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On another side of the keep the valley clipped more decidedly; and in the foreground clustered a collection of trees upon a grassy slope, divided from the villa lawn by a low wall, over which my father and mother sometimes bought grapes, figs, pomegranates, and peaches grown upon the place, which were smilingly offered by the count's contadini.
The contadini on the little farm which I came to possess before I left Tuscany cultivated it precisely after the fashion of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and strenuously resisted any suggestion that it could, should, or might be cultivated in any other way.
We passed cottage doors, and saw groups of contadini and contadine in their festal attire, and they saluted us graciously; but it was observable that one of the men generally lingered on our track to see that no grapes were stolen, for there were a good many young people and children in our train, not only our own, but some from a neighboring villa.
One has now to elbow his way to enter, and all around the door, even out into the middle court, contadini are kneeling. Besides this, the whole place reeks intolerably with garlic, which, mixed with whiff of incense from the church within and other unmentionable smells, makes such a compound that only a brave nose can stand it.
I never saw a case. What the nation do you suppose is the matter with these people?" He thought maybe the trouble was with the dog. He said: "These are CONTADINI, you know, and they have a prejudice against dogs that is, against marimane.
While waiting for the train, as the sun set and twilight fell, we saw many of the contadini returning from their work, most of them on donkeys or ponies a father with a little son before or behind him, a man in a black cloak with panniers laden with branches of trees, which hid the saddle, and, in the semi-obscurity, made them look like some monstrous beast of strange form, another perched upon a great bundle of hay or grass, and so on, all passing rapidly from the malaria of the fields to the safety of the malodorous town.
Through sunny arcades, flushed with pomegranate, glowing with orange, silvered with lemon blossoms, came the tinkling music of contadini bells, the bleating of kids, the twittering of happy birds, the distant chime of an Angelus; all the subtle harmony, the fragmentary melody that flickers through an Impromptu of Chopin or Schubert.
Here, mingled together, may be seen soldiers of the Swiss guard, with their shining helmets, long halberds, and party-colored uniforms, designed by Michel Angelo, chamberlains of the Pope, all in black, with their high ruffs, Spanish cloaks, silken stockings, and golden chains, contadini from the mountains, in their dully brilliant costumes and white tovaglie, common laborers from the Campagna, with their black mops of tangled hair, forestieri of every nation, Englishmen, with long, light, pendant whiskers, and an eye-glass stuck in one eye, Germans, with spectacles, frogged coats, and long, straight hair put behind their ears and cut square in the neck, then Americans, in high-heeled patent-leather boots, a black dress-coat, and a black satin waistcoat, and wasp-waisted French officers, with baggy trousers, a goat-beard, and a pretentious swagger.
In the main too he managed very well with the country people, but one day was amused to overhear a conversation over the hedge between two passing contadini.
The citizens began to assemble early, in their holiday attire, while thousands of contadini landed at the different bridges, clad in the gay costumes of the main. Before the day had far advanced, all the avenues of the great square were again thronged, and by the time the bells of the venerable cathedral had finished a peal of high rejoicing, St. Mark's again teemed with its gay multitude.
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