cheat, like any Hebrew 2 17
The Cheek of Fra Sebastiano
- ■ --^ ■ ■ — ■ —
grocer: he is cappuccino, priest of God, and I call him a hard mean vulgar bit of dirt. Luckily- all cappuccini are not of his species. Generally they are lumps of clown, like Fra Guilhelmo and Frat' Agostino?"
" Hallo," I said, " Fra Guilhelmo I can under- stand, but why do you bring in Frat' Agostino?"
18
Frat' Agostino of the Cappuccini
iiij
About the Miraculous Fritter of Frat' Agostino of the Cappuccini
" "W ^ TELL, sir, they are as like as two little %/%/ drops of water, those two. Let me ▼ ▼ offer another story to la sua eccel- lenza, that it may be seen whether I err in say- ing * lumps of clown,' or no.
" On the festa of Sangiuseppe, they were to have fritters for dinner in Frat' Agostino's con- vent, where there is a custom for all to go kitchen-wards when the brother cook begins to fry the batter; and, when one side of the fritter has been gilded,' each friar takes the pan, and flings its contents into the air to turn it, and catches it deftly on the other side. If they are clumsy or knotty-fingered, the fritter falls to the floor, and then they have to eat it all gritty and slimy. Oh, it is good sport to see them, I do assure you, sir !
" Well, and soon it came to Frat' Agostino's turn ; and, because his sleeves were tight, not being Franciscan sleeves, you know, or perhaps for another reason, — while the frati all stood round, Frat' Agostino made a mess of his fritter.
19
About the Miraculous Fritter of
" These shrimps of men ahvays wish to do gigantic things ; and Frat' Agostino wanted to hurl his fritter higher than any other friar, so he seized the pan which held the half-fried batter, and gave a tremendous heave. Everybody saw the batter in the pan ; and then all eyes flashed upward to the vaulted roof to see it fly. Cer- tainly, the fritter left the pan, and Frat' Agostino gripped the handle, and waited.
"Well, he waited, and everybody waited; but the fritter went neither up nor down. It only went.
" There was no longer any fritter.
" After an interval, the frati lowered their eyes from the roof; and there stood Frat' Agostino staring upward, resembling a grotesk. But there was no fritter. They turned the kitchen topsy-turvy. Such a garbuglio was never seen. The fritter of Frat' Agostino had disappeared.
" Oh, it was a miracle, without a doubt ; and, what was more, that precious Fra Guilhelmo had seen it done.
" ' My brethren,' he exclaimed ; ' give thanks unto the Signor Iddio, to the Stella del Mattino, and to Beato Fra Francesco; for this community has merited a vision of the gods ; and to me, most wretched and yet most favoured sinner that I am, is it given to unfold the marvel. You all have seen what a perfect fritter had fallen to the lot of Frat' Agostino ; the one side creamy, white, and luscious, the other delicate, crisp,
20
Frat' Agostino of the Cappuccini
golden, and dripping with fat oil ! Far too fine a fritter for a miserable mortal man dwelling in a vale of sin and sorrow ! Such ambrosial food is fitted only for the gods on high ! Therefore, when Frat' Agostino tossed it to the stars, as an oblation having a sweet savour, the eyes of my soul were opened, and I saw the Direttore della Sacra Famiglia, the Scudo Potentissimo per i difensori della Chiesa di Cristo, the Gran Pa- triarca Sangiuseppe, sitting in sadness on his throne, without a fritter for his festa, — he, the original inventor of fritters, too ! ' "
" Stop, Toto ! " I cried. " Do you say that Sangiuseppe invented fritters? "
" Patience, sir; and presently I will make the statement good. But now Fra Guilhelmo con- tinues, * With one wink of his august eyelid, Sangiuseppe invited the attention of San Gabriele Arcangiolo to that paragon of fritters. And, as it soared aloft from Frat' Agostino's pan, the tremendous Archangel of the Annunciation swooped, and seized, and bore it triumphantly to Sangiuseppe in paradise. O fortunate fritter ! How blissful is your lot ! Snatched from all the miseries of this wicked world, to rest, for end- less ages, immutable, inviolate, unutterably serene, upon the bosom of Sangiuseppe ! ' "
" This beats all," I said. " Fancy making out that Sangiuseppe is dyspeptick ! "
*' Ah, I do not know what dyspeptick is, unless it means imcertain in the temper ; and every one
21
About the Miraculous Fritter of
knows how difficult it is to do business with Sangiuseppe.
" Well ; then the Fra Guardiano called Fra Guilhelmo a bubbolone, and put an eight days' silence on him: but the fact remained that the fritter was gone, no one knew where ; so they cooked another, and went to dinner in the refec- tory.
" I need not say that Frat' Agostino felt very much elation, giving himself the airs of a grocer's wife on a holiday of obligation. It was not every friar who could do such a trick with a fritter as he had done, and before a whole convent, too ! So, though he was absolutely ignorantly innocent, nor believed the rubbish vomited by Fra Guil- helmo, still, all the same, he looked upon himself as being something of a marvel ; and he did not omit to let the other frati know it.
" When these cappuccini had devoured their food, they went to make their Visit to II San- tissimo in the church. While leaving the refec- tory, Frat' Agostino had the misfortune to break a plate, walking with his nose cocked high, and sweeping the end table with his cord. He wears boots, you know ; not sandals like a real friar: and so he stamped the plate to pieces. He had to pick them up again, which made him late in church. After Visit, Chapter; and, when all were seated, Frat' Agostino went on his knees in the middle of the room, and confessed in pub- lick his disgrazia, exhibiting the broken plate.
22
Frat' Agostino of the Cappuccini
" Fra Sebastiano was very pleased to have the opportunity of taking this friar down a peg or two, especially at a time when he was so puffed with pride ; and, after condemning him, in the usual way, to wear the sherds of broken pottery on a string around his neck for four and twenty hours, and to beg his next three meals from his brethren, — from each plate a scrap of egg, or fish-skin, or stalks of green, or cheese-rind, — he added the command, on holy obedience, that Frat' Agostino should lie prostrate on his face, while the community enjoyed its half-hour of recreation.
" Frat' Agostino stretched out his arms and legs, flung himself forward on the floor, flat; — and howled.
" It was an awful howl.
" Next, he wriggled his legs, and twitched his arms, and scrabbled with his fingers in the dust.
" You could not see his face ; for the big stiff capperuccio of his habit, which generally hangs down the back, had flopped up and covered his head. But, from under the brown hood, there came continually, a moan, a squeak, and a howl, a moan, a squeak, and a howl ; and always the arms and legs kept squirming.
" Fra Guardiano, thinking this to be a display of naughty temper, began to speak severely, bid- ding Frat' Agostino to behave himself. But, seeing that that abased friar continued to emit unearthly noises, and to welter in the folds of his
23
About the Miraculous Fritter of
gown, somebody suggested that it might be a fit which troubled him. Then Fra Guardiano went to him, and stirred him with his foot, saying sharply, ' Frat' Agostino, — Frat' Agostino ! '
" Instantly the noises ceased ; and Frat' Agostino tempestuously stuttered, * ConfiteorDeoomnipoteut- ibeataeMariaesempevvirginibeatoMichaeliarchang- elobeatoJoJianniBaptistae-e-e-e-e-e-sa n ctisapostolis- PetroetPauloomnibiissanctisettibipaterqiiiapeccavi- nimiscogitationeverboetoperemeaculpameaculpatnea niaximaciilpa-a-a-a-a-a — oh, yes — and since my last confession, father, I have fallen into the sin of pride — u-p6pepe — I 'm damned, I am, — yes I'm damned if I'm not — I was proud because San Gabriele Arcangiolo took my fritter — it was mine — mine — mine — iiiiiaf! — I'll never look at another till I 'm dead — I wish with all my heart I 'd never seen one — o-dododododo ! — But I was proud, father — yes, proud as Lucifer — aaah ! And I'm found, out — found out. O Dio mio — Dio mio — and I 'm punished — yes, I'm punished — with an accursed incubus who is sent to clutch my flesh — ahi-ahi-ahi ! — O father, behold me damned forever — a-u — a-u — a-u — a-u — a-u — and here 's a dead devil — err^ erre erre — oh, like ice — a-riding on my neck — '
"The frati sat aghast, and sweat poured down their faces till their beards dripped, — dripped upon the floor, sir; for surely the idea of a dead devil is altogether horrid !
24
Frat' Agostino of the Cappuccini
" The Fra Guardiano, also, had much fear ; but when he had blessed himself very fervently indeed with an entirely opulent sign of the cross, he took hold of Frat' Agostino, and pulled him up from the ground.
" And, lo ! a nasty — cold — flabby — fritter — sticking to the nape of his neck.
" Then it was seen how, in endeavouring to fling his fritter higher than any other friar, Frat' Agos- tino had only tossed it over his head, into his own gaping capperuccio, where, of course, no one had ever thought of searching for it."
25
About the Original Fritter
V
About the Original Fritter of San Giuseppe
I LAUGHED heartily. It is a curious thing that the very funniest tales in all the world should be those which concern holy per- sons and holy things, — the clergy, for example.
The humour of seculars has a narrow range. It can be, and has been, reduced to a handful of simple formulae. But there is a spontaneity, an illimitable variety in ecclesiastical stories, to which I respectfully direct the attention of my unknown colleagues of the quill. I rigidly ex- clude, however, narratives of a certain brand, which are invented by the class of clergy techni- cally designated " holy men," and recited, with the nuts, at clerical dinner-tables.
The mind of the clerick is — and thanks be to all gods for that same — a cramped and un- cultured one. Its operations are concentrated upon one sole point, viz., the salvation of souls in general, and of its own in particular. Hence the gyrations of clergy of the calibre of PVa Guilhelmo and of Frat' Agostino (who represent a proportion of their profession, and who, ap- parently (but, I am sure, ignorantly), take delight
26
of Sangiuseppe
in bringing ridicule and disrepute upon the most respectable traditions) are as amusing to the English connoisseur (I do not say British, be- cause I want to exclude Kelts, and to include my English cousins of America) as the anticks of any other foreigner.
Yes ! There you have it ! The clergy (of whom I am, in private life, the least) are for- ^ eigners. They belong to a kingdom not of this world. And, as foreigners, I find them ex- tremely diverting.
But I reminded Toto of his assertion that Sangiuseppe was the inventor of fritters.
" Yes, sir; and indeed he was.
" Now there was Madonnina, — oh, but beauti- ful beyond my power to tell, just like an evening lily, with truthful, peacock-purple eyes, and shin- ing hair coloured like a field of rye at harvest- time, and being but fourteen year^ and three months old. Her parents, Sangioacchino and Santanna, had betrothed her to Sangiuseppe, who was grave and in his prime ; because his staff had bloomed with almond-blossoms, showing that the Padre Eterno looked on him with favour.
" On a night in spring, but earlier in the year than this, Madonnina went to the well in the lily-garden ; and, as she went, the flowers bowed down to break their hearts in perfume, and to kiss her little feet.
" Stars gleamed in the water. All was very still.
27
About the Original Fritter
" Madonnina was seated on the marble steps. She was making her meditation.
" Presently, a gentle breath stirred. Roses and violets offered odours in their rustling petals.
■ • • • •
" Greatest angels came into the garden ; and ■c they kneeled before their queen.
" There was San Gabriele Arcangiolo like an arcidiacono, all in silver; huge, and white, and young with silver hair.
" There was San Rafaele Arcangiolo like a pilgrim, with his staff and fish.
" There was San Michele Arcangiolo like a warrior; and his armour was all gold.
" The first of these archangels held a sceptre, like a lily of blue gems. The others bore a cushion, with a lily-diadem of pearls.
" You can see that cloudy whiteness like milk across the sky? Well, sir; that is the army of angels, far away. But, on this night of which I speak, it reached right down to the earth as well, millions upon millions, all in white; some carrying the stars in lanthorns; and some with arciliuti and quinterne for a serenade. They kneeled, from earth to heaven, behind the Santi Arcangioli, Gabriele, Rafaele, and Michele.
" And, to the first, Madonnina said, ' O arch- angel, what is your name? '
" He answered, ' Gabriele is my name ; and I come on the part of the Padre Eterno.' Then,
28
of S
angiuseppe
San Gabriele Arcangiolo said, ' Ave, Maria gratia plena, Dominiis tecum, benedicta tii in miilieribiis, et benedictus Fructiis ventris tui, Jhes?ts : ' as the Santo Spirito had taught him in paradise.
" And the angels sang in chorus, very, very low, * Ave — Ave — Ave — '
" Madonnina trembled, being only a little girl; but she was wise — so wise; and nothing did she say.
" San Gabriele Arcangiolo whispered, ' O Virgo virginum, have no fear; for the Padre Eterno loves you well. And I am to tell you that, if you will, you shall be made the Mother of Cristo Liberatore. His name will be Gesu : He is the Son of the Padre Altissimo : and He is King in saecula saeculorum : amen.'
" Madonnina desired to do the Will of the Padre Eterno above all things : but she was a girl : and she wanted to know. She said to San Gabriele Arcangiolo, ' But I am a maid ; and Sangiuseppe has but now betrothed me.'
" San Gabriele Arcangiolo answered, * Ma- donna, the Santo Spirito will embrace you with His Power, and you shall be Madre di Dio e sempre Vergine. O Maria Santissima, think of the Might of the Padre Onnipotente, Who built the world, and of Whose wonders there is no end. In proof of this, know that your cousin, Santelisabetta, has conceived in her old age; and, in three months' time, she will bear San-
29
About the Original Fritter
giambattista, to be the prophet of that Son Whom my Sovereign wills to have of you.'
" At this, the gracious Madonnina gave con- sent; and a gentle Dove, gold-feathered and hav- ing silver wings, flew down from paradise, and nestled in her snow-pure breast.
"Then, San Rafaele Arcangiolo and San Michele Arcangiolo crowned her Regina Angel- orum, with the lily diadem of pearls.
" San Gabriele Arcangiolo invested her with the sceptre resembling a lily of blue gems.
" The marble steps of the well became her throne.
" The rose-bush was her baldaquin.
And angels kissed the violets before her little
feet.
"When this embassage had returned to para- dise, Madonnina gave thanks to the Padre Eterno for His Grace, and made an oblation of herself, lifting up holy hands. Then she went to visit her cousin, Santelisabetta; for she wished to talk, as ladies do, concerning the admirable words of San Gabriele Arcangiolo.
" Santelisabetta lived next to the church, in a little town on the hills; and, when Madonnina, bearing her Divine Burthen, entered the house, the six-months child, which Santelisabetta had within her, kneeled down and adored II Santis- simo Salvatore. So Santelisabetta knew, in that moment, that the Madre di Dio and II Santis-
30
of Sangiuseppe
simo Bambino were there ; therefore she did not salute Madonnina in the fashion of cousins, but she kneeled upon the threshold, saying her ' Ave Maria — and what honour — and what conde- scension to a poor sinner like I am ! '
" Madonnina had no pride. She could not have, Tota pidcJira es, arnica mea, et macula non est in te. She sang Magnificat Anima Mea Domiytum ; and the two mothers, the old and the young, each wept in the other's arms for joy."
•
Toto was silent for some minutes.
I saw the lights of Rome along the road. "What about the fritters?" I said.
" Yes, sir ; the fritters. Well, Santelisabetta's baby was born at midsummer, and they called him Sangiambattista. And, six months after, it was Christmas; and then Cristo Liberatore deigned to descend into the world.
" Soon, Santelisabetta brought her son to wor- ship the Son of the Santissima Vergine, at the house of Sangiuseppe, who was the Protector of the Madonnina and of II Santissimo Bambino, he being a joiner by trade.
" Santelisabetta and Sangiambattista arrived at about nine of the clock, and worshipped until ten ; and, afterwards, the babies played, and the two mothers engaged in holy conversation.
" Now you know, sir, that ladies talk unceas- ingly, without feeling tired, or thinking how the
31
About the Original Fritter
hours slip by. So when eleven o'clock came, and the Madonnina did not call Sangiuseppe to his dinner, he remembered that she had her cousin with her, and perhaps that would make her a little late. Therefore he went on with his work.
" When twelve o'clock came, the church-bell rang; and he said his Ave Maria; and then he took the liberty of peeping into the house.
"There sat Madonnina and Santelisabetta, talk- ing — talking.
" ' Ah well,' Sangiuseppe thought ; ' she does n't see her cousin every day, and it will be a change for her.' And the good man returned to his bench.
"At one o'clock, he was faint with hunger; also, ready for his siesta ; and he took another peep. There was no sign of dinner; and con- tinually the ladies talked.
" Sangiuseppe would not intrude upon Madonna for all the world. His business was to take care of her, not to worry her. So he hunted about the kitchen to see whether he could find anything to eat; and the first thing to catch his eye was a pudding, incomplete, but evidently meant for him, in honour of his festa. Madonnina had whipped eggs, and put them in a bowl with flour, and salt, and cream; and there they stood.
" Sangiuseppe carried that bowl into his work- shop, and began to sup the pudding with a spoon.
32
of Sangiuseppe
But there was something wrong with it. To begin with, it was icy cold, never having seen the fire ; and Sangiuseppe knew not how to cook it.
" A buon cavaher non manca lancia, and a god is not the person to despair when in a difficulty. Sangiuseppe at once put on his thinking cap. Here he was, in his workshop, with a mess that cried to be cooked. He could not go back into the house with it, in case the creaking of his new shoes might disturb Madonnina and her guest. He looked about him for a little while; and, at last, he saw what he would do.
" There was a fine wide shovel belonging to the stove where he heated his glue. He cleaned it very carefully with fresh shavings. Then he took the shavings and some chips, and made a bright little fire between some stones, outside the door of his workshop. He crept round to the oil-cask, and filled his shovel with fresh oil; and, then, he sat down on a block of wood before his fire, having the shovel in his left hand, and the bowl of batter in his right.
