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panem et circensis
I97
decrepit, they who were without roofs over their
heads, they who were wont to gather sorrel at the
roadside for dinner, the stone cutter who earned a
lire a day and had six children to care for, all had
been invited and were present at the feast.
" It was poverty, advancing its troops against the
English signorina. Who indeed has such an army
as poverty ? But for once the English signorina
could conquer him.
" She had also something to fight with and to
conquer with. She had the whole market-place full
of tables amply provided with all sorts of good
things. She had barrels of wine laid up the whole
length of the stone-bench which ran along the
cathedral wall. She had transformed the whole
extinct convent into a dining-table and kitchen.
She had the whole colony of strangers in
Diamante, dressed in white aprons, distributing the
courses. She had the Diamante who were wont to
eat their fill, sauntering back and forth as spectators.
" Ah, spectators, who indeed were not her
spectators ! She had the mighty Etna, and the glittering
sun. She had the rosy inland mountains and the
ancient temple of Vulcan now consecrated to San
Pasquale. And none of these had ever beheld
Diamante satiated. It had never occurred to them
until now how much would be added to their own
beauty if, in beholding them, hunger did not hiss in
one’s ears and tread on one’s heels.
" Remarkable and great as this signorina was,
beauty she did not possess. And, in spite of all her
power, she was not pleasing or charming. She
governed not with jest nor did she reward with smiles*
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