APS TOGETHER
Day 46
The Betrothed by Alessandro ManzoniChapter 35
April 7, 2023 by Michael F. Moore
Renzo enters the lazaretto, a place that can only be compared to Dante’s Inferno. At the outset Manzoni writes,
“I will not attempt to describe this scene in detail, nor would the reader want me to. Following our young man on his woeful journey, we will stop where he stops, and describe enough of what he witnessed to relate what he did, and what followed.”
Page 587. Goats mingling about, “acting as the nurses’ helpers.” A pastoral scene in the middle of the lazaretto.
Who should Renzo encounter but Padre Cristoforo, who admonishes him for his hatred of Don Rodrigo. An act of penance, of forgiveness, is required before the boy is allowed to go on.
“It may be punishment, or it may be mercy. What you feel now for this man who offended you is the same feeling that God—whom you, too, have offended—will have for you on the day of judgment. Bless him, and you shall be blessed.”
