Two or three large fetichistic stones
stand near their entrance; wickerwork objects of dark meaning strew the
ground; a few stakes emerge, hard by, out of the placid and oozy waters.
In such a cabin, methinks, dwelt those two old fishermen of
Theocritus - here they lived and slumbered side by side on a couch of sea
moss, among the rude implements of their craft.
The habits of these fisherfolk are antique, because the incidents of
their calling have remained unchanged. Some people have detected traces
of "Greek" in the looks and language of these of Tarante. I can detect
nothing of the kind.
And the same with the rest of the population. Hellenic traits have
disappeared from Tarante, as well they may have done, when one remembers
its history. It was completely latinized under Augustus, and though
Byzantines came hither under Nicephorus Phocas - Benjamin of Tudela says
the inhabitants are "Greeks" - they have long ago become merged into
the Italian element. Only the barbers seem to have preserved something
of the old traditions: grandiloquent and terrible talkers, like the
cooks in Athenasus.
I witnessed an Aristophanic scene in one of their shops lately, when a
simple-minded stranger, a north Italian - some arsenal official - brought
a little boy to have his hair cut "not too short" and, on returning
from a brief visit to the tobacconist next door, found it cropped much
closer than he liked.
"But, damn it," he said (or words to that effect), "I told you not to
cut the hair too short."
The barber, immaculate and imperturbable, gave a preliminary bow. He was
collecting his thoughts, and his breath.
"I say, I told you not to cut it too short. It looks horrible - - "
"Horrible? That, sir - pardon my frankness! - is a matter of opinion. I
fully admit that you desired the child's hair to be cut not too short.
Those, in fact, were your very words. Notwithstanding, I venture to
think you will come round to my point of view, on due reflection, like
most of my esteemed customers. In the first place, there is the
ethnological aspect of the question. You are doubtless sufficiently
versed in history to know that under the late regime it was considered
improper, if not criminal, to wear a moustache. Well, nowadays we think
differently. Which proves that fashions change; yes, they change, sir;
and the wise man bends to them - up to a certain point, of course; up to
a certain reasonable point - - " "But, damn it - - "
"And in favour of my contention that hair should be worn short nowadays,
I need only cite the case of His Majesty the King, whose august head, we
all know, is clipped like that of a racehorse.
