AGNESINA FRAGALÀ'S CHRISTENING
'Agnesina Fragalà, papa's lovely daughter,' said the young father,
leaning over the brass cradle that shone like gold, holding open
the lace curtains with rose-coloured ribbons, and petting with
words, glances, and smiles the pink new-born babe that was placidly
sleeping. 'Agnesina, Agnesina,' he went on saying playfully, 'I think
you are very pretty.'
'Be quiet, Cesare; you will wake the baby,' the mother said in a
whisper, from the toilet-glass she was sitting at.
'She will have to be wakened later on, at any rate; ought we not to
show her to our guests?'
'Yes; I just hope she won't begin screaming in the drawing-room!' the
young mother replied, smiling, half from nervous fears, half from
motherly pride.
'Bah!' said the young father, leaving the cradle and coming near to
his wife. 'The guests will be taken up eating cakes, sweets, and
ices. You will see a gourmandizing, Luisella!'
The light edifice of Luisa Fragalà's intensely black hair was
skilfully and prettily arranged; some curls shaded her short brown
forehead, with its black eyebrows in the youthful oval face; and the
long Eastern eyes of sparkling gray, soft and piquant, the rather
long, broad, though well-shaped nose, and baby mouth, pink as a
carnation, had a charm of youth and freshness that made her still
enamoured husband smile with pleasure.
Cesare Fragalà was young and handsome, too--rather effeminately
handsome, perhaps; his skin was as white as a woman's; his chestnut
hair curled all over up to the temples, showing in places the white
skin underneath; his face was round, rather boyish still, in spite
of his being twenty-eight; but his close-shaven cheeks had a warm
Southern pallor that was quite manly, and a thick curly moustache
corrected that effeminate, boyish look. Both of them of burgher
rank, of no degenerate race, they had the characteristics of
Neapolitan youth. The man was strong, but indolent; good-looking and
rather inclined to care for his appearance; his softness was visibly
mixed with roguishness, from the contrasts in his face, where a
coarse look was tempered by good-nature. The woman, dark and elegant,
with that blood that seems to have dull flashes, that resoluteness of
will in the profile and chin that shows a secret latent force in a
woman's heart, ready for passion and sacrifice.
The surroundings were like themselves, from the rather vulgar luxury
of pink and cream brocade that covered the furniture and the bed, the
French paper on the walls of much the same design, the toilet-glass
draped in white lace--precious work done by the bride's own hands
before the wedding--to the great wardrobe of dark wood, with gold
lines and three looking-glass doors, the height of luxury at that
time; from the numerous images of saints--Saint Louis in silver,
the face in wax; a Saint Cesare of stucco in a monk's habit, with
rosaries, reliquaries, and Easter candles, forming a trophy, on each
side of the bed--up to the silver lamp, lighted, before the Infant
Jesus, in a niche; and in the same conjugal apartment, from plebeian
tenderness, and that strong patriarchal feeling of Neapolitans, was
the cradle, gay with ribbons, where the little one of a month old
was sleeping. Everything was striking, even their clothes. Cesare
Fragalà, expecting his guests shortly, had on his coat already, a
handkerchief stuck in his shirt, and his curly hair smooth by dint
of hard brushing; but his watch-chain was too bright, his studs too
large, and his necktie was white silk instead of white batiste. Luisa
looked very pretty in her yellow silk, with a white muslin wrapper
over it while her hair was done, but she sparkled too much from
diamonds in her ears, on her neck, and on her arms. Just then the
hair-dresser put a brilliant star in front as a finish.
'Is nothing more needed?' she asked, rather thinking she had too few
ornaments.
'No,' said the hair-dresser decisively; 'the fewer things put in the
hair, the better.'
'Do you think so?'
'Let yourself be guided by one who knows his trade,' the artist
added, gathering up his combs and curling-irons.
'You look very nice,' the husband whispered, on an inquiring glance
from his wife. He looked at her tenderly, carefully, to see if
anything was wanting. 'If my combination comes off,' Cesare added,
whilst the barber took leave silently, so as not to waken the baby,
after getting five francs and one more as a tip--'if my combination
comes off, Luisella, I will buy you a string of diamonds for your
neck.'
'What combination are you speaking of?' she asked, as she put some
powder on her bare arms. She frowned, with a woman's sudden suspicion
of all affairs she does not know about.
'I will tell you afterwards,' he said, stammering.
'Tell me now,' she demanded, standing with her long gloves in her
hand.
'There is nothing really yet to tell, Luisella,' he said, rather put
out at having let out something.
'Promise me never to decide on anything without asking me first,' she
said, raising one hand.
'I promise,' he said with deep sincerity.
She was appeased, and sat down reassured, putting on her gloves,
while her husband stood before the looking-glass twirling the points
of his moustache, smiling at his own image and at life. The Fragalà
family counted up no less than eighty years of commercial prudence
and rising fortunes. Cesare's grandfather had begun with a wretched
shop in Purgatorio ad Arco Street in the Pendino quarter, rather
worse, said the envious, for he was a wandering salesman of cakes
at a half-penny each, heaped on a wooden board carried on his head,
under the arm, or by a leather band round the neck. In fact, either
on the board or in that shop, these sweets were made of middling
flour, sugar of third quality, eggs of doubtful freshness, and very
often cooked in rancid lard, filled oftener with apples or quinces
roasted under ashes than peach or black-cherry preserve. But what
did it matter? All Southerners, men and women, young and old, love
sweets, spicy cakes and biscuits sprinkled with aniseed and sugar;
the pastry at a half-penny appeared and disappeared in Fragalà's
shop, also sticky coloured caramels and cakes called _ancinetti_.
Grandfather Fragalà soon managed, by dint of heaping up halfpence, to
produce pastry at three-halfpence, the so-called _sfogliatella_, of
which there are two qualities--the _riccia_, broad, thin, and flat,
that falls into fine flakes, crackling under the teeth, whilst the
cream in it melts on the tongue; and the _frolla_, thick and fat, two
fingers' width of pastry that powders as you eat it, a thick layer of
cream inside that covers your lips and jaws. It is true Grandfather
Fragalà was accused of mixing a lot of dirty noxious ingredients in
his _sfogliatella_: starch, gum, raw sugar, beef-fat, strong glue,
and even bran. But what did it matter? On Sundays and all the other
appointed feasts the _sfogliatella_ sold like bread, or, rather, more
so, from nine to two o'clock in the afternoon; then Fragalà shut his
shop, because he had no more to sell, however many he had made, also
because he was a God-fearing man. He quietly opened another shop in
San Pietro a Maiella, putting in one of his sons; then, later on,
another shop at Costantinopoli Street, towards the Bourbon Museum,
with another son; and, finally, at his death, his eldest dared to
aspire to Toledo Street, but in the upper part, opening a pastry-shop
with _three doors_--that is to say, three shops--at the corner of
Spirito Santo, a gorgeous place. The pastry-shops of Purgatoria ad
Arco, San Pietro a Maiella, and Costantinopoli Streets still exist,
owned by the younger brothers, all more or less black and dirty,
full of buzzing flies, but giving out that intoxicating smell of
burnt sugar, apples, fruit, and crumbling pastry that all Naples
boys, women, and old men long for. Even at Purgatoria ad Arco the
tarts were sold at a penny, halfway between grandfather's price and
the three-halfpence of the modern shop. But the three shops in one
in Toledo Street rejoiced in the inscription '_Founded in 1802_,'
in gold letters on black marble--it was all white marble, shining
plate-glass windows full of coloured sweets, bright metal boxes, and
clear glasses with biscuits, tall round vases of pastils, strong
and sweet, for disordered stomachs or for coughs, and glass shelves
with all kinds of pastry in rows. Via Toledo confectionery was
superb, but among its innovations it had not neglected the safe old
Neapolitan speciality, _sfogliatella_, always popular and long-lived,
in spite of innovations in sweetmeats, in its two forms of _riccia_
and _frolla_; on Sundays, all the patriarchal families that come out
from Mass from so many churches round--Spirito Santo, Pellegrini, San
Michele, San Domenico Soriano--bought in passing some six or eight
_sfogliatella_, to give the final festive touch to the Sunday dinner.
Cesare Fragalà's father had added to the _sfogliatella_ all the
other specialities in sweets eaten by Naples folk at all the feasts
in the year: almond or royal paste at Christmas; _sanguinaccio_ at
Carnival; Lenten biscuits, the _mastacciolo_ and _pastiera_, at
Easter; _l'osso di morto_ (dead men's bones), made of almonds and
candied sugar, for All Souls' Day; the _torrone_ for St. Martin's;
and others--_croccante_, _struffoli_, _sosamiello_--all Parthenope's
sweets, made of almonds, sugar, and chocolate, delightful to
the palate and heavy to digest; but they are the joy of Naples
crowds--they are sent into the provinces, every holiday, in all
sizes of boxes by the waggon-load. Still among the Fragalàs' jealous
rivals there were some whispers about the mysterious ingredients in
these sweets; but it was harmless malignity, to which customers paid
no heed; even if they believed it, they cared little about it. The
Naples philosopher, Peppino, Fragalà's customer, said: 'If one knew
what one was eating, no one would wish to eat anything.' The Fragalà
house was solid: Cesare had inherited a good fortune and unbroken
credit from his father.
It is true he had, as a rich citizen, an instinctive contempt
for his uncles' and cousins' dark shops, where the flies buzzed
annoyingly, as if cloyed and ill with indigestion from the bad sugar
and honey; but he was prudent too--he did not scorn his origin, he
willingly received his relations at family dinners, and when he had
to make changes in his Toledo shop, he thought them over, and took
advice--mostly from his wife. Luisa thought of all this as she put
on her gloves slowly, whilst her husband went to the kitchen to see
if the refreshments were ready, and that the extra servants, hired
for the occasion, were properly dressed. She rose, and, picking up
her yellow train, went to lift the lace curtain of the cradle, and
passionately gazed on her daughter Agnesina. Never, never would her
husband do anything without consulting her; he had married her for
love, without a half-penny, against everyone's wishes, and he treated
her like a lady, as if she had brought twenty thousand ducats as a
dowry. Now that there was Agnesina too, father's lovely daughter, as
he said playfully, it was impossible he would ever hide anything from
her, his child's mother. Who knows? Perhaps it had to do with the
pastry-shop in San Ferdinando Piazza, in the centre of the richest
part of Naples, quite a modern shop, that Cesare had been dreaming
about opening for some time past without daring to risk so much
capital. Perhaps if was that, and the fresh, pleasant-faced mother
blessed the little one, and prayed God would bless her father's plans
and her mother's hopes.
On leaving the room she met her husband.
'Where is nurse?' she asked.
'In the room next the kitchen with Donna Candida.'
'Let us go and see them,' she said, going forward, followed by her
husband. They crossed to the back part of the house, where were the
servants' rooms, and came to the pantry. The wet-nurse from Fratta
Maggiore, a fine, stout woman, with pink cheeks, great prominent
eyes, and a calm, serene expression, wore her pale blue damask dress,
trimmed with a broad yellow silk band, which went in such deep folds
she seemed to swim at every step she took--it was stiff like a stuff
building. She wore a white crape handkerchief, and a gold necklace of
three rows of big hollow beads over it; the front of her dress was
covered by a batiste apron, over which she spread her well-ringed
hands. Her chestnut hair was tightly held back by a silver comb, from
which fell a big bow of blue ribbon. Donna Candida, the midwife,
was beside her, a guest who had to be asked; she had put on her red
silk dress for big christenings, the portrait of her late husband,
Don Nicodemo, in a brooch, and a red cotton camellia in her gray
hair. Both she and the nurse, most important people, were waiting
patiently, saying a few words to each other.
'I wish you all happiness,' called out the old nurse on seeing her
patient.
'Thank you, Donna Candida. You have come early. Does waiting not
bore you? Will you take something, nurse?' Luisella's voice showed
tenderness for her little one's nurse.
'As your excellency pleases,' said the nurse, raising her soft,
oil-coloured, rather stupid eyes.
