"Giotto was a shepherd, and every day when he went forth to pasture his
herd there was one little lamb who always kept near him, and appeared to
be longing to talk to him like a Christian.
"Now this lamb always laid down on a certain stone which was fast in the
ground (_masso_); and Giotto, who loved the lamb, to please it, lay down
also on the same stone.
"After a short time the lamb died, and when dying said:
"'Giotto, cosa non far ti
Se mi senti parlarti,
Ti voglio tanto bene
E dove andrai,
Io ti seguiro sempre
In forma di folletto,
E col mio volere
Tu verrai un bravo scultore
E insegne disegnatore.'
"'Giotto, be not astonished
That I thus speak to thee;
I have such love for thee,
Wherever thou shalt go
I will follow thee always
In the form of a fairy,
And through my favour
Thou shalt become a great sculptor
And artist.'
"And so it came to pass that Giotto was an able sculptor by the aid of
the lamb, and all that he did was due to the lamb which helped him.
"And when he died, the spirit of the lamb remained in the form of a
_folletto_ or fairy in the campanile, and it is still often seen there,
always with the spirit of Giotto. Even in death their souls could not be
separate.
"When any one desires to ascend the tower, and his or her heart fails in
mounting the steps (_e che ha paura di salire_), the fairy below says:
"'Vade, vade, Signora!
La vade su salgha,
Non abbia paura,
Ci sono io sotto.'
"'Go on, go on, Signora,
Go up the stairs--oh go!
Be not afraid, my lady!
For I am here below.'
"Then the visitor hearing this believes it is one of the guides employed
(_inpiegati_), or one of the gentlemen or ladies who are ascending after.
And often when half-way up there comes a great puff of wind which blows
up their skirts (_fa gonfiare le sottane_) which causes great laughter,
and they think that this is only a common thing, and do not perceive that
it does not happen to others.
"And it is said that this fairy appears by night in the Piazza del Duomo,
or Cathedral Square, in different forms."
* * * * *
The reason why Giotto is so popularly known as having been a shepherd is
that on the central tablet of the tower or campanile, facing the street,
there is a bas-relief of a man seated in a tent with sheep before him,
and this is naturally supposed to represent the builder or Giotto
himself, since it fills the most prominent place. In a very popular
halfpenny chapbook, entitled "The Statues under the Uffizzi in Florence,
Octaves improvised by Giuseppe Moroni, called _Il Niccheri_ or the
Illiterate," I find the following: