"By the Arno, or under the Bridge alla Carraia, there lived once a
certain Marocchio, {77a} a _bestemmiatore_, or blasphemer, for he cursed
bitterly when he gained but little, being truly a _marocchio_, much
attached to money. Even in dying he still swore. And Marocchio had sold
himself to the devil, and hidden his money under a stone in the arch of
the bridge. Yet though he had very poor relations and friends, he
confided nothing to them, and left _niente a nessuno_, 'nothing to
nobody.' Whence it came that after his death he had no rest or peace,
because his treasure remained undiscovered.
"Yet where the money lay concealed there was seen every night the form of
a goat which cast forth flames, and running along before those who passed
by, suddenly sunk into the ground, disappearing in a great flash of fire.
"And when the _renaioli_ or sand-diggers, {77b} thinking it was a real
goat, would catch it by the hair, it cast forth fire, so that many of
them died of fright. And it often overthrew their boats and made all the
mischief possible.
"Then certain people thinking that all this indicated a hidden treasure,
sought to find it, but in vain; till at last one who was _piu furbo_, or
shrewder than the rest, observed that one day, when the wind was worse
than usual, raising skirts and carrying away caps and hats, there was a
goat in all the hurly-burly, and that this animal vanished at a certain
spot. 'There I ween,' he said, 'lies money hid!' And knowing that
midnight is the proper time or occasion (_cagione di nascosto tesoro_)
for buried hoards, he came at the hour, and finding the habitual goat
(_il solito chaprone_), he addressed him thus:
"'If thou art a blessed soul, then go thy way in peace, and God be with
thee. But if thou sufferest from buried treasure, then teach me how I,
without any fear, may take thy store, then thou mayst go in peace! And
if thou art in torment for a treasure, show me the spot, and I will take
it home, and then thou'lt be at peace and grieve no more.'
"Then the goat jumped on the spot where the money was hidden and sank as
usual out of sight in fire.
"So the next day the young man went there and dug till he discovered the
gold, and the spirit of Marocchio was relieved. But to this hour the
goat is seen now and then walking in his old haunt, where he sinks into
the ground at the same place."
* * * * *
The legend of a goat haunting a bridge is probably derived from the
custom of sacrificing an animal to new buildings or erections. These
were originally human sacrifices, for which, in later times, the animals
were substituted. Hence the legends of the devil having been defrauded
out of a promised soul by driving a goat or cat over the bridge as a
first crosser. The spirits of the Ponte Vecchio and Ponte alla Carraia
clearly indicate this origin.
The next legend on this subject is that of the Ponte alle Grazie, which
was built by Capo, the fellow-pupil of Arnolfo, under the direction of
Rubaconte, who filled the office of Podesta in 1235. Five hundred years
are quite time enough to attract traditions in a country where they
spring up in five; and when I inquired whether there was any special
story attached to the Ponte alle Grazie, I was soon supplied with the
following: