A SUMMER DAY.
Venice in summer with a marine artist for a companion,--could
anything be better? An artist from early dawn to dark, from the top
of his curly head to the soles of his feet; an artist who indeed
appreciates--no, perhaps _approves_ would be more nearly true--the
pictures of Titian and Tintoretto on a rainy day, but will have none
of them in any kind of weather when the sea can be studied and
painted.
The summer is the only season when one can really know modern Venice;
the only time when one can in any good degree separate himself from
the long ago and live in the present; the time when he will, in spite
of himself, turn his back on the works of man and live out in the
world that God created before palaces and churches, arsenals and
towers, had been invented.
The most delicious of days is that when in the cool morning we take
to our gondola, with our artist and his traps, the books that we
think we shall read but rarely do, the fancy work which soon loses
its interest, the rugs on which to lie for the afternoon siesta, the
basket with the solid luncheon, a second with fruit and sweets, and a
third with wine. And when our little maid Anita, so busy in the
house that she can scarcely leave it, comes with her gay handkerchief
but half arranged about her shoulders, begging pardon for her
tardiness and smiling at our gondolier, Giacomo, whom she calls her
cousin (?), all is ready.
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We pass into a side canal to do a necessary housekeeping errand; for
we live not in hotels,--not we,--and sometimes, we will admit, our
furniture requires repairs, and frequently we must buy some needful
article which we fail to find in our "completely furnished lodgings."
But the effect of the historic name of our palace is to make us feel
so wealthy that we do not regret the _lire_ that we spend with the
proper amount of haggling, and our spacious quarters and carved
balconies are so inexpensive to our American minds that our _padrone_
hears no complaints.
Few gondolas are yet moving. Cooing pigeons, pert sparrows, and
swiftly circling swallows are searching here and there for any stray
crumbs that will afford a morning meal. We stop at a _traghetto_
(gondola stand), and Anita darts away and disappears on her errand.
We meanwhile watch a great water-barge which has just arrived with
its cargo of "sweet water" from the mainland. How weary the men
look, and no wonder; for to Giacomo's questions they reply that two
days have passed since they set sail. The winds have held them back,
but they hope that the same weather may send them home before night;
and as they are safely here, why complain? The small boats are there
ready to receive the water; and the wheezy little engine soon fills
them, and they go off to replenish the public wells by means of their
long hose.
All this time, as we watch these proceedings with interest, the
artist has been sketching like mad. Theoretically he disdains
anything inside the Grand Canal; but we think that "all is fish that
comes to his net" in the way of novelties in Venetian life; and it is
wonderful how many such despised "pot-boilers" he sells.
And now Anita comes tripping down with the coveted coffee-pot she had
begged us to buy now, knowing from experience that we may be too late
home to have it ready for the morning. As we move off, we ask the
bargemen {17} how much they get for their cargo, and are much excited
by their answer, "Cinque lire, signor." One dollar for all that!
One loves Venice with a well-filled purse in his pocket, but he would
not like to earn his living at Venetian prices for labor.
Now, our business ended, we are really ready to start, and we settle
ourselves comfortably to enjoy the sights on either hand. As we come
into the Grand Canal, some rosy sunrise colors still linger in the
east and remind us of Poussin, who declared when flying from Venice,
"If I stay here, I shall become a colorist!" With this reminder of
the glorious canvases on which we turn our backs day after day, and,
to be frank, now rarely think of, we wonder at the spell that is over
us.
It is an enchanting spirit of do-nothing that possesses us; our
thoughts wander lazily from one subject to another, but never rouse
us to energy of action. We think complacently of the artistic
treasures of every kind which are within our reach,--for which when
in Boston we long with an energy of desire that would keep us going
from San Marco to the Ducal Palace, on to the Frari and other
churches, and so through the whole list of "sights" with zealous
industry; and yet, now we are here, we will have none of them, at
least not to-day. October will come, and bring another spirit to us.
But now Venice is enough. Its changing aspect, its clouds, its
islands, its people,--in a word, its boat life is enough.
Leaving thus behind us that great Past which at other times holds us
with its wondrous power, we find full compensation in the Venice that
still lives; and of this Venice the best part is the water class (if
one may use this term), the robust, frank, joyous survival of the old
Republic, bubbling and growing into the new Italy of our day.
A good gondolier, like our Giacomo, is a treasure,--the sort of man
that helps one to respect the human race and {18} forget how many of
another sort one has seen. If you allow him to feel himself to be a
part of your life, he will identify himself with your interests,
sympathize in your joys and sorrows, and tell you all his own. We
must admit, however, that there is another kind, and that a bad
gondolier is like a certain little girl whom we all know,--from bad
he rapidly goes to horrid.
