Cecum

“ Tubby and Virginia May would be hospital nurses and wear a red cross on their arm. They arranged it all, walking on either side the Engine to keep Poor Cecco from falling out. It was almost as exciting as if they had found the treasure, and they had the added satisfaction of doing good to some one at the same time.
So they walked home, Anna pulling the engine, and Tubby and Virginia on either side, and whenever they met any one on the road they put their handkerchiefs to their eyes and said: “Poor Cecco has lost his tail!” ”

“ The collar was far too big, but he managed to prop it up somehow, and there he sat on the pavement, with the tin cup at his feet.
“That’s a neighbourly act,” said the little dog. “I will do as much for you, some day. Now look pleasant, and above all, don’t forget to wag your tail for a penny! It pleases the people and draws custom.”
And he strolled off down the road, very pleased with himself, stretching his legs and sniffing at all the corners like any fine gentlemanly dog of leisure.
POOR CECCO GOES INTO BUSINESS
No one before had ever seen a wooden dog that wagged its tail ”

“ Presently a man overtook them, driving a wagon piled high with hay.
“Do you want a lift?” he cried. “It’s lucky to meet one wooden leg, so four must be better still! Climb up on my wagon, and I’ll take you into the town.”
Bulka and Poor Cecco climbed up. The countryman cracked his whip, and away they went down the road. This was better than the express-wagon! The hay was as soft and springy as a feather bed. But one must take care not to fall off, and that wasn’t so easy; the wagon pitched and swayed like a ship at sea, and Poor Cecco had to cling tight with all his paws. ”

“ He had to move rather stiffly and carefully because he was all made of wood, and if he once let his joints rattle there would be a terrible noise. So he went gently—clop—clop—and when he reached the big flower-pot that stood just by the doorstep he folded his hind legs under him and lay down, with one ear cocked up, to hear what was going on. For Murrum hadn’t been quite as clever as he thought he was, and when he shut the toy-cupboard door Poor Cecco wasn’t inside at all. ”

“ A fat elderly woodchuck, with bushy white whiskers, sat smoking in a corner; his wife, with an apron tied round her enormous waist, was preparing supper at the table, and from a bed in the corner three small woodchucks, equally fat, poked their heads out, each with a white nightcap on, to see what had happened. All five stared at Poor Cecco in astonishment and some indignation, for it is certainly not usual for a total stranger to drop in on one suddenly through the kitchen ceiling at supper time, especially when he brings half the ceiling with him, as Poor Cecco had unfortunately done. ”

“ Still, I like the look of you, and I can’t say that of every one.”
“Suppose I take your place for a while?” said Poor Cecco, who was anxious to be friendly. “I’ll sit here and watch the pennies, and give you a chance to walk about a bit and see the town.”
The little dog stared at him.
“That’s an idea worth thinking about,” he said. “But how can I tell you’ll look after the business properly? I can’t have my old man robbed by any one who may come along.”
“Leave that to me,” said Poor Cecco. “As for Bulka here, he’ll sit by and help me. ”

“ But Poor Cecco, seeing that Bulka was very near to tears—a thing that had not happened for a long time, for during his travels he had learned to be quite brave—said kindly: “Never mind, Bulka! Tubby’s in a tree, that we know, and we’ll hunt the garden over till we find her, if it takes us all night!” ”

“ Bulka remembered a big stone down by the end of the garden. There might be treasure there. But how could one tell?
You couldn’t tell. If you knew beforehand, Poor Cecco said, then there was no sense in looking and it wouldn’t be a treasure-hunt. Any one might do that. But you had to have spades, and he sent Tubby to fetch a tin spade and a broken spoon that were in the bottom of the toy-cupboard.
The express wagon had gone to sleep. He grumbled terribly when they woke him up. “I work all day,” he complained, “and at night I want to be quiet. ”

“ This seemed to Poor Cecco unnecessary, considering he had come by the roof, but as he felt himself to be in the wrong, in any case, he began at once to excuse himself for his entrance.
“Rubbish!” said the woodchuck. “No sensible person keeps their front door in the ceiling! When you don’t see what you want, ask for it, and don’t go blundering about like that!” ”

“ Jensina gave a shriek, but before Poor Cecco could spring to the rescue Bulka had picked himself up again, and there on the grass before them stood an enormous owl, rolling his eyes and looking exactly like a sulky cat.
“How dare you!” cried Poor Cecco.
“How dare I?” exclaimed the owl. “How about him? What business has any one to go about looking like a rabbit? ”

“ The Money-Pig saw him.”
“If you say that again,” bellowed the Money-Pig, “I shall certainly beat you! Some one give me a penny; I am going to be ill!”
“It’s all the Easter Chicken’s fault!” they shouted in chorus.
In the very midst of this confusion, there was heard the shrill toot of a horn, and a loud ring at the door-bell. Some one must be arriving in style! And while they wondered, the toy-cupboard door was flung open, and in strode Poor Cecco himself, together with Bulka and a strange little person with painted boots and no frock on, whom they had never seen before. ”

“ But Bulka would not hear of this; he was far too frightened and miserable. So paw in paw the two ventured out together into the unknown darkness.
The earth was sticky and muddy; it clung in lumps to their feet, and there were deep sloshy puddles everywhere. The weeds grew high above their heads, a dense forest. It was impossible to see one’s way. The rain was still falling steadily.
Poor Cecco saw something shining in the darkness and ran towards it. “There’s a light!” he cried. ”

“ So Cecrops-the serpent man, as they still called him-became the king of the poor people on the hill. He taught them how to make bows and arrows, and how to set nets for birds, and how to take fish with hooks. He led them against the savage wild men of the woods, and helped them kill the fierce beasts that had been so great a terror to them. ”

“ THE LETTUCE BOX
“The best thing to do,” said Poor Cecco next morning, when they had bidden the Woodchucks good-bye and were walking down the hill, “is to go home. This life of adventure is all very well, but we have been away for a long time, and by now every one will be wondering what has become of us.”
“Home!” shouted Bulka. “Hurray! Let’s go home!” ”

“ A man of immense erudition and of great and varied abilities, Cecco, whose knowledge was based on experiment and observation (a fact that of itself is enough to distinguish him from the crowd of savants of that age) , had outstripped his contemporaries in many things. He knew of metallic aerolites and shooting stars; the mystery of the dew was plain to him; fossil plants were accounted for by him through terrene revolutions which had resulted in the formation of mountains; he is even said to have divined the circulation of the blood. ”

“ The rats, with looks of amazement, horror and alarm, turned at once and rushed off through the weeds. In a second there was not one left in sight!
The battle was over, but the friends were in sore plight. Bulka had been bitten twice, Poor Cecco was hoarse from barking, and Jensina had slipped on the ash-heap and rolled from top to bottom, grazing herself severely.
“Horrid mean things!” she cried, rubbing her knees and picking up her bundle, which had come undone in the skirmish. “They think they own everything here, and that no one has any rights but them. ”

“ I fight for the people. The people at a pinch must fight with me.”
“They will,” replied Cecco; “they will!”
“Cecco, this city is under the spiritual dominion of the Pontiff—so be it—it is an honour, not a burthen. But the temporal dominion, my friend, should be with Romans only. Is it not a disgrace to Republican Rome, that while we now speak, certain barbarians, whom we never heard of, should be deciding beyond the Alps on the merits of two sovereigns, whom we never saw? Is not this a thing to be resisted? An Italian city,—what hath it to do with a Bohemian Emperor?” ”

“ Lizina, although only a river labourer's daughter, was country born and bred, and had the prejudices and preferences of the country, and had run about under the orchard boughs and down the vineyards of the countryside till she thought as a peasant and spoke as one.
Cecco was mortified, but he shared her views of the life to which he was about to go. He was useful now to tame a steer, to milk a heifer, to fell a tree, to mow a meadow, to reap a field, to get up in the dark and drive the colt into the city with a load of straw and bring back a load of manure. ”

