This eBook was transcribed by Les Bowler.
p.iiiDIVERSIONS IN
SICILY
by
HENRY FESTING JONES
LONDON: A. C. FIFIELD 1920
p. ivFirst Published . . . 1909
Re-issued . . . 1920
p.vTO
ENRICO PAMPALONE
My dear Enrico,
Your father and I, sitting one summer night on the terrace atCastellinaria watching the moon on the water, agreed that this book mightbe dedicated to you, although you have not yet put it into my power to askyour permission.
“After all,” exclaimed your father, “what isexistence?” And I was unable to give him a satisfactoryreply.
When Orlando and his Paladins were overcome at Roncisvalle through thetreachery of Gano di Magonza, were they all slain? When “theCrusaders’ streams of shadowy p. vimidnight troops spedwith the sunrise,” did none linger? When the angel carried upto heaven the soul of Guido Santo, did he never fight another battle? The young men of your island hardly think so; their thoughts and actionsare still coloured by the magnificent language and the chivalrous exploitsof Christian and Turk. As long as there is an imaginative shoeblackin the Quattro Canti working for pennies by day, so long will those penniesbe paid for the story to be told by night in the marionette theatre. Often will Angelica recover her ring, and as often be robbed of it again;often will the ghostly voice of Astolfo, imprisoned in a myrtle uponAlcina’s magic isle, reveal the secret of his woe; often will Rinaldodrink of the Fountains of Hatred and of Love, and, forgetful of theproperties of those waters, return and drink once more.
And what of those other and less heroic figures—the brigadier andhis guards p.viigambling among the ruins of Selinunte, the ingenious Frenchgentleman classifying the procession at Calatafimi, Micio buying hisstory-books and chocolate at Castellinaria, and many another whom I shouldlike to think you will some day meet, palely wandering up and down thesepages?
To pursue the subject might disincline you ever to take leave of theworld of the unborn, whereas I am desirous of making your acquaintance assoon as possible. Let me, then, rather assure you that life is notall marionettes and metaphysics, and that I know of no reason why youshould not at once enter upon an existence as real as that enjoyed by yourdear father or your beautiful mother—it would be unbecoming in a sonto expect more. Castellinaria is waiting to welcome you. Youcould not have a more delightful birthplace than your native town, or morecharming compatriots than your fellow-townspeople. Only resemble p. viiiyourparents, and you will never regret having hastened the day when I shall beentitled to sign myself
Your affectionate Godfather,
HENRY FESTING JONES.
p.ixNOTE
Chapters VIII–XI have been enlarged and re-written since August,1903, when they appeared as A Festa on Mount Eryx...