The Translation by Edith Wharton.
The G--s were living in the country, near Florence, when the Italian
army began preparations to advance upon Rome. In the family the
enterprise was regarded with disapproval. The father, the mother, and
the two grown daughters, all ardent Catholics and temperate patriots,
talked of moral measures.
"We don't profess to understand anything about politics," Signora G----
would say to her friends; "I am especially ignorant; in fact, I am
afraid I should find it rather difficult to explain WHY I think as I
do. But I can't help it; I have a presentiment. There is something
inside me that keeps saying: 'This is not the right way for them to go
to Rome; they ought not to go, they must not go!' I remember how things
were in forty-eight, and in fifty-nine and sixty; well, in those days I
never was frightened, I never had the feeling of anxiety that I have
now; I always thought that things would come right in the end. But now,
you may say what you please, I see nothing but darkness ahead. You may
laugh as much as you like... pray heaven we don't have to cry one of
these days! I don't believe that day is so far off."
The only one of the household who thought differently was the son, a
lad of twenty, just re-reading his Roman history, and boiling over with
excitement. To mention Rome before him was to declare battle, and in
one of these conflicts feeling had run so high that it had been
unanimously decided not to touch upon the subject in future.
One evening, early in September, one of the official newspapers
announced that the Italian troops had actually entered the Papal
States. The son was bursting with joy. The father read the article, sat
thinking awhile, and then, shaking his head, muttered: "No!" and again:
"No!" and a third time: "No!"
"But I beg your pardon, father!" shouted the boy, all aflame.
"Don't let us begin again," the mother gently interposed; and that
evening nothing more was said. But the next night something serious
happened. The lad, just before going to bed, announced, without
preamble, as though he were saying the most natural thing in the world,
that he meant to go to Rome with the army.
There was a general outcry of surprise and indignation, followed by a
storm of reproaches and threats. No decent person would willingly be
present at such scenes as were about to be enacted; it was enough that,
as Italians, they were all in a measure to blame for what had happened,
without deliberately assuming the shame of being an eye-witness; there
was nothing one could not forgive in a lad of good family, except (it
was his mother who spoke) this craze to go and see A POOR OLD MAN
BOMBARDED. A fine war! A glorious triumph, indeed!
When they had ended the lad set his teeth, tore in bits the paper
clutched between his fingers, and, lighting a candle, flung out of the
room, stamping his feet like an Italian actor representing an angry
king.
Half an hour later he stole gently back to the dining-room. His father
and mother sat there alone, sad and silent. He asked pardon of his
father, who grumblingly shook hands; then he returned to his room,
followed by his mother.
"Then we shall hear no more of these ideas?" she tenderly suggested,
laying her hands on his shoulders.
He answered her with a kiss.
The next day he crossed the borders of the Papal States.
The discovery of his flight was received with tears, rage, and
invectives. They would never consent to see him again; if he came back,
they would not even rise from their seats to welcome him; they would
not speak to him for a month; they would cut off his allowance; they
had a hundred other plans for his discomfiture. With the mother it was
only talk; but the father meant what he said. He was a good but hard
man, averse to compromises, and violent in his anger; his son knew it
and feared him. It was incomprehensible that the lad should have
ventured upon such a step.
The news of the 20th of September only increased the resentment of his
parents.
"He will see," they muttered. "Only let him try to come back!"
Their words, their gestures, the manner in which they were to receive
him, were all thought out and agreed upon: he was to receive a
memorable lesson.
On the morning of the 22d they were all seated in the dining-room,
reading, when there was a great knock at the door, and the boy,
flushed, panting, sunburnt, stood erect and motionless on the threshold.
No one moved.
"What!" cried the boy, extending his arms in amazement, "you haven't
heard the news?"
No one answered.
"Hasn't any one told you? Has no one been out from Florence? Are you
all in the dark still?"
No one breathed.
"We have heard," one of the girls at length faltered, after exchanging
glances with her father, "that Rome was taken--"
"What! Is THAT all?"
"That is all."
"But what a victory! What a victory!" cried the son, with a shout that
set them trembling. "So I am the one to tell you of it!"
They sprang up and surrounded him.
"But how is it possible?" he went on, with excited gestures--"how is it
possible that you haven't heard anything? Have there been no rumors
about the neighborhood? Haven't the peasants held a meeting? What is
the municipality about? Why, it's inconceivable! Just listen--here,
come close to me, so--I'll tell you the whole story; my heart's going
at such a rate that I can hardly speak..."
"But what has happened?"
"Wait! You shan't know yet. You must hear the whole story first, from
beginning to end. I want to tell you the thing bit by bit, just as I
saw it."
"But WHAT is it?--the Roman festival?"
"The PLEBISCITE?"
"The King's arrival?"
"No, no, no! Something much more tremendous!"
"But tell us, tell us!"
"Sit down, lad!"
"But how is it that we haven't heard anything about it?"
"How can I tell? All I know is that bringing you the first news of it
is the most glorious thing that's ever happened to me. I reached
Florence this morning--they knew all about it there, so I rushed
straight out here. I fancied that perhaps you mightn't have heard
yet--I ... I'm all out of breath ..."
"But tell us, tell us quickly!" the mother and daughters cried, drawing
their chairs around him. The father remained at a distance.
"You shall hear, mother--SUCH things!" the boy began. "Here, come
closer to me. Well, you know what happened on the morning of the
twenty-first? The rest of the regiments entered; there were the same
crowds, the same shouting and music as on the day before. But suddenly,
about midday, the noise stopped as if by common consent, first in the
Corso, then in the other principal streets, and so, little by little,
all over the city. The troops of people began to break up into groups,
talking to each other in low voices; then they scattered in all
directions, taking leave of each other in a way that made one think
they meant to meet again. It seemed as though the signal had been given
to prepare for something tremendous. Men said a hasty word to each
other in passing and then hurried on, each going his own way. The whole
Corso was in movement; people were rushing in and out of the houses,
calling out from the street and being answered from the windows;
soldiers dashed about as though in answer to a summons; cavalry
officers trotted by; men and boys passed with bundles of flags on their
shoulders and in their arms, all breathless and hurried, as if the
devil were after them. Not knowing a soul, and having no way of finding
out what it all meant, I tried to guess what was up from the expression
of their faces. They all looked cheerful enough, but not as frantically
glad as they had been; there was a shade of doubt, of anxiety. One
could see they were planning something. From the Corso I wandered on
through some of the narrower streets, stopping now and then to watch
one of the groups. Everywhere I saw the same thing--crowds of people,
all in a hurry, all coming and going, with the same air that I had
already noticed in the Corso, of concealing from somebody what they
were doing, although it was all being done in the open. Knots, bands,
hundreds of men and women passed me in silence; they were all going in
the same direction, as though to some appointed meeting-place."
"Where were they going?" the father and mother interrupted.
"Wait a minute. I went back to the Corso. As I approached it I heard a
deep, continuous murmur of voices, growing louder and louder, like the
noise of a great crowd. The Corso was full of people, all standing
still and facing toward the Capitol, as though they expected something
to come from that direction. From the Piazza del Popolo to the Piazza
di Venezia they were jammed so tight that nobody could budge. I heard
whispers flying about: 'Now they're coming!'--'They're coming from over
there!'--'Who's coming?'--'The main column--here's the main
column!'--'Here it is!'--'No, it isn't!'--'Yes, it is!' All at once
there was a stir in the crowd, and a big shout, 'Here they are!' and
down the middle of the street a wide passageway seemed to open of
itself, as though to make room for a procession. Every head was
uncovered. I fought my way through from the outer edge of the crowd, to
get a look at what was coming. I can feel the shiver down my back now!
First, a lot of generals in full uniform, and gentlemen in civilian's
dress, with the tri-colored scarf; in the midst of them, girls, women,
and ragged, tattered men; workmen, peasants, women with babies,
soldiers of all arms; smartly dressed ladies, students, whole families
clutching hold of each other's hands, for fear of getting lost in the
crowd; all jammed together, trampled upon, so that they could barely
move; and with it all not a sound but a buzzing, monotonous murmur;
silence on both sides of the street; silence in the windows. It was
awfully solemn; half strange and half fearful. I felt as if I were in a
trance."
"But where were they going to?" his parents and sisters interposed with
growing impatience.
"Wait a bit!" he returned. "I fought my way into the thick of it, with
the crowds on both sides of the street piling in on top of me. Lord,
what a crush! They spread out like a torrent, pouring into every
cranny, sweeping people on ahead of them, into shop-doors, into the
court-yards of houses, wherever there was a yard of vacant space. As we
went on, other streams of people kept surging into the Corso from all
the side streets, which were just as closely packed; on we swept from
the Capitol; and they said that there were thousands more in the Forum.
Hordes kept pouring in from the Piazza di Spagna, from the Via del
Babbuino, from the Piazza del Popolo. Every one had something in his
hand: a wreath of flowers, a branch of olive or laurel, a banner, a rag
tied to a stick. Some carried holy images uplifted above their heads;
inscriptions, emblems, pictures of the Pope, of the King, of the
Princes, of Garibaldi; never under the sun was there such a medley and
confusion of people and things! And all the while only that low murmur,
and the great multitude moving on with a calmness, a dignity that
seemed miraculous. I felt as though I were dreaming!"
They gathered close round him without a word. "Suddenly I noticed that
the crowd had turned to the left. Round we all went; very slowly, with
the greatest difficulty, shoved, trampled on, knocked about; with our
arms pinned to our sides, and hardly able to breathe, we fought our
way, street by street, to the little square by the bridge of St.
Angelo. The bridge itself was crammed with people; beyond it, there
were more crowds, which seemed to stretch all the way to St. Peter's.
The right bank of the Tiber swarmed like an ant-hill. Crossing the
bridge was a hard job; it took us over a quarter of an hour. The poor
devils on each side, in their fear of being pushed over the edge,
clutched the parapet madly, and shouted with terror; I believe there
were several accidents.
"Well, at last we got across. All the streets leading to the Piazza of
St. Peter were choked with human beings. When we reached the foot of
one of the two streets that run straight to St. Peter's we heard a
great roar, like the noise of the sea in a gale; it seemed to come to
us in gusts, now near by, now a long way off. It was the noise of the
crowd in the square before St. Peter's. We rushed ahead more madly than
ever; climbing over each other, carried along, pushed, swept, and
dragged, till at last we reached the square. God, if you could have
seen it!--What a spectacle!--The whole huge square was jammed, black,
swarming; no longer a square, but an ocean. All around the outer edge,
between the four lines of columns, on the steps of the church, in the
portico, on the great terraced roof, in the outer galleries of the
dome, on the capitals of the columns, on the very pilasters; in the
windows of the houses to the right of the square, on the balconies, on
the leads, above, below, to the right and to the left, wherever a human
being could find foothold, wherever there was some projection to cling
to or to dangle from, everywhere there were heads, arms, legs, banners,
shouts, gesticulations. The whole of Rome was there."
"Heavens! ... And the Vatican?" the women cried, in a tremble.
"All shut up. You know that a wing of the Vatican overlooks the square,
and that the Pope's apartments are in that wing. Every window was
closed; it looked like an abandoned palace; like a cold, rigid,
impassive face, staring straight ahead with wide-open motionless eyes.
The crowd looked up at it with a murmur.
"Over by the church steps I noticed a lot of officers and gentlemen
moving about and giving orders, which seemed to be handed on through
the crowd. The excitement was increasing. Every head in the square was
uncovered; white heads of old men, brown heads of soldiers, fair heads
of little children. The sun blazed down on it all. Thousands of shapes,
colors, sounds, seemed to undulate and blend; banners, green boughs,
fluttering rags, were tossed back and forth as though upon a dancing
sea. The crowd seethed and quivered as if the ground underfoot were on
fire.
