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888 OUR FOUNTAIK.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Notwithstanding A Strong Prejudice In Fa...
-languidly and sleepily ; a bright green lizard darts Gilt of some hidingplace on to the scorching pavementwhere it lies still and
_immovealble , as though the sun ' s rays it deli , ghts to bask in had changed it to stone . The water of the fountain gurgles on , but with a
subdued muffled sound , that makes one fancy the hard-working stone heads would fain cease working and give in to the prevailing
silenzio . Bruno is the first to break the general repose ; after an undisturbed
two hours' slumber , he languidly emerges from under my couch , panting thirstily , and requests to be let out ; it is still so hot the green
blinds almost burn my hand when I attempt to unfasten them , but as Bruno politely but resolutely insists upon being let out at once
I am forced to comply . Away he races to the fountain with a volley , of sharp barks , which scares the lizard back into its hole , and wakes
up the sleepers on the bench . Arrived at the fountain he finds himself in difficultiesthe sun has dried up all the little pools
usually to be found , caused , by innumerable splashings and drippings , and jump as he will he cannot reach the bason ; he walks round and
_troimd , and has a consultation with a little black cur who arrives on the same errandthe result of which isthat he trots off to the stone
bench , and by yel , ps , and jumps , and ta , ps with his paw , induces one of the least sleepy of the lads to go back to the fountain with him
and hold him safely on the ledge whilst he drinks leisurely and comfortably . The little black dog is more nervous and cannot be
induced to drink from the ledge , so the lad , no ways provoked , puts him down again gentlyand patiently scoops out water in the hollow
of his hands , and holds , it for him , repeating the process over and over again till the little one takes his leave quite satisfied , and the
boy returns to finish his siesta . This hardly looks like the habitual unkindness to animals we so constantly hear all Italians accused of !
The stillness is again broken by a tremendous clatter and shouting tinder the arch , from which emerges a donkey ridden by a portly
lady , who is in vain trying to check the trot it has suddenly broken into ; up it rushes to the fountain , and stops there so abruptly that
the lady nearly flies over its head into the trough ; another donkey , ridden by a younger lady , follows more sedately . Both ladies are
tmmistakeably English , with strong-minded ugly hats , streaming green gauze veils , shawls of many colors flying over the donkeys '
tails , and huge sketch-books hanging from the saddle ; they look most uncomfortablflushed and warm with their hot ride up
the hill , but still they gaze y round on the closed windows , and quiet sleepers under the plane-trees with a grim air of conscious superiority ,
poor as much indolent as to peop say , le " , We we will will show not g what ive into can the be lazy effected habits by British of this
_^ resolution and energy . _" The donkeys are evidently not animated by the same iritand show their sense of the folly of going out
Vhen the air sp is like , the blast from the heated furnace , and the
earth hot beneath their tread , by deep groans and grunts and a side-
888 Our Fountaik.
888 OUR FOUNTAIK .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1862, page 388, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081862/page/28/
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