" First, he held the shovel on the fire, till the oil bubbled and boiled ; next, he poured the batter into the shovel; and, when it was gilded on one side, he turned it over with a clean splinter. Last of all, he held the world's first fritter in the pan with another clean splinter, drained off the oil into the grass, stamped out the fire with care, and, lo, a delicious fritter, gold, and crisp, and succulent, to reward his pains ! 3 33
Original Fritter of Sanguiseppe
" That is why I say that Sangiuseppe invented fritters ; and, also, that is why all the world honours him by eating fritters on his festa."
We swept up to the Gate of St. John.
Here, I took the reins. I never could get that boy to learn short cuts through the city. We talked through Merulana ; but when I branched to the left before Santa Maria Maggiore, there was silence, until we reached my lair on Banchi Vecchi.
After supper, and writing up my notes, I tried a new huqa, a lovely thing sent from Smyrna by
Biasio C . It was sweet, so long as I eyed it ;
but when I began to read the papers, Toto had to squat by the bowl, with a scaldino, to keep it lighted.
34
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
vj
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio, Protector OF THE Kingdom
THE next morning, at nine, we were at San Giorgio ad Velum Aiireum. Among the herbs on the floor, there was an unusual quantity of rosemary and thyme; and the scent was delicious. I brought an arm- full of pure primroses, to scatter round the altar of Sangiorgio. I showed to Toto the bulla, tied on the baldaquin of the basilican altar, without which no priest, save the Santo Padre, may offi- ciate there. The eunuchs of the papal quire misbehaved, as usual, in a box on the epistle- side. What an annoying mass it was ! Just a series of florid soli, during which the disengaged singers sat and chatted at the back of their tribune, took snuff, and apparently made up their betting books, while the conductor smacked time with a roll of music. At the beginning of Gloria in excelsis Deo, a priest came from the sacristy to say a low mass at the altar of Sangiorgio: and, in his wake, we promptly skipped. Here, we worshipped the relicks, — most admirable relicks, — the head of the lance of Sangiorgio, a large piece of red silk from the cross of his pennon,
35
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
and his veritable skull ; the last having a facial angle as undoubtedly as Greek as that of the Her- mes of the Heraion. Toto had not seen these treasures before. His gorgeous eyes dilated, and he was ardently appreciative. The Gloria of the basilican altar ended at the moment when we finished hearing our low mass, — say twenty-two minutes. By waiting for the Ite of the high mass, we should be detained till noon-day: so we left the basilica before ten, considering our- selves in luck for a change ; and in a few minutes we were driving fast along the Appian Way.
I asked Toto whether he had anything to say in honour of Sangiorgio.
" Oh, yes, sir; but many chapters! Why, my beloved Frat' Innocente-of-the-Nine-Ouires would speak of nothing else, unless I made it necessary ! And he told his history to me so many times that I can sing it to you in his proper words ; only, he made me promise that, whenever I should so sing, I should first say that I will not swear that it is true. For one cannot say, for certain, of Sangiorgio more than this, that he was a brave young knight who slew a daemon- dragon in the sea, and, afterward, was robbed of the breath of his breast, by the sword of a wicked king, who wished him to renye his Chris- tian Faith.
" Also, the said Frat' Innocente-of-the-Nine- Quires told me that people of antick times had so much veneration for this megalomartyr, —
36
Protector of the Kingdom
that is to say, for the grandeur of this god, Sangiorgio, — that they went further than Holy Mother Church allows ; for they invented splen- did histories about him, and added these to his veritable Acts ; until, at last, no one knew how much was really true, or how much false. Then the Santo Padre feared lest the soul of Sangiorgio should take a damage from insidious flattery; and so He ordered him to think of nothing but the eternal welfare of the illustrious English Race, which is as powerful on the sea as was Sangiorgio in those antick times. (Did you not let me see the mighty ships of England at Civita Vccchia? Have I not seen Sangiorgio's rose-red cross upon them? Yes, sir. Therefore I am not ignorant of those things.) Well then, and the Santo Padre, called Gelasio, said, also, that every writing about Sangiorgio must be burned ; and that no more was to be known of him, for sure, except what I have said; — brave — young — knight — invincible on the sea — slayer of the dragon — megalomartyr — protector of the English Race. But yet, though you may burn books, you can- not burn the memories and mouths of men ; and, therefore, many histories of Sangiorgio remain ; and perhaps they are true, perhaps false : but, as to that, said Frat' Innocente-of-the-Nine-Quires, there is no knowing.
" Now that is clear to la sua eccellenza ; and this is the history of Sangiorgio which Frat' Innocente-of-the-Nine-Quires sang to me : —
37
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
"4'Scuto Bonae Voluntatis Tuae : alleluia: Coronasti eum Domine : alleluia :
" I cannot tell you to what race Ser Giorgio be- longed ; but, if you journey southward to the Three-Tongued Island, at length you shall attain a maritime port upon the sea-shore, called Catania. And, there, you take a ship; and, alway facing the right side of the rising sun, you sail across the sea, until you reach a foreign kingdom where many islands are ; and, there, the Isle of the Sera- phim, is where Ser Giorgio lived and died.
" No one knew whence he came ; for, when he was a little tiny babe, a sailor of those islands found him, with his girl-mother, in a drifting boat, and brought him to the king as treasure trove. And the king gave him to a priest who served the chapel of Madonnina, called Sedes Sapientise, that he might be well bred in holy works and ways.
" His hair was like an orange in the light of noon ; he had a skin of cream ; and eyes — but, Eyes ! When you saw them first, they were cool, and half-shut; but they looked you through and through. When you saw them longer, you found yourself to be as foolish as a jay. But, when you knew them well, they opened, large, and wide, and clear; and, in their shining depth you saw the spark which no man dare to strike. And their colour resembled a brown almond bright with morning dew.
38
Protector of the Kingdom
"Ser Giorgio spent his boyhood by the sea, where pure salt air gave grace, and hardihood, and courage. Nor was the genius of his generous soul untrained in the hidden wisdom which the high gods have, and give to few. For, often at night, Ser Giorgio would lie alone, upon the summit of the giant headland riding on the sea, and listen to great angels, whispering, each to other in the winds, those mysteries which no man can learn from written books. At day-dawn, plunging from the height, he saw the waving weeds, and shells of the sea-floor, and all the marvel of the deep. Returning to the shore, he wrang the salt sea from his hair, and went to say his Ave Maria at Madonnina's shrine; which same sweet Mother often left her Son, and stepped down from her picture painted on the chapel-wall, and called the Sedes Sapientias, who deigned to teach the young Ser Giorgio holy things.
"So the stripling lived, until he came to seven- teen years of age : and, then, the king grew jealous ; for, already, people looked upon Ser Giorgio as a god, seeing his strength, his fear- lessness, his youth, his goodness, and his ma- jestick gait. And there was something more. The king had cast his eye on that girl-mother, whose white arms had borne the little tiny baby in the drifting boat : but never had he dared to harm her for he feared, as all men feared, the blinding splendour of Ser Giorgio's eyes.
39
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
" Not many years before, a witch had sold her soul to Sathanas for gold : also, she had bar- gained with that arch-daemon that he should arm her with the evil eye, so that all who looked on her should turn to stone. Thus she was safe from robbers who might try to steal her gold. She was the eldest of five sisters, witches all. Two lived in the desert. The other, two lived with her, in a secret cave, far away across the sea; from whence she cast spells, and sent hot fevers floating through the world, blighted the vines, blasted growing corn, and poisoned wells and water-springs.
■ > • • a
" So the wicked king armed this hardy, valorous youth, Ser Giorgio, with antient arms, — a bat- tered helmet, a broken sword, a rusty shield, and nothing more, — and sent him on a quest, to find, and slay, the horrid witch ; for he thought to rid himself, by this means, and without shame, of the only champion who stood between the mother of Scr Giorgio and his desire.
" But, before the young knight started on his quest, he went and called on heaven to be his aid, laying his antient arms before the altar, in the chapel of the Madonnina by the sea. All night he kept vigil, and prayed ; and, when day dawned, the Madonnina, called Sedes Sapientiae, stepped down from her picture painted on the wall. Mighty angels and archangels came in her
40
Protector of the Kingdom
train ; and she said, ' O knight of mine, you go to battle against Sathanas. Have you no fear? '
" Ser Giorgio answered, ' No, Madonnina ; sup- posing that you wish me well.'
"The Madonnina said, most certainly she wished him well; and, as a proof of her good- will, she bade the archangel-prince, who stood at her right hand, to doff his golden helmet. This, she placed upon Ser Giorgio's head; and gave him news that, all the time he lived unstained by mortal sin, and wore the helm of San Michele Arcangiolo, all mortal eyes and daemon's eyes were blind to him. Then, at his queen's com- mand, the archangel-prince standing at her left hand, whose name was San Gabriele Arcangiolo, stooped down, and bound upon the stripling's eager feet gold shoes with wings, that, bird-like, he might walk the high air over land and sea. Then, her hand moved above the antient rusty shield ; and, underneath her hand, there sprang a rose-red cross, while the shield shone silver white as crystal over snow, for joy because the Madonnina blessed it. San Michele Arcangiolo gave Ser Giorgio a sword, also a lance which had a pennon white as the soul of a boy who wears his chrismal robe; and, on the pennon, the rose- red cross was signed, the same as on the shield. And, last of all, the Madonnina took off her own white mantle, broidered blue ; and, with her holy hands, she clasped it on the breast of her young knight.
41
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
" But Ser Giorgio cried, ' O Madonnina, will not your favour grant me one thing more? It is true, Maesta, and my lords these princes, that you have given me a lance, a sword, a golden helmet with curved crest, winged shoes, the rose- red cross upon my shining shield, and your own mantle, which, surely, angel-hands have woven on the looms of heaven, in spring-time, from petals of forget-me-nots and lilies; — all these, O Madonnina, and my lords these princes, you have given freely : yet I lack mail to shield my breast, and I crave of you a knightly belt and spurs of gold.' Ser Giorgio spoke so, boldly, to the queen. He knew that he had but to ask, — and have.
"The Madonnina answered, ' O knight of mine, in all my armoury, there is no breast-plate better than that which shields your brave heart now.'
" ' But, Madonnina, now, my breast is bare ! ' Ser Giorgio cried.
" The Madonnina answered him again. She said, ' O knight of mine, Innocence is the breast- plate that you wear; and, not the fieriest dart forged by the arch-daemon, can pierce the fence of youthful and inviolate innocence. Yet, — mark me well, — it must be worn unceasingly ; for, once put off, it cannot be put on again on this side of the grave. And the belt and spurs of gold will be the guerdon which I give to my true knight — when he has won them.'
" With these words, the Madonnina blessed Ser
42
Protector of the Kingdom
Giorgio again, smiling upon him, and giving him a white rose of paradise; and, at her smile, the bordures of the silver-shining shield blossomed with roses carved in gold.
"The vision faded; and the Madonnina, called the Sedes Sapientiae, went back into her picture painted on the wall : angels and archangels re- turned to their own place, where San Michele Arcangiolo set Santeligio, armourer and gold- smith of the gods, to work on a helmet, lance, and sword, in place of those lent to Ser Giorgio. The chariot of the sun rode high above the pure salt sea, upon whose shore Ser Giorgio stood, with hair most beautiful to see, and shining with the purple light of youth, equipped with arms, and ready for his knightly quest.
. • » • »
" Angels clustered along the golden ramparts of the Citta di Dio, to watch this stalwart champion considering his plans. Ser Giorgio was wise, as well as young and brave. He always marked the seven, to cut off one. And presently, he mounted up the giant headland riding on the sea; and, striding to its summit, he raised his head, and cried, ' Hola ! San Rafaele Arcangiolo ! Hola ! Hola!'
" The archangel-comrade heard Ser Giorgio's voice, and spread his wings, and floated down, as feathers flit upon the breeze. He said, ' You do me honour, O Ser Giorgio ; for you have gained the good will of my queen ; and, when
43
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
the favoured of the queen of angels needs my aid, in all things I am bound to serve him, saving the Will of Domeniddio.'
" The stripling answered, ' My knightly quest lies on a dangerous road ; and my enemy is hidden from me. Show me the horrid witch whom I am sworn to slay. Be my companion in my journey ; that, in peace, and health, and joy, I may return again. Kurie eleeson. Christe eleeson.'
" San Rafaele Arcangiolo said, ' O fearless knight, I will go with you all the way along your dangerous road, most willingly, and bring you home at length, in peace, and health, and joy: but I may not tell you where the witch lies hid- den, for all the glory of the quest is yours.' And, saying this, the huge archangel put off the radi- ance of his princely state, and took the shape of a slender squire, having rose-red hose and a tab- ard, white as snow, whose blazon was a rose-red cross, that he might serve Ser Giorgio, as, form- erly, he served the young Tobia.
" A hundred miles away there stood a solitary tree, seared and riven by thunderbolts, a hollow, withered tree, upon a desert waste, all scorching sand and flinty rock. Within this tree, there lived a pair of sisters of the horrid witch, wrinkled, and grey, and horrible. One of these hags had a single eye, shrivelled and watery; the other none. But this one had a tusk, a single tusk:
44
Protector of the Kingdom
the first was toothless. One hag depended on the other ; for the first, with her one eye would sight a prey, and make the second tear it with her tusk. To these the noble knight Ser Giorgio came, having no fear; and from one hag, he snatched the horrid tusk ; and from the other hag, he snatched the evil eye : and so he had them at his mercy.
" Then, while they shrieked and champed their gums with rage, he spoke, and offered restoration of the eye and tusk ; but on condition that they should first reveal to him the secret cave wherein the hell-cat of a deathly witch, their sister, could be found.
" Base curs will alway sell their friends, turning traitor to avoid affliction. They wish to be on the safe side, — the side which pays the best, and gives no pain. Therefore these hags hastened to betray their sister's hiding-place, saying that Sathanas, the arch-daemon, kept her far away, in Africa, where he had given her a secret cave, with many black daemons and hobgoblins for her servitors, who burrowed long tunnels in the ground, and, by those roads, conveyed her poisons through the world.
" When he heard this, Ser Giorgio stooped down, giving back the eye and the tusk ; then he mounted in the air, borne upward on the wings of gold which San Gabriele Arcangiolo had bound upon his eager feet ; and, ere the hags had time to see him with the eye, or grip or tear
45
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
him with the venomous tusk, the knight was speeding swiftly over land and sea, upon his quest. San Rafaele Arcangiolo, shaped like a slender squire, went with him for a guard, leading him on. He wore the mantle which the Madon- nina gave, — the Madonnina whom he used to worship in her picture painted on the chapel wall, and called the Sedes Sapientiae, — and so he sped his swift unerring way through the high air, all that long journey into Africa. There, he found the dark and slimy cave wherein the horrid witch who sold her soul to Sathanas was hiding with her other sister-witches.
. , • • •
" Ser Giorgio raised his silver-shining shield ; the Madonnina's smile had made it shine for joy because she blessed it. The outside bore the rose-red cross ; the inside showed a picture, mirrored bright and clear as in a glass. And, upward — ahvay upward, to the inside of his lifted shield Ser Giorgio looked, that, so, the evil eye of that dread witch should cast no spell on him.
*' He saw the sisters sleeping on a couch made of the multitudinous bodies of fat toads. Black cacoda^mons and hobgoblins fanned hot fevers in the air, with weary beatings of blistered wings of bats. Each witch was clothed with scaly skin ; and at their finger-ends were claws of brass. He watched them in the brilliance of his shield.
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Protector of the Kingdom
" The horrid witch, the slave of Sathanas, slept with a sister on this side, and on that; and, in the mirror of his silver-shining shield, Ser Gior- gio saw the image of that awful face which turns all men to stone. It had no skin.
" The festered flesh was bleeding raw, and green. The shapeless features twitched unceasingly. Grey vipers writhed and tangled in the hair. A huge white toad sat dribbling on the brow. And, fearful, wide, wild, horror lay behind The stony glaring of those lidless eyes.
" Then, like a falling star, the young knight's sword — the sword of San Michele Arcangiolo — struck off the head of the bloated witch ; while in the act, Ser Giorgio seized it as it fell, and gave it to his slender squire, mounting in air, borne upward on the wings of gold which San Gabriele Arcangiolo had bound upon his eager feet. Neither the cacodaemons, nor hobgoblins, nor the sisters of the horrid witch could see him, for he wore the curving-crested helmet of San Michele Arcangiolo; and he flew so mightily upon the wings of gold, that he escaped their rage, and rending of the air with brazen claws.
" So he left the dark and slimy cave ; and, ris- ing to the clouds, he flew — he flew — he flew — and scoured away across the sea.
• « • • «
** Sathanas, thwarted here, breaks out there.
47
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
So it will be till the consummation of the world, when San Michele Arcangiolo will chain him fast for ever in the lowest pit of hell. And, while Ser Giorgio was gone to slay the horrid witch and take her head, Sathanas made an onslaught on that isle where the Madonnina's shrine stood by the shore, sending there the daemon called Apol- lyon, to make the people sin.
" Out of the sea, he rose, all fierce and grim; a monstrous lizard, having iron jaws, and snorting fearful gusts of smoke and flame; whose snaky length was armed with iron scales, and writhed along the waves for full a mile. And he demanded of the king that worship and
that service which is paid to the Signor Iddio
on His Throne.
" The king refused ; for, though a proud and wicked man, also full of lust, he called himself a Christian.
" At this, the dragon breathed a pestilence across the land ; and all the horses perished where they stood ; then he sank the slow length of his iron coils beneath the boiling waters of the sea.
"Next day, the hideous lizard climbed the giant headland riding on the sea; and once more he called upon the people to save themselves by means of mortal sin. Met by refusal, the mon- ster roared with rage, and blew a pestilence
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Protector of the Kingdom
across the land which slew half all the cattle ; then he sank beneath the boiling waters of the angry sea.
"The third day, Apollyon came again, and crouched before the king. Crowds stood near, all pale and sick, because the dragon said no word, but sighed continually; and, at each sigh, the earth shook, and a gust of hot wind with a noisome stench blasted them, striking fear of death into their hearts. And they said to the king, ' Surely the gods amuse themselves in paradise, forgetting us, their clients, leaving us a prey to Sathanas. If we resist this daemon, we and our cattle die, and our land is desolated. Therefore, O king, speak courteously to him. Ask him to take a gift, and go away, leaving us in peace. To-day, we are in his power. To- morrow, the gods may remember us, and look upon us, and help us ; but, to-day, we must help ourselves.'
