Edmondo De Amicis

“ Italy, my country, dear and noble land, where my father and my mother were born, and where they will be buried, where I hope to live and die, where my children will grow up and die; beautiful Italy, great and glorious for many centuries, united and free for the past few years; who has scattered so great a light of intellect divine over the world, and for whom so many valiant men have died on the battle-field, and so many heroes on the gallows ”

“ Do you not know, you who grieve your sister, that if a dreadful misfortune should overtake us, I should be a mother to you and love you like my son? Do you not know that when our father and mother are no longer here, I shall be your best friend, the only person with whom you can talk about our dead and your childhood, and that, should it be necessary, I shall work for you, Enrico, to earn your bread and to pay for your studies, and that I shall always love you when you are grown up ”

“ Such dead as these are countless, Enrico; every graveyard contains hundreds of these sainted beings, who, if they could rise for a moment from their graves, would cry the name of a child for whom they gave up the joys of youth, the peace of old age, their affections, their learning, their life: wives of twenty, men in the flower of their strength, octogenarians, youths, heroic and obscure martyrs to infancy, so grand and so noble, that the earth does not produce as many flowers as should strew their graves. ”

“ Early on the morning of the following day, Marco, bent and limping, with his bag on his back, entered the city of Tucuman, one of the youngest and most flourishing towns of the Argentine Republic. It seemed to him that he again beheld Cordova, Rosario, Buenos Ayres: there were the same straight and extremely long streets, the same low white houses, but on every hand there was a new and magnificent vegetation, a perfumed air, a marvelous light, a sky limpid and profound, such as he had never seen even in Italy. ”

“ The gleam of a divine thought flashed across his face.
“The smaller!” shouted the sailors again impatiently. “We are going!”
And then Mario, with a voice which no longer seemed his own, cried: “She is the lighter! It is for you, Giulietta! You have a father and mother! I am alone! I give you my place! Go down!”
“Throw her into the sea!” shouted the sailors.
Mario seized Giulietta by the body, and threw her into the sea.
The girl uttered a cry and made a splash; a sailor Seized her by the arm, and dragged her into the boat. ”

“ When I die, when your father dies, we shall not speak to each other those despairing words, “Mamma, papa, Enrico, I shall never see you again!” We shall see each other again in another life, where he who has suffered much in this life will receive reward; where he who has loved much on earth will find again the souls whom he has loved, in a world without sin, without sorrow, and without death. ”

“ When we left school, we saw that every one else was cheerful also. All walked in a line, stamping loudly with their feet, and humming, as though on the eve of a four days' vacation, The schoolmistresses were playful; the one with the red feather tripped along behind the children like a schoolgirl. The parents of the boys were chatting together and smiling, and Crossi's mother, the vegetable-vendor, had so many bunches of violets in her basket, that they filled the whole large hall with perfume. ”

“ When their teacher praised them, they looked happy; and as she passed among the benches, they kissed her hands and wrists; for they are very grateful for what is done for them, and very affectionate. These little angels have good minds, and study well, the teacher told me. The teacher is young and gentle, with a face full of kindness, but with a certain expression of sadness, like a reflection of the misfortunes which she caresses and comforts. Dear girl! Among all the human creatures who earn their livelihood by toil, there is not one who earns it more holily than you! ”

“ Reflect that you are destined to experience many terrible days in the course of your life: the most terrible will be that on which you lose your mother. A thousand times, Enrico, after you are a man, strong, and inured to all fates, you will invoke her, oppressed with an intense desire to hear her voice, if but for a moment, and to see once more her open arms, into which you can throw yourself sobbing, like a poor child bereft of comfort and protection. ”

“ And pressing my hand, he ran to take the first log, and began once more to trot back and forth between the cart and the shop, with a face as fresh as a rose beneath his catskin cap, and so alert that it was a pleasure to see him.
“Lucky fellow!” he had said to me. Ah, no, Coretti, no; you are the more fortunate, because you study and work too; because you are of use to your father and your mother; because you are better—a hundred times better—and braver than I, my dear schoolmate! ”

“ Even when I grow up I shall remember you and shall go to seek you among your boys; and every time I pass near a school and hear the voice of a schoolmistress, I shall think that I hear your voice, and I shall recall the two years I passed in your school, where I learned so many things, where I so often saw you ill and weary, but always earnest, always indulgent, in despair when any one was clumsy with his pen, trembling when the examiners asked us questions, happy when we made a good showing, always kind and loving as a mother. ”