"Suddenly there was a shout that swept over the whole square: 'The
boys! The children! Let's have the children!'"
"Then, as if every one were following some concerted plan of action,
all the children in the square were lifted up above the crowd, and the
men and women who carried them fought a way through to the front of the
Vatican. The bigger boys made their own way. Bands of ten and twenty of
them, holding each other by the hand, wriggled between people's legs;
hundreds of children, some on their own feet, some carried, some
pushed, a whole world of little folk, hidden till then in the crowd,
suddenly swarmed in one corner of the square; and how the women
screamed! 'Take care!--Make room!--Look out for my child!'"
"Presently there was another shout: 'The women now! The women!' and
another shuffling up and settling down of the crowd. Then a third
shout, louder than any of the others: 'The army! The troops!' this
time. Then came the most indescribable agitation, but underneath it all
a sense of order and rapidity; none of the ordinary confusion and
delay; every one helped, made way, co-operated; the whole immense
multitude seemed to be under orders. Gradually the disturbance ceased,
the noise diminished, the gesticulation subsided; and looking about one
saw that all the soldiers, women, and children in the crowd had
disappeared as if by magic.
"There they all stood, on the right side of the square, divided into
three great battalions that extended from the door of St. Peter's to
the centre of the colonnade, all facing the Vatican, packed together
and motionless. The crowd burst into frantic applause."
"But the Vatican?" the whole family cried out for the third time.
"Shut up and silent as a convent; but wait. Suddenly the applause
ceased, and every head turned backward, whispering: 'Silence!' The
whisper travelled across the square and down the length of the two
streets leading to it; gradually the sound died out, and the crowd
became absolutely, incredibly silent: it was supernatural. All at once,
in the midst of this silence, we heard a faint mysterious chirping; a
vague, diffused sound of voices, that seemed to come from overhead.
Gradually it grew louder, and there was an uncertain gathering of
shrill, discordant tones, now close by, now far off, but growing
steadier and more harmonious, until at length it was blent in a single
tremulous silvery chant that soared above us like the singing of a
choir of angels. Thousands of children were singing the hymn to Pius
IX.--the hymn of forty-seven."
"Oh, God--oh, God!" cried the mother and daughters, with clasped hands.
"That song re-echoed in every heart; it touched something deep down and
tender in every one of us. A thrill ran through the crowd; there was a
wild waving of arms and hands, as though to take the place of speech;
but the only sound was a confused murmur.
"'Holy Father,' that murmur seemed to say, 'look at them, listen to
them! They are our children, they are your little ones, who are looking
for you, who are praying to you, who implore your blessing. Yield to
their entreaty; give them your blessing; grant that our religion and
our country may dwell together as one faith in our hearts. One word
from you, Holy Father, one sign from you, one glance even, promising
pardon and peace, and every man of us shall be with you and for you,
now and for ever! Look--these our children and your little ones!'
"Thousands of banners fluttered in the air, the song ceased, and a deep
silence followed."
"Well?" they cried breathlessly.
"Still shut up," the lad answered. "Then the women began to sing. There
was a deep thrill in the immense voice that rose; a something that
throbs only in the breast of mothers; it seemed a cry rather than a
hymn; it was sweet and solemn.
"At first the crowd was motionless; then a wave of excitement passed
over it, and the hymn was drowned in a great clamor: 'These are our
mothers, these are our wives and sisters; Holy Father, listen to them.
They have never known hatred or anger; they have always loved and
hoped; all they ask is that you should give them leave to couple your
name with that of Italy on their children's lips. Holy Father, one word
from you will spare them many cruel doubts and many bitter tears. Give
them your blessing, Holy Father!"
The boy's listeners questioned him with look and gesture.
"Still closed," he answered; "still closed. But then a tremendous chant
burst out, followed by a wild surging of the crowd: the soldiers were
singing.--'These are our soldiers,' the people cried; 'they shall be
yours, Holy Father. They come from the fields and the workshops; they
will keep watch at your door, Holy Father, they will attend upon your
steps. They were born under your rule, as children they heard your
glorious cry for liberty, they fought the stranger in your name and in
that of their king; in the hour of danger, you will find them close
about your throne, ready to die for you. One word, Holy Father, and
these swords, these breasts, this flesh and blood is yours! They ask
your blessing on their country, Holy Father, they ask you to repeat
your own glorious words!'...
"A window in the Vatican opened. The song ceased, the shouts died
out--silence. There was not a soul in the window. For a few seconds the
immense multitude seemed to stop breathing. It seemed as though
something moved behind the window--as though at the back of the room a
shadow appeared and then vanished. Then we fancied that we caught a
glimpse of people moving to and fro, and heard a vague sound. Every
face was turned towards the window, every eye was fixed upon it.
Suddenly, as if by inspiration, every arm in the multitude was
stretched out towards the palace; mothers lifted their children above
their heads, soldiers swung their caps on the points of their bayonets,
every banner was shaken out, and a hundred thousand voices burst into
one tremendous shout, 'Viva! Viva! Viva!' At the window of the Vatican
something light-colored appeared, wavered, fluttered in the air. God in
heaven!" cried the boy, with his arms about his mother's neck, "it was
the flag of Italy!"
The delight, the joy, the enthusiasm which greeted his words are
indescribable. The lad had spoken with so much warmth, had been so
carried away by his imagination, that he had not perceived that,
gradually, as the story proceeded, he had passed from fact to fiction;
and his eyes were wet, his voice shook, with the spell of his
hallucination. His words carried conviction, and not a doubt clouded
the happiness of his listeners. They laughed and cried and kissed each
other, feeling themselves suddenly released from all their doubts and
scruples, from all the miserable conflicts of conscience that had
tortured them as Italians and as Catholics! The reconciliation between
Church and State! The dream of so many years! What peace it promised,
what a future of love and harmony! What a sense of freedom and security!
"Thank God, thank God!" the mother cried, sinking into a chair, worn
out by her emotions. And then, in a moment or two, they were all at the
lad again, clamoring for fresh details.
"Is it really true?"
"Haven't you dreamed it?"
"Go on, tell us everything. Tell us about the Pope, about the crowd,
about what happened next"...
"What happened next?" the boy began again, in a tired voice. "I hardly
know. There was such an uproar, such confusion, such an outburst of
frenzy, that the mere recollection of it makes my brain reel. All I saw
was a vortex of arms and flags, and the breath was almost knocked out
of me by a thundering blow on the chest. After a while, I got out of
the thick of it, and plunged into one of the streets leading to the
bridge of St. Angelo. People were still pouring into the piazza from
Borgo Pio with frantic shouts. I heard afterwards that the crowd tried
to break into the Vatican; the soldiers had to keep them back, first
breast to breast, then with blows, and then with their bayonets. They
say that some people were suffocated in the press. No one knows yet
what happened inside the Vatican; there was a rumor that the Pope had
given his blessing from the window--but I didn't see him. I was almost
dead when I got to the bridge. The news of what had taken place had
already spread over the whole city, and from every direction crowds
were still pouring towards the Vatican. Detachments of cavalry went by
me at a trot; orderlies and aides-de-camps carrying orders dashed along
the streets. Hearing their shouts, the people in the windows shouted
back at them. Decrepit old men, sick people, women with babies in their
arms, swarmed on the terraces, poured out of the houses, questioning,
wondering, embracing one another... At last I got to the Corso. At that
minute there was a tremendous report from the direction of the Pincio,
another from Porta Pia, a third from San Pancrazio: all the batteries
of the Italian army were saluting the Pope. Soon afterwards the bells
of the Capitol began to ring; then, one after another, a hundred
churches chimed in. The crowds of Borgo Pio surged frantically back
towards the left bank of the Tiber, invading the streets, the squares,
the houses, stripping the coverings from the papal escutcheons,
carrying in triumph busts of Pius IX., portraits and banners. Thousands
assembled with frantic cheers before the palaces of the Roman nobles
who are known for their devotion to the Holy See. In answer to the
cheers, the owners of the houses appeared on their balconies and
unfurled the Italian flag.
