I Liked The Porch Almost Best Under An Aspect Which It No Longer
Presents.
One summer an opening was made in the west wall, which
was afterwards closed because the wind blew through it too much and
made the church too cold.
While it was open, one could sit on the
church steps and look down through it on to the bottom of the
Ticino valley; and through the windows one could see the slopes
about Dalpe and Cornone. Between the two windows there is a
picture of austere old S. Carlo Borromeo with his hands joined in
prayer.
It was at Rossura that I made the acquaintance of a word which I
have since found very largely used throughout North Italy. It is
pronounced "chow" pure and simple, but is written, if written at
all, "ciau," or "ciao," the "a" being kept very broad. I believe
the word is derived from "schiavo," a slave, which, became
corrupted into "schiao," and "ciao." It is used with two meanings,
both of which, however, are deducible from the word slave. In its
first and more common use it is simply a salute, either on greeting
or taking leave, and means, "I am your very obedient servant."
Thus, if one has been talking to a small child, its mother will
tell it to say "chow" before it goes away, and will then nod her
head and say "chow" herself. The other use is a kind of pious
expletive, intending "I must endure it," "I am the slave of a
higher power." It was in this sense I first heard it at Rossura.
A woman was washing at a fountain while I was eating my lunch.
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