Cesare went off, and brought a waiter with marsala and cakes for the
women. The husband and wife stood looking at them quite touched, and
when they stopped eating Luisella pushed the tray towards them. Donna
Candida, who was a polite woman, held up her first glass of marsala,
and called out:
'To Donna Agnesina's health!'
'To my little one's health!' said the other, laughing.
The husband and wife looked at each other with happy tears in their
eyes, nodding their thanks. Suddenly the mother said:
'Nurse, the baby is crying.'
The nurse hurriedly dried her lips, put down the candy she was
eating, and rushed off with a great rustle, opening her bodice as she
went with an instinctive maternal movement.
But the guests were already coming into the reception-room, which
was furnished with couches and easy-chairs in pomegranate brocade,
their woodwork gilded; large _carcels_, placed on gray marble and
gilt brackets, as well as big gilt-bronze lamps with crystal pendants
cut in facets, lighted it up. Those who knew each other had joined in
groups, and spoke to each other in a lively way under their voice,
to look like people of spirit, society folk, and did not even look
at the unknown guests; these had got into the corners by families,
and brought easy-chairs and seats together to make a fortress for
themselves, from whence they cast shy, inquisitive glances on the
people and the furniture, suddenly dimmed by lowered eyelids if they
felt themselves caught staring.
The family of Don Domenico Mayer (a clerk in the Finance Department)
were like that. They lived in an apartment on the fifth floor in the
Rossi Palace, a tall, deep building at Mercatello Square that looks
on to four different streets, where the neighbours often do not know
each other even by name, and can live for years without meeting, two
large stairs besides two smaller ones make it such a puzzle. Don
Domenico Mayer, with a misanthropic look and bureaucratic overcoat,
led in a misanthropic family, composed of his wife, with flabby,
colourless cheeks, always suffering from neuralgia; his daughter
Amalia, a tall, stout girl, with prominent eyes, thick nose and lips,
and heavy black tresses, who suffered from hysterical convulsions;
and Alfonso, the son, called Fofò by everyone, who was troubled by a
growing silliness and a huge appetite. The misanthropic family had
formed into a square; the women pulled in their poor though tidy
gowns round their chairs, and father and son sat at the edge of
theirs stiff and silent. Like them, other families held themselves
apart--clerks, little tradesmen, managers--with serious looks,
keeping their elbows to their sides, passing their hands mechanically
over their shiny, not to say glazed, beavers; whilst on the other
side were all the Fragalàs, and with them the Naddeos, great ironware
dealers at Rua Catalana; the Antonaccis, prosperous cloth merchants
at the Mercanti; and the Durantes, great dealers in dry cod at
Pietra del Pesce--the men in broad-cloth, the women in brocade or
silk, with jewels, especially bracelets, like Luisella Fragalà.
Her charming presence in the drawing-room was hailed by a general
movement: all rose; the boldest or most intimate left their places
and surrounded her, while the shy ones kept at a little distance,
waiting composedly till they were seen and greeted.
All rejoiced with her on her restored health, calling her 'Mama,
Mama,' wishing her in the Southern style this _and a hundred_ others,
all in good health--that is to say, a hundred more children, no
less. She got pink with pleasure, bent her head in giving thanks,
which made the diamond star in her hair sparkle: it was a subject
for comment to the other Fragalàs, the Naddeos, the Antonaccis, and
Durantes; it was the secret-sighing admiration of all the other
humble guests, the so-called _mezze signore_. Then, while Cesare
Fragalà chattered with the men, laughing, passing his gloved hand
through his curly hair, there was a general return to the couches and
easy-chairs: all sat down.
Luisella Fragalà, standing in the middle of the room, went to meet
each lady that she saw coming in at the door, greeted her smilingly,
and led her to an easy-chair, making a large feminine circle, where
fans waved slowly over opulent bosoms encased in brocade. Only the
middle couch remained empty--it was the post of honour; all were
looking at it and towards the door, waiting the unknown guests who
were to sit there: for they knew the party would not really begin
without them, and no refreshments would be offered till the guests of
high rank appeared; in fact, Luisella and Cesare as the time passed
gave each other inquiring glances. Suddenly, as a couple came into
the room, Luisella made a quick, joyful gesture, effusively embraced
the lady, and pressed the gentleman's hand smilingly; a whisper
went through the room, someone got up, a name was breathed. It was
really him, Don Gennaro Parascandolo, the famous Don Gennaro, a tall,
strong, agreeable man, with a countenance breathing honesty, good
faith, good temper; his hand-shake was hearty, his smile cheered
the most low-spirited people, his glance put life into one; a very
rich man--in short, little Agnesina's godfather, a rich man with no
children.
He had had children--he and his sickly wife with the grayish hair and
sad eyes. She liked to stay shut up in her sumptuous silent house,
and when she went about with him looked like a woman's shadow, a
living image of grief. They had had three lovely children, two boys
and a girl, healthy and strong, for whom Don Gennaro Parascandolo had
worked at his cold terrible trade of aristocratic usurer to make them
rich. He never lent less than five thousand francs or more than two
hundred thousand at one time, always at 10 per cent. a month--cruel
for his children's sake. But diphtheria had come into his house,
furtively, irremediably; in twenty-five days the most distinguished
doctors' science, father and mother's despair, money poured out,
were found useless: nothing could save the three children. All died
choking in such a painful way that Signora Parascandolo's reason
seemed to give way for a time. Even the strong man seemed to reel for
a moment; he only recovered very slowly. He travelled a great deal,
he showed at all first nights, gave flowers and jewels to famous
dancers--all with the greatest indifference, not as if he was bored,
but with no brightness nor gaiety. Now and then, very seldom, his
wife went out with him, a colourless taciturn creature, incapable
of distracting her thoughts even for a moment from her three dead
children; but at these times Don Gennaro got gay: he came out with
a heavy commercial wit to which his wife responded with a slight
distracted smile.