" The king spoke courteously to the dragon, asking what gift must be given to buy his favour.
" The loathsome monster claimed a gift of all the little girls of fourteen years, that he might suck their hearts to quench his thirst.
" But the people wept, crying for mercy, offer- ing any gift but that; and, the more they wept and cried, the more the dragon raged, sickening them with the hot stench of his breath, making them mad with fear, till they consented to this
frightful sacrifice in order to appease his anger. 4 49
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
"Their eyes went blind with tears they could not
shed ; their bursting throats ached with a powerless
rage : and there they stripped their children by the
shore, all tender little maids of fourteen years, and bound them, helpless, on the rocks, around the giant headland riding on the sea.
" The dragon spumed along the heaving foam, to drink their blood.
" Despairing fathers saw those gentle bodies tremble, turn by turn, crushed in the hot clutch of Apollyon, whose burning lips sank, sucking out the heart, between the dainty upward-point- ing breasts. They saw the struggle, and writh- ing quiver of soft white limbs, of little rounded arms, which, yesterday, were nestling in some loved embrace. And, now, they saw their dar- lings still, and cold, and pale, as winter's snow.
" From rock to rock, from maid to maid, the dragon darted all that day; till nightfall showed a fringe of pallid broken flowers along the shore ; and then he sank the slow length of his iron coils beneath the boiling waters of the outraged sea.
*' Mothers went wild that night; and lovers raved against the Signor Iddio on His Throne, against the Madonnina and her Son, against th' unhearing gods in paradise,
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Protector of the Kingdom
against th' angelick hierarchy of heaven, because these things were done. Oh ! they
forgot that christian men need never fear the fiend ; for Sathanas, when boldly faced, will fly : therefore he must be spat upon, defied if need be, even unto death, and worse ; for th' amaranthine crown, which heroes wear in paradise, outweighs the bitter pain that wins it, here. And, further, they forgot
that, yielding to the menaces of Sathanas,
to-day, makes him free to come again with
fresh demands, to-morrow.
" So, when the sun rose, all the sky blushed red to see the spoils which the dragon had won from christian men; and Apollyon came once more, rearing grinning jaws above the sea.
" Now that king had a daughter, a lovely little maid of fourteen years ; and when his people gave their children to appease the dragon, he kept her hidden in the palace, thinking that Apollyon, who may be quailed and quelled, but not cheated — as Sathanas, his lord, may be defeated, but not deceived, being himself the master of deceit — would have slaked his thirst upon the hecatomb of yesterday.
" But the dragon came, demanding that the king's young daughter should be brought and bound, that he might suck her heart as he had sucked the hearts of all the other maids, or, in
51
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
default, he said, the island should be over- whelmed, engulphed, washed out by the sea.
"And, even with these words, he heaved his horrid length above the water, high into the air, and, falling forward with a thunderous crash, striking the surface with a belly scaled with iron, he made huge waves rush up the beach right to the terror-bound feet of those who stood, trans- fixed with fear and shame, to parley with him.
" San Rafaele Arcangiolo urged Ser Giorgio on, and gave him swifter speed across the sea. He flew — he flew — he flew on the wings of gold which San Gabriele Arcangiolo had bound upon his eager feet.
« • > • ■
" Then that king brought his daughter to the shore, and stretched her on a rock. She flushed as rosy-white as any pearl. He strained her arms to right and left, and bound them in the shadows of her hair. He laid her little feet among loose strands of weed above the surface of the sea. The slim young maid lay still. Her jacinth eyes were wet with tears, and the sweet upward-point- ing breasts quivered with little sighs.
"Apollyon grinned to see this delicate morsel; and, to inflame his lust of blood, he coiled his mon- strous lizard body, with iron jaws, and armed along its length with giant fish-scales all of iron, around the rock on which his victim lay ; feasted and fed his burning eyes and brain, gloating over this deli-
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Protector of the Kingdom
cious maid, till he flashed into flame and lashed the boiling sea, eyeing her from a distance, that he might rush in, at last, to clutch her, cleaving the waters with sinuous tail ; and, plunging lips deep in her soft flesh, suck out her heart's blood.
• • • • ■
" But, behold ! behold ! Between the infernal dragon and the wild-rose maid, the great Ser Giorgio came !
" He flew on the wings of gold which San Gabriele Arcangiolo had bound upon his eager feet. The mantle of Madonnina streamed in the wind, kissing the rose-red cross of the pennon of the lance that swung from the socket at the heel. He wore the golden curving-crested helmet of San Michele Arcangiolo. On his left arm, he bore the silver shining shield, whose bordures bloomed with golden roses, and which shone for joy when the Madonnina smiled and blessed it with the rose-red cross. And in his strong right hand he brandished his resistless golden-hilted sword. He came between the infernal dragon and the maid.
'•And as Apollyon foamed along the surface of the sea, his eyes fell on the rose-red cross Ser Giorgio bore, signed on the silver of his shining shield.
" And terror took the daemon.
53
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
" Ser Giorgio swung his sword, — the sword of San Michele Arcangiolo, — raining slashing blows upon that iron-scaled neck, and slew the infernal dragon of the sea,
• • * • •
*' Then he unbound the gentle maid, the daugh- ter of the king, yet, in his reverence for woman- hood, he gave her not the pain of seeing him, but flew with her to her father on the shore, — father dazed with shame, and fear, and utter joy. And while the maiden swooned, Ser Giorgio revealed himself, raising the golden curving-crested hel- met of San Michele Arcangiolio for an instant, while the thankful people found a voice, and gave a loud ovation shouting, * lo ! lo ! ' to the victor.
" But Ser Giorgio, again invisible, passed swiftly through the throng, and went to bend low his high knee before the altar of Madonnina, called the Sedes Sapiential, in her chapel by the sea.
" First, to San Rafaele Arcangiolo, who served him as a slender squire, he offered thanks for com- panionship and service on a dangerous quest; and for bringing him home in peace and health and joy.
" Next to San Gabriele Arcangiolo and San Michele Arcangiolo, he gave the helmet and the lance, the sword and the shoes with wings of gold, which those fair princes lent; and he offered thanks to them for their strong aid.
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Protector of the Kingdom
" Then, last, but best of all, he rendered grateful praise to her who gave him wisdom and a valiant heart, — the Madonnina in her picture painted on the wall, and called the Sedes Sapientiae : also, he returned that admirable mantle, which hands of angels wove on looms of heaven in spring from petals of forget-me-nots and lilies. And he said * Madonnina Mary, tell me ; have I won that belt and spurs of gold ? ' She answered, ' O strenuous youth, O vehement knight of mine, have patience. Once more, I claim your service. Once more you must bear arms for me against Sathanas. And, when you see me sitting on my throne, in the kingdom of my Son, then you may ask me for the belt and spurs of gold ; for, then, you will have won them.'
" So, having paid his duteous respects to her whom II Santissimo, dying on His Cross, gave to Man for Mother, next, Ser Giorgio embraced his earthly mother, smiling at him through the tears which loving women shed for joy, and held his strong arms round her, while she babbled of her pride in her boy's bravery, murmuring praises to the gods who guarded him in his dangerous quest, and brought him back to her in peace and health and joy.
" Next day, the king would have Ser Giorgio show himself, and say what honour, or what reward would pay him for his arduous toil. And, by the throne, there stood the king's fair daughter,
55
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
radiant in silver sown with pearls, and sweet and fresh and pure as a wild-rose.
•' Ser Giorgio looked upon her loveliness; and he offered her the white rose of paradise, which the Madonnina gave him when she smiled and blessed his silver-shining shield in her chapel by the sea.
" The princess took the rose of paradise, wor- shipping it with her lips; and, then, Ser Giorgio asked the king to give him, as his meed, that gracious maid, his daughter, for a bride.
"And the king agreed; but, being a wicked man whose plans the youth had spoiled, he cursed Ser Giorgio, deep down in his heart.
o • • "
" That night the king could not sleep ; and, to him, raging with disappointment, came Sathanas, who said, 'O king, have you resolved to leave your pleasures, and to serve the silly gods who never let you follow your own will, but keep you strictly lest you should enjoy the good things of my store? This knight of yours, this Giorgio, has slain my witch whom I had bought with gold; also, my slave Apollyon : and you will reward him with that delicious maid, your daughter, who was meat of mine. What do you gain by this? Nothing! Your bed is bare! The woman for whom your heart is sick, is safe, and rests secure, protected by her son, this Giorgio. There is no warm embrace to clasp you; and, yet, you give your daughter to this
56
Protector of the Kingdom
boy, who keeps you from your heart's desire. And all because he slew my slaves, forsooth ! Know, silly king, that I have many millions more, each more powerful than Apollyon, or than that witch. These, I will send, to blight your vines, to blast your growing corn, poison your wells and water-springs, kill all your cattle, rob you of your crown, and make you gnaw your wasted flesh for food, and beg for any death to free you from your pain : unless you swear allegiance to my will, and serve me as your god. '
" Before the threats of Sathanas, the wicked king cowered down upon his bed. He forgot that the sign of our salvation, waved in the air, will drive the arch-daemon down to endless fire; for he was drunk with lust, and the sin of jealousy was like a chain about his mind. He whimpered, that he knew not what to do ! — He lusted after the mother, and he loathed her son ! — Also — he was a miserable man. — But, what could he do? —
" Sathanas answered him, ' Adore me, and obey my will.' And, sinking low his voice, — so low, indeed, that it was not a voice, nor a whisper, nor even a thought suggested, but a picture, and a scroll, which only the eye of one man's mind, and that the king's, could read or see, — Sathanas and his royal slave pondered over many cunning stratagems, till the day dawned ; and they con- spired,
57
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
" against the Signer Iddio on His Throne, to rob the Madonnina of her knight, to slay Ser Giorgio by a shameful death, to get his mother for the lustful king, his bride to go, a maid, to Sathanas.
• • • • •
" That day was chaunted the epithalamium of the very noble knight, Ser Giorgio, and the wild- rose daughter of the king. All day long, the populace rejoiced and feasted ; and they crowned the intrepid youth and his young bride with roses, till the sun went down.
" Ser Giorgio sat by the seashore, between his mother and his maid. He spoke of the Madon- nina's promise of a belt and spurs of gold. The stars grew bright in a violet sky. In silence, revel died.
" Then, Sathanas appeared before the wicked lustful king, and said, ' The hour is near. Arise: fulfil your oath to me ! '
• • • • •
" The youthful knight was mounting on his bridal-bed, to taste the loveliness of that white wild-rose maid which the might of his strong arm had won. But, even as he felt her heart quiver with love so near his own, and kissed the freshness of her nestling in his ardent breast, San Rafaele Arcangiolo came flying down the moon- beams' silver shining in the room, who said,
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Protector of the Kingdom
' Arise, Ser Giorgio, and go to win your belt and spurs of gold. I take your mother and your bride to be my care ; and, you may know that, under my protection, they are safe from every evil thing. Therefore, go in peace, knight of my queen, and have no fear.'
" Ser Giorgio veiled the ivory of his skin be- neath the tunic which he wore in peaceful days. It was as white as snow ; and, on the breast, his mother's hands had sewn his badge, the rose- red cross. He buckled the white straps of the sandals on his insteps, and half-way between his ankles and his high uncringing knees. Striding to the threshold, he encountered sudden-sent messengers, who said, ' The king commands your illustrious presence at his council hall ; for news has reached him that an antient foe, hav- ing heard of the damage done by the infernal dragon, has deemed the time a fitting one for invasion of the kingdom.'
" Ser Giorgio followed the heralds. At the court, the wicked king was waiting on his throne, surrounded by his councillors, all wise old men, the wisest in the realm ; though none had wisdom, or valour, or insight, deep as that which tingled in the young Ser Giorgio from heel to crown. This, they knew well : and, in their stress, they asked advice of him, as of a god.
• • • • •
" San Rafaele Arcangiolo brought to the shore a little swift-sailed boat. In it, he placed the
59
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
mother and the bride beloved of Ser Giorgio. He set the sail. He took the rudder ; and a legion of gentle sweet-eyed angels softly fanned with large white rustling wings, driving the boat, with a heron's speed, across the sea.
. • • • •
" The council, summoned on pretence, sat many hours ; and when the wise old men had freed their minds of many words, Ser Giorgio spoke two, showing how any enemy might be met, and crushed.
" Suddenly, the king started, and he cried, ' Behold, the angel-guardian of the kingdom, who deigns to cheer us by a vision of his glory, that he may help us in distress ! Oh, come, let us adore and worship, giving thanks ! ' And he pointed to a form resembling a mighty angel, which stood before them in the council- chamber.
" The king and his ignorant wise old councillors kneeled down ; but Ser Giorgio vehemently cried, 'Here is no angel, but a fiend, O king! For I have often heard that Sathanas has cun- ning by which he can transform his horrid shape into the resemblance of an angel, deceiv- ing many ! Therefore, arise, O king, and you wise councillors, and spit upon this cacodccmon ! "
" But the wicked king and his deceived coun- cillors bade the bold knight to favour his tongue, and let his elders know their duty, seeing that he was but a boy of seventeen years. Also,
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Protector of the Kingdom
they asked, by what signs such a youth as he could surely tell whether this vision were an angel or a cacodaemon?
" Ser Giorgio answered, ' That I am but a lad, is true ; yet, there have been old men glad when some little child would lead them home; and to mere babes wisdom is revealed, but hidden from the wise and prudent. And, for the signs by which I know this fiend — my heart is pure, my eyes are keen, and clear, and innocent of sin; therefore, humbly, I would dare to look, boldly, upon the Vision of the Face of God in all the Immortal Splendour of His Majesty, Whose high archangels are my friends, and my companions, every day ; but, when I pierce into the eyes of this infernal daemon, he winces at my glance, and shifts his own. Can a lad, as I am, cause the eyes of angels to flicker with fear? Also, he stinks of sin. If you would see a proof — '
" The candid boy lifted his hand, and waved the mystic sign of our salvation right in the daemon's face.
" There was a flash of fire, a roar as of thunder, and darkness for a moment. When the self- shut and blind eyes of the king and of his grave courtiers looked again, Sathanas was gone ; bare was the porphyry pavement where he lately stood.
" Yet Sathanas is a foe who comes continually ; and continually the christian warrior fights to
6i
Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
drive him back. And to those eyes which gazed on emptiness, Sathanas, by magick art, appeared in angel form once more.
■ " For guards, the king cried ; and, at his signal, a band of armed soldiers occupied the council- chamber, menacing Ser Giorgio, who, unmoved by any fear, unflinchingly defied the daemon, and his tool and slave, the king.
" But that king, mindful of his oath to Sathanas, said, ' O Ser Giorgio, you speak blasphemy against the angel-guardian of our kingdom, merit- ing death. Yet, seeing that you are a youth, and rash, also the slayer of the dragon, you shall not die, if you consent to kneel, now, and worship this angel.'
" Ser Giorgio looked upon the armed guards with scorn. To the king, he said no word in his disdain. He raised his brave hand high, and waved the mystick sign of our salvation in the daemon's face.
*' Once more flashed fire : darkness followed an angry war of thunder : and Sathanas was gone. But, in a moment, he showed himself again on that same porphyry pavement where he stood before.
" Then the king cried against Ser Giorgio, in his wrath, ' It may be that you have no fear of death, O youth; but think of your beloved mother — of your beloved bride. And hear me swear that unless you will obey, and on your knees adore this angel, I will have your blood,
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Protector of the Kingdom
first; and, then, the blood of those whom your dead arms cannot protect. More; for, before they die, outrage the foulest shall defile them — your mother shall be mine ; and your young bride — • this night, I '11 fling her as a plaything to my slaves ! '
" Ser Giorgio neither blenched, nor faltered. The brave true-hearted boy shot arrows of scath- ing scorn out from the blinding splendour of his eyes. He said, ' O wretched king, vain is your rage. My mother and my bride are in the hands of God, where torment cannot touch them : and this I know ; for San Rafaele Arcangiolo holds them safe, who, with his angel legion, is their sure defence against all evils with which Sathanas, your master, makes you menace them. To me, your threats will bring eternal glory: my sons and my sons' sons will bear my blazon through the ages when your very name 's forgot- ten. And, therefore, I undauntedly rejoice to die for my Lord and Leader, Jhesus Christ, and for His rose-red cross.'
" Here was a white-robed hero, always vigilant, faithful unto death, dauntless, superb, indomit- able, victorious. He lifted stainless hands and fearless eyes to heaven, and he whispered, * Ma- donnina Mary, pray for me, that I may win my belt and spurs of gold.'
" Stung to fury by defeat so dire, the wicked king commanded, and the sword of the carnefex struck off the head of the very noble knight,
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Being an Epick of Sangiorgio
Sangiorgio, that mighty champion invincible by land or sea, who slew the daemon-dragon with his strong right arm, who bears his blazon of the rose-red cross for evermore signed on the silver of his shining shield, beside the sea of crystal near God's throne, where Madonnina gave her paladin, the mantle woven on the looms of heaven by angel-hands in spring from petals of forget- me-nots and lilies, the martyr's sceptre all of golden palm, the hero's crown of amaranthine laurel, and the belt and spurs of gold.
• • • ' • ■
" The wicked king became a prey for daemons. Worms fed on his living flesh, while Sathanas ruled his kingdom.
• • • • *
" The Madonnina, painted on the chapel wall, and called the Sedes Sapientiae, would stay no longer in that dsemon-dominated land. She flew on angels' wings across the sea ; and, beyond those hills at Genazzano, is her shrine, where angels hold her picture till this day, safe, and inviolate, in middle air.
