The Italians Set Great Store By A Little Bit Of Bella
Pianura, Or Level Ground; To Them It Is As Precious As A Hill Or
Rock Is To A Londoner Out For A Holiday.
The peasantry are as
blind to the beauties of rough unmanageable land as Peter Bell was
to those of
The primrose with a yellow brim (I quote from memory).
The people complain of the climate of Dalpe, the snow not going off
before the end of March or beginning of April. No climate, they
say, should be colder than that of Faido; barley, however, and
potatoes do very well at Dalpe, and nothing can exceed the hay
crops. A good deal of the hay is sent down to Faido on men's backs
or rather on their heads, for the road is impracticable even for
sledges. It is astonishing what a weight the men will bear upon
their heads, and the rate at which they will come down while
loaded. An average load is four hundredweight. The man is hardly
visible beneath his burden, which looks like a good big part of an
ordinary English haystack. With this weight on his head he will go
down rough places almost at a run and never miss his footing. The
men generally carry the hay down in threes and fours together for
company. They look distressed, as well they may: every muscle is
strained, and it is easy to see that their powers are being taxed
to their utmost limit; it is better not even to say good-day to
them when they are thus loaded; they have enough to attend to just
then; nevertheless, as soon as they have deposited their load at
Faido they will go up to Dalpe again or Calpiognia, or wherever it
may be, for another, and bring it down without resting. Two such
journeys are reckoned enough for one day. This is how the people
get their corpo di legno e gamba di ferro - "their bodies of wood
and legs of iron." But I think they rather overdo it.
Talking of legs, as I went through the main street of Dalpe an old
lady of about sixty-five stopped me, and told me that while
gathering her winter store of firewood she had had the misfortune
to hurt her leg. I was very sorry, but I failed to satisfy her;
the more I sympathised in general terms, the more I felt that
something further was expected of me. I went on trying to do the
civil thing, when the old lady cut me short by saying it would be
much better if I were to see the leg at once; so she showed it me
in the street, and there, sure enough, close to the groin there was
a swelling. Again I said how sorry I was, and added that perhaps
she ought to show it to a medical man. "But aren't you a medical
man?" said she in an alarmed manner. "Certainly not," replied I.
"Then why did you let me show you my leg?" said she indignantly,
and pulling her clothes down, the poor old woman began to hobble
off; presently two others joined her, and I heard hearty peals of
laughter as she recounted her story.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 12 of 145
Words from 5643 to 6188
of 75076