As Don Gennaro Parascandolo had persuaded his poor shadow to leave
the shade that evening, he was quite lively; whilst Luisella led the
signora to the divan of honour, he went about, followed by Cesare,
joking and laughing; all made a chorus to him wherever he passed,
with that tendency to worship riches that all, and Southerners in
particular, are apt to have. The Naddeos, Antonaccis, Durantes,
and Fragalàs were rich people; but things may change in this world
from one day to another. And Don Gennaro was so rich he really did
not know what to do with his money! As to the little people in the
room--clerks, tradesmen, managers--they looked respectfully at him
from afar, impressed by his broad shoulders, deep chest, and leonine
head. His name was whispered here and there, with comments in a lower
voice: 'Don Gennaro Parascandolo.'
But Cesare and Luisella seemed to get an electric shock when the
third person they were waiting for arrived. She was an old lady, who
came forward solemnly, in a very old maroon silk, stiff as a board,
made in the fashion of thirty years before, with organ-pipe pleats
and very wide sleeves. She wore a black lace shawl that was very old,
too, fastened with a turquoise and ruby brooch, black lace mittens
on her old, withered hands, that clutched a black velvet bag worked
in point stitch--on one side a little dog on a cushion, a peasant
woman with a broad straw hat on the other. Luisella, pulling up her
train, ran to meet her, made a deep curtsy, and stooped to kiss the
hand that the old woman held out; she had an old coquette's peevish
expression, with round gray eyes and a drooping nose. Another whisper
went through the room: 'The godmother, the Marchioness.' No one said
she was the Marchioness of Castelforte; she was the godmother--that
was all. There was only one Marchioness godmother in the Fragalà
family; she was Luisella's godmother and patron, a lady respected and
feared by the whole connection--in short, a Marchioness, a titled
person, of superior race. Even Don Parascandolo, who had no need of
anyone, as all knew, went to bow before her, while the old woman
closely examined him.
Now there was no more room on the seat of honour. Luisella sat in
the middle, the Marchioness on her right, and Signora Parascandolo
on her left, in Parisian costume, covered with magnificent jewels,
but bowing her head under the weight of remembrances, always and
unfailingly. As all got seated, there was perfect silence for two
minutes. All were waiting, still looking at the door furtively,
pretending to think about something else. Ladies hid a little yawn
behind their fans; girls had that sleep-walking look that makes them
seem detached from all human interests; men twirled their moustaches;
and the boys had that absolutely idiotic look of which Fofò Mayer was
the highest exponent.
But Cesare Fragalà disappeared. Refreshments came in two minutes
after that silence. Then all set to talking, loudly, noisily, to
have an easy bearing, pretending not to care for refreshments. But
they came in from all sides continuously, spreading through the
room, to the delight of all who longed for sweets--men and women,
boys and girls. To ices thick and round as a full moon, so hard the
teaspoon had to be pressed down, followed Portuguese cream, fruit,
strawberries, white and Levant coffee, chocolate; smaller ices of
all shapes, prettily arranged in pink or blue glass shells with gold
rims; sponges--half cream and half ice, of different flavours:
chocolate, mandarin punch, pistachio, strawberries and cream, honey
and milk. After sponge-cakes, the delight of women and boys, followed
peach and almond tarts, and coffee and lemon ices, served in milky
white porcelain glasses. For ten minutes nothing was heard but the
rattling of plates, spoons, and glasses; but when the ladies saw the
trifles coming, they cried out enthusiastically about their lovely
colours, with the white foam in the middle, and held out their hands
involuntarily, whilst others, quieter and more active, ate up one
thing after the other to compare them.
Conversation got animated with such joy. Gentlemen ran here and
there, fetching a plate or glass, serving the ladies and themselves
too, speaking from a distance, asking questions, calling up the
waiters with the trays, making them lose their heads in the confusion.
'A sponge-cake for Signora Naddeo.'
'Would you like an almond tart?'
'Take a glass of champagne punch. There is nothing better for
digesting the rest.'
'Who will change a strawberry ice for a coffee ice?'
'I assure you it comes to nothing, after all; the ices are water
really. What shall it be--strawberries?'
'I have one.'
'Mama, give me the cream.'
Quite pleased, Cesare ran from one side to the other, leading the
waiters, as every tray came up, towards the Marchioness, who was
always the first to take some. Signora Parascandolo was the next;
but she hardly took a spoonful, when she put down her plate and cast
down her eyes again distractedly, as if she neither saw nor heard
what was going on around her. The Marchioness, on the other hand,
without hurrying, ate slowly of everything with her fallen-in mouth
and toothless gums, her jaw going continually and her hooked nose
trembling over her upper lip.
'My lady, try this pistachio. Would you like mandarin better, my
lady?'
She nodded 'Yes,' like an old Chinese idol. Her withered hands had
let go the bag, after taking a big white handkerchief out of it to
put under her plate.
Very happy, Luisella tossed her head, laughing at all that cheerful
noise. Every now and then her husband stopped before her.
'Won't you take something?'
'No, no! Help the other ladies.'
'Take something, Luisella.'
'No; I like looking on better.'
The view all around was so interesting! The ladies, who were more
affected in their greed, sipped the sherbet delicately, keeping
the plate on the point of their gloved fingers, raising the little
finger every time they put in the spoon, keeping a lace handkerchief
on their knees, and biting their lips after each spoonful. Some men
quietly followed the waiter's tray step by step, so as to make a
good choice, after which they went into a corner to eat comfortably.
Little children put their ices on a chair, covering themselves
with cream up to their eyes, and stuck out their pink lips, their
innocent eyes showing their delight as they slowly licked the spoon;
whilst the sleepy-headed-looking girls refused this and that, and
ended by taking a little of everything, leaving the half of it, not
really fond of eating yet. Even the Mayer family had got over their
misanthropy; the lady thought no more of her neuralgia, and Don
Domenico hesitated between a sponge and an ice, whilst Amalia and
Fofò exchanged ices, to get the taste of each.
In the other rooms, everywhere, in the passages, even in the cook's
bedroom and the kitchen, the same jingling of glasses and spoons went
on, and the joy was even greater. The servants from every floor in
the Rossi Palace had run in. The porter came up; the hair-dresser
returned; the nurse's husband, the Naddeos' and the Antonaccis'
coachmen--for they kept carriages--came in; even the newspaper boy
of the Tarsia corner and the postman, still in uniform from his last
round, with letter-bag round his neck, stood beside Gelsomina and
Donna Candida. All these humble common folk that love sweets and
sherbet had a feast, by the master's orders, and he came out every
now and then to the kitchen, delighted to see them enjoy themselves.
He replied to the servants' congratulations, speaking to them
familiarly in dialect.
Now there spread a feeling of gastronomic repose; people quieted
down, got a composed look, and smiled happily after the first burst
of gourmandizing. Conversation, languid at first, had taken the mild
tone of quiet, easy people, full of good breeding. The ladies smiled
slightly; the girls waved their fans; men set mild discussions agoing
solemnly--about their affairs, about the small politics of the day,
the stagnant state of trade, from which all suffered. They stood in
groups, gesticulating and solemnly nodding.
The Marchioness had picked up her velvet bag and crossed her
hands over it--a torpor came over her, and she looked like an old
sleeping mummy; whilst Signora Parascandolo, with her head down,
gazed abstractedly at her fan, a precious antique her husband must
have got from some desperate debtor by forced sale. Luisella began
to feel very much bored between these two silent women; her lively
temperament made her feel inclined to get up and speak to her friends
and relations, still more to go and see what Agnesina was doing, and
what was going on in the kitchen and the dining-room to cause such a
noise; but her post of honour was on the divan--it would have been a
breach of etiquette to leave it; so she went on being bored, smiling
to her friends at a distance, and waving her gold-spangled fan. All
at once, she called her husband--she could stand it no longer--and
whispered to him; he nodded assent and went off to arrange the
procession. The guests, knowing the usual programme, understood, and
began looking towards the door, occasionally, for another part of
the show to begin. Some affectionate smiles began already; a slight
whisper ran along. The procession appeared at the chief door. Little
Agnesina, in a white cap with pale blue ribbons that made her face
quite red, wore an embroidered batiste robe that covered the pink
little hands. She was laid out on a _portabimbi_ of pale blue silk
and lace, her head raised on a cushion; this forms a bed, a cradle,
a bag, and a garment, all in one; it lay on the strong arm of the
Fratta Maggiore nurse, Gelsomina, who carried it with the deepest
devotion, as a cleric carries the missal from one end of the altar
to the other, not taking her eyes off Agnesina, who stared placidly
at her with the clear crystal eyes of a new-born infant. Beside her
was Donna Candida, all in the gravity of her office; to mark its
continuity she laid her hand on the baby's pillow; then followed the
father, Cesare Fragalà, and a little further back the waiters with
trays of candy, sweets, and dried fruits, caramels, jujubes, then
other trays with marsala, malaga, Lunel; and farther back still,
venturing to peep in, some inquisitive servant gazing with open eyes.
The christening-party was not unexpected; the guests all knew the
baby would be shown, so long, noisy applause greeted it, with a
clapping of gloved hands, and a chorus burst out:
'Long live Agnesina!'
'May you grow up holy!'
'How lovely, how sweet she is!'
'Agnesina! Agnesina!'
'Cheers for Agnesina's papa and mamma!'
In the meanwhile the baby was carried straight to her godmother, the
Marchioness, to be kissed; she had held her at the font that morning,
and now kissed her lightly on the forehead, while she put a white
paper into the nurse's hand, with a discontented movement of her long
nose over her fallen-in mouth.
Applause followed the Marchioness's kiss. Then, bending down, Don
Gennaro, the godfather, kissed her; his broad face was rather pale
and contracted as by some evil thought: perhaps other christenings,
his sons', passed through his mind. But he recovered quickly, and
received the company's still noisier applause with a smile. After the
mother had kissed the baby there was a long minute's silence among
the joyous party; she kept her head down over the baby's face, as if
inhaling its breath, blessing it, calling down on it blessings from
heaven. A great noise followed; as baby was carried triumphantly
round the room, the women gave little screams of motherly emotion,
and kissed her enthusiastically, which made her whimper. Raising her
head, Luisella suddenly noticed a queer figure leaning against a
door-post; she did not know who he was; her curiosity was aroused.
She tried to remember ever having seen him before, but vainly: it
was someone new. Who could he be? Perhaps he had been brought by a
friend or relation, without asking leave, with that calm familiarity
that from the Naples populace rises to the highest classes. It was
certainly someone unknown.
Whilst the overkissed baby went on whimpering, the nurse and the
ladies trying to console it by loving little words in a singing tone,
and the room was again filled with the joy of eating, Luisella,
curiously interested, possessed by an inward feeling, could not keep
her eyes off that queer, motionless figure. He was a man of between
thirty-five and forty, with the pallid, cadaverous face of one who
has made a long, disastrous voyage; a rather curly, ill-kept black
beard on his sickly red-streaked cheeks hid all traces of linen
or necktie; the forehead showed the same bloodless pallor, and two
deep lines formed at every movement of the eyebrows; his chestnut
hair was thrown back untidily, leaving the temples bare, it being
rather sparse there, and a network of rather swollen blue veins
showed to an observing eye. When he moved his head, the muscles of
his lean neck stood out like a dead fowl's sinews; his loose-hanging
hands were fleshless, too. The man was very poorly dressed: his
pepper-and-salt trousers were too short, showing the ill-brushed
shoes tied by a rusty ribbon; his waistcoat and jacket--yes, really a
jacket--were of dark maroon. The man's whole appearance was sickly,
mysterious, wretched, and mean; his dull eyes wandered here and there
without settling a minute on the same spot; even his expression was
mysterious and ignoble.
'Who can the ragged fellow be?' Luisella said to herself with an
angry, frightened feeling.
All were rejoicing again round the sweet-trays, the choicest sweets
in the Toledo Street shop. To a natural love of sweets was added
curiosity to taste new kinds they had often admired in pretty boxes.
Dates and pistachio cream, to which a glass of malaga gives such a
good flavour; while comfits of roses, with a dash of lemon-peel to
excite the palate, suits marsala best, they found; all that soft,
attractive, enchanting odour of vanilla from the chocolates and
creams, the sharp flavour of mint, cooling and exciting, for it burns
the mouth and causes thirst--all these things, pleasant to the eye
and palate, delicious in odour, gave a new excitement to the party,
to which freely-poured-out wine added a slight intoxication.
