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A CMTER OVEK THE CAMPAGNA. 241
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.
"Well! Rome Would Be A Charming Place If...
save the baby ' s cradle and an old-fashioned spinning-wheel—a crucifix and a gaudy picture of the Madonna hang over the bed
under the picture there is a broken jug full of freshly gathered , violets , and wall-flowers .
• us Our dry and busy w hostess arm ourselves soon lig ; hts ie there a blazing is plent fire y of of dry room canes and , and welcome bids
for all . " Her sunburnt good-tempered face beams with delight as she sees us evidently enjoying the drying warmth of the blaze she
lias made , and she chats away , laughing heartily at the curious broken Italian some of us addressed to her . Her children gather
round us with broad smiles and ( to us ) unintelligible prattle , the baby crows and chuckles vociferouslyand a fat white puppyafter
sniffing at us all round , wags his tail , most amiably . , The eldest girla little sprite of only nine years oldperches
, , herself on a high stool at the rickety table , opens a ruled copy book , dips a worn pen in an old ink-bottle and , unbidden , begins
to write . With many a glance around of undisguised pride and elation , the dignified satisfaction with which she receives our
proffered compliments on her really very tidy , good writing , is highly amusing . The mother tells us she herself was taught to read and
write at a convent school in her youth , and now teaches her children the little she knows , as of course they are far out of the reach
of any other schooling . There are two or three books on the table , a . " Lives of the Saints" " Book of Prayers" and a Catechism with
,, terribly long answers to tn _* e various theological questions . I asked the woman whether they lived in their present quarters
all the year round ? She pressed her baby closer to her , as she answered— " I would not do so for worldsSignora—no child
could live through the heat and poisonous air , of summer in this place- —we all move up to the hill country every year , leaving one
old shepherd , who is fever-seasoned , to care for the sheep . You think the Campagna desolate and solitary now ! what would it
seem to you then in autumn ? . . . Ah , Serafina ! be still , extravagant child ! "
This last , remark was addressed to the second girl , who , wishing to share a little of the attention bestowed on her scholarly sister
, produces a gaudily painted tambourine , which she beats with extreme rapidity and precision , dancing up and down the room at
the same time , with strange , untaught grace in every movement , whilst her elder brothera tall handsome ladsings a few wild notes
, , now and then , keeping time with his arms and head to the primitive music .
It would have made a very pretty picture , the ruddy fire-light falling on the dancing child , the handsome swarthy boy , and the
mother sitting * at the picturesque spinning-wheel , her baby in her arms . Miss Hose might seem out of lace in the " Roman Interior "
I mentally painted , but she was a prett p y feature in the picture too ,
sitting on a low seat by the fire ; her fair cheek resting on her hand ,
A Cmter Ovek The Campagna. 241
A CMTER OVEK THE CAMPAGNA . 241
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1862, page 241, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121862/page/25/
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