As Giacomo makes us his confidant,--I had almost said confessor,--we
find the gondolier's life to be a happy one, in spite of its surface
seeming of hardship and poverty. They see the sun whenever it
shines, and breathe the fresh air; their exercise develops a fine
physique; polenta, bread, and wine are delicious with the sauce of a
good appetite; and being a most conservative race, they desire only
to be what their ancestors were in past centuries. They go rarely to
church. Custom is their religion, and at each _traghetto_ there is
an image of the Virgin ready to grant their prayers; and all their
good or ill is promptly referred to "Our Blessed Madonna."
A country-flitting for a few days in the summer, with half a dozen or
more companions, and their little suppers in the winter content them
for amusements, while an extra treat of theatre or opera makes them
supremely happy. And on festal days who sees more than the
gondolier? If a rowing-match occurs, with what excitement does he
defend his favorite champion! Curiously enough, each _contrada_, or
district, has its own customs and festivals, even its own dialect to
some extent; and while each one knows intimately the affairs of his
own _contrada_, outside that quarter he knows little, and little is
known of him. All this has Giacomo taught us; and we admire his
honest face as he touches his cap and asks the artist where we are to
go.
"Are any large vessels lying off the Riva, Giacomo?"
"_Si_, signor" (another touch of the cap), "an Austrian Lloyd came in
last evening."
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"Then let as lie in her shade awhile."
Coming to our vantage-ground, where even the extra canopy on our
gondola could not have sufficiently lessened the heat of the sun, we
prepare for a long stay.
The water is magnificent. The sands on the Lido have been stirred by
the wind, and the opaque green sea is mottled with yellow stains.
The fishing-boats are always fascinating, and claim our first
attention; some are already at their anchorage near the public
gardens, unloading the "catch" of the night; others, still some
distance out, are tacking and crossing each other's bows in a
confusing fashion, led by a procession coming nearer in; the
many-hued sails with their curious designs--full-blown roses, stars
or crescent moons, hearts blood-red and pierced by arrows--absorb our
attention as imperatively as when we first saw them long years ago;
and our artist still puts them on his canvas as eagerly as if he had
not done it a hundred times before, and others of his sort a hundred
thousand. "New every morning and fresh every evening" can be
repeated in Venice with rare truthfulness.
The gondola is moored, and the artist hastily sets up his easel and
begins his work. The rowers watch him until they see him quite
absorbed, and then by signs ask permission of Giacomo to leave us
awhile. A little signal-flag soon brings a row-boat alongside, and
takes them off. Anita's fingers are already flying over a piece of
pretty lace which is always in her hands when she has a moment of
leisure. It is at such times as this that we learn from Giacomo many
things that we have not read in books, and question him about the
customs we observe.
To-day a steamboat passing at the moment reminded us that we had
heard a reference to a strike of the gondoliers when the vaporetti
first appeared at Venice. At a sign Giacomo comes near enough to
talk to us in a quiet tone; and as he advances, cap in hand, Anita
cannot refrain from {20} darting a glance at his handsome face, and
as quickly looking down at the never-ending lace.
"Do the gondoliers like the steamers, Giacomo?"
"As the devil loves holy water, signora."
"Have you ever made any opposition to their being here?"
"Undoubtedly, signora. When first they began to run between the
station and the public gardens, we made a strike."
"A strike of gondoliers in Venice? How dreadful! How did it end?
Tell me all about it, Giacomo."
"_Con piacere_, signora. It was on the Monday before All Soul's Day
that we determined on the strike; and some loose-tongued fellows told
our plans, so that the Syndic heard the tale and sent for some
leading gondoliers and tried to have them give it up. But we held
fast, and on Tuesday morning not a man nor a gondola was found at the
_traghetti_. But at each one the image of Our Lady was decked as for
a festival, and the Italian flag was flying to show that we were true
to Italy.
"The Grand Canal was deserted and quiet as the grave, except when a
steamer passed loaded with passengers. There were no gondolas at the
ferries; and when the Syndic had done his best, there was but one
boat to each one of them. Crowds of women waited angrily to go to
market, and all who wished to pass for any reason were scolding and
cursing the _vaporetti_ on every side.
"The gondoliers were walking about in slouched hats, and gathering in
knots on the bridges and at the street-corners. The wine-shops were
full, for the air was keen, and a warm corner was needed when one had
no exercise to stir the blood. But there were no riots."
"But the gondolas, Giacomo, where were they?"
"In the little canals, madama, and so closely packed that one could
walk a long way on them in some places {21} and never see the water.
It was a sad, sad sight,--so many good Venetian boats idle, and those
foreign 'puffers' full of people! And so Tuesday passed; and that
evening no songs were heard, no stories told, and every gondolier in
Venice was as sad as if his mother lay dead."
"Were there no quarrels, Giacomo? Did not the women tell the
gondoliers that they were wrong?"
"The women, signora, were firmer than the men. They hated the
_vaporetti_ and cursed them. But on Wednesday, as had been thought,
the trouble increased. At every _traghetto_ the Syndic posted a mild
appeal to the boatmen, and bade them remember what pride Venice had
in her gondoliers. It persuaded them and flattered them as if they
were naughty children, and invited them to meet the town council.