'Who can that dirty fellow be?' Luisella was still saying to
herself, feeling hurt in her pride as mistress of the house, in her
love of tidiness, by that sickly, wretched, dirty man. She got up
mechanically to find out from someone about that queer, ragged fellow
who had got into her house, leaving the Marchioness, who again spread
out her handkerchief and heaped all kinds of sweets on it, munching
at them slowly; leaving the rich, unhappy Signora Parascandolo, who
was following little Agnesina about with her eyes full of tears. Just
then Luisella Fragalà overtook the little retinue where her baby
was now shrilly crying, having nearly made the round of the room.
Gelsomina was going to stop before the queer individual as if she
wanted to make him kiss the baby, but as he came forward to do so
Luisella broke in instinctively and sharply, and scornfully eyeing
the unknown, she said to the nurse, putting her hands on Agnesina's
pillow to protect her:
'Go away, nurse; baby is crying too much.'
The nurse went out at once, followed by Donna Candida, whilst the
mother looked at them through the door as they went off through the
other rooms, as if still to protect her from some unknown evil. As
she went back into the room the sight of the carpet amused her; paper
cases of candied fruit, gold and silver paper, were scattered over
it; the seats, tables, and brackets had little heaps of sweets from
the pillaged trays; ladies had taken off their gloves to hold the
bit of candy or caramel they were eating; men were leading from one
tray to another children who whimpered, all covered with sugar and
chocolate; others, having asked leave of Cesare Fragalà, who granted
it laughingly, gathered up the sweets in a handkerchief, taking care
not to crush them; whilst others, including Cesare himself, sent for
paper to make into bags to hold what was left in the trays. All hands
were sticky and mouths shiny. On the tables were red or yellow rings
from glasses of wine put down, and a loud continuous clatter went on
through the devastation.
'Cesare!' called out Luisella to her husband.
'What do you want, darling?' he answered, while tying a
three-coloured string with the knack of a professional.
'Tell me one thing.'
'Two if you like.'
'Who is that man there, near the door?'
'That one?' he said, peering as if he did not see well; 'it is
Giovanni Astuti, the money-changer.'
'No, no! I know him--that other one.'
'Oh, it is somebody or other,' he said, rather embarrassed.
'Who is it?' said she severely.
'A friend of mine.'
'A friend--that ragged fellow a friend?'
'One can't always have rich friends,' was the answer, with rather a
forced laugh.
'I know; but that is no reason for bringing a dirty fellow among
decent people, even if he is your friend.'
'How excitable you are, dear! Be charitable.'
'Charity is one thing, decency is another,' she replied obstinately.
'Don't you see how untidy he is?'
'Untidy!' he muttered, with his usual good-nature; 'he is a
philosopher--he does not care about clothes.'
'Well, I want him to go away.'
'How can it be done?' he asked, confused and mortified by his wife's
persistence.
'Tell him so!'
'I'll first give him a glass of wine; be patient, then I will make
him go away.'
In fact, Cesare went up to the unknown to offer him sweets and wine,
speaking in a whisper, and looking him in the eyes. He agreed,
with a smile on his discoloured lips. He began to eat slowly, with
a little grimace, as if he could not swallow well. The mysterious
person looked at the sweets Cesare offered him with an undecided
air, before putting them into his mouth; but he made up his mind to
eat them at last, still with that nervous, pained look of having a
narrow swallow. He was standing with that embarrassed shame of his
own person that is some people's constant unhappiness; and he broke
an almond noisily, gulped over big mouthfuls of Margherita paste,
gazing vaguely around, as if he dared not lower his eyes on his
legs and shoes. Then he slowly went on eating; for Cesare had had a
tray put on a table beside him, and went on handing him chocolates,
vanilla almonds, mandarins in syrup. A tray of wine-glasses was set
down also; the queer fellow took three glasses, one after the other,
without taking breath between, lifting his pale, streaked face and
hospital convalescent's sickly beard. Cesare Fragalà, with a set,
preoccupied smile, looked in the man's eyes, as if he wanted to read
his soul, all the time this feeding went on.
In the meanwhile Luisella, to amuse herself, to calm the impatience
that had burst out so suddenly, wandered about, chattering and
laughing with her relations and friends. Now came a rumour that the
diamond star in her hair was a gift from the baby's godfather, one
worthy of so rich a man. In their hearts all the merchants' wives
thought Luisella had been very sly, under cover of politeness, to
choose so rich a godfather; they made up their minds, with their
next babies, to do the same, to choose a godfather who knew his
duty and would do it like that dear Don Gennaro. Malicious little
aphorisms ran around: 'Those who think out a thing well are not
sorry afterwards.' 'A gentleman is always a gentleman.' 'Live with
someone richer than you, and get him to pay.' As Luisella Fragalà
got near, this was all changed into a chorus of admiration of the
magnificent jewel. She acknowledged it, and bent her head, blushing
proudly, as the star sparkled in her black hair. The women gave that
long, admiring murmur that flutters the giver and receiver--full
of gratified pleasure, self-satisfied affection, whilst their eyes
languished or flashed. Some, to be still more amiable, even if it was
humbug, asked: 'Is it from the godfather?' 'Yes,' said Luisella, with
a slight sigh. 'It could not be otherwise,' the other whispered, as
if she had guessed well. Elsewhere Luisella had twice been obliged
to take the pin out of her hair, because ladies wished to hold
the precious star in their hands. A group formed, women's faces
bent over, full of curiosity and that love of jewellery that is at
the bottom of every woman's heart, however modest and obscure she
is. There were shrieks of admiration; questions and interjections
arose at the flash of the brilliants. Someone got to asking the
price, even; but Luisella gave a shrug to show her ignorance, which
increased the stone's value; this mystery, this unknown cipher,
acquired a breadth in the feminine mind that imposed respect. So that
at a certain point eight or ten ladies surrounding Luisella, with a
growing burst of enthusiasm, called out, 'Hurrah for the godfather!'
