March 14th.
Towards two o'clock the vast theatre was crowded,--pit, gallery, boxes,
stage, all were thronged; thousands of faces,--boys, gentlemen,
teachers, workingmen, women of the people, babies. There was a moving of
heads and hands, a flutter of feathers, ribbons, and curls, and loud and
merry murmur which inspired cheerfulness. The theatre was all decorated
with festoons of white, red, and green cloth. In the pit two little
stairways had been erected: one on the right, which the winners of
prizes were to ascend in order to reach the stage; the other, on the
left, which they were to descend after receiving their prizes. On the
front of the platform there was a row of red chairs; and from the back
of the one in the centre hung two laurel crowns. At the back of the
stage was a trophy of flags; on one side stood a small green table, and
upon it lay all the certificates of premiums, tied with tricolored
ribbons. The band of music was stationed in the pit, under the stage;
the schoolmasters and mistresses filled all one side of the first
balcony, which had been reserved for them; the benches and passages of
the pit were crammed with hundreds of boys, who were to sing, and who
had written music in their hands. At the back and all about, masters and
mistresses could be seen going to and fro, arranging the prize scholars
in lines; and it was full of parents who were giving a last touch to
their hair and the last pull to their neckties.
[Illustration: "HURRAH FOR THE DEPUTY OF CALABRIA!"--Page 166.]
No sooner had I entered my box with my family than I perceived in the
opposite box the young mistress with the red feather, who was smiling
and showing all the pretty dimples in her cheeks, and with her my
brother's teacher and "the little nun," dressed wholly in black, and my
kind mistress of the upper first; but she was so pale, poor thing! and
coughed so hard, that she could be heard all over the theatre. In the
pit I instantly espied Garrone's dear, big face and the little blond
head of Nelli, who was clinging close to the other's shoulder. A little
further on I saw Garoffi, with his owl's-beak nose, who was making great
efforts to collect the printed catalogues of the prize-winners; and he
already had a large bundle of them which he could put to some use in his
bartering--we shall find out what it is to-morrow. Near the door was the
wood-seller with his wife,--both dressed in festive attire,--together
with their boy, who has a third prize in the second grade. I was amazed
at no longer beholding the catskin cap and the chocolate-colored tights:
on this occasion he was dressed like a little gentleman. In one balcony
I caught a momentary glimpse of Votini, with a large lace collar; then
he disappeared. In a proscenium box, filled with people, was the
artillery captain, the father of Robetti, the boy with the crutches who
saved the child from the omnibus.
On the stroke of two the band struck up, and at the same moment the
mayor, the prefect, the judge, the _provveditore_, and many other
gentlemen, all dressed in black, mounted the stairs on the right, and
seated themselves on the red chairs at the front of the platform. The
band ceased playing. The director of singing in the schools advanced
with a _baton_ in his hand. At a signal from him all the boys in the pit
rose to their feet; at another sign they began to sing. There were seven
hundred singing a very beautiful song,--seven hundred boys' voices
singing together; how beautiful! All listened motionless: it was a slow,
sweet, limpid song which seemed like a church chant. When they ceased,
every one applauded; then they all became very still. The distribution
of the prizes was about to begin. My little master of the second grade,
with his red head and his quick eyes, who was to read the names of the
prize-winners, had already advanced to the front of the stage. The
entrance of the twelve boys who were to present the certificates was
what they were waiting for. The newspapers had already stated that
there would be boys from all the provinces of Italy. Every one knew it,
and was watching for them and gazing curiously towards the spot where
they were to enter, and the mayor and the other gentlemen gazed also,
and the whole theatre was silent.
All at once the whole twelve arrived on the stage at a run, and remained
standing there in line, with a smile. The whole theatre, three thousand
persons, sprang up simultaneously, breaking into applause which sounded
like a clap of thunder. The boys stood for a moment as though
disconcerted. "Behold Italy!" said a voice on the stage. All at once I
recognized Coraci, the Calabrian, dressed in black as usual. A gentleman
belonging to the municipal government, who was with us and who knew them
all, pointed them out to my mother. "That little blond is the
representative of Venice. The Roman is that tall, curly-haired lad,
yonder." Two or three of them were dressed like gentlemen; the others
were sons of workingmen, but all were neatly clad and clean. The
Florentine, who was the smallest, had a blue scarf round his body. They
all passed in front of the mayor, who kissed them, one after the other,
on the brow, while a gentleman seated next to him smilingly told him the
names of their cities: "Florence, Naples, Bologna, Palermo." And as each
passed by, the whole theatre clapped. Then they all ran to the green
table, to take the certificates. The master began to read the list,
mentioning the schoolhouses, the classes, the names; and the
prize-winners began to mount the stage and to file past.
The foremost ones had hardly reached the stage, when behind the scenes
there became audible a very, very faint music of violins, which did not
cease during the whole time that they were filing past--a soft and
always even air, like the murmur of many subdued voices, the voices of
all the mothers, and all the masters and mistresses, giving counsel in
concert, and beseeching and administering loving reproofs. And
meanwhile, the prize-winners passed one by one in front of the seated
gentlemen, who handed them their certificates, and said a word or
bestowed a caress on each.
The boys in the pit and the balconies applauded loudly every time that
there passed a very small lad, or one who seemed, from his garments, to
be poor; and also for those who had abundant curly hair, or who were
clad in red or white. Some of those who filed past belonged to the upper
primary, and once arrived there, they became confused and did not know
where to turn, and the whole theatre laughed. One passed, three spans
high, with a big knot of pink ribbon on his back, so that he could
hardly walk, and he got entangled in the carpet and tumbled down; and
the prefect set him on his feet again, and all laughed and clapped.
Another rolled headlong down the stairs, when descending again to the
pit: cries arose, but he had not hurt himself. Boys of all sorts
passed,--boys with roguish faces, with frightened faces, with faces as
red as cherries; comical little fellows, who laughed in every one's
face: and no sooner had they got back into the pit, than they were
seized upon by their fathers and mothers, who carried them away.
When our schoolhouse's turn came, how amused I was! Many whom I knew
passed. Coretti filed by, dressed in new clothes from head to foot, with
his fine, merry smile, which displayed all his white teeth; but who
knows how many myriagrammes of wood he had already carried that morning!
The mayor, on presenting him with his certificate, inquired the meaning
of a red mark on his forehead, and as he did so, laid one hand on his
shoulder. I looked in the pit for his father and mother, and saw them
laughing, while they covered their mouths with one hand. Then Derossi
passed, all dressed in bright blue, with shining buttons, with all those
golden curls, slender, easy, with his head held high, so handsome, so
sympathetic, that I could have blown him a kiss; and all the gentlemen
wanted to speak to him and to shake his hand.
Then the master cried, "Giulio Robetti!" and we saw the captain's son
come forward on his crutches. Hundreds of boys knew the occurrence; a
rumor ran round in an instant; a salvo of applause broke forth, and of
shouts, which made the theatre tremble: men sprang to their feet, the
ladies began to wave their handkerchiefs, and the poor boy halted in the
middle of the stage, amazed and trembling. The mayor drew him to him,
gave him his prize and a kiss, and removing the two laurel crowns which
were hanging from the back of the chair, he strung them on the
cross-bars of his crutches. Then he accompanied him to the proscenium
box, where his father, the captain, was seated; and the latter lifted
him bodily and set him down inside, amid an indescribable tumult of
bravos and hurrahs.
Meanwhile, the soft and gentle music of the violins continued, and the
boys continued to file by,--those from the Schoolhouse della Consolata,
nearly all the sons of petty merchants; those from the Vanchiglia
School, the sons of workingmen; those from the Boncompagni School, many
of whom were the sons of peasants; those of the Rayneri, which was the
last. As soon as it was over, the seven hundred boys in the pit sang
another very beautiful song; then the mayor spoke, and after him the
judge, who terminated his discourse by saying to the boys:--
"But do not leave this place without sending a salute to those who toil
so hard for you; who have consecrated to you all the strength of their
intelligence and of their hearts; who live and die for you. There they
are; behold them!" And he pointed to the balcony of teachers. Then, from
the balconies, from the pit, from the boxes, the boys rose, and extended
their arms towards the masters and mistresses, with a shout, and the
latter responded by waving their hands, their hats, and handkerchiefs,
as they all stood up, in their emotion. After this, the band played once
more, and the audience sent a last noisy salute to the twelve lads of
all the provinces of Italy, who presented themselves at the front of the
stage, all drawn up in line, with their hands interlaced, beneath a
shower of flowers.