“ But we must all render ourselves worthy of that other life. Reflect, my son. Every good action of yours, every impulse of affection for those who love you, every courteous act towards your companions, every noble thought of yours, is like a leap towards that other world. And every misfortune, also, serves to raise you towards that world; every sorrow, since it is the expiation of a sin, just as every tear blots out a stain. Make it your rule to become better and more loving every day than the day before. ”

“ Take more heed to your manner of walking in the street. There are duties to be fulfilled even there. If you keep your steps and gestures within bounds in a private house, why should you not do the same in the street, which is everybody's house. Remember this, Enrico. Every time that you meet a feeble old man, a poor person, a woman with a child in her arms, a cripple with his crutches, a man bending beneath a burden, a family dressed in mourning, make way for them respectfully. We must respect age, misery, maternal love, infirmity, labor, death. ”

“ I thought that my heart would break! Ah, if I had only died then, died while they were bidding me farewell! If I had but dropped dead! Without a mother, my poor child, he who loved me so dearly, who needed me so much! without a mother, in misery, he will be forced to beg! He, Marco, my Marco, will stretch out his hand, starving! O eternal God! No! I will not die! The doctor! Call him at once! let him come, let him cut me, let him cleave my breast, let him drive me mad; but let him save my life! I want to recover; I want to live, to depart, to flee, to-morrow, at once! The doctor! ”

“ I know that my father is at home, seated at his table, far removed from all danger; but how many of my companions think that their fathers are at work on a very high bridge or close to the wheels of a machine, and that a movement, a single false step, may cost them their lives! They are like so many sons of soldiers who have fathers in the battle. ”

“ The name of his primary teacher recalled to his mind a thousand things which had happened when he was a boy,—his early companions, his dead mother. “Crosetti!” he exclaimed. “He was forty when I was with him. I seem to see him now. He was a small man, somewhat bent even then, with bright eyes, and always cleanly shaven. Severe, but in a good way; for he loved us like a father, and forgave us more than one offence. He had risen from a peasant by virtue of study and privations. He was a fine man. My mother was attached to him, and my father treated him like a friend. ”

“ And every one turned to the right and the left; but the mother was not to be found. Finally, a few paces from the place where the Via Roma enters the square, a woman was seen to rush towards the chariot. Ah, I shall never forget that! She no longer seemed a human creature: her hair was streaming, her face distorted, her garments torn. She hurled herself forward with a rattle in her throat,—no one knew whether to attribute it to joy, anguish, or rage,—and darted out her hands like two claws to snatch her child. The chariot stopped. ”

“ It seemed to them that they heard footsteps in the next room.
“Who's there?” demanded the lad, recovering his breath with an effort.
No one replied.
“Who is it?” asked Ferruccio again, chilled with terror.
But hardly had he pronounced these words when both uttered a shriek of terror. Two men sprang into the room. One of them grasped the boy and placed one hand over his mouth; the other clutched the old woman by the throat.
The first said: “Silence, unless you want to die!”
The second said: “Be quiet!” and raised aloft a knife. ”

“ You will become a man, you will make the tour of the world, you will see immense cities and wonderful monuments, and you will remember many among them; but that modest white edifice, with those closed shutters and that little garden, where the first flower of your intelligence budded, you will remember until the last day of your life, as I shall remember the house in which I heard your voice for the first time. ”

“ But you will read of his deeds, you will constantly hear him spoken of in the course of your life; and gradually, as you grow up, his image will grow before you; when you become a man, you will behold him as a giant; and when you are no longer in the world, when your sons' sons and those who shall be born of them are no longer among the living, the generations will still behold on high his luminous head as a redeemer of the people, crowned by the names of his victories as with a circlet of stars ”

“ The eyes, the souls, of all were quivering at the sight of that coffin and the darkened banners of the eighty regiments of the army of Italy, borne by eighty officers, drawn up in line on its passage: for Italy was there in those eighty tokens, which recalled the thousands of dead, the torrents of blood, our most sacred glories, our most holy sacrifices, our most tremendous griefs. ”