Don Gennaro Parascandolo, pretending to hear nothing, ran up eagerly,
with the easy good-nature of a travelled Neapolitan. He modestly
disclaimed compliments: it was a nothing at all--two insignificant
stones, bits of glass; the ladies, in lively contradiction, praised
him, and overwhelmed him with civilities, from a deep womanly
instinct that makes them profuse in words and smiles, knowing
something may come of it. When he said Donna Luisa Fragalà was worthy
of a starry crown, applause drowned his voice. In the meanwhile the
mistress of the house had given side-glances now and then towards
the shabby fellow who was so much on her nerves; but he went on
evenly eating and drinking, with that slow movement of the muscles
of his neck that was like a hen's claw. However, something more
extraordinary was going on around, which Luisella had to give heed
to, at the time the phenomenon burst out in the room. Whilst the
horrid fellow pillaged the sweets, making a circle of cut-out paper
round his feet, and prune-stones as well, he had drawn the attention
of those who had finished eating ices. In these gourmands' vague
hour of digestion, quite satisfied with a packet of sweets to carry
home, having nothing to do, their eyes wandered round, and they
noticed that queer beggar Cesare Fragalà was feeding so attentively;
gradually one pointed him out to the other: by that glance, a poke
with the elbow, raised eyebrows, or a smile, that makes the most
expressive of languages, they showed each other that silent devourer,
who began when they were finished, but looked as if he would never
finish until he had demolished the last sweet and drunk the last
glass of wine. Some looked at him rather admiringly, sorry they
could not imitate that continual guzzling; some smiled indulgently;
others had a compassionate look in their eyes for an unlucky fellow
that seemed never to have eaten or drunken enough. Some phrases,
here and there, jocular and good-natured, were repeated from one to
another: 'What a digestion!' 'It is St. Peter's Church!' 'Health
and protection to him!' 'I would make him a coat rather than feed
him!' 'Santa Lucia keep him his sight, because he has no need of an
appetite!'
But they were the usual rather coarse remarks about a great eater.
Some man in search of amusement had come close to Cesare and the
silent gobbler to watch them. Little by little, all now in the
drawing-room had their eyes on the great eater. Luisella blushed with
shame to think that everyone had now noticed the wretched ragged
fellow her husband had brought into the house, that she had to submit
to having in her room. Vainly she tried, by going about talking and
laughing, joking and waving her fan, to distract attention: it was
useless.
The people brought together in the drawing-room had eaten and
drunken, praised the baby, the diamond star, and the giver of it;
now, not knowing what else to do, they had fixed their attention on
that queer ragged fellow, who was certainly out of place in Luisella
Fragalà's drawing-room. She was a good woman, but very proud; though
charitable, she would never have brought a pauper into her room. It
was useless for her to fly in a passion, feeling tears come to her
eyes. Now all had noticed the beggarly gobbler, all were looking at
him, even the women and the sleepy-headed girls who looked as if they
never saw anything. The same compassionate, laughing, tolerating
smiles were on the women's faces as on the men's, except that their
stronger curiosity could not constrain itself. Signora Carmela
Naddeo leant forward behind her fan, and asked Luisella:
'Who is that starving fellow, my dear?'
'Who knows?' said the other impatiently.
'Cesarino certainly does; he is handing him glasses of wine.'
'Cesare gathers these wretched people up by the cart-load,' said she,
shaking with rage.
But suddenly a subdued whispered word ran from man to man, woman
to woman--a syllable breathed rather than pronounced. Who first
said this hissing word? Who was it that recognised him, and softly
breathed it in his neighbour's ear? Who had let it out, the unknown
secret? No one knows! But in a second, quick as a flash of gunpowder,
all knew and repeated the mystic word throughout the crimson room.
It came back on itself, its letters making a magic circle that
went round, and everyone with it. When they all knew who the man
was, they were seized with stupefaction; the lamps seemed to be
suddenly lowered, their lively faces got pale, even the covers of the
furniture lost colour; there was a deep silence, where the magic word
still lingered feebly: 'The medium--the medium.'
Luisella herself, the intrepid, grew pale; her hands trembled as they
grasped her fan. The medium had given up feeding; now he was resting
quietly, casting his vague, uncertain glances about, not knowing what
to do with his lean yellow hands. A little blood had risen in his
pale cheeks, under the black beard; but it was in streaks, a sickly
colour, the effect of fever. Still, ugly, dirty, miserable as he
was, all attention was concentrated on him--inquisitive, wheedling,
obsequious glances were directed on him, in which was combined
fantastic fear, especially on the women's part. For even the women,
in a nervous tremor, said to one another, 'It is the medium.' A
circle gradually surrounded him, getting nearer, as if by a strong
natural attraction--rather anxious faces, where one could notice
the vivid working of Southern imaginations, in this land of dreams
and fantasies. Shy folk were now joining the bolder ones who had
come near at first, overcome, dreaming of the train of ministering
spirits, good and bad, who are ever warring around the medium's soul.
Don Gennaro Parascandolo, one of the first to come up, found himself
so hemmed in that he turned to Cesare Fragalà, and said, smiling
rather sceptically:
'Cesarino, introduce me to this gentleman.'
Cesare was much embarrassed, but, seeing no way out of it, he caught
at this request, and said quickly:
'Don Gennaro Parascandolo, Pasqualino De Feo, a friend of mine.'
The medium smiled vaguely and held out his hand, which Don Gennaro
found icy cold, though damp with perspiration, one of those repulsive
hands that make one shudder. But not a word was said. The women
standing outside the circle, not daring to come near, asked each
other, troubled by a deep longing:
'What does he say?'
'He says nothing,' Donna Carmela Naddeo answered; she was nearest,
and never took her eye off him.
The women bit their lips, the men's presence intimidated them; too
bashful to go near, they shivered with impatience to hear the fateful
words of the man living in constant communication with the world
of spirits, who heard all the hidden truths of life from the good
spirits, who was told by them every week five, or at least three, of
the lottery numbers.
