After Living Amid A Malaria-Stricken Population, I Rejoiced In The
Healthy Aspect Of The Mountain Folk.
Even a deformed beggar, who
dragged himself painfully along the pavement, had so ruddy a face
that it was hard to feel compassion for him.
And the wayside
children - it was a pleasure to watch them at their games. Such
children in Italy do not, as a rule, seem happy; too often they look
ill, cheerless, burdened before their time; at Catanzaro they are as
robust and lively as heart could wish, and their voices ring
delightfully upon the ear. It is not only, I imagine, a result of
the fine air they breathe; no doubt they are exceptional among the
poor children of the south in getting enough to eat. The town has
certain industries, especially the manufacture of silk; one feels an
atmosphere of well-being; mendicancy is a rare thing.
Fruits abounded, and were very cheap; if one purchased from a stall
the difficulty was to carry away the abundance offered for one's
smallest coin. Excellent oranges cost about a penny the half-dozen.
Any one who is fond of the prickly fig should go to Catanzaro. I
asked a man sitting with a basket of them at a street corner to give
me the worth of a soldo (a half-penny); he began to fill my pocket,
and when I cried that it was enough, that I could carry no more, he
held up one particularly fine fruit, smiled as only an Italian can,
and said, with admirable politeness, "Questo per complimento!" I
ought to have shaken hands with him.
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