“ Towards two o'clock the great theatre was crowded,—pit, gallery, boxes, stage, all were thronged; thousands of faces,—boys, gentlemen, teachers, working-men, women of the people, babies. There was a moving of heads and hands, a flutter of feathers, ribbons, and curls, and a loud and merry murmur which inspired cheerfulness. The theatre was decorated with festoons of white, red, and green cloth. In the pit two little stairways had been erected: one on the right, which the winners of prizes were to ascend in order to reach the stage ”

“ Do you understand what I mean to convey by the words, One must conquer sorrow—conquer the least sacred, the least purifying part of sorrow, that which, instead of rendering the soul better, weakens and debases it? But the other part of sorrow,—the noble part—that which enlarges and elevates the soul—that must remain and never leave you more. Nothing here below can take the place of a good mother. In griefs, in the consolations which life may still bring you, you will never forget her. ”

“ When a father comes to the school to reprove his son, he enjoys it; when any one cries, he laughs. He cowers before Garrone, and he strikes the little mason because he is small. He torments Crossi because he has a helpless arm. He ridicules Precossi, whom every one respects. He even jeers at Robetti, that boy in the second grade, who walks on crutches, through having saved a child. He provokes those who are weaker than himself, and when it come to blows, he grows savage and tries to do harm. ”

“ Cease to talk with your companion, and to smile, when you meet a hospital litter, which is, perhaps, bearing a dying person, or a funeral procession; for one may issue from your own home on the morrow. Look with reverence upon all boys from the asylums, who walk two and two,—the blind, the dumb, those afflicted with the rickets, orphans, abandoned children; reflect that it is misfortune and human charity which is passing by. Always pretend not to notice any one who has a repulsive or laughter-provoking deformity. Always extinguish every match that you find in your path ”

“ Love him, also, because your father loves and respects him; because he consecrates his life to the welfare of so many boys who will forget him; love him because he opens and enlightens your intelligence and educates your mind; because, one of these days, when you have become a man, and when neither I nor he shall be in the world, his image will often present itself to your mind, side by side with mine, and then you will see certain expressions of sorrow and weariness in his honest countenance to which you now pay no heed. ”

“ I am doomed to die on the road, without having found my mother! I shall go mad! I shall kill myself! Heavens! what is the name of that country? Where is it? At what distance is it situated?”
“Eh, poor boy,” replied the old woman, touched with pity; “a mere trifle! We are four or five hundred miles from there, at least.”
The boy covered his face with his hands; then he asked with a sob, “And now what am I to do!” ”

“ Coretti was pleased this morning, because his master of the second class, Coatti, a big man, with a huge head of curly hair, a great black beard, big dark eyes, and a voice like a cannon, had come to assist in the work of the monthly examination. He is always threatening the boys that he will break them in pieces and carry them by the nape of the neck to the station; and he makes all sorts of frightful faces; though he never punishes any one, but always smiles the while behind his beard, so that no one can see it. ”

“ Respect the street. The education of a people is judged first of all by their behavior on the street. Where you find offences in the streets, you will find offences in the houses. And study the streets; study the city in which you live. If you were to be hurled far away from it to-morrow, you would be glad to have it clearly present in your memory, to be able to traverse it all again in memory. It is your own city, and your little country—that which has been for so many years your world ”

“ Keep always in your thoughts that other supernatural and blessed Enrico which you may be after this life. And pray. You cannot imagine the sweetness that you experience,—how much better a mother feels when she sees her child with hands clasped in prayer. When I behold you praying, it seems impossible to me that there should not be some one there gazing at you and listening to you. ”

“ Franti burst into a derisive laugh, in the face of a soldier who was limping. But all at once he felt a man's hand on his shoulder: he turned round; it was the principal. “Take care,” said the master to him; “jeering at a soldier when he is in the ranks, when he can neither avenge himself nor reply, is like insulting a man whose hands are tied: it is cowardly.” ”

“ Courage, then, little soldier of the immense army! Your books are your arms, your class is your squadron, the field of battle is the whole earth, and the victory is human civilization. Be not a cowardly soldier, my Enrico. ”

“ The long locks which touched the shoulders have disappeared; all heads are closely shorn; bare legs and throats are to be seen; there are little straw hats of every shape, with ribbons that fall over the backs of the wearers; shirts and neckties are of every hue; all the little children wear something red or blue about them, a facing, a border, a tassel, a scrap of some vivid color tacked on somewhere by the mother, so that even the poorest may make a good figure; and many come to school without any hats, as though they had run away from home. ”