"Wait a minute, I'm out of breath"...
As soon as he had recovered his breath he was assailed with fresh
questions.
"Well, and what then? And the Vatican--? The Pope--?"
"I don't know.--But Rome that night... how can I ever tell you how
beautiful, how great, how marvellous it was! The night was perfectly
clear, and I don't believe such an illumination was ever seen since the
world began. The Corso was on fire; the churches were jammed with
people, and there was preaching in every one of them. The streets were
full of music, dancing, and singing; people harangued the crowds in the
cafes and the theatres.
"I wanted to see St. Peter's again. There had been a rumor that His
Holiness needed rest, and Borgo Pio was as still as it is on the
stillest night. The piazza was full of moonlight. A silent throng was
gathered about the two fountains and on the steps of the church. Many
were sitting down, many stretched at full length on the ground; the
greater number had fallen asleep, worn out by the fatigue and
excitement of the day; women, soldiers, children, lay huddled together
in a confused heap. Hundreds of others were on their knees, and
sentinels of all the different corps moved about here and there, with
little flags and crosses fastened to the barrels of their guns. The
ground was strewn with flags, foliage, flowers, and hats lost in the
crush; the windows of the Vatican were lit up; there was not a sound to
be heard, the crowd seemed to be holding its breath.
"I turned away, beside myself with the thought of all that I had seen,
of the effect that it would produce in Italy, and all over the world;
of what you would all say to it, and you most of all, father! I found
myself at the station without knowing how I had got there. It was full
of noise and confusion. I jumped on to the train, we started, and here
I am. The news reached Florence last night; they say the excitement was
indescribable; the King has left for Rome; the news is all over the
world by this time!"
He sank into a chair and sat silent, as though his breath had failed
him. Then he sprang up and rushed out to intercept the papers, which
usually reached the villa at eleven o'clock in the morning.
In this way he succeeded in maintaining the blissful delusion until
evening. The dinner was full of gayety, the lad continued to pour out
detail after detail, and his listeners to heap benediction upon
benediction.
Suddenly a hurried step was heard on the stairs, and the bell rang
violently. The door opened, and a tall, pale priest, with a drawn
mouth, appeared on the threshold. He was a recent acquaintance of the
family, who felt no great sympathy for him, but who received him
courteously more out of respect for his cloth than out of regard for
his merits.
As he entered, all but the son sprang up and surrounded him with
excited exclamations.
"Well, have you heard the news? Thank God, it's all ended! The hand of
God is in it! What do you think of it all? Tell us, let us hear your
opinion!"
"But what news?" asked the priest, looking from one to the other with
astonished eyes.
In wild haste, and all speaking at once, they poured out the story of
the festival, the forgiveness, the reconciliation.
The priest stared at them, with the look of a man who finds himself
unexpectedly surrounded by lunatics; then, with a withering glance at
the boy, and a smile of malignant triumph--
"Luckily," he said, "there is not a word of truth in it!"
"Not a word of truth in it?" they clamored, turning upon their
informant.
The boy, unmoved by their agitation, returned the priest's look
half-scornfully, half-sadly.
"Your reverence, don't say fortunately. Since you are an Italian, say
rather, 'Alas, that it is not so!'"
For a moment the others stood aghast; then, angered, as people will be,
rather against those who undeceive them than against those who delude
them, they turned towards the priest, involuntarily echoing the boy's
words: "He's right, your reverence! Say rather, 'Alas, that it is not
so!'"
The priest pointed to his own breast with a long knotty finger.
"I?" he exclaimed bitterly, "never!"
At these words, the boy's father, rudely roused from his mood of tender
exaltation, and bursting, after his wont, into sudden fury, stretched
his arm towards the priest, with a cry that rang through the room like
a pistol-shot: "Out of my house this instant!"
The priest stalked out, slamming the door. The lad's arms were about
his father's neck; and the old man, laying his hands on his son's head,
said gently: "I forgive you."