• • • • •
" Safely, with a heron's speed, across the sea, to this same shore, San Rafaele Arcangiolo and his gentle sweet-eyed angel -legion brought the little swift-sailed boat. And, where the antient city of Ardca stands to-day, — city which gave San- giorgio's blazon and his illustrious progeny to Rome, — the mother and the bride of the very
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Protector of the Kingdom
noble knight, Sangiorgio, lived not many years, in exile, by the sea; and then they both went home unto our Lord.
"ijl Scuto Bonae Vohintatis Tuae : alleluia: Coronasti eum, Domine : alleluia : "
" That, o chare puer," I exclaimed, " is an Epic which deserved declamation to stringed instruments."
• • • • •
As I descended from the cart, I asked, " By the bye, Toto, what became of the witch's head?"
"Well, sir; briefly, this. San Rafaele Arcan- giolo cut it up into little bits like dice, covered them with fig-leaves, and gave them to Sant- ignazio of Loyola in a fig-basket. But I will tell you that history some other time."
65
Why the Rose is Red
VIJ Why the Rose is Red
BREAKFAST was ready, under the ma- gnolia-tree. I like these late-spring breakfasts in the sun.
Guido and Ercole had executed a masterpiece in their simplicity, with three great bowls of beaten brass, one in the middle to support my book, one each at the opposite corners of the table, all filled with damask roses of the darkest purple, fresh, and breathing liquid odours as of cloves celestial ! I gave the creatures compli- ments, and sat down to breakfast. Cocomeri ripieni, Port Salut, olives, perfumed oranges, pitch-flavoured wine, — delicious !
At the end, Guido and Ercole went away to fetch coffee. Toto, who had been shedding his city clothes, and getting his breakfast, came and stood by the left side of my table. I happened to reach for another mandarin, and I saw him with the corner of my eye.
Good gracious ! The boy was livid, stiff and stark, convulsed with silent rage. I never saw such a fury. But, of course, I took no notice. I was going to have an emotion by and bye ; and I
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Why the Rose is Red
became as demurely watchful as my yellow cat Annia.
When Guido and Ercole returned, I saw Toto's right fist clench till the knuckles grew quite pale, and Guido let the coffee-pot fall onto the grass. Toto snarled, "A — po — plex — y," in a turgid undertone.
I dislike imprecations, and I said, " Sh ; " while Guido ran to the house for another pot of coffee.
While I was sipping it, and using a cigarette, I made the following secret observations : —
(a) Guido, who is Toto's very delicately slim and agile little brother of thirteen years, with the most beautiful white to his eyes like chruso- berul, stood on the right side of my table, turned to alabaster, looking wildly on the face of Toto, and with tears streaming down his cheeks ;
(/S) Ercole — a lusty bronze Roman with the visage of luvenis Octavianus — stood, a little be- hind and to the right of Guido, presenting an image of horror of the unknown ;
(7) and, across the table, Toto glared like — the witch's head.
. . • • *
I went to take a look round my studio.
Toto followed, " Permission to forsake la sua eccellenza during ten minutes," he asked. I nodded forward. He tore away like one frantick. From the terrace, I watched his tremendous legs stride headlong down the Via Livia to the city.
I played about for a little by myself, and re-
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Why the Rose is Red
solved to have a lazy hour doing nothing at all.
But here came a most shocking thing.
In the studio there is a large glass door which opens upon a little terrace, giving a lovely wide vista of the city below, then the Campagna, and beyond that the sea, fourteen miles away. At the side of the terrace a stair leads down into the garden.
Darkening this doorway, Toto towered on high, with the hair of Guido in his right hand, and the hair of Ercole in his left. He forced them down upon their knees, and they wept piteously, and, antiphonally, they cried to me : —
" :V^. Oh, pardon ! "
"1^. Pardon!"
" V^. Ah, we did not know ! "
" K^-. We did not know ! "
"Y^. To la sua eccellenza, we wished to give pleasure ! "
"-Rr. To la sua eccellenza, we tried to give pleasure ! "
" V'. But it was our evil day ! "
"^. If la sua eccellenza would only believe ! "
" V^. Oh, pardon ! "
"IT. Pardon! "
I became very angry. I am very cutting, in my rages. I said, " Go away, little sillies ! "
They expected to be killed, I know. They were quite heart-broken, plainly. They got up and went away. Toto was for following, but I
68
why the Rose is Red
recalled him. There was a hideous bulge on his
stomach. He had got some lump stowed away
beneath his shirt at his waist.
" Beast," I said, " what is the meaning of this?
What have those rudikopaide done that you
should make me such a scene?"
" Sir, they repent; and they ask for pardon." " Oh, yes ! — pardon ! — But for what crime?
— They 've broken something. — I know it ! — " " No, sir. But for the insult."
" Heaven be my aid and grant me final per- severance ! " I cried, " what are you driving at? "
"The insult, sir; and they shall take their penance now," he turned away, looking posi- tively rhadamanthine.
" Toto ! — Come back ! — Don't dare to move !
— Here, go to the throne, and pose — like this ! " I seized a little cast of the Hebe from Virinum in Carinthia and shoved it forward, musing over the inscription incised on the front of the right thigh, A. POPLICIVS. D. LANTIOC. TI. BARBIVS. Q. PL. TIBER.
Then I shut the doors and attended to the lighting of the model. He threw his vesture behind a screen, emerged, mounted the throne, considered the Hebe for a minute, undulated deliciously, and stiffened into the pose, — a horrid one, but one that served my purpose. I had my lion in a leash, and I began to fiddle with a char- coal stick on a bit of brown paper.
After ten minutes, I said, "Are you cold?"
69
why the Rose is Red
Toto stirred not from his stony stillness ; but his answering voice proceeded from a whisper to a roar, like this —
crescen .._.-_.. do
pp "No, sir : " —p " Hot : " —/"Awful : " — ^" Burning."
"You have taken a fever, my lad," I said; " driving over the Campagna last night, I sup- pose." I went and felt his flesh. That was normal: also, his pulse.
"No, sir; but the insult!"
" Look here, Toto," I said ; " if you will drop your beastly elliptical Latin manner of leaving every important thing to my imagination, and will try to express yourself like an Englishman for once, you will improve my temper. Dash it all, boy, what do you mean? "
"Sir, the insult! "
" Per Cristo ! What insult? Two words now !"
" Sir, in the pip of an apple — the Roses ! "
"Well! And the Roses?"
" They were Red, sir ! Oh ! " (with another roar) " they shall bleed, — those boar-pigs, — they shall bleed ! "
" Silence ! " I cried. " Come here ! "
He descended the throne, and came to me. Fauno Furibondo — that's what he was ! There was something of terrible in this boy. You could see his heart-beats. I looked upon him with disgust.
70
Why the Rose is Red
" Dress," I said.
He retired behind the screen. I must chain this lion more securely.
I made him kneel at my feet; and I took his throat in my two hands.
" Now lend me both your ears," I said. I saw attention concentrated in his eyes. " I think the Roses on my table to have been entirely ex- quisite. Simpaticissime ! I am pleased with those Roses. Understand?"
He looked at me with unfeigned amazement; and, oh, how earnestly I watched the changes in his expression !
" I think Guido and Ercole to have very beau- tiful souls, or they could not have invented so beautiful a decoration for my table."
He thought me guilty of mockery. I saw anger in his glance; and I throttled him a little.
" Pax ! " I said. " I mean what I say. I am delighted with those Roses."
Two emotions coursed processionally through his eyes. First, penitent appeal. Second, ven- eration.
" Tell me, Toto ; what is that under your shirt?"
He put his hand into his bosom, and drew out a very nasty, coiled-up thing.
"What is it?"
" Sir, the sinew of a bullock."
"Where did you get it?"
" Sir, I ran down to the butcher for it."
71
Why the Rose is Red
** What do you intend to do with it? "
*' Sir, I intend to flay the hides off Guido, my brother, and off Ercole of Rome, in order to appease la sua eccellenza who is so deeply wounded by vinegar-sons-of-wine that he has no words left wherewith to curse them."
I throttled him again. " For putting Red Roses on my table?"
" Yes, sir."
Without speaking, I looked long through the eyes into the soul of this amazing creature.
Then, I said, " Toto, I am a child; a baby; knowing nothing. I must have a teacher to make me understand. — What is the sin of Red Roses? Tell me?"
" Sir, it is the supreme insult, to offer Red Roses to an Englishman."
"Why?"
" Sir, the Red Rose is stained with blood — the blood of Holy Innocents. Therefore, it is a badge of infamy."
" Oh," I said. " Very well. And you are going to flay Guido and Ercole?"
" I am going to flay Guido and Ercole."
I released his throat.
"Toto mio," I said; "what good will those kids be to me without their skins? I prefer to give them their penance myself"
" Sir, if you will take that trouble, it will be better so. But, very humbly, I ask you to
forgive them also."
72
why the Rose is Red
" Yes, I forgive them freely." He bent down and kissed my ring. " Bring them to the anti- camera, now ; and treat them very, very kindly. If you make them unhappy any more, I will kill you. Remember!"
• • • • •
Oh, such pathetick little abjects came in ! Distressed ones, who, having innocently insulted the lord whom they adored, only wished to die; for they had forfeited his favour for ever ; and their hearts were broken ! What an emotion !
I made the three boys sit down on stools. I was going to be impressive, and so I sat on the high chair. I said, " Guido and Ercole, you have offered me an insult: but you did it in innocence ; and you are truly contrite. Is that so?" •
" Oh, sir, yes ! "
" Then, for your penance, you must promise to believe what I am going to tell you. Do you promise? "
" Oh, sir, yes ! "
"Then listen. All through my life I have loved Red Roses. Therefore, you did not offend me by putting Red Roses on my table. But now I have learned that an Englishman ought to hate Red Roses, and not to love them. So I am converted, and you must never offer me any more red roses."
" No, sir, never, sir ! "
" Well then, you are forgiven. And because
73
Why the Rose is Red
I like you to be happy, we will all make an ex- pedition to Velletri, to-morrow."
''Oh, sir!"
" And, for his penance, Toto, who committed the sin of anger because he wishes me well, must tell us why the Red Rose is a badge of infamy."
As though a tap had been turned on, Toto be- gan to intone rhythmick cadences.
" When the Padre Eterno made the world. He resolved to plant a garden ; and He sent one of the seven angels with a mete-yard of gold, to mark out a fine situation by the river-side, where were gentle hills and dales.
" He marked out this garden in the shape of a square, one thousand and five hundred miles each way, enclosed by an impenetrable hawthorn bush, white and pink, with flowers and fragrance on the inside, and piercing thorns without. Round the four sides of the garden went this hawthorn bush, one hundred and seventy-three cubits high, and one hundred and seventy-three cubits deep.
" The Padre Eterno planted groves of trees, all in beautiful order : orange-trees, and almond-trees, and apple-trees, and lemon-trees, and cherry- trees, with the blossoms always on the one side, for pleasure to sight and smell; and ripe fruit always on the other side for pleasure to the taste.
" The hills He crowned with pine-forests ; and He decked their slopes with little olive-groves. Here were vineyards of white and purple grapes. There were palms and poplars by the brooks.
74
Why the Rose is Red
Along the pools, He placed osiers and willow- trees and bulrushes for bordures : and He made great lawns of fine green grass as soft as the fur of cats, where the young Lord Adamo might rest under shady trees. Each lawn was surrounded by bushes of a different kind; and on each lawn were different kinds of trees and different kinds of flowers. One lawn was bordured by syringa- bushes and adorned with wall-flowers, and heliotrope, and golden-rod. Another lawn was bordured by blue hydrangea bushes, and studded with poppies and meadow-sweet, A third lawn was bordured by bushes of rosemary, and orna- mented with southernwood and lilies ; and there were white peacocks, and peacocks purple in their pride. Under the walnut-trees were hya- cinths, under the sycamore-trees were primroses, under the mulberry-trees were asphodels, under the cedar-trees were forget-me-nots, under the chestnut-trees were daisies, under the oak-trees were violets. On the pools, great white lilies floated ; and, at their marges, were iris and mari- gold, and moss.
" Oh, a beautiful garden !
" Yet the Padre Eterno was not content. What He had done was very good, according to the Scripture ; but it was not His best. He had not done His all : and He wished for one more flower to be the queen of the garden. So, under the oak-trees. He planted a thorn ; and He starred the thorn with a bloom having five petals,
75
why the Rose is Red
tender as wings of butterflies, white as the soul of a little child, and having a heart of purest gold.
" Then the Nine Quires of angels came singing through the garden ; and, in a blossom of ma- gnolia, they collected odours from the lily, and the violet, and the hyacinth, and thyme and wall- flower and orange-blossom and meadow-sweet and southernwood and rosemary. And the Padre Eterno poured the perfume from the magnolia- chalice over the new white flower, and called it Rosa Mystica. He appointed the Sixth Quire of angels, that is to say, the Dominations, to guard and tend it night and day.
" These things having been done, the Padre Eterno put the young Lord Adamo into His gar- den. And, in order that he might not be alone. He made him sleep : and while he slept. He gently divided him in two pieces, a large one, and a small, but each piece alive by itself though be- longing to the other. The large piece of the Lord Adamo was called Man ; and the small piece was our Mother Eva, who is Woman. But Sathanas, who always goes against Domeniddio in everything, was very angry when he saw this; and he struggled with the Padre Eterno, to prevent Him from dividing the Lord Adamo. And so the pieces came in different shapes, being unevenly divided: there is more of man than of woman ; and the one always longs for the other; for, until they are joined together, neither the
76
Why the Rose is Red
man nor the woman is complete and perfect, as the Padre Eterno designed.
" That was in the first hour. Then came the business of the animals ; and, when that was fin- ished, the Lord Adamo and our Mother Eva walked in the beautiful garden, tasted the fruit, admired the flowers, and loved each the other well under shade of trees.
"On the lawn of lilies there were two strange trees: the one a quince-tree which was called the Tree of Wisdom ; the other a tree of blood-red pomegranates, which was called the Tree of Life. Who ate the fruit of one, knew all the wisdom that the world has ever known or shall know. Who ate the fruit of the other, became immortal like the gods. And the Padre Eterno had for- bidden the Lord Adamo and our Mother Eva to touch those trees, though they were free to use all the rest of the garden at their will.
" At the fifth hour the sun was in his strength, and the Lord Adamo left our Mother Eva sleep- ing under the great quince-tree, and went down to the water-side for coolness.
" Sathanas saw his opportunity. He came into the garden shaped like a serpent covered with green scales, having the head and bosom of a woman, black as the pit. He coiled around the trunk of the quince-tree, and he whispered to our Mother Eva, sleeping, while she thought it was a dream, advising her to eat the quinces, and to gain wisdom.
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why the Rose is Red
" At the sixth hour the Lord Adamo came up from the water, cool and fresh. He could not see Sathanas, who was too cunning to let himself be caught by Man,
" But our Mother Eva rose up in her sleep, and she mounted on a coil which the serpent made for her, till she could reach the quinces in the tree. And, in her dream, she plucked quinces, and she ate them ; she gave quinces also to the Lord Adamo, saying that they would make him wise ; and, in his admiration, he ate them too.
" So, tempted and deceived by Sathanas, they disobeyed. Then, to the Lord Adamo and to our Mother Eva, came wisdom in an overwhelming torrent. Every good thing they had known be- fore, and now they knew every bad thing as well, and they had much fear (for knowledge brings fear), thinking of the anger of the Padre Eterno when He should know their sin.
" They wandered through the garden, hand in hand, weeping, weighted with all the wisdom that all men have ever had or shall have. Also, they wept because they knew that they had stripped themselves of the favour of the Padre Eterno, and were naked and unarmed against Sathanas.
" While they wandered weeping, the sun began to lose his power, and at the seventh hour the Lord Adamo and our Mother Eva found them- selves again upon the lawn of lilies. But what a change ! What ruin ! And what horror ! For
78
Why the Rose is Red
the peacocks had broken all the snow-white lily- blooms, and trampled down their slender grace- ful stems, and all the serpent's trail was strewn with violets crushed and dead.
" Suddenly soft music from a distance floated through the trees, and the Lord Adamo and our Mother Eva shivered with fear, knowing the Padre Eterno to be walking in the garden, and they hid themselves in the bushes of rosemary.
" Ah ! who can hide from the Signor Iddio Onnisciente? Then, for their penance, the Padre Eterno drove the Lord Adamo and our Mother Eva out into the wicked world, and the garden of paradise faded like a dream.
" But the angels of the Sixth Quire kneeled down and confessed, saying, ' O Padre Celeste e Domeniddio, we have sinned, and yet we know not how, for the Rose which You deigned to give into our care has changed, — changed though we never ceased to watch it, — white were all its flowers, white as the soul of a little child, and behold, now, Maesta, some are as red as blood.'
" The Padre Eterno answered : '^^^ O Domi- nations, TO WHOSE CHARGE WE HAVE GIVEN
THE Rose, you have no blame. Sathanas has STAINED Our garden WITH Sin. For, by dis- obedience, Man has gained wisdom, and wis- dom brings Sin. And there shall be many nations of the Man : they will be wise, and they will sin. And the nations will sepa-
79
Why the Rose is Red
RATE THEMSELVES THROUGH THE SIN OF ENVY ; AND EACH NATION WILL MARK ITSELF BY SOME SIGN THROUGH THE SIN OF PRIDE. OnE NATION WILL WEAR THE VIOLET FOR ITS SIGN ; AND THE VIOLETS WILL BE CRUSHED BY THE SERPENT OF
DECEIT. Another nation will wear the
LILIES FOR ITS SIGN; AND THE PEACOCKS OF PRIDE WILL TRAMPLE DOWN THE LILIES OF HUMILITY. And yet ANOTHER NATION WILL
WEAR THE Rose for its sign; and cruelty will stain the wearers of the rose. Strong shall they be, and some strong without mercy or pity. they will live on
the lives of THE WEAK, OR FEEBLE, WHOM THEY MAKE THEIR SLAVES; THEY WILL STAIN THE WHITENESS OF THE ROSE WITH THE BLOOD OF INNOCENTS. YET, NOT ALL WILL SIN, FOR
though some will choose the evil, more will choose the good, and there remain White Roses for the nation which We shall choose to crown with glory and honour,
AND TO WHICH WE SHALL GIVE DOMINION OVER THE WORKS OF OUR HANDS, BENEDICAT VOS
Omnipotens Deus iSi(Ith[i Pater hEiafj^ et
FiLius ^^1^ ET Spiritus Sanctus.'
" Then the garden of paradise was carried up to
heaven, on the wings of the Nine Quires of
Angels. And, once in the life of every man an
angel of the Sixth Ouire brings to him a White
Rose for remembrance, that the mystery of its
fragrant purity may remind him of that lost gar-
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why the Rose is Red
den where the gods are waiting for him, if he wills to come." ^
1 Toto never knew, and never shall know, that the Red Rose is the badge of the Duchy of Lancaster, — a duchy infested by as naturally unkind a race of people as the Spaniards. But I try to have a due regard for the fitness of things, and, in my opinion, the Badge of the Red Rose suits the Duchy of Lancaster quite well. I refrain from recording personal experiences, and content myself with the remark that, until a few years ago, Lancashire Cotton Mills were run by night as well as by day, two sets of children being employed, and forced to slave their little lives out in terror of the overlooker's cane. These innocents were pauper children, imported by contract from the West and South of Eng- land, and they only survived amid their appalling surroundings for an average space of five years (c. f. evidence of Robert Owen before Royal Commission of 1817). When I reflect that, while the world rang with shouts of English triumph after Waterloo, a Lancastrian section of the House of Commons was found to oppose Bills, — introduced by Sir Robert Peel, for preventing children, under nine years of age, from working more than seventy-four hours each week, — I feel very thankful that the White Rose — the pure prime-rose, for example — is the Rose of England, and not the infamous local Rose of Lancaster, dyed Red with the Blood of Innocents, victims of minotaur-manufac- turers.
81
About the Witch's Head and
VIIJ
About the Witch's Head and Santignazio of Loyola
RIDING along the road to Velletri, I re- minded Toto that something remained to be said to make a tidy ending for the tales of yesterday.
" True, sir. Well then ! When Sangiorgio had killed the dragon, as I have said, San Rafaele Arcangiolo left him, and returned to his own place.
" That prince had taken the head of the witch from Sangiorgio, because it was not advisable to leave such a dreadful thing in the world. Also, it was a trophy, a spoil, won from the enemy: and, when you have conquered your enemy, it is right and proper to strip him of any weapons which he might use against you at another time. What good would a victory be to you, if you left him those? Therefore, if you be a man of peace, as every strong man is, be sure to disarm, as well as to crush, your foe; for, only so, can you re- move temptation from him, and make certain peace secure. Well, And so San Rafaele Arcangiolo wrapped the head of the witch in a rhubarb leaf and brought it into paradise.
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Santignazio of Loyola
" He had not yet determined what he would do with it; for he considered that it was his first duty to make a report to San Michele Arcangiolo, the Great Prince commanding the armies of heaven, concerning the behaviour of the very noble knight, Sangiorgio, in face of the Enemy. So after paying the usual visit of compliment to La Sua Santita, Sampietro, at the gate, he walked across the gardens, to the citadel where San Michele Arcangiolo keeps quarters.
" It was about an hour after sunrise, by the dial ; and San Michele Arcangiolo, having finished breakfast, was engaged, with Santeligio, in looking over two suits of arms which hung on the wall of his ante-chamber. They were the suit which he had lent to Sangiorgio, and the suit which Santeligio had made to take their place.
" The god and the archangel fingered both the helmets : not a dint or bruise sullied the shining metal, not a feather was feazed from the high curved crests. They balanced the unsprung lance-shafts : not a flaw was found. They tried the temper of the sword blades, looping point to hilt, and letting it fly back straight and true. They tested the keenness of the edges, slashing at feathers floating in the air, and cleaving them in twain. And San Michele Arcangiolo said, 'My compliments to you, O Santeligio. You are a master-armourer, indeed.'
" Just then San Rafaele Arcangiolo entered. He was plainly bursting with intelligence; and, hav-
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About the Witch's Head and
ing saluted, he cried. ' Ah, well, my Lord Prince, that was a good fight down there in the world ! It would have done you good to see it; for that stripling has shown himself to be a mighty man of valour. Your highness remem- bers Davidde Re when he was yet young, before the Padre Eterno called him to be king? Well! Just such another as he, is the very noble knight Sangiorgio ! Without a shade of fear, strong as a young lion, ruthless as flint ! Also pious ! Also wise ! Knows his own mind ! When he knew what was wanted, he made plans. After he had determined on his course, nothing moved him from pursuing it. In Africa, he slew the horrid witch. (I have her head, here, in this rhubarb leaf.) Then he flew like a swift favonian wind across the sea, and killed Apollyon, who, in the form of a dragon, was menacing his home. Yes, you, Altezza, would be proud of that youth ; as I am ! We shall hear of him again, without a doubt ! He will do well ! '
'" But, the head of the witch?' San Michele said.
" * Here,' San Rafaele Arcangiolo replied. ' I thought it well to bring the beastly thing away, for fear it should do more mischief down there.'
"* Quite right,' San Michele Arcangiolo said. *It would become an occasio proxima, for certain. And it is absurd, as well as sinful, to leave edged- tools within the reach of fools and children. But what shall we do with it here?'
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Santignazio of Loyola
" San Rafaele Arcangiolo suggested that they should hack it out of shape, and chop it into little bits, so that it could never be recognised.
"'Very good,' San Michele Arcangiolo said. ' Pass me that sword, if you please, Santeligio. Thank you. And will your highness take the other? So.'
"'But what about Santeligio? ' San Rafaele Arcangiolo said. ' You, Lord Prince, and I who speak, are inviolable, because, since our creation, our eyes have always been immortal, but Sant- eligio was once a mortal goldsmith ; and, perhaps, it would not be good for him to see the horrid thing. We cannot do with any stone gods up here ; and Santeligio is such a superexcellent armourer that we can't afiford to take a risk of losing him ! '
" ' Most certainly we cannot,' San Michele Arcangiolo agreed. He asked Santeligio to be so good as to take a stroll in the court-yard, for a few minutes, until the head of the horrid witch had been mangled beyond recognition. So Sant- eligio went out to take the air; and the two archangels shut and barred the door.
" Then San Rafaele Arcangiolo shook the rhu- barb leaf, and let the head of the witch roll to the floor. He took up the golden-hilted sword which Sangiorgio had used in Africa, while San Michele Arcangiolo grasped the new one : and the two princes sliced and carved the bane into strips of flesh and bone, each strip being
8S
About the Witch's Head and
about ten top-joints of thumb in length, and the breadth of a thumb-nail's moon in depth and width. Then, they cut cross-wise, dividing the strips into dice, measuring the breadth of a thumb-nail's moon each way; till nothing of the head was left, except a heap of little bloody bits. San Michele Arcangiolo had had figs to his breakfast, and the fig-basket was lying empty on the table ; therefore the archangels spooned up the bloody dice with their sword-blades, till the floor was clean and the fig-basket full. They covered it with fig-leaves, so that none of the bloody dice were seen ; and they hid it in the folds of a mail- shirt which hung in a cupboard of the room, and which was never likely to be interfered with by any personage of other rank than archangel.
"AH these things having been accomplished satisfactorily, the world went round and round in its usual manner; the Regno di Dio con- tinued to be as it alway has been, is, and ever shall be; and San Michele Arcangiolo and San Rafaele Arcangiolo went on attending to their duties.
" Now, after many hundred years, there was a foreigner. He was a soldier, a galantuomo, and something of paino. In a war, he took a broken leg from a cannon-ball; and a clumsy surgeon mended it so badly that the leg was alway crooked. So the galantuomo caused it to be
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Santignazio of Loyola
broken again, and mended again; for he knew that ladies would not love him with a crooked leg. But it was of no use. The leg never became straight. And the galantuomo, who was called Santignazio of Loyola, had much anguish in his mind, as well as in his leg. And he found himself to be so ugly that he hid, and pined away in secret, making himself mis- erable and ill, because he could not be a soldier, galantuomo, and paino, any more.
" And, in his wretchedness, he gave his mind
to pious thoughts ; and, then, Madonna showed
him favour, saying that, if the other ladies did
not like his crooked leg, she had no objection
to it; also, that, if he could not be a soldier
in the world, there was nothing to prevent him
from being a soldier of her Son, fighting His
battle against Sathanas. And she spoke such
heavenly words to Santignazio of Loyola that he
became a priest, and set himself to found a
Religion, in the manner of Beato Fra Francesco,
and of Beato Fra Domenico, and of Beato Padre
Benedetto, and of Beato Padre Agostino ; but,
because he was a fighting man by trade, he
made his Religion on the model of an army, of
which he should be the general. He called it
Compagnia di Gesu; and its business was to
wage war on Sathanas and his host, doing all
the dangerous work which other priests could
not do. And Papa Farnese found the idea to
be a good one ; and He blessed the Compagnia
S7
About the Witch's Head and
di Gesu and Santignazio of Loyola as well. These are the Jesuits, sir; as you will know: and that was the beginning of them, quite proper, and most respectable,
" At the end of his life in the world, Santignazio of Loyola was allowed to enter paradise. He wore a black habit with ferraiuola, like a secular priest; and he carried a scroll on which was written an | Pi $ in a glory with three nails, and
AD MAOBM E)I GlaRAM
and, round his thigh, he wore the chain of wire to pinch and prick him, and to give him pain.
" Sir, have you ever noticed that a Jesuit can- not sit in comfort, except on the edge of a chair? Also, how he shifts his eyes, and jerks his legs? That is because of the chain, sir, on his thigh. Oh, I know; for I have watched these Jesuits talking to the ladies, sitting on this side and on that ; twitching back again, crossing and uncross- ing their legs, and wriggling like quiet serpents when they believed no one to be looking. And, once, I watched the bully. Padre Cuni, go to bathe. He did not know that I saw. He thought himself to be alone ; and he undressed like that. But I was lying, with my soul, along the branch of a tree, hidden in the leaves above his head. I watched him unfastening his buttons and his tapes; and I saw him take the wire-chain off
88
Santignazio of Loyola
his thigh. He offered Deo gratias, as he took it off; and there were red marks in the flesh, where it pinched and pricked him. Oh, yes ! I know many things ! While he washed his head and arms, I slipped down from my tree, and sneaked the chain, and fitted it on my leg. Cristo di Dio ! How it pinched ! On the fat of the thigh, sir! It was as though my leg were down the gullet of daemon, sir; and his fangs nipping my flesh, all hot and numb with angor; for my leg is rounder, and more spacious, than the shrivelled leg of Padre Cuni: and the chain was tight — but, tight! Then I climbed into my tree again, and watched the rusty crow come up from the lake, to dress. When he put on the chain, he said, ' Dio mio, I offer it up to you ! ' And I laughed, sir —
"Santignazio in paradise? Yes. Well then!
" He did not make a blinding sensation there ; though, of course, he is a very great saint, and, no doubt, means well. He was not considered a dazzler, like Beato Fra Francesco, for example. Indeed, he was hardly a success; because he was unsociable, having an air of abstraction, never answering questions directly; and the other gods were not quite certain how to take him.
" You see, sir, this was the fact of the matter. Down here in the world, he was the General. Also, the Black Pope. His commands had to be obeyed. When he said to this Jesuit, ' Do
89
About the Witch's Head and
this ; ' the thing was done. When he said to that Jesuit, ' Go there ; ' the Jesuit went as though Sathanas rode him. Santignazio had almost begun to regard himself as being indis- pensable down here ; and he had much fear lest, while he was in paradise, his Compagnia di Gesu should find itself like an army without a leader, and upset all his little plans.
" As though any one man was ever necessary anywhere, sir, while the Padre Eterno sits upon His Great White Throne !
" Having this silly notion in his mind, Santig- nazio of Loyola used to leave the other gods in their content, and go away to a lonely place on the ramparts, to nurse his dolour in his leisure time ; and, during scores of years, he would look down at his Jesuits in the world, being anxious to see how they behaved.
" Sir, never cross a bridge until you reach it. Look for trouble, and trouble you will see. Whether you look for it, or no, the Padre Eterno will send you some ; and that is for the health of your soul. But where is the benefit of looking for trouble on your own account? I do not know ; and, therefore, I cannot say.
" Well, then, Santignazio of Loyola made up his mind that the Compagnia di Gesii was going to misbehave ; and, so it misbehaved : and he took two troubles instead of one ; first, the fear of misbehaviour, second, the consequences of misbehaviour. Which was absurd.
90
Santignazio of Loyola
" For, as soon as their first General had left them, the Jesuits said to themselves, that, if the Compagnia di Gesu wished to become a power, the best way to set about it was to get round the women and children: these being secured, the men would follow, if only for the sake of peace, they said. Therefore, they made schools every- where ; and they taught the children to be sneaks. That is to say, they made the little ones look each for the faults of others, and tell tales ; and they wrote down all the tales in secret books ; so that they could alway know what kind of a child each boy, or man, or girl, or woman, had been. Then, they taught the children that it was only a venial sin to tell lies which excused themselves or their friends; and they did not teach them that all wilful liars will burn in flames for ever and the day after. But they gave the children lollipops and ribands ; and the little fools pretended to be perfectly happy, and to love their benefactors well.
" Also, the Jesuits made themselves very agree- able to the women, especially to those who were rich or powerful, giving them flattery, and oily com- pliments, or the masterly bullying which women respect; and they looked not so severely upon female sins, as did other priests or confessors. So the women of the world found Jesuits to be most intelligent men of the world, and no difficulty at all to deal with ; also saintly ; and they ran after them ; and they used them for confessors be^
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About the Witch's Head and
cause they were smooth and easy-going; told them everything they wished to know, more even than they told to their husbands or their lovers ; sneaked about other women's little weaknesses, and so on, and so on; until the Jesuits knew so much that their heads were turned with pride and vanity, being only human heads when all is said and done ; and then, when they were giddy and top-heavy, Sathanas saw his chance, and came along, and pushed a lot of them over the preci- pice into — you know where.
" Now, sir, a woman is a piece of the divel, fat and flaming, — you may see it on the arras at Deira, if you do not believe me; — and the man who is rash enough to play with those combus- tibles will burn his fingers. Look at me ! Well, you know all about me, sir ! But then I am not a priest, nor even a sub-deacon like Niccolo. And I know this, that, if I were a priest, I would no more have anything to do with a mortal woman, — no, not the very holiest of them, — unless the grating of my confessional barred her off from me, than I would fling the Sacred Host to swine. I say that. I !
" Well, then, let us return to the paino in para- dise.
" Santignazio of Loyola saw the mess and muddle which the Compagnia di Gesu were making of his plans; and he was sharp enough to see that, unless something could be done, the Jesuits would soon wither and die in the stench
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Santignazio of Loyola
of evil fame. He saw, plainly, that the spiritual weapons with which he had armed them for the interminable conflict with the world, the flesh, and the divel, though good enough in their way, were not suitable to this occasion ; and he re- solved to find some better ones without delay.
" Prayers, and the discipline, they had ; a little, but not too much, fasting; also, the vows, the chain of wire, and the Madonna of the Street. But, plainly, something else was necessary. Oh, without a doubt! Well now; there was San Michele Arcangiolo over there. A soldier. Yes. Surely he must have a lot of spiritual armour lying about his quarters ! Surely he could spare some little thing ! If it were only a feather ! What better protection against the shafts of Sath- anas could the Jesuits have than the invulnerable plumage of an archangel ! The very thing !
" Santignazio of Loyola left the ramparts, and limped in the direction of the citadel, being determined to take the opinion, and the contri- butions, of the Great Prince, San Michele Arc- angiolo.
" On his way across the greensward, he met San Rafaele Arcangiolo, who inquired what ailed him : for his highness observed Santignazio of Loyola to have something, more worrying than usual, on his mind.
" The tale was told ; and San Rafaele Arcan- giolo declared, without any hesitation, that, in a cupboard of the ante-chamber in the tower of San
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About the Witch's Head and
Michele Arcangiolo, would be found a remedy which could not be more suitable if it had been made on purpose. It had been hidden there for many years. There was no particular use for it. In fact, they would be glad to get rid of it; and, if Santignazio of Loyola cared to have it, he would be very welcome.
" Saying these words, and others like them, San Rafaele Arcangiolo led the way into the ante- chamber. From the folds of the mail-shirt which concealed it, he took the fig-basket containing the head of the witch carved into little dice, and covered with fig-leaves. He explained to Sant- ignazio of Loyola what it was, and what were its horrible powers ; and he gave it to him to do what he pleased with.
" Santignazio of Loyola had much joy. He hardly knew whether he stood on his head, or his heels, so great was his delight ; and he rushed off, helter-skelter, to the lonely station on the ramparts, from whence he had been regarding the anticks of his Compagnia di Gesu.
" At that moment, there chanced to be a chapter of Jesuits assembling in Rome; and black robes long, and black robes short, filled the streets and clustered round the Church of Gesu, precisely as you have seen a parliament of crows meet in a meadow in the autumn.
" Santignazio of Loyola waited while the mass of Santo Spirito was chanted, and until the whole Compagnia di Gesu was gathered in the neigh-
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Santignazio of Loyola
bouring convent, closely packed together: and, then, he opened the fig-basket; and he cast down, into the hearts of his Compagnia, the little bloody dice of the witch's head, in countless thousands. Also, as the world went round and round beneath him, he flung the little bloody dice of the witch's head into the hearts of Jesuits whom he discovered in foreign lands ; and, when no more dice remained, he threw the fig-leaves, and the fig-basket torn into tiny shreds like relicks.
"Whenever one of the little bloody dice of the witch's head touched the heart of a Jesuit, that heart was turned to stone. It had no more the feelings of a human heart. It could no longer pity, or love. It was as hard as stone.
" It was stone.
"They gathered together the fragments of the fig-basket, and mended it. It was a fine pattern, they said, showy and capacious; and they had many copies of it made, wherein much money was collected.
