APS TOGETHER
Day 38
The Betrothed by Alessandro ManzoniChapter 30
March 30, 2023 by Michael F. Moore
Notice how Manzoni depicts mass movements, from the mob in Milan attacking the bakeries to the sea of refugees fleeing their homes:
“Although most people were streaming in from the opposite end of the valley, our three refugees started to run into fellow travelers and fellows in misfortune, who had entered or were entering the main road from various crossroads and footpaths. Any person you meet in such circumstances seems like an old acquaintance.”
Don Abbondio presumes to teach the two women etiquette (“creanza,” in Italian, from the Spanish “crianza,” which could also be translated as “breeding”—nope—or “good manners”):
“Proper etiquette is not saying anything that might upset someone, especially someone who’s not used to hearing criticism… Weigh your words, and above all, speak little, and only when necessary. With your mouth shut you’ll never be wrong.”
I wonder what Perpetua is about to say before being interrupted. In Italian, “Fa peggio lei con tutte codeste sue…”
In this buildup to the next chapter, we find more references to storytelling:
“Every day brought a new tale of catastrophe. Some, storytellers by profession, diligently collected all the rumors, sifted through them, and conveyed their essence to the others.”
And the tailor’s remark:
“After a disaster like this, there’s enough material for a few books!”
The full scale of the devastation left by the Landsknechts in a single image:
“When they got there, they found not the body but the empty grave.”
