Most Of The
Edifices, Large And Small, Public And Private, Are Constructed Of
Rubble Set In Cement, With An Occasional Big, Rough-Squared Stone To
Give An Appearance Of Solidity, And Perhaps A Few Courses Of Bricks
In The Old Roman Style.
If the building is of importance, this work
is hidden beneath stucco; otherwise it remains like the mere shell
of a house, and is disfigured over all its surface with great holes
left by the scaffolding.
Religion supplies something of adornment;
above many portals is a rudely painted Virgin and Child, often,
plainly enough, the effort of a hand accustomed to any tool rather
than that of the artist. On the dwellings of the very poor a great
Cross is scrawled in whitewash. These rickety houses often exhibit
another feature more picturesque and, to the earthly imagination,
more consoling; on the balcony one sees a great gourd, some three
feet long, so placed that its yellow plumpness may ripen in sun and
air. It is a sign of plenty: the warm spot of colour against the
rough masonry does good to eye and heart.
My hotel afforded me little amusement after the Concordia at
Cotrone, yet it did not lack its characteristic features. I found,
for instance, in my bedroom a printed notice, making appeal in
remarkable terms to all who occupied the chamber. The proprietor -
thus it ran - had learnt with extreme regret that certain
travellers who slept under his roof were in the habit of taking
their meals at other places of entertainment. This practice, he
desired it to be known, not only hurt his personal feelings -
tocca il suo morale - but did harm to the reputation of his
establishment. Assuring all and sundry that he would do his utmost
to maintain a high standard of culinary excellence, the proprietor
ended by begging his honourable clients that they would bestow their
kind favours on the restaurant of the house - signora pregare i
suoi respettabili clienti perche vogliano benignarsi il ristorante;
and therewith signed himself - Coriolano Paparazzo.
For my own part I was not tempted to such a breach of decorum; the
fare provided by Signor Paparazzo suited me well enough, and the
wine of the country was so good that it would have covered many
defects of cookery. Of my fellow-guests in the spacious dining-room
I can recall only two. They were military men of a certain age,
grizzled officers, who walked rather stiffly and seated themselves
with circumspection. Evidently old friends, they always dined at the
same time, entering one a few minutes after the other; but by some
freak of habit they took places at different tables, so that the
conversation which they kept up all through the meal had to be
carried on by an exchange of shouts. Nothing whatever prevented them
from being near each other; the room never contained more than half
a dozen persons; yet thus they sat, evening after evening, many
yards apart, straining their voices to be mutually audible.
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