They went; but only talk came of it. The gondoliers demanded the
dismissal of the steamers; the council refused, and the meeting
dissolved quietly.
"But what a confusion there was! You know, madama, that everybody
goes on All Soul's Day to San Michele to lay a wreath on the family
graves. Not to do this would make them unhappy all the year. And
how to do it on this day was the question; for not one gondolier in
all Venice was tempted, not even by the offer of twenty times his
usual fare.
"Every boat of every sort that was not a gondola passed and repassed
many times to the cemetery and back; and all were full. No doubt the
boatmen made a good day's wage; but the gondoliers had never seen,
not even in the carnival, anything so ridiculous; and that evening
when they described to each other the boats and the rowers they had
seen, and acted out all these absurdities, you would have thought
them the merriest souls alive."
"But were they so, Giacomo?"
"No, indeed, signora: they were miserable. They could not sleep, or
if they did they dreamed that they were rowing {22} over the lagoons,
and only woke in wretchedness to find it was not true."
"And on Thursday what happened?"
"The gondoliers then took an advocate, and sent him to the Syndic to
plead their cause. But the Syndic would not listen; he would only
deal with the gondoliers themselves, and he began to be severe and to
talk of many steamboats running everywhere; and the gondoliers were
told of 'launches' that could thread the smallest canals _better than
gondolas_! Alas! signora, what could be done if this were true?
"Just then the military and customs officers who had loaned their
boats to the ferries sent word that they must have them again; and an
old gondolier whom all the others respected, took his boat out and
began to serve a ferry. Instantly the strike was ended. The
gondolas were untied, cleaned, and dressed as for a gala-day. The
canals and lagoons were soon alive with them, and we had our Venice
back again."
It was the old story. The gondoliers could not be allowed to stand
in the way of progress, nor could they lay down the law to Venice.
But their simple way of going on a strike, and absolute simplicity in
ending it, was almost pathetic; such children did they seem in
comparison with strikers and strikes that we know.
By this time midday has come, and our very early breakfast calls for
an early luncheon. The artist is so absorbed in his work that it
seems almost a sin to disturb him; but in his ardor to-day he has
painted so rapidly as quite to satisfy us, and half to content
himself,--a true artist rarely does more than this.
After luncheon we try to read; but the many changing sights and
sounds are too distracting for anything that requires thought, and
when we read a story on the lagoon we are never able to remember
whether the lovers married {23} or were separated by a cruel fate. A
sentence is well begun, when a deeper shadow puts a new color on
everything, and we drop our book to look; the same sentence is half
read a second time, when a fruit-boat laden with piles of green and
golden melons and luscious peaches comes so near us that Anita calls
out to Giacomo to buy what will be needed on the morrow, and we
listen to the chattering and bargaining until that is over; the third
time that particular sentence is finished, but just then drowsiness
overcomes our brain, and we are asleep.
We wake to find our rowers in their places, and the day so far spent
that we must decide where we will dine,--at home, at the Lido, or at
our favorite _trattoria_. To-day we favor the Lido, although we are
hungry and the dinner is not so good as on the Zattere; but the
exquisite outlook at sea and sky, and the mystery of the bit of
distant coast, minister to that Venetian appetite of eyes which is
never satisfied, and the home coming at night sends us to sleep with
such a heavenly vision in our thought.
Landing rather late at Sant' Elisabetta, we have only time for a
quick stroll around our favorite promenade, while Giacomo orders our
dinner. The fresh sea-breeze is delicious, and the dim blue line of
hills above Trieste seems very near in the clear atmosphere; we
gather a large bunch of poppies and a dainty nosegay of primroses,
and then seek the little _osteria_.
When we turn our gondola homeward, the afterglow is fading, and the
gloaming with its quiet leads the thoughts far, far away. The stars
come out, and the rising moon gives just that light that changes all
objects into ghostly apparitions. The schooners are phantom-ships;
everything that is moving is indistinct and spirit-like, seeming as
if suspended and floating in mid-air, until we come nearer to the
city and the lights give a new aspect to the evening.
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The pyramids of lamps on San Marco are all ablaze. Gondolas are
hastening to the Piazzetta. The band is playing, and we know how gay
it all is. But to-night we turn into the Grand Canal, where we catch
glimpses into lighted rooms with richly ornamented ceilings, while
from the overhanging balconies come gay voices and musical laughs,
such as are in harmony with the pearly city the moon is now
revealing; and the artist recites from Longfellow,--
"White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest
So wonderfully built among the reeds
Of the lagoon, that fences thee and feeds,
As sayest the old historian and thy guest!
White water-lily, cradled and caressed
By ocean streams, and from the silt and weeds
Lifting thy golden pistils with their seeds,
Thy sun-illumined spires, thy crown and crest!
White phantom city, whose untrodden streets
Are rivers, and whose pavements are the shifting
Shadows of palaces and strips of sky;
I wait to see thee vanish like the fleets
Seen in mirage, or towers of cloud uplifting
In air their unsubstantial masonry."
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