Part 9 (1/2)
”Listen, now, while I tell you of Florence.
”It is a city of ancient palaces! In the days of the civil war, homes of the rich were built like fortresses. This was to protect them from the enemy. Most of these prison-like palaces still stand.
”Florence is a city of art! The famous Campanile, or bell tower, reminds us of its artist-architect, Giotto. Here is a story told about the painter when he was a peasant lad tending his father's sheep.
”One day a great artist named Cimabue paid a visit to the countryside.
He was impressed by a sketch which the young shepherd had made.
”He gained the consent of Giotto's father to take his son to Florence.
There he promised to teach the boy how to paint.
”So Giotto became Cimabue's apprentice, or helper. He worked hard and learned a great deal. But, like all boys, he was fun-loving. One day he played a joke upon his master.
”Cimabue had gone out, leaving in the studio an unfinished portrait of a gentleman. When he returned, there was a fly sitting upon the nose of his painting.
”He tried to brush off the fly but it would not move. He looked more closely and discovered what had happened. His mischievous young apprentice, Giotto, had painted that fly!
”The master was not angry. He enjoyed the joke and recognized the lad's skill.
”Giotto became known as the father of one of the first schools of painting.
”Florence is also a city of great men!
”One day, long ago, a nine-year-old boy named Dante went to the feast of flowers, which is celebrated every year. Here, among the beautiful blossoms, he beheld one more beautiful and sweet than all the rest.
”But this one was not a flower. She was a little maiden and her name was Beatrice. All day long Dante watched her as she played about, and never, throughout his whole life, did he forget her.
”Though they seldom met, the little girl named Beatrice was forever with Dante in his dreams. To her he wrote most of his marvelous poetry.
For Dante became Italy's greatest poet!
”Florence, city of wonders!
”A legend tells that when Christ went to heaven he carried with him a cricket. So, each year, before Ascension Day, everybody buys a cricket.
”They guard their crickets most carefully. For, if one should die, misfortune befalls its owner.
”On Ascension Day a crowd gathers in the park. Here there is much gaiety, with balloons, music, and fireworks.
”At a certain time each person opens the door of his cricket's cage and frees it.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A Ca.n.a.l IN VENICE]
”This is an anxious moment. For, if the cricket leaps into the air, good fortune will follow the owner. But if he creeps slowly away, his poor owner will suffer bad luck.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA]
”Of course, today few people really believe this. But they still keep up the quaint old custom.
”Florence is a grey cl.u.s.ter of narrow streets and dignified squares. It seems to bulge with art treasures, and it has a charm of its own.