What was he saying? Nothing. For long hours these people stand
concentrated, lost, perhaps, in a great interior conflict, listening
to the high voices that speak to them. Now and then, torn from
their visions, they pronounce some fateful phrase that contains the
secret, wrapped up in mysterious words, often without form, that
those of strong faith and hope can miraculously understand. All, men
and women, overcome by a great dream, suddenly shaken out of daily
realities into the ardent, burning region of visions, forgetting the
present moment, listened to the medium as if to a superhuman voice.
Don Gennaro Parascandolo certainly kept up a well-informed
traveller's smile; he had a large, secure fortune, but in the bottom
of his heart the old Parthenope instinct, for big gains, illicit,
if not guilty, costing no trouble, unforeseen, owed to chance,
combination, or getting the better of Government, all came so
naturally to a man who knew the secrets of hidden things. Certainly
all these, Fragalàs, Antonaccis, Naddeos, Durantes, were accustomed
to sell stale sweets, rough earthenware, moth-eaten cloth, and
stinking cod, in dark shops, in cold storehouses in Via Tribunali,
Mercanti, Petra del Pesce, Marina; they were used to all the dulness,
vulgarity and meanness of commerce, where year after year, by putting
one penny on another, after two or three generations, a fortune came;
they all knew the value of money, of work, of economy, of industry:
but what did that matter? To be able, by means of a mysterious
phrase that only cost the trouble of picking up, of interpreting,
to gain big sums with a small stake, get in one day the gains of
twenty years' trade in dry cod, or forty years' trade in sugar and
sandy coffee, was so delightful a gift, so dazzling a vision, to
middle-class ideas!
Certainly all these clerks and tradesmen looked forward to a modest
future. They had lived on nothing; they were living on very little;
they wanted to have a little more, only that: humble in their wishes,
even. But the sight of the medium, a shabby fellow, yet so powerful,
who spoke every night with supernal and infernal spirits, suddenly
threw them into a fantastic world, where poor folk get miraculously
rich, where they, obscure working people, might become gentlemen.
Ah! Don Domenico Mayer, the nephew, son, brother, and uncle of
clerks, had faith only in sacred bureaucracy--a cold career of silent
suffering. Still, buttoned up in his overcoat, he left his family in
the corner and joined the group round Pasqualino De Feo, the medium,
and his anxious, severe expression wavered as he, too, waited for
the phrase that was to draw him away in a day from the sepulchral
atmosphere of the Finance Department. But the women's imaginations
were the most feverish. Certainly at least ten of them, by birth,
marriage, by their own efforts, or by their relations or husbands,
were rich; their fortunes were easy, their children's future secure.
Ten at least enjoyed the middle-class luxury of brocaded sofas,
jewels, any amount of linen. All the others, by their modesty, good
sense, and economy, by their own virtues or their parents', had
everything that was necessary; but a lively passion for dreams had
awakened and burned in them. Their souls were filled with visions of
comfort, riches, luxury; they flew through the regions of desire with
womanly tremblings, with the force and intensity the quietest women
put into these sudden follies. An overwhelming wish to know the great
secret seized them; crumbling pyramids of gold and jewels lit flames
in their eyes. Even the old Marchioness of Castelforte, so crooked,
such a ruin of a woman, a solitary remnant, the only one of her
family, with no relations or heirs, seventy years old, and nothing
but the tomb in front of her, got up, carrying her velvet bag, and
set her coquettish profile between two men's shoulders. Even Donna
Carmela Naddeo strained her ears, trembling with curiosity, rich and
lucky as she was, whispering to herself: 'If he tells me the numbers,
I will buy a diamond star like Luisella's.'
The medium still kept silence, so that Don Gennaro Parascandolo,
feeling the impatience of the whole room behind him, risked a
question:
'Have you enjoyed the party, Don Pasqualino?'
He opened his mouth; at last a low, feverish voice came from the thin
blue lips.
'Yes,' he said; 'it is a fine christening. The baptism of Christ on
the Jordan was fine, too.'
At once there was an agitation in the room, commenting on the phrase,
trying to explain it. They formed into circles and groups, the women
discussing it among themselves, whilst the number thirty-three, the
Redeemer's number, ran from mouth to mouth.
Placidly, as if he was taking a note of a bill of exchange, Don
Gennaro Parascandolo put down the remark in his note-book. Don
Domenico Mayer took it, too, hiding behind a curtain, without losing
his bureaucratic and misanthropic gravity. The old Marchioness, who
was deaf, went about asking wildly: 'What did he say? What did he
say?' She ended by asking Luisa Fragalà, who sat motionless with
staring eyes beside the melancholy Signora Parascandolo. Luisa could
only say: 'I don't know, my lady; I did not hear.' However, Don
Parascandolo was not satisfied; he went on:
'Did you enjoy the sweets, Don Pasqualino? I noticed you seemed to
like them.'
'Yes,' he muttered; 'I eat, but I don't masticate.'
'Have you no teeth?'
'No, I have not.'
He cast his eyes around vaguely, without meeting anyone's glance,
as if he saw things from _beyond_, and made a sign with his hand,
leaning three fingers on his cheek.
Again the same murmur and agitation; there was uncertainty, too. The
phrase was ambiguous, very. What did the motion with three fingers
mean? Even Don Gennaro Parascandolo, whilst taking a note, stopped
to think. The mystery of that second phrase, of the gesture, let
loose all these already shuddering fancies of a supernatural world.
Faith, faith, that was what was needed to understand the medium's
words! Everyone, calling together all the powers of his soul, tried
to have a sublime burst of faith, to know the truth, how to translate
it into numbers, to exchange it into lottery money.
* * * * *
Late at night, when the house was emptied of people, Cesare Fragalà,
with the sleepy servants, went putting out the lights, shutting the
doors, as he prudently did every evening. When he came back to the
bedroom, he found Luisella sitting half dressed in the shade.
Agnesina's cradle had been taken into the nurse's room; the couple
were alone. Fatigue seemed to keep them silent. Still, on coming up
to his young wife, he saw she was crying quietly, big tears rolling
down her cheeks.
'What is the matter, Luisella? what is it?' kissing her, trembling
with emotion himself.
'There is nothing the matter,' she said, still weeping silently in
the shadow.