"And the fig-leaves, in their shameless modesty, they used for statues, and things.
" Now, sir, you know why Jesuits are as they are.
" Unable to love, unable to be loved.
" Unable to pity, unable to be pitied.
" Inhuman collectors !
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Witch's Head and Santignazio
"Not all like that? True, sir, not all. But more than many.
" And you must remember three things. First, Santignazio of Loyola may have missed his aim sometimes. Second, there have been one or two new Jesuits since then. Third, the witch's head was only of a certain size, and there may not have been enough of the little bloody dice to go round.
"And a fourth thing to remember is this, — once upon a time there was a man who sold his Master for thirty lire. He was called Giuda, cognominato Iscariote; and he was one of the Apostles."
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About Sodom, Gomorrah, etc.
VIIIJ
About Sodom, Gomorrah, and the Two Admirable Jesuits
" ^''^\ F course not, sir. I have said the same ■ I again and again about the Cappuccini ; X^.-^^ if you would only try to understand me. Why, there would be no Jesuits at all, supposing that they were all of the species of those : for the Padre Eterno has a singularly short, sharp way of dealing with things decayed and stinking. As long as there is a grain — only a grain — of goodness in a person or thing, He is so merciful that He will give it every oppor- tunity to grow into two, or nineteen, or seven and thirty grains. But, when the last grain of goodness goes. His Mercy goes too ; and He just wipes the altogether rotten bad worthless thing off the face of the earth, all the same as Ilario, wiping a dish, wipes it, and turns it upside down. It is finished.
" Well, then, as long as ten good Jesuits or ten good Cappuccini remain in the world, the Padre Eterno respects the Religion of Santignazio, or the Religion of Matteo-Something-of-Low, for the sake of those ten.
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About Sodom, Gomorrah, and
"Why ten? Well, sir; I will tell you out of the Sacred Scripture.
" There was the Signer Patriarc' Abramo, a man entirely well thought of by the Padre Eterno, Who deigned to ask II Santissimo Salvatore to go down into the world, attended by San Michele Arcangiolo and San Rafaele Arcangiolo, to take a message to the Signor Patriarc' Abramo, and to accept his hospitality. That good man was very pleased to see them ; and gave them veal, mines- tra, lesso, arrosto, e fritto, also pasta, also milk; everything of the very best which could be cooked in half an hour. When they had finished eating, they delivered their message : and, then, they brought the Signor Patriarc' Abramo to the ridge of the hill on which his palace stood ; and they showed him two cities on the distant plains, asking whether he knew any- thing about them.
"The Signor Patriarc' Abramo put down the two waxen torches which he carried in honour of these Personages ; and he answered that the cities were cities of ill-fame, where the people gave themselves to luxuries.
" Wherefore, II Santissimo Salvatore said the angel-guardians of those people had returned to paradise, bringing shocking reports, and saying that the place was not a fit place for them ; and the Padre Eterno had sent to know whether things were as bad as that, intending to destroy those cities altogether.
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The Two Admirable Jesuits
" Having said this, II Santissimo Salvatore, attended by San Michele Arcangiolo and San Rafaele Arcangiolo, gave an * A riveder La ' to the Signor Patriarc' Abramo, and went down the hill into the plain toward the wicked cities.
" But the Signor Patriarc' Abramo ran after them and stood in their way, saying, ' O Santis- simo Salvatore, will You destroy the good as well as the wicked? Perhaps there are a few good people there — just a little few! Are You going to burn them with the sinners? Would that be a proper thing, O Eternal Judge?'
" II Santissimo Salvatore said that He would spare those cities of luxury, if a handful of fifty good people could be found there ; or five and forty, or forty, or thirty, or twenty, or even ten.
" But there were not even ten. Just a mere four, A man and three women; and one of those a fool. And II Santissimo went down, and brought them away in safety, and then the Padre Eterno hurled lightnings like rain, and burned up the wicked cities into pumice-stones and bitumen.
. . • • •
" So I say, that there must be at least ten good Jesuits, and ten good Cappuccini alive in the world to-day ; for, if there were less than ten, the Padre Eterno would put the good ones into a stricter convent, — the Certosa, per esempio, — and then destroy the said Religion of Santignazio and the said Religion of Matteo-Something-of-
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About Sodom, Gomorrah, and
Low, with a flash of fire, all the same as He destroyed the wicked cities.
• • • • •
" Well, sir, and I, who speak to you now, — I — Teodoro — know where two of the ten good Jesuits are at this moment. The first is called Padre Ciangli, and he lives in Rome. The second is a foreigner called Padre Francese, and he also lives in Rome. They are two of the ten who save the Campagnia di Gesu from de- struction by the holiness of their words and deeds.
" It was Niccolo, my brother, who told me the history of them; and he knows, because he is there.
" He says that Papa Pecci has a wonderful love for the Collegio Romano, desiring it to be the greatest college in the world. Therefore, He has made a law that the professors who teach theology must teach it from a book called Summa Theologia, which was written by a god called Santommasso many hundred years ago. The Santo Padre will die for that book, says 'Cola; such is His admiration for the same.
" Santommasso was a son of Sandomenico ; and the professors of the Collegio Romano are sons of Santignazio of Loyola; and, says 'Cola, they dislike to teach the theology of a rival who is their superior in sanctity as well as in antiquity.
" But, for all that, the Santo Padre must be obeyed; and, if those Jesuits were to make any
lOO
The Two Admirable Jesuits
difficulties about teaching that Summa Theolo- gia, says 'Cola, Papa Pecci would just make a little stroke with His pen, and there would be no more Jesuit professors at the Collegio Romano, but Benedictines wise as owls, or Dominicans, brothers of that same Santommasso.
" Therefore, says 'Cola, because they did not wish to lose their situations at the Collegio Romano, the Jesuits resolved to make the best of a bad job, very much against the grain, and teach the Summa Theologia of Santommasso ; and they did so, just as far as they found to be convenient, and no further.
" Well, then. Padre Ciangli is a friend of Papa Pecci, — a very great friend indeed, who has given Plim good advice many times. You know, sir, that during long years La Sua Santita has chosen to shut Himself up in His palace on the Monte Vaticano, from which station He will not move on any account, not even when it is Sol in Leone, and, of course, as long as He keeps Himself like that. He can neither see with His own eyes, nor hear with His own ears ; nor can He surely know what goes on in the City and the world. He must trust to what other people choose to tell Him. He knows Padre Ciangli to be a man of undeniable probity. Therefore, He makes him speak of everything that happens outside the Palazzo Vaticano.
" One day, says 'Cola, Papa Pecci chanced to inquire how the Jesuits of the Collegio
lOI
About Sodom, Gomorrah, and
Romano were doing with the Summa Theologia of Santommasso; and Padre Ciangh answered that they were doing as well as could be ex- pected under the circumstances; for, he said, being Jesuits, with a theologia of their own, they had to learn the Summa Theologia of San- tommasso, before they could teach it; and this was a very bitter pill, for which they thanked La Sua Santita,
" And then he went on talking of all things and some others, and presently, says 'Cola, he told Papa Pecci that there was a certain little Padre Francese of the Compagnia di Gesu, who knew the Summa Theologia of Santommasso by rote, from egg to apple, and was altogether mad about it, rejecting all other species : for which reason the Black Pope had put him away in an obscure little village, where he had nothing to do but to say mass, baptise, catechise, confess, communicate, marry, anoint, viaticate, and bury a matter of fifty rusticks, hoping, in this way, to keep him from doing more than enough mis- chief with his madness for the Summa Theologia of Santommasso.
" When He heard this, says 'Cola, Papa Pecci took twelve large pinches of snuff in honour of the Santi Apostoli ; and He passed the box to Padre Ciangli, chuckling as though His heart would break, so keen was His joy at hearing of a Jesuit who nourished a devotion to the Summa Theologia of Santommasso, as vast, as fervent
1 02
The Two Admirable Jesuits
as His Own. Also, He made Padre Ciangli go incontinent with a message to the Black Pope, commanding this little Padre Francese to be summoned to the Palazzo Vaticano without delay, because the Santo Padre had an impor- tant thing to say to him.
" In course of time, Padre Francese came to Rome from his foreign village; and he was brought into the private cabinet of the Santo Padre on a Sunday, after supper. He was speechless. He could only kneel down and weep, says 'Cola, so profound was his humility; but Papa Pecci was very kind to him, and gave him a good glass of red wine, and patted his hand, and made him sit on a stool, all quite happy and comfortable ; and He blessed him so many times, that, at last, the good little Jesuit became less shy and timid ; and then La Sua Santita was free to pick his brains, and to find out how much he really knew of the Summa Theologia of Santommasso.
" Once started on his favourite subject, the diffidence of Padre Francese fled away; and he spoke words of wisdom with authority, as one who knows. Such grace and charm was found in his discourse, that the Santo Padre sat as though enchanted. All night La Sua Santita listened ; for it was evident, says 'Cola, that this little Jesuit was under the special protection of Santommasso, who had deigned to show him all his god-like mind.
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About Sodom, Gomorrah, and
" And the very next day, Padre Francese was appointed by Brief, Professor of Theology at the Collegio Romano.
" Well, says 'Cola, that was all as it should be. But Padre Ciangli got into the bad books of his superiors for bringing Padre Frances^ to the notice of Papa Pecci, and was ordered confine himself to his cell in the convent at the Gesu, as a punishment for chattering with unbridled tongue. Meanwhile, at the Collegio Romano, there was the Brief. Nothing could be said against that. And Padre Francese ascended the chief pulpit, and lectured on the Summa Theo- logia of Santommasso.
" Now it was the habit of these Jesuits, says 'Cola, to teach the Summa Theologia of San- tommasso, just as Santommasso had written it, until they came to a point where it differed from their own Theologia; and then they taught their own Theologia, and neglected the Summa Theologia of Santommasso.
" But very different was the behaviour of that dear Padre Francese. He, says 'Cola, taught the Summa Theologia just as Santommasso had written it; and, when he came to a point where it differed from the Jesuit Theologia, he just trampled on the Jesuit Theologia, and taught the Summa Theologia of Santommasso ; because he had read his Brief, and he knew what Papa Pecci expected of him.
"The superiors of the Collegio Romano thought
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The Two Admirable Jesuits
him horrible. But, says 'Cola, they knew him to be simplicity itself; and, in three days' time, they appointed him Spiritual Father of the Collegio Romano ; which means that he had to sit all day, in a little room at the top of the stairs, to give advice to students bringing him their confessions or spiritual difficulties; and, of course, while he was doing that, he could not lecture, which, says 'Cola, was precisely what they wanted. Jesuits are accustomed to sudden changes ; and Padre Francese was a good Jesuit, so he obeyed his orders, while the old professors occupied the pulpit of Theology, and affairs were as they were before Padre Francese left his foreign village.
" So a week passed; and, says 'Cola, suddenly Papa Pecci remembered that He had not received a visit from Padre Ciangli, for some time; and He sent a flunkey-of-the-cloak-and-sword to fetch him.
" ' Where have you hidden yourself, carino, all this time?' Papa Pecci said.
" ' If you please, Santita, I 've been naughty ; and they gave me confinement to my cell, by way of penance,' Padre Ciangli answered.
" * Ah, bad one ! At your age too ! Oh, fy ! — But what was your crime? ' Papa Peeci asked.
" ' Well, Santo Padre, if You must know, I told You about our Padre Francese; and they said I was a gossip and a chatterbox,' Padre Ciangli answered.
About Sodom, Gomorrah, and
"'But that's all nonsense? ' Papa Pecci said. * Why you did Us a great service. That dear Padre Francese is a jewel — a treasure. We were delighted with him ; and We appointed him to be professor of theology in the Collegio Romano, We'did. We won't allow them to shut you up any more, Padre Ciangli. No. Certainly not. You are far too valuable to Us. Yes, you are. Tell your father-rector that Leo, Pater Patrum, XIIJ, commands you to come here every day till further notice. But there, — perhaps it will be more civil if We write a little note to him. Paper? Yes. — Pen? Ah, there. — Ink ? Thank you. — Pounce ? — Now then.'
* • • • •
"And, says 'Cola, Papa Pecci wrote a little note, of a kind which prevented Padre Ciangli from being shut up again.
" When He had finished writing. Padre Ciangli said, —
" ' But, Santita, did n't I hear You say that You had appointed our Padre Francese to be professor of theology? '
" * Utique,' Papa Pecci replied.
" * Then when will he began to lecture? ' Padre Ciangli asked.
" * Naughty Padre Ciangli ! ' Papa Pecci said. 'See what you have missed by being confined to your cell. Why, Padre Francese has been lec- turing since Tuesday ! To-day is Saturday ; and he will lecture again on Monday, We suppose.'
io6
The Two Admirable Jesuits
"' Pardon me, Santo Padre,' Padre Ciangli said. * Padre Francese lectured on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, from eight o'clock till ten o'clock in the morning. At noon on Wednesday, he was appointed Spiritual Father; and, since then, he has purveyed spiritual direction and advice, in a little room at the top of the stairs, while another one of our fathers has occupied the pulpit of theology. Forgive me for contradict- ing You, Santo Padre ; but, when one sees the Pope ill-informed, I hold it to be a duty to make Him well-informed.'
" * Hm-m-m,' Papa Pecci said. ' Are you cer- tain of your information, carino?'
" ' Perfectly certain, Santita,' Padre Ciangli answered.
'"Ve-e-e-ry well!' Papa Pecci said. 'Now this is some Jesuit trick; and We are going to beat the bottom out of it. Just go outside, Padre Ciangli, and bring to Us Monsignore del Ltipo.'
" So Padre Ciangli went and found Monsignore del Lupo, the Majordomo of the Apostolic Palace (you remember the affair in the porch of the Fiorentini, sir? Ha! Hal), who, says 'Cola, is as clever and cunning a man as ever lived, subtile as a serpent, and harmless as a kitten. And Papa Pecci told him to go to the Collegio Romano, and say to the father-rector that La Sua Santita knew all his little capers, and com- manded him to take Padre Francese from the
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About Sodom, Gomorrah, and
situation of Spiritual Father, which situation any- used-up old fogey was competent to fill, and to put him back again into the situation of professor of theology, which he was to hold at the pleasure of the Sovereign Pontiff and of no less, and with the strictest injunctions that he should preach the Summa Theologia of Santommasso, the whole Summa Theologia of Santommasso, and nothing but the Summa Theologia of San- tommasso, Also, says 'Cola, Monsignore del Lupo was to say, that Padre Francese must come to the Palazzo Vaticano, every Sunday and Thursday, to talk to the Santo Padre. And, lastly, the father-rector would be kind enough to remember that, if La Sua Santita caught him at his games again. He intended to send a couple of red hats to the Collegio Romano, one for Padre Francese, and one for Padre Ciangli, and to give them His Own title of Protector of the Collegio Romano for the remainder of their lives; and, then, where would the father-rector be?
" So now, you know, sir, why my brother Niccolo (who is himself a student at the Collegio Romano) is right when he boasts that bishops value the students of that college before the students of any other university. You see they have Padre Francese there.
• • • • •
" But I have another little word to say about Padre Ciangli.
io8
The Two Admirable Jesuits
" La sua eccellenza will know the Jesuits to be very fond of getting legacies, — so fond, that they take no shame at touting for them; and they hang about the dying for an opportunity of squeezing them. Of course it is a very good thing to leave money for masses for your miser- able soul, or for the poor. If you can afford to do so; well. If not; it does not matter. But, of your own free-will, you must give, without suggestion ; for the Padre Eterno only listens to the man who gives cheerfully. The good gifts are those which you give unasked ; and a gift, obtained by beg- ging, counts to neither giver nor receiver.
" Well, Padre Ciangli did not like to see his brother Jesuits touting for legacies. Indeed, he did not want the Compagnia to be rich in money or in lands. He thought they were better poor, like the fraticelli, for he remembered that II Santissimo was poor — but, poor! Therefore, this good Padre Ciangli laboured to persuade the Jesuits, his brothers, to give up begging for legacies; and, when he found that they persisted, in spite of all the beautiful words he said, he did his best to discourage rich people from leaving their money to the Jesuits, A very holy man, he was, in truth !
*' Now there was a Signer Inglese who lived in Rome. He was rich and grand as the sun. He had no wife, nor child, nor any family, nor friend. The Jesuits soon found him out, and behaved to him with the greatest politeness.
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About Sodom, Gomorrah, and
" One morning, he was in perfect health. In the evening, he took a pernicious fever. And* on the third night, he lay a-dying.
" The Jesuits wondered what would happen to his wealth; for they had not known him long enough to talk to him about his testament.
" They brought a notary, with ink, and pens, and parchment; and they clustered round the dying man, ready to put in writing any words which he might choose to say. He was raving in a delirium, shouting obscenities according to the custom of all very holy persons in their fevers; but the doctor said that his senses would be given to him again, at the moment before the grey angel cut the thread which bound his body to his soul.
*' And so they waited, watching for a legacy.
" Padre Ciangli heard of this ; and he hurried to the palace of this Signor Inglese as fast as his legs would carry him.
" Just at the moment when he came into the room, the dying man became calm, and de- manded a suck of a citron. The doctor brought it.
" One of the Jesuits made him a little bow, saying, * Sir, we are your good friends from the Chiesa di Gesu ; and you are going to die. Here
no
The Two Admirable Jesuits
is the notary; and we are your good friends from the Chiesa di Gesu.'
'* The dying man exerted himself. He could only say, ' All I have to the Chiesa di Gesu.'
" The notary wrote it, and put a pen in his hand, that he might sign the will.
" He signed it.
" As he wrote the last letter of his name. Padre Ciangli said very solemnly, * What ! All to the Son, and nothing to the Mother?'
" The dying man wrote, after Gesu, — e Maria. And the grey angel cut the thread there ; and he died.
" Sir, the Jesuits got no legacy that time ; for the wealth of the Signor Inglese went, according to his last testament, to the Chiesa di Gesu-e- Maria, which is a church not belonging to the Jesuits at all, but to a religious Order whose name I do not know.
" And the Jesuits gnash their teeth at that dehcious Padre Ciangli,"
III
About Some Kings
X
About Some Kings
WHEN we arrived at Velletri, break- fast was prepared at a respectable albergo. Vittorio and Otone, with Ercole, had ridden in advance to look after that, and to get their food. These three attended to my wants; while Toto, and his brother Guido, Ilario, and Desiderio took refreshment.
Afterward, I slept for a couple of hours; and the boys went to amuse themselves in the gardens of a palace having most wonderful marble stairs and loggie, while Toto came with me, to wander about the city, and to look at the girls. Several wore their hair in a pretty fashion, — curls drawn high in a mound through a wreath of violets, from which a black lace veil flowed behind. I don't know what Toto thought of them, because he was grave, and did not speak; but I do know what they thought of him, because they said it out loud. It was not singular.
In a quiet back-street, I became transfixed. Over the doorway of a large building, I saw a sculptured tablet which bore a coat-of-arms and an inscription. The device was the royal
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About Some Kings
blazon of England, with crown, supporters, mot- toes, all complete. The inscription taught me that this college was founded by no less sublime a potentate than Henry VIIIJ ; by the Grace of God and the favour of the Apostolick See, of the sub-urban diocese, Cardinal-Bishop of the Holy Roman Church, Vice-Chancellor ; and, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith,
I gave way to my emotions. And because I enjoyed them thoroughly, I imparted them to Toto, at full length. He accepted them with the greatest gentleness; saying, when I gave him a chance, that his grandfather had told him the histories of that King, and of those others, having received the same from the father of his father, whose sister had known the brother of the King whose name was over that door, and who, himself, had had charge of a vineyard belonging to that same Cardinal-King. Where- fore, he knew many things.
I bade him cherish the things he knew until the evening; because I wished to be alone with reminiscent thoughts inspired by my experience in that narrow quiet back-street of Velletri.
• • • • •
At the albergo, later, I drank a little wine and ate a piece of bread for merenda: while Toto ran through the city to collect six of my seven divels: and, before sunset, we started homeward. Ercole, with Otone and Vittorio, rode a quarter 8 113
About Some Kings
of a mile in front; Desiderio, with Ilario and Guido, close behind; and Toto on my left hand.
When we smelt the open country, I gave leave; and he said, —
" The father of the father of my grandfather spoke to him when he was a little boy, and the father of my father spoke to me when I was a little boy ; and he told to me the histories which his father had told to him. That is what I am telling to la sua eccellenza now.
" Formerly, there was a king in England ; and, in his youth, he had been a sailor. Also christian.
" Sailors have no cunning, being simple and honest. It is the sea which makes them so. If you prefer men like that; well. If not; they offend you, and you go away.
" And, in those days, the people of England had the misfortune to be hereticks. So, when this sailor became king, he wished to make his subjects christian ; and he gave orders.
" But religion is one of those things which you cannot have by giving orders : and the hereticks rebelled against their king. He was a sailor; honest, and simple, as I have said. He could not understand why his orders should be dis- obeyed. And he insisted all the more. But the hereticks were strong ; and they drove their king away into another country : and they took a heretick king to be their governour.
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About Some Kings
" The true king sent his son, called Giacomo, to fight and win his kingdom back again, but the hereticks forced that prince to fly for his life to the foreign country where his father kept his exile.
•' After a time that king died ; and this Giacomo became the true king. He, also, sent his son, called Carolo, to fight and win his kingdom back again, but again, the hereticks prevailed, driving that prince back to his father, who lived in Rome.
" Then that king Giacomo died, and this prince Carolo became the true king of England. But he was sad, heart-broken by failure, and there was no spirit left in him. He also lived in Rome, instead of fighting for his right; and there he gave himself to drunkenness and lechery.
"When the false king in England heard of this, he said that, if king Carolo could be kept like that, he would never be able to make himself unpleasant by coming after his crown; and the false king sent hereticks to Rome, in secret, with bags of gold, telling them to buy courtesans, and to convey these to the true king Carolo, to cheer him, and to make him spend his whole life in drunkenness and lechery; so that he might get a bad name among his friends, and that news of his habits might be carried to the people of Eng- land, to make them hate him for his wicked- ness, and never fight for him again.
" Yet, sir, what true man will blame that un- happy king Carolo ? Not I, for one ; nor the father
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About Some Kings
of my father, nor the father of the father of that. I grieve for that king; and, if I had been ahve, I would have sat upon his doorstep until I could have seen him, and then I would have cheered him, and have told him how kings should comport themselves. But I curse the false king — you, also, sir? What happiness! But I might have known that, even though you had not said a single word. And it would be like carrying indul- gences to Rome, for me to have suggested such a thing. Sir, in truth, the false king was one of the bastards of Sathanas, taking after his father. He was a Tempter, a proximate occasion of sin to the true king Carolo. Therefore I curse him ! "
Toto reined up at the roadside, and spat scorching curses over a hedge at the Elector of Hanover.
" Well, sir, and those hereticks came into my province, looking for beautiful women ; and they kidnapped the wife of the grandfather of my grandfather, also the sister of him ; taking them to Rome, because they were more beautiful than any women ever seen ; and giving them, as cour- tesans, to king Carolo.
"The sister escaped before he touched her, and ran away across the mountains to her home. There she went into the convent where she died.
" After two months the wife of the grandfather of my grandfather returned also. She was ashamed. She came at night to her husband, like Pompilato in the Credo, quite unfit for the
ii6
About Some Kings
society in which she found herself. She said that she had sinned, because she was poor; and she had earned gold enough to buy many vineyards, and she kneeled down to her husband, giving him the bag of gold, and she prayed for pardon.
" Sir, he loved her. And he remembered that II Santissimo showed mercy to Santamaria Maddalena, being truly contrite. He took his wife and the bag of gold. He brought them to a deep pool of the river. He bade her to cast her sin from her, with the bag of gold ; and, when it sank into the dark water, he put his arms round her, and kissed her, and took her for his wife again.
" When her child was born, she died ; but the boy lived ; and he was the father of the father of my father.
■ • • • •
" When king Carolo died, they buried him in Rome, and because there were no heirs of his body born in wedlock, Enrico his brother became the true king of England. But this king was a bishop, and a cardinal-duke as well, and, there- fore, he did not want to make himself irregular by fighting for his kingdom, shedding blood. He said that, in the sight of Him, with whose Sanc- tion kings do reign, he was the king of England, — and that was the truth. — But, seeing that his people did not want him, being content with the heretick king which they had chosen, he would never trouble them, nor wear his crown. But,
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About Some Kings
all the same, he maintained that he was their king ; and so he called himself until he died, and was buried with his brother and his father, kings both, in the church of San Pietro on the Monte Vatican© ; where you may see the tomb of these three kings guarded by two grieved English boys in marble, and may read the names and styles of them, engraved in fine letters at the order of the Santo Padre.
• • • ' • •
" Well, sir, it was told to this last Majesty of England about the grandfather of my grand- father, and his wife and the boy, and the bag of gold. And the Cardinal-King had him in honour, and deigned to give the largest vineyard of the diocese into his charge, by which he lived in comfort all his life ; and, also, he saved money enough to buy a vineyard in his own province for the boy who was the father of the father of my father. And there is my last word, sir. It is not a story, but a history of a verity; and I have told it to la sua eccellenza as I had it from the father of my father, who had it from the father of his own father."
• • • • •
We rode at a quicker pace for some distance. I pondered over the strangeness of things.
ii8
Ferretti and Heresiarch
xj
About Papa Ferretti and The Blest Heresiarch
I SAID that I could find no words in which to curse the turpitude of the false king, who had robbed king Carolo of his crown, and blasted his reputation, helping him to descend from his high estate, and to live, a monument of evil fame, for endless ages.
I said that the sins of king Carolo could not be named in comparison with those of the false king.
" No, sir, " Toto said. " And there was no one to say a sharp word to that false king. Some- times, when a man is altogether wicked, or only stupidly wicked, the Padre Eterno puts it into the mind of someone to go and say a word so sharp that it cuts him clear away from his wickedness, or from his stupidity; and, then, everything goes well. But, for the false king, there was no one.
"Have I ever recited the case of the heresiarch who was corrected by a sharp word from Papa Ferretti? No?
*' Well, then, behold an heresiarch who came to Rome. He had great fame in his own coun- try, being learned, and suave, and of an elo-
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About Papa Ferretti and
quence to make a cow attentive. He was of a skinny little figure, with a pimping little face, having uncertain eyes, and little tufts of white whisker in front of his ears. He wore, at all times, a carnival-habit of black, with buttons all up his little legs, and a black skirt like a balle- rina, also a black coat of priest, and a marvel- lous mitre, high, and round, and swelling, and polished, with a curly brim, all black, — where- fore all the little ragamuffins ran after him, expecting him to do tumbling, or other diverting tricks, in some piazza.
" Because he was in Rome, he needs must do as the Romans do; and, by some means or another, he was admitted to an audience of the Santo Padre.
" Papa Ferretti treated him very kindly, allow- ing him to speak of many things ; but He saw him to be vain and insincere. Therefore He gave him words of wisdom, and good advice, in the most courteous manner possible.
** When the audience came to an end, that heresiarch, with his impertinence of bronze, demanded that the Santo Padre should bestow His Benediction.
" ' But, Signore,' Papa Ferretti said, ' how can We give you Our Benediction?'
"The heresiarch answered Him, ' Santita, do You not bless Your children?'
" ' Certainly We bless Our children,' Papa Fer- retti said ; ' but you have not the happiness of
1 20
The Blest Heresiarch
beino- one of those. How then can We bless you, as We bless them?'
" The heresiarch answered that, having come to Rome, he would like to be able to return to his own country, saying, that he had been hon- oured by the Benediction of the Santo Padre. He was not particular about being blessed in the form with which La Sua Santita blessed His chil- dren. But, surely, surely, he might have a Ben- ediction of some kind.
" ' Very well,' Papa Ferretti said ; 'kneel down, and We will bless you.'
" The heresiarch kneeled down.
" The Santo Padre waved the signs of the cross at him; and blessed him, as though he were incense, using this form, ijlljll^ Ad Illo benedicaris in Cuius Honore cremaberis."
121
About the Love which is Desire
XIJ
About the Love which is Desire and the Love which is Divine
THE evening grew in glory as we rode, a sky all rose and lavender, with pur- ple hills floating in a mist of gold. A voluptuous sense of beauty, and serenity, per- vaded me.
" Toto, tell me about Love," I said.
" Sir, to serve you."
He meditated during a minute.
" The eyes of la sua eccellenza have seen Madonnina in many shapes. Among these, you have seen her as a Mother, nursing her little Baby. That is Joy. You have seen her in a Pieta, with her Dead across her knees. That is Grief. And you have seen her with her splendid Son standing by her throne, being of the age of fourteen years. That is Love : and He is called Divin Amore.
" There is another amorino, who is sometimes mistaken for that One : but, in reality, he is a daemon; and he is called Desire. In appear- ance, they are the same ; in action, they are the same. But in effect they are not the same.
" It is a matter of heart.
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And the Love which is Divine
"One or the other comes into your heart; and, there, he makes his home. It depends on your own will, whether you admit him, or no. If you keep him out, your heart withers away, till it might as well be the heart of a Jesuit. If you admit Desire, you regret it afterward. If you admit Divin Amore, you do the best action of your life, and you are never sorry any more. Yet, it is a difficult task to tell the one from the other, and to decide which shall be your guest ; unless you can persuade your angel-guardian to give you good advice. For, at first, they come to you in the form of a little child, sweet, inno- cent, and asking for a home. You take in this little child, and show him kindness; and he returns your fondlings and your kisses and caresses, till you love him so that you find you cannot do without him. In your heart, he grows to boyhood ; and, on the sly, when you are not looking, he makes weapons, — arrows, and a bow, like an archer, — and wings bloom upon his arms, so that he may fly away, and leave you, when the moment comes : but, of this, you have no knowledge. And, then, at last, he gains his full strength; and he is vigorous, and terrible; and he arises in his majesty; and, with his arrow, he wounds your heart, and strikes you down, his victim and his slave.
"When he has flown away, your heart burns, and craves a medicine to heal its wound. And you search for this, holding out your hands,
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Love Desire and Love Divine
weeping, yearning, until you find relief. And, only now, can you be certain of the god whose wound you bear,
" The wound itself is the desire for happiness. And, if the god, who gave it, was Desire, then you will strive and struggle for the happiness of your- self, and of yourself alone. But, if Divin Amore has wounded you, then there must be another beside yourself; and, for that other, you will gladly strive, gladly suffer, gladly die, or very gladly live, which is the hardest thing of all.
" Desire is Selfishness. Divin Amore is Sacrifice."
124
Cats and Dogs always Litigate
XIJ
(a) Why Cats and Dogs always Litigate
** ■"■ ^k ESIRE makes you greedy for food,
I I avaricious for money, or power, or
M ^ houses, or vineyards, or farms, and
a lecher, hot with lust for women.
Desire was the lord of Giuda detto Iscariote, who
sold his Master for thirty lire ; of the prince in
antick times who fed his fishes with the flesh
of living boys and girls, to please his palate with
their fine rich flavour; and he was the lord of
Sathanas, making him so proud that he rebelled
against Domeniddio, striving to dethrone Him,
and to take His Closed Crown.
" That was very long ago ; and this was the manner of it. First, Sathanas was Chief of the Second Quire, that is to say, of the archangels. And, one day, it happened that the said Sathanas robbed the mirror which belonged to La Su- prema Maesta e Grandezza. Looking into that mirror, he saw his own reflection, all of the most magnificent and noble, as you might expect The more Sathanas looked, the more splendid did he find himself.
" Then came Desire, sweet and innocent, ask- ing for a home.
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why Cats and
" After a few years, Desire had become a power ; also, he had made his weapons : and, at last, he let his arrow fly into the heart of Sathanas.
" The wound itched, till Sathanas knew that nothing on earth could satisfy him. Looking daily at his image in the mirror, it was easy to persuade himself that his beauty deserved a bet- ter fate than that of being just the Chief Arch- angel, and no more. After that, he took no rest until he had persuaded half of the other angels and archangels to agree with him.
" Then, with Desire, the terrible, always goad- ing him, he laid a plot to drive the Padre Eterno from His Throne : and, using bones, and stones, and other enchantments, he took the shape of a dragon, many miles in length, and having a hundred heads. In this guise, he came suddenly upon the Court of Heaven. There was not time to beat him back, for he gave no warning.
" But, in an instant, the Holy and August Per- sonages changed their shapes into the shapes of little creatures such as no one would suspect; and they hid in caves under the holy mountain, till the time should come for dealing with Satha- nas as he deserved. The Padre Eterno took the shape of a white ram, as Lord of the flock. Madonnina became a fish, in honour of her Son. San Michele Arcangiolo became a raven, that grave and noble bird. San Gabriele Arcangiolo took the shape of the heron which gave its name
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Dogs always Litigate
to the city of Ardea, in order that he might fly swiftly as the messenger of the Padre Eterno. And, in Hke manner, the others changed, as well.
" But Desire, the terrible, drove the hundred- headed dragon, Sathanas ; and he came ramping round the holy mountain, hunting for his prey. He saw the heron ; but he did not know it to be San Gabriele Arcangiolo ; and he passed on. He saw the raven ; but he did not know it to be San Michele Arcangiolo ; and he passed on. When he came near the white ram, he did a silly thing, for he knew not Who it was ; and he was passing on : but the Padre Eterno hurled light- nings at his hundred heads, smiting him with thunder-bolts, till he was bruised and beaten down.
" Then, the Holy and August Personages re- sumed their Proper Shapes, hastening back to heaven, and making preparations for a battle- royal.
"First, that He might know His enemies from His friends, the Padre Eterno, by an Act of Will, turned the rebel-angels and archangels black, and red, and brown, and green ; while the com- pany of heaven shone all yellow-gold and silver- white. To San Michele Arcangiolo, He gave the rank of general-in-chief, who led his radiant army forward chaunting Quis tit Dens!
" Now, when the Padre Eterno blasted Satha- nas with lightnings, the fire of them dried up the little brook where Madonnina was hiding in the
127
Why Cats and
form of a fish ; and, as a fish, without water, dies, she changed her shape again, taking the appear- ance of a snow-white cat, gentle, superb, and gratia plena. Desire, the terrible, marked this ; and it made him think. He shook Sathanas to his senses, and made him do away the dragon shape and form himself like a black dog. In an instant it was done. Then Desire made Sathanas to know that the snow-white cat was, possibly, a Personage; and that to capture her, and to keep her as an hostage, might enable him to come to terms with the Padre Eterno, — perhaps, even, to win that rank and power for which he had re- belled.
" So, when, the snow-white cat began to move away with dignity, and to ascend the holy moun- tain, showing neither haste nor terror, the black dog barked with fury, and hemmed her in. But she sprang upon a rock near by, and swelled her tail, and arched her back, and spat upon him ; and, being altogether most terrific, she kept her foe at bay. When the black dog presumed to come too near, she struck him in the face, and made him yowl. All that the fool could do was to jump about and bark around her station, until his army should come to his assistance.
" Meanwhile, San Michele Arcangiolo made short work of the rebels. He drove them out of heaven and chased them down the holy moun- tain. They resembled a torrent, all black, and red, and brown, and green, flying before the irre-
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Dogs always Litigate
sistible might of legions shining silver-white and yellow-gold. Squadron after squadron of the rebels, in disorder, dashed by the little rock ; too terrified and too confused to listen to the frantic calls of Sathanas ; until, at last, the triumphant host of heaven swept along : and, then, the snow- white cat sprang upward, changing into the glorious form of the Madonna. At this the angels waited while they said their Salve Regina, and legions of them bore her, on their wings, to her throne in heaven. Other legions continued in pursuit, driving the black dog Sathanas, and his minions, to another mountain very far away, where the earth opened to engulf them. There San Michele Arcangiolo took Sathanas, in his own shape (which is the shape of an archangel but of a different colour, being black, and red, and brown, and green, having a hundred cubits of height, and wings not of feathers, but of skin like the wings of bats and dragons), and he chained him in the lowest pit for a thousand years, with the chain of Selfishness and Pride, which Desire had made him forge.
" From these histories, la sua eccellenza will understand why cats and dogs should always liti- gate. And, also, you will know about Desire, the sweet, the sly, the terrible."
129
About Divinamore and
XIJ
(/3) About Divinamore and the Maiden
Anima
A^
" ^ LTOGETHER another Personage is Divinamore.
" He, also, conies to you, looking so sweet, so dear. He, also, grows to boyhood, working secretly the while in the home which you have let Him make with you. When His wings have blossomed, and His full strength is on Him, He, also, lets His arrow fly into your heart, and makes Himself your Lord ; giving you a wound so dire that you must spend your life to ease its pain.
" But, as the wound of Desire receives relief, — but never a cure, — when you labour for your- self; so the wound of Divinamore can be made to cease from aching only when you search for pain, and loss, and trouble for yourself, that some other may have happiness. And, sir, — it is a strange thing to tell you this, though it is the naked truth, for Frat' Innocente-of-the-Nine- Quires said it, and he is not a liar, — the more base, or treacherous, or unworthy, be the person for whose happiness you labour; and the more anguish, or shame, you seek to take upon your
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The Maiden Anima
shoulders; so much the more will you win relief from the aching of the wound of Divinamore. " Sir, — in two words, — ■
UNDER-GO, OVER-COME.
" Now I will speak of Divinamore and of the maiden Anima ; also of their victory over Desire.
"Anima was a little maiden, white as an almond, fresh as a young carnation. She lived in the world, alone with her sisters.
" Divinamore stood up there in paradise, near the throne of Madonnina. Serene in the vigour of his youth. He was as beautiful as spring.
" He looked upon the lovely maiden ; and He wished her well.
" Since she was a baby, He had watched her ; and, one day, He saw Desire go and ask her to give him lodging in her heart. She was only a little girl ; and Desire seemed only to be a little boy.
"Divinamore saw Desire wind himself about her, till she yielded gladly to him. He saw Desire grow potent, and prepare his weapons, while the maiden bloomed. He saw Desire arise in his full length, and strike his arrow in her heart. Then He knew that Anima must own Desire for her lord.
" Divinamore became very sad ; for He loved Anima, and wished to have her for His own.
" Wistfully He looked to His Mother for advice,
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About Divinamore and
being the Best of sons. Then, Madonnina taught Him ; and she spoke, and said, * My Son, only he can win the maiden Anima whose heart is pierced by the arrow of Divinamore.'
"Then He drew an arrow from His quiver; and He struck it deep in His Own Heart, giving Himself the wound of Divinamore for the sake of the maiden Anima.
" All day, His wound tormented Him : and, when the night was dark. He spread His plumage, and descended swiftly, silently; and He came to the maiden Anima, as she lay sleeping on her bed, dreaming dreams with which Desire had filled her. And He took her in His arms, and whispered in her ear, saying that a god was come to give her happiness, and to win her for His Own.
"The maiden Anima heard Him. She was glad ; for she longed for admiration above all things. And, though she could not see Him, for the night was dark, she had great happiness in the fragrance which He breathed, and in the god- like loveliness of form which she could feel, and in the youthful ardour of His embrace ; but, chiefly, when she told herself that her beauty had made her the beloved of a god.
" Every night, for many nights, He held her in His arms ; and she never saw Him ; for He always vanished before the break of day.
" Every day, for many days, she longed for Him, because He gave her happiness.
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The Maiden Anima
" And every night, for many nights, He prayed to her to be His Own true love.
" Often she asked Him for His name ; for she was proud at thinking that she had a god for her lover, and she wished to tell her sisters of this honour.
" But Divinamore answered that true love went hand in hand with perfect trust ; wherefore, she should trust Him, and never seek to know His name.
"This gave her no content: in secret, she resolved to satisfy her longing.
" There came a night when Divinamore lay sleeping by her side. She rose ; and went to fetch a lamp, that she might feast her eyes upon Him : for she did not love Him truly, but only for the honour and the happiness she had of Him. Here was selfishness, caused by the arrow of Desire.
" And when she brought the lamp, she saw the Lad who lay upon her bed ; and she trembled very greatly, because she knew her Lover to be Divinamore Himself: and, as she trembled, a little drop of oil fell upon His shoulder from the burning lamp ; and He awoke ; and before her eyes, He vanished, going back to paradise, because Anima had shown herself to be unworthy.
" Then she wept, and moaned her loss, until her sisters ran to know the reason of the noise. To whom Anima answered, that Divinamore had deigned to love her, and to visit her by night
133
About Divinamore and
in secret, but now He had deserted her, and for that she wailed. But the envious sisters scoffed, saying that she hed; and, not Divinamore, but some lewd hob, some stripling of the farmyard, was her lover. Therefore they gave her blows, and drove her out into the world, calling her a liar, and a wicked girl.
" Desire was her lord. It was he who made her suffer. She thought only of herself; and she longed for Divinamore to return, and give her happiness.
*' But Divinamore loved her truly : and, though He might not let her see Him, nor grant her the happiness of His embraces, until that He had conquered her, and had made her give Him per- fect trust, yet the wound of His own heart forced Him to resolve to labour alway for her welfare, to spare her pain, and that she might gain happiness in another way.
" And, as she wandered, homeless and forlorn, Divinamore went with her ; and she never saw Him.
" By His Mother's throne, He left His quiver and His bow. He stripped Himself of all His god-like panoply. He came into the world, in secret, to serve His beloved Anima as her slave. When she climbed the rocks of the mountain. He went before, lifting sharp stones from her path, until His arms were aching. When she passed through forests. He thrust back thickets, and tore a road through thorny briers, until His hands
134
The Maiden Anima
were bleeding. Across the streams, He laid His young body for a bridge. He shielded her from storms, placing Himself between her and the sting of blasting rain,
" All the time, she was wailing to herself that it was not a fitting thing for a maiden who had had the honour of the embraces of a god to be, as she was now, homeless and forlorn. Surely this was not what she deserved, seeing that she was not a common wench. So, by degrees, she forgot the happiness of her Lover's arms, and longed for fortune and for fame.
" Then, Divinamore led her, though she never knew He was her Leader, to a distant country, where the people took her for the most beau- tiful maiden ever seen, and worshipped her.
" She could not speak their language; but she understood their gestures ; and she knew that they admired her loveliness. To herself, she said that here, at last, was the place where fame and fortune would be found.
" Divinamore remained in the outskirts of the crowd, where Anima could not see Him. Swiftly, He went from one man to another; and, as He passed, He whispered, in each ear, that the maiden was fit to be a queen. And, as the whisper dropped into each ear, men turned to view the whisperer ; and they saw no one but a Lad, Whose delicate skin was tanned by sun and rain, and blue with bruises. Whose hands and feet were sore through travel and toil. They could
135
About Divinamore and
not think that He had said those words : and they took them for a sudden thought, and not a voice. They shouldered Him aside. He fell beneath their feet. They trampled on His weary limbs. But, anon, He raised Himself, and went on, unabashed, whispering that Anima was fit to be a queen.
" At last, they caught Him in the act ; and they demanded who He was that dared to speak of Anima.
" He said, ' I am called Divinamore ; and I love her.'
" They mocked Him for a fool, asking what might be the measure of His Love?
" He said, ' I love the maiden Anima more than I love Myself.'
" They jeered at Him, spitting in His face, and beating Him upon His breast. Unwilling tears streamed from His lovely eyes. His flesh quivered in agony. But He did not quail.
" They dragged Him to the middle of the crowd ; and thrust Him face to face with Anima ; to whom they bowed respectfully, making signs to ask whether she knew the Lad.
" But Anima perceived that she was held in honour; and Desire, her lord, made her happy in this honour, desiring continuance of the same. Therefore, when she saw the Lover, Whose arms had once embraced her, in His sorry plight, she was ashamed of Him ; and she threw her head backward, denying that He was anything to her.
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The Maiden Anima
" But Divinamore cried, undauntedly, that Anima was fit to be a queen ; for He knew her thoughts : and He had bound Himself to serve her at all costs, by reason of the arrow in His heart, which made Him choose to suffer, if that only He might win happiness for His beloved.
" ' Give her a royal robe,' He cried, * a crown, a sceptre, and a throne.'
"For His persistency, they beat Him on His breast and back, tearing His tender flesh, until eight rods were broken. Into His forehead, they thrust eleven sharp spikes of barberry. But He cried the louder, ' Give her a royal robe, a crown, a sceptre, and a throne.'
" They tried to test the measure of His love, saying, ' If that You love the maiden Anima more than You love Yourself, what will You sacrifice that we should crown her queen.'
" Instantly, He answered, ' A limb for every sign of sovereignty.'
" Then, with great respect and honour, they led the maiden Anima to the palace; and there they dragged the Lad who claimed to love her.
" In the doorway, they felled Him to the ground. Her lord, Desire, filled Anima with pride; so that she trod upon the crushed and broken body which, formerly, had been her joy.
" They made the Lad stand up ; and they signed to Anima that she should mount the throne. She ascended the steps, and took her seat. They
137
About Divinamore and
nailed the right foot of Divinamore to the thresh- old.
" They placed a crown upon the head of Anima. They nailed the left foot of Divinamore to the threshold.
"They placed a sceptre in the hand of Anima. They made Divinamore stretch His right hand straight and high; and they nailed it to the lintel.
"They robed Anima in royal robes, woven from the wings of butterflies. They made Divin- amore stretch His left hand straight and high; and they nailed it to the lintel.
" Anima sat as queen.
" She saw the Victim, who had sacrificed Him- self to give her glory, strained stiff, as on a rack, before her eyes ; His hands and feet transfixed by nails, His brows bleeding at eleven wounds. His body torn by eight rods, and his Heart pierced by the arrow of true love.
" Divinamore was come to the end of His pil- grimage. He had given, to His beloved, the happiness that she craved. He had reached the threshold of His love's abode. From that threshold, His eyes fed upon her beauty. And, there, nails held Him fast.
" But Anima was a crowned queen, and, in her heart, were happiness and pride.
" Madonnina in paradise looked at her with anger. She seized the quiver and the bow, which Divinamore had left beside her throne. She
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The Maiden Anima
fitted an arrow on the string. She shot at the proud heart of Anima.
"So sure was her aim, so swiftly did the happy- arrow fly, mindful of its errand, that it cleaved its way into the very wound which, formerly, Desire had made. There, it purged the maiden's heart from every taint of selfishness which had held her in bondage to Desire,
" And behold a marvel !
" For now the heart of Anima was pierced by the arrow of true love ; and now she had no happiness in regal state, purchased with so dear a price. She only longed to suffer for Divin- amore.
" She left her throne, and ran to Him. She prayed that He would say what she must do to ease His pain.
"He looked upon her with dimmed eyes. His body drooped in languor. He was dying.
" She was kneeling at His feet; but He could not raise her : for nails held His hands.
" He murmured that He gladly bore the tor- ment of His wounds, if that they gave her happi- ness.
" But she said that she would not see Him suffer ; and that she wished to cast away her royalty, to set Him free.
" She said that the nail in His right foot had bought her throne ; but she would not have it at that price. She stooped down, and drew out the nail.
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About Divinamore and
" She said that the nail in His left foot had bought her crown ; and she cast away the crown. She stooped down, and drew out the nail,
" She said that the nail in His right hand had bought her sceptre; and she cast away the scep- tre. And, having raised herself, she drew out the nail.
" She said that the nail in His left hand had bought her royal robes, woven from the wings of butterflies ; and she cast away the robes. And, having raised herself, she drew out the nail.
" So she renounced her royalty.
" She had nothing, now, which she could offer to Divinamore, except herself, and her true love. She wondered whether He would consider these to be worthy gifts.
" She hid her face in her hands.
" In her shame, she trembled.
" She did not dare to hope.
" She feared that He could never love her any more, seeing how that she had made Him suffer. But she waited : and, with her tears and kisses, she healed the wounds of the nails, the bruises of the rods, the gashes on His brow.
" Divinamore was free. The vigour of His youth returned.
" In His arms, He took His beloved Anima. She felt Him burn, she saw Him shine, with true love.
"The royal robes, woven from wings of butter- flies, which she had cast away, were lying at her
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The Maiden Anima
feet. Her Lover signed the cross upon them. The butterflies, who had given their earthly plumage for those robes, came back from para- dise; and, on their radiant wings, Divinamore and the maiden Anima ascended from the world.
"Before the throne of Madonnina the maiden kneeled ; and she prayed for pardon, to the mother, for the sufferings of the Son.
" But Divinamore raised her.
" She flung herself into the furnace of His love. And in that fervent heat, she changed into a butterfly having wings as white and fragrant as an evening lily.
" And Divinamore wears her on His heart, for ever, as His Own true love."
141
Summer
Estate., pueri si valent, satis discunt.
Mart.
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About Doing Little, Lavishly
XIIJ About Doing Little, Lavishly
IN early summer, at the very beginning of my explorations along the eastern coast, something happened to rouse me from that lethargy into which temperamental indo- lence had let me slip, after my life's great disappointment.
For three weeks, I have been busier than any seven and thirty bees ; thoroughly enjoying toil. Allowed to consume latent energy, I taste relief.
In this walled-city of 3016 souls, — I will never give its name, lest puny tourists, having no necks, should come to mar its quaint and digni- fied simplicity with bicycles, curved spines, and chequered stockings on gross legs, — the clergy are persons of extreme discrimination. Observ- ing something of capability, they had the wis- dom, and the grace, to give it scope. Therefore they merit admiration.
The matter has been the designing of an ecclesiastical procession. That service is per- formed here every year on the Festival of Corpus Dominj ; and, this year, finding me, with my assistants, staying in this wonderful little walled-city, — I will never give its name, — and 10 145
About Doing Little, Lavishly
hiding a talent under a bushel of misanthropy, the clergy had compassion.
It was Monsignore Argo Ermogene who be- gan civilities. Having seen me with my seven divels daily, at the mass of dawn, this White Son of Hermes paid prompt visits to his new parishioners. I found him to be simpaticissimo; first, because of the angelick beauty of his gentle eyes and the rose-leaf delicate mobility of his thin lips ; secondly, because he recognised the singular perfections of my creatures, their serene reserved nobility of port, their bright gravity of regard, and the antick breeding of their mien. He was one of the few brave souls who are not afraid to honour their Creator by frank admira- tion of His noblest works. And, when he had discovered of what unhappy species was the man to whom he spoke, — a man who hates, loves, and excruciates, sick of forced aseity, — this diplomatick prelate treated of things ecclesi- astical, in general, and of the Infiorata of — let us say Citta Senzanome, — in particular. Lastly, he asked me, point-blank, would I lend my boys, and design the pageant of the year?
So, for three weeks, I have been utterly happy in being useful : and, to-night, my procession has passed in the beauty of holiness from the Duomo, up the steep street of the Angels to the antient Church of The Four Holy Crowned Ones, through the Gate of the Seven Sleepers, to the Convent of Friars Minor, along the
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About Doing Little, Lavishly
Avenue of Cypresses, and by the Gate of Santa Sumforosa to the Dominican House in the Street of the Seven Martyred Sons; thence, returning to the Duomo : — a matter of a mile, covered in two hours of bliss beyond all expres- sion (to me).
I could not do much. I am aware of some of my limitations. I attempted little; but I reserved no cache of wit or gold, nor avid energy of soul or sinew, to give perfection to that little. I knew myself to be the very last person in all the world likely to satisfy II San- tissimo, or His worshippers. Yet, for this very reason, I grasped the opportunity of exempli- fying the proverb, ELkos "yCvecreaL iroXXd Kal uapd xb €lKds.
Three weeks ago, I chose beautiful children from the schools, youths and maids, men and women, from trade-guilds and confraternities, six handsome courteous young officers from the citadel. To each, I gave the character of some god, some angel, with raiment and emblems proper to their estate. It was not an occasion for using ancient frumpery. I wanted all things new: and, having drawn designs, chosen text- ures, and cut out antick garments in accord with knowledge gained from minute secret study, I had them made. I rushed away across Apulia to Rome ; where I bought jewels ; and gilded rosy discs embossed upon the rims with god- like names, for haloes ; and also wings — real
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About Doing Little, Lavishly
large wings — to spring from and to cover with feathery plumage the backs of boys, and to grace their waving arms, so that they might float along the way with the lightsome gait of God His birds. I took nothing that I found. I drew designs, and had them made.
A procession is not a snake of frowsy nobodies huddled in couples, who scurry nervously, shame- facedly, impudently, along the middle of the road, unblushingly whining through their noses, to the Omniscient, disgraceful ditties.^
A procession is a visible act of worship, and demands display. Also, Holy Mother Church ordains liturgical hymns of splendour incompara- ble — unsurpassable. Therefore, I displayed a dignified procession on both sides of the street, with recognisable living effigies of renowned personages, who chaunted Pange Lingiia without end. Each subject was separate from the others ; each group displayed alone, coming slowly and with imposing gravity, along the wide bare strips of road-side, leaving clear the open decorated middle. On the foot-pace, citizens knelt in
^ " Hail sainted Mungo, liail ! Our city's patron, hail ! Thy loving help shall ne'er Thy faithful children fail.
• a • • •
" Mungo ! By thy sweet name Our little ones we '11 call ; Often on them and us
Let thy rich blessing fall ! " 148
About Doing Little, Lavishly
crowds, or at windows, gay with arras and verdure. Straight lines of lanthorns stretched across the streets, to aid the sunset and the stars, — straight Hues, uncrossed, without the degradation of a foul festoon.
Last night, all instructions had been learned, all rehearsals finished ; and this wonderful little walled-city gave itself a cleansing so complete that no conception of its scope can be formed by cold Northerners who soap in daily tubs. Wells and the waterfall yielded liquid purity to lave the streets. Under rocks, beyond the walls, the river whitened with the merriment of scrubbed swimmers. And in the Duomo and Santi Quattro Coronati, souls