Part 2 (1/2)
”The arms of the Medici bear a great key, and it is said that this was a sorcerer's or magic key, which belonged to the master of all the wizards or to the queen of the witches.
”And being ever evil at heart and cruelly wicked, the old Medici sought restlessly every opportunity to do wrong, which was greatly aided by the queen of the witches herself, who entered the family, and allied herself to one of it; others say she was its first ancestress. And that being on her death-bed, she called her husband, or son, or the family, and said:
”'Take this key, and when I am dead, open a certain door in the cellar, which, through secret pa.s.sages, leads to an enchanted garden, in which you will find all the books and apparatus needed to acquire great skill in sorcery, and thus thou canst do all the evil and enjoy all the crime that a great ruler can desire; spare not man in thy vengeance, nor woman in thy pa.s.sion; he lives best who wishes for most and gets what he wants.'
”Thus it came to pa.s.s that the Medici became such villains, and why they bear a key.”
Villains they may have been, but they were not so deficient in moral dignity as a friend of mine, who, observing that one of the pills in their scutcheon is blue, remarked that they were the first to take a blue pill.
Since the above was written I have collected many more, and indeed far more interesting and amusing legends of the Medici; especially several referring to Lorenzo the Magnificent, which are not given by any writer that I am aware of. These will appear, I trust, in a second series.
”A race which was the reflex of an age So strange, so flashed with glory, so bestarred With splendid deeds, so flushed with rainbow hues, That one forgot the dark abyss of night Which covered it at last when all was o'er.
Take all that's evil and unto it add All that is glorious, and the result Will be, in one brief word, the Medici.”
FURICCHIA, OR THE EGG-WOMAN OF THE MERCATO VECCHIO
”Est a.n.u.s inferno, vel formidanda barathro, Saga diu magicis usa magisteriis, Haec inhians ova gallina matre creatis.
Obsipat a.s.sueto pharmaca mixta cibo, Pharmaca queis quaecunque semel gallina voratis, Ova decem pariat bis deciesque decem.”
STEUCCIUS, _cited by_ P. GOLDSCHMIDT, _Verworffener Hexen und Zauberadvocat_. Hamburg, 1705.
”E un figliuolo della gallina bianca.”-_Old Proverb_.
The Mercato Vecchio was fertile in local traditions, and one of these is as follows:
LEGEND OF THE LANTERNS.
”There was in the Old Market of Florence an old house with a small shop in it, and over the door was the figure or bas-relief of a pretty hen, to show that eggs were sold there.
”All the neighbours were puzzled to know how the woman who kept this shop could sell so many eggs as she did, or whence she obtained them, for she was never seen in the market buying any, nor were they brought to her; whence they concluded that she was a witch and an egg-maker, and this scandal was especially spread by her rivals in business. But others found her a very good person, of kindly manner, and it was noted in time that she not only did a great deal of good in charity, and that her eggs were not only always fresh and warm, but that many persons who had drunk them when ill had been at once relieved, and recovered in consequence.
And the name of this egg-wife was Furicchia.
”Now there was an old lady who had gone down in the world or become poor, and she too had set up a shop to sell eggs, but did not succeed, chiefly because everybody went to Furicchia. And this made the former more intent than ever to discover the secret, and she at once went to work to find it out.
”Every morning early, when Furicchia rose, she went out of doors, and then the hen carved over the door came down as a beautiful white fowl, who told her all the slanders and gossip which people spread about her, and what effort was being made to discover her secret. And one day it said:
”'There is the Signora who was once rich and who is now poor, and who has sworn to find out thy secret how thou canst have so many eggs to sell, since no one sees thee buy any, and how it comes that invalids and bewitched children are at once cured by the virtue of those eggs. So she hopes to bring thee to death, and to get all thy trade.
”'But, dear Furicchia, this shall never be, because I will save thee. I well remember how, when I was a little chicken, and the poultry dealer had bought me, and was about to wring my neck-b'r'r'r!-I shudder when I think of it!-when thou didst save my life, and I will ever be grateful to thee, and care for thy fortune.
”'Now I will tell thee what to do. Thou shalt to-morrow take a pot and fill it with good wine and certain drugs, and boil them well, and leave it all hot in thy room, and then go forth, and for the rest I will provide. _Addio_, Furicchia!' And saying this, the hen went back into her accustomed place.
”So the next morning, Furicchia, having left the wine boiling, went forth at ten o'clock, and she was hardly gone ere the Signora, her rival, entered the place and called for the mistress, but got no answer. Then she went into the house, but saw nothing more than a vast quant.i.ty of eggs, and all the while she heard the hen singing or clucking:
”'_Coccode_! Dear me!
Where can Furicchia be?
_Coccode_! Furicchia mine!
Bring me quick some warm red wine!