“ In the flash of an eye, it seemed, there were rats all about him—grey rats, brown rats, black rats—all with long yellow teeth and snakelike tails.
Bulka, clutching his beads, set up a shriek for help, and immediately Poor Cecco and Jensina came scrambling over the crest of the ash-heap.
When she saw the rats Jensina for a second turned pale.
“See,” she exclaimed, “they are blocking our way! They have been listening, they know that I am going to leave them and now they are sorry! Bark, Poor Cecco, bark! It is our only chance!” ”

“ As soon as I return from Capreae we will go, and, at least, make a trial of a new home—though it is a hard task to transplant old trees.’
‘As soon as you return from Capreae!’ echoed Cestus, his incipient satisfaction giving way in a breath to disgust. ‘You will still persist in that madness. It must never be! You have no need of Caesar—what benefit to you is a man who lives like a hermit on a rock? The rich nobles in Rome will be a thousand times the service to you—you shall not go!’
‘I will!’ cried Masthlion, stung into anger and despair by the fierce tone of his kinsman ”

“ She looked very shy, and was carrying a bundle in her hand.
“Hello!” cried Poor Cecco. “How is everybody? Hello, Harlequin! Hello, Lion! Hello, Anna! This is Jensina. We’ve been all over the world and now we’re back again!” And he began kissing them all round.
“And I’ve brought some beads for Tubby!” Bulka cried, holding up his necklace for every one to see. “Nobody touch them! Where is Tubby?”
All the toys were silent; no one wanted to speak first. Only the Money-Pig was heard to snore loudly.
“Where is Tubby?” Bulka repeated. “I want to see Tubby! Why isn’t Tubby here?” ”

“ Let us next turn to Cecco’s two commentaries in Latin and see what foundation there is in them for the astrological teachings ascribed to him by Villani and the longer form of inquisitorial sentence preserved only in very late and suspiciously worded manuscripts. It is true that Cecco emphasizes the control exercised by the stars over the fate of cities. The laying of the first stone of a city is a moment as influential over all its future history as is the date of conception in the case of an individual. ”

“ But she found a place: a rocky bluff, shoved out to the sea and sun and overgrown with large cactus, the flat-leaved cactus called prickly pear. Out of this blue-grey knoll of cactus rose one cypress tree, with a pallid, thick trunk, and a tip that leaned over, flexible, up in the blue. It stood like a guardian looking to sea; or a low, silvery candle whose huge flame was darkness against light: earth sending up her proud tongue of gloom.
Juliet sat down by the cypress tree, and took off her clothes. The contorted cactus made a forest, hideous yet fascinating, about her. ”

“ To be free with one’s treasure is an excellent way of becoming popular and powerful—none better—in Rome at least.’
‘Enough, I have said! If you are wise you will leave your insolence behind you, among your pot companions, when you seek to come before me.’
‘Surely, patron, when you consider the matter calmly, you can hardly refuse me a small present,’ said Cestus, assuming instantly a mock respect, which was only too palpably impudent.
The knight bit his lip, and the heaving of his breast stirred the folds of his toga with rapid pulsations. ”

“ At of them Bulka’s bites, which he had nearly forgotten about, began to smart again.
“We’ll keep quite still,” said Poor Cecco, “and perhaps they will pass by and not see us.”
So they lay down, as flat as they could, among the grasses, scarcely daring to breathe. But the rats must have known they were there. For as soon as they came within a few feet of where the three friends were in hiding they stopped short, puffing and blowing, and sat down in the road to consult.
“It’s no use,” said Jensina, “they must certainly have seen us. They are policemen rats.” ”

“ Three years later the inquisitor at Florence received the account of the foregoing process against Cecco at Bologna, summoned him before himself, pronounced him a heretic, and handed him over to the secular arm to be burned at the stake. This part of the sentence was duly executed by the ducal Vicarius, Lord Jacob of Brescia. It was further decreed that Cecco’s astrological book in Latin and his poem [Pg 953] l’Acerba in Italian should be burned and that all persons retaining copies of them should be excommunicated. ”

“ By the help of Cecca, the very Saints, surrounded with their almond-shaped glory, and floating on clouds with their joyous companionship of winged cherubs, even as they may be seen to this day in the pictures of Perugino, seemed, on the eve of San Giovanni, to have brought their piece of the heavens down into the narrow streets, and to pass slowly through them ”