Imagine A
Spacious Shop, Well Proportioned, Perfectly Contrived, And
Throughout Fitted With Woodwork Copies From The Best Examples Of Old
Italian Carving.
Seeking pill or potion, one finds oneself in a
museum of art, where it would be easy to spend an hour in studying
the counter, the shelves, the ceiling.
The chemists (two brothers,
if I remember rightly) pointed out to me with legitimate pride all
that they had done for the beautifying of their place of business; I
shall not easily forget the glowing countenance, the moved voice,
which betrayed their feelings as they led me hither and thither; for
them and their enterprise I felt a hearty respect. When we had
surveyed everything within doors I was asked to look at the mostra
- the sign that hung over the entrance; a sort of griffin in
wrought iron, this, too, copied from an old masterpiece, and
reminding one of the fine ironwork which adorns the streets of
Siena. Don Pasquale could not be satisfied until I had privately
assured him of my genuine admiration. Was it, he asked, at all like
a chemist's shop in London? My reply certainly gratified him, but I
am afraid it did not increase his desire to visit England.
Whilst I was at the chemist's, there entered a number of peasants,
whose appearance was so striking that I sought information about
them. Don Pasquale called them "Greci"; they came from a mountain
village where the dialect of the people is still a corrupt Greek.
One would like to imagine that their origin dates back to the early
Hellenic days, but it is assuredly much later.
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