Chapter I: Front Matter

_THE INTERNATIONAL HUMOUR SERIES._

EDITED BY W. H. DIRCKS.

THE HUMOUR OF ITALY.

STORY OF DANTE AND THE SMITH. [P. 290.
]

THE
HUMOUR OF ITALY

SELECTED AND TRANSLATED, WITH INTRODUCTION, BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX, AND NOTES, BY A. WERNER: WITH FIFTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTURO FALDI

LONDON WALTER SCOTT
1892 LTD.

CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION xi THE POET COMPLAINS OF UNREASONABLE FRIENDS—_Antonio Pucci_ (1375) 1 CALANDRINO FINDS THE STONE HELIOTROPE—_Giovanni Boccaccio_ (1313–1375) 2 STORY OF DANTE AND THE SMITH—_Franco Sacchetti_ (1335–1400) 10 MESSER BERNABÒ AND THE MILLER—_Franco Sacchetti_ 11 HOW SER NASTAGIO WAS COLLECTED FOR IN CHURCH—_Girolamo Parabosco_ (16th century) 14 HOW A BARRISTER GOT HIS MONEY’S WORTH—_Sabadino degli Arienti_ (_c._ 1450–1500) 19 THE MERRY JESTS OF BUFFALMACCO THE PAINTER—_Vasari_ (1512–1574) 21 ANECDOTES—_Vasari_ 25 CHORUS FROM “LA MANDRAGOLA”—_Niccolo Machiavelli_ (1469–1527) 26 FRA TIMOTEO’S MONOLOGUE—_Niccolo Machiavelli_ 26 THE MEDIÆVAL UNDERGRADUATE—_Baldassarre Castiglione_ (1478–1529) 27 ANECDOTES—_Baldassarre Castiglione_ 28 A ROMAN PRELATE OF 1519—_Lodovico Ariosto_ (1474–1533) 30 THE VALLEY OF LOST LUMBER—_Lodovico Ariosto_ 32 THE POET TO HIS PATRON—_Francesco Berni_ (1490?–1536) 35 BENVENUTO CELLINI OFFENDS THE POPE—_Benvenuto Cellini_ (1500–1570) 36 HE RESCUES A FOOL FROM DROWNING—_Benvenuto Cellini_ 37 OPENING STANZAS OF “THE RAPE OF THE BUCKET”—_Alessandro Tassoni_ (1565–1635) 39 THE CALL TO ARMS—_Alessandro Tassoni_ 40 THE ASSEMBLY OF THE GODS—_Alessandro Tassoni_ 41 PRAISES OF THE WINE OF MONTEPULCIANO—_Francesco Redi_ (1626–1696) 45 FROM A LETTER TO PIER MARIA BALDI—_Francesco Redi_ 48 PULCINELLA’S DUEL—_Francesco Cerlone_ (_c._ 1750–1800) 49 A BERGAMASC PETER PEEBLES—_Gasparo Gozzi_ (1713–1786) 53 HOW TO SUCCEED IN LITERATURE—_Gasparo Gozzi_ 55 A FABLE—_Gasparo Gozzi_ 56 KING TEODORO AND HIS CREDITORS (From the Comic Opera, “Il Re Teodoro”)—_Giovanni Battista Casti_ (1721–1803) 57 THE POET AND HIS CREDITORS: FOUR SONNETS—_Giovanni Battista Casti_ 60 DIDYMUS, THE CLERIC, ON THE ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES—_Ugo Foscolo_ (1778–1827) 62 THE FIRST HOUR AND THE SUN—_Giacomo Leopardi_ (1798–1837) 63 FASHION AND DEATH—_Giacomo Leopardi_ 66 THE POET ON TRAMP—_Filippo Pananti_ (1776–1837) 70 LOVE AND A QUIET LIFE—_Giuseppe Giusti_ (1809–1850) 74 INSTRUCTIONS TO A YOUNG ASPIRANT FOR OFFICE—_Giuseppe Giusti_ 76 LETTER TO TOMMASO GROSSI—_Giuseppe Giusti_ 78 DON ABBONDIO AND THE BRAVOES—_Alessandro Manzoni_ (1784–1873) 82 THE INTERRUPTED WEDDING—_Alessandro Manzoni_ 85 OUR CHILDREN—_Collodi_ 90 STRAY THOUGHTS OF AN IDLER—_Antonio Ghislanzoni_ 94 MEN AND INSTRUMENTS—_Antonio Ghislanzoni_ 95 THE DELIGHTS OF JOURNALISM—_Enrico Onufrio_ 100 WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK—_Napoleone Corazzini_ 103 THE FAMOUS TENOR, SPALLETTI—_Napoleone Corazzini_ 104 RIVAL EARTHQUAKES—_Luigi Capuana_ 107 QUACQUARÀ—_Luigi Capuana_ 121 THE EXCAVATIONS OF MASTRO ROCCO—_Luigi Capuana_ 134 THE WAR OF THE SAINTS—_Giovanni Verga_ 137 HIS REVERENCE—_Giovanni Verga_ 148 PADRON ’NTONI’S POLITICS—_Giovanni Verga_ 154 MASTRO PEPPE’S MAGIC—_Gabriele d’Annunzio_ 155 A DAY IN THE COUNTRY—_Renato Fucini_ 168 THE THEOREM OF PYTHAGORAS—_Enrico Castelnuovo_ 191 AN ECCENTRIC ORDERLY—_Edmondo de Amicis_ 199 A PROVINCIAL ORACLE—_Mario Pratesi_ 206 DOCTOR PHŒBUS—_Mario Pratesi_ 208 OUR SCHOOL AND SCHOOLMISTRESS—_Mario Pratesi_ 229 LOCAL JEALOUSIES—_P. C. Ferrigni_ (“_Yorick_”) 232 SUNSHINE—_P. C. Ferrigni_ 234 WHEN IT RAINS—_P. C. Ferrigni_ 235 THE PATENT ADAPTABLE SONNET—_Paolo Ferrari_ 237 LOVE BY PROXY—_P. Ferrari_ 238 A WET NIGHT IN THE COUNTRY—_P. Ferrari_ 239 A LOST EXPLORER—_C. Lotti_ 254 THE SPIRIT OF CONTRADICTION—_Vittorio Bersezio_ 259 TRUTH—_Achille Torelli_ 262 PASQUIN—(From _Roba di Roma_, by Story) 266 EPIGRAMS 283 PROVERBS, FOLK-LORE, AND TRADITIONAL ANECDOTES 284 NEWSPAPER HUMOUR 305 NOTES 323 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF WRITERS 327