"The Red Goblin is a spirit who haunts the Bargello, or was there of old
in the prisons, _nelle carceri_, and he always foretold to every prisoner
what his sentence would be before it was pronounced.
"He always appeared in the cell of the condemned, and first lighting a
candle, showed himself all clad in red, and said to the prisoner:
"'Piangi, piangi, ma piangi forte,
E prepararti che e giunta
L'ora della tua morte.'
"'Weep, oh weep full many a tear;
Make ready; thy hour for death is near.'
"Then if the prisoner replied boldly:
"'Anima chi siei!
Ti prego di volermi aiutare
A liberarmi dalla morte!'
"'Spirit, whoe'er thou be,
I beg thee now for aid;
From death pray set me free!'
Then the goblin would burst into a laugh and say:
"'Non piangere, ridi, ridi!
Ma ride sempre, e spera
Che io ti aiutera!'
"But if the prisoner had replied badly, or cursed, or said '_Vai al
diavolo_!' or '_Che il diavolo ti porti_!'--then there were heard
dreadful sounds, such as frightened all the prisoners and assistants, and
the goblin vanished crying:
"'Woe, woe, and woe to thee!
For thou soon shalt punished be;
Away be led, to lose your head,
There is no hope for thee!'
"And after that the man might well despair. Yet the Red Goblin was a
jolly sprite when not crossed, and made great sport for the prisoners,
who all knew him. He went into every cell, and would tell wild tales,
and relate to every one all that he, the prisoner, had done since he was
a boy, and how he came to be locked up, and what would be the end of it,
and told all this with such peals of laughter that the most unhappy were
fain to laugh with him.
"Then the assistants and the director hearing such sounds, thought it was
the prisoners rioting, but could not detect them. {161a} And the spirit
relieved many innocent men from punishment, and especially visited those
condemned to wear the iron collar or _gogna_, which was fastened to a
post, but at the Bargello it was on the Campanile outside, in sight of
all the people. {161b}
"Now there was a young man in the prison who was good at heart, and
deeply repented that he had done wrong, and now feared that he indeed was
in the power of Satan, and destined to be in prison for all this life and
in _inferno_ all the next.
"And when he was thus sunk in misery one night, he heard him, and was in
great alarm, but it said, 'Fear not, for I am the protecting spirit of
the prisoners in the Bargello, and have come to free thee; put thy trust
in me and I will save thee!'
"Then he told the youth how he was to act, and bade him say certain
things when examined, and follow closely all the goblin would whisper to
him; but whether it was his fault or his failure, he missed every point
and went wrong in his replies, the end being that he was condemned to
prison for life. Truly it went to his heart to think that while he lived
he should always see the sun looking like a chess-board, {162} and
bitterly reflected on the proverb:
"'Ne a torto ne a ragione,
Non ti lasciar metter prigione.'
"'Whether you're right or wrong, my man,
Keep out of prison as long as you can.'
"But it went most bitterly to his heart to think that he had by his own
stupidity and want of study lost the chance of freedom. And for some
time the Red Goblin never came near him. But at last the prisoner heard
him call, and then the spirit said, 'Now thou see'st to what a pass thy
neglect of my advice has brought thee. Truly _il diavolo non ti
tenterebbe_--the devil takes no pains to tempt such a fool as thou, for
he knows that he will get him without the trouble of asking. And yet I
will give thee one more chance, and this time be thou wide awake and
remember that _a buona volonta_, _non manca facolta_--where there's a
will there's a way.'
"Now there was a great lord and mighty man of the state who had been in
the Bargello, and greatly comforted by the Red Goblin, who now went unto
this Signore, speaking so well of the young man that the latter ere long
had a new trial. And this time, I warrant you, he studied his case like
a lawyer; for _asino punto_, _convien che trotte_--when an ass is goaded
he must needs trot--and the end thereof was that he trotted out of
prison, and thence into the world, and having learned repentance as well
as the art of watching his wits and turning them to account, prospered
mightily, and to his dying day never forgot to pray for the Red Goblin of
the Bargello."
* * * * *
There have been other spirits which haunted prisons; there was one in the
Bastile, and the White Ladies of Berlin and Parma are of their kind.
This of the Bargello is certainly the household sprite with the red cap,
in a short shirt, who was very well known to the Etruscans and Romans,
and afterwards to the Germans, the _Lutin_ of the French castles, the
Robin Goodfellow of England, and the Domovoy of the Russians. His
characteristics are reckless good nature mingled with mischief and
revenge; but he is always, when not thwarted, at heart a _bon garcon_.
Of the Bargello I have also the following anecdotes or correlative
incidents: