She Brought All Together On A Tray, And Put Them
Down On The Table.
"It'll come to a franc," said she, "in all, but
please to pay first." I did so, of course,
And she was satisfied.
A day or two afterwards I went to the same inn, hoping to dine as
well and cheaply as before; but I think they must have discovered
that I was a forestiere inglese in the meantime, for they did not
make me pay first, and charged me normal prices.
What pretty words they have! While eating my dinner I wanted a
small plate and asked for it. The landlady changed the word I had
used, and told a girl to bring me a tondino. A tondino is an
abbreviation of rotondino, a "little round thing." A plate is a
tondo, a small plate a tondino. The delicacy of expression which
their diminutives and intensitives give is untranslateable. One
day I was asking after a waiter whom I had known in previous years,
but who was ill. I said I hoped he was not badly off. "Oh dear,
no," was the answer; "he has a discreta posizionina" - "a snug
little sum put by." "Is the road to such and such a place
difficult?" I once inquired. "Un tantino," was the answer. "Ever
such a very little," I suppose, is as near as we can get to this.
At one inn I asked whether I could have my linen back from the wash
by a certain time, and was told it was impossibilissimo. I have an
Italian friend long resident in England who often introduces
English words when talking with me in Italian. Thus I have heard
him say that such and such a thing is tanto cheapissimo. As for
their gestures, they are inimitable. To say nothing of the pretty
little way in which they say "no," by moving the forefinger
backwards and forwards once or twice, they have a hundred movements
to save themselves the trouble of speaking, which say what they
have to say better than any words can do. It is delightful to see
an Italian move his hand in such way as to show you that you have
got to go round a corner. Gesture is easier both to make and to
understand than speech is. Speech is a late acquisition, and in
critical moments is commonly discarded in favour of gesture, which
is older and more habitual.
I once saw an Italian explaining something to another and tapping
his nose a great deal. He became more and more confidential, and
the more confidential he became, the more he tapped, till his
finger seemed to become glued to, and almost grow into his nose.
At last the supreme moment came. He drew the finger down, pressing
it closely against his lower lip, so as to drag it all down and
show his gums and the roots of his teeth. "There," he seemed to
say, "you now know all: consider me as turned inside out:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 73 of 145
Words from 37340 to 37843
of 75076
