 CHAPTER XV PART II By break of day, Renzo had been snoring for about seven hours, and was still poor fellow fast asleep, when two rough shakes at either arm, and a voice at the foot of the bed calling Lorenzo Tramaglino, recalled him to his senses. He shook himself, stretched his arms, and with difficulty opening his eyes, saw a man standing before him at the foot of the bed, dressed in black, and two others armed, one on the right and the other on the left of his pillow. Between surprise, not being fully awake, and the stupidity occasioned by the wine of the night before, he lay for a moment as if bewildered, and then thinking he was dreaming, and not being very well pleased with his dream, he shook himself so as to awake thoroughly. Ah! Have you heard for once Lorenzo Tramaglino, said the man with the black cloak, the very notary of the night before. Up up then, get up, and come with us. Lorenzo Tramaglino, said Renzo, what does this mean? What do you want with me? Who's told you my name? Let's talk, and up with you directly, said one of the bailiffs who stood at his side, taking him again by the arm. Ah! Eh! What oppression is this? cried Lorenzo, withdrawing his arm. Landlord, hold, landlord! Shall we carry him off in his shirt? said the bailiff again, looking toward the notary. Did you hear that? said he to Lorenzo. They'll do so, if you don't get up as quick as thought, and come with us. And what for? asked Lorenzo. The what for? you will hear from the high sheriff. I? I'm an honest man, I've done nothing, and I'm astonished. So much the better for you, so much the better for you, for then you may be discharged with two words, and may go about your business. Let me go now, said Lorenzo, I have nothing to do with justice. Come, let us finish the business, said one of the bailiffs. Shall we carry him off? said the other. Lorenzo Tramaglino, said the notary. How do you know my name, sir? Do your duty, said the notary to the bailiffs, who immediately laid hands on Lorenzo to pull him out of bed. Hey, don't touch a hair of an honest fellow, or I know how to dress myself. Then dress yourself, and get up directly, said the notary. I'm getting up, replied Lorenzo, and he began, in fact, to gather up his clothes, which were scattered here and there on the bed, like the relics of a shipwreck on the shore. And beginning to dress himself, he continued, but I'm not inclined to go to the high sheriff. Not I. I have nothing to do with him. Since you unjustly put this affront upon me, I should like to be conducted to Ferrer. I know him. I know that he's a gentleman, and he's under some obligation to me. Yes, yes, my good fellow, you shall be conducted to Ferrer," replied the notary. In other circumstances he would have laughed heartily at such a proposal, but this was not a time for merriment. In coming tether he had noticed in the streets a movement which could not easily be defined, as the remainder of the old insurrection not entirely suppressed, or beginning of a new one, the streets were full of people, some walking in parties, some standing in groups, and now, without seeming to do so, he was anxiously listening and fancied that the murmur continued to increase. This made him desirous to get off, but he also wished to take Lorenzo away willingly and quietly. Since if he had declared war against him, he could not have been sure on reaching the street of not finding three to one against him. He therefore winked at the bailiffs to have patience and not irritate the youth, while he was also endeavouring to soothe him with fair words. Lorenzo busied himself while dressing as quickly as possible in recalling the confused remembrances of the day before, and at last conjectured with tolerable certainty that the proclamation and the name and serename must be the cause of this disagreeable occurrence. But how ever did this fellow know his name, and what on earth could have happened that night for justice to have gained such confidence as to come and lay hands on one of those honest lads who only the day before had such a voice in the assembly and who could not all be asleep now? For he also observed the increasing bustle in the street. He looked at the countenance of the notary, and there perceived the irresolution which he vainly endeavored to conceal. At last, as well to satisfy his conjectures and sound the officers as to gain time, and even attempt to blow, he said, I understand well enough the origin of all this. It is all from love of the name and serename. Last night I certainly was a little muddled. These landlords have sometimes very treacherous wines, and sometimes, as I say, you know, when wine passes through the medium of words it will have it say too. But if this is all I am now ready to give you every satisfaction, and besides, you know my name already, who on earth told you? Bravo, my boy, bravo, replied the notary coaxingly. I see you some sense, and believe me, who am in the business, that you're wiser than most. It is the best way of getting out of the difficulty quickly and easily, and with such good dispositions, in two words you will be dismissed and set at liberty. But I, do you see my good fellow, have my hands tied? I cannot release you as I should like to do. Come, be quick, and come along with a good heart, for when they see who you are, and then I will tell. Leave it to me. Enough, be quick, my good fellow. Ah, you cannot. I understand, said Renzo, and he continued to address himself, repulsing, by signs, the intimations of the bailiffs that they should carry him off, if he were not very expeditious. Shall we pass by the square of the cathedral? Asked he? Wherever you like. The shortest way, to set you at liberty sooner, said the notary, vexed in his heart that he must let this mysterious inquiry of Renzo's pass, which might have served as the subject for a hundred interrogatives. When one is born to be unfortunate, thought he, just see, a fellow falls into my hands who plainly enough likes nothing better than to talk, and if he could have a little time he would confess all one once without the aid of a rope, extra formum, to speak academically, in the way of a friendly chit-chat, the very man to take to prison readily examined without being at all aware of it, and he must just fall into my hands at this unfortunate moment. Well, there's no help for it, he continued, listening attentively and tossing his head backwards. There's no remedy. It's likely to be a worse day than yesterday. What gave rise to this thought was an extraordinary noise he heard in the street, and he could not resist opening the window to take a peep at it. He saw that it was a group of citizens who, on being required by a patrol of soldiers to disperse, had at first given angry words in reply, and had finally separated in murmuring to satisfaction, and, what appeared to the notary, a fatal sign, the soldiers behaved to them with much civility. Having closed the window he stood for a moment in perplexity, whether he should finish his undertaking, or leave Renzo in the care of the two bailiffs while he ran to the High Sheriff to give him an account of his difficulty. But, thought he directly, they'll set me down for a coward, a base rascal who ought to execute orders. We are in the ballroom, and we must dance. Curse the throng! What a miserable business! Renzo now stood between the two satellites, having one on each side. The notary beckoned to them not to use too much force, and said to him, Courage! Like a good fellow, let us be off and make haste. Renzo, however, was feeling, looking, thinking. He was now entirely dressed, accepting his jacket, which he held in one hand, and feeling with the other in his pockets. Ho! said he, looking at the notary with a very significant expression. Here there were some pents, and a letter, my good sir. Everything shall be punctually restored to you, said the notary, when these few formalities are properly executed. Let's go, let us go! No, no, no, said Renzo, shaking his head. That won't do. I want my money. I will give an account of my doings, but I want my money. I'll show you that I trust you. Here, and be quick, said the notary, drawing out of his bosom the sequestered articles and handing them to Renzo with a sigh. Renzo received them, put them in his pocket, muttering between his teeth. Stand off, you've associated so much with thieves that you've learned a little of their business. The bailiffs could no longer restrain their impatience, but the notary curbed them with a glance, saying to himself, If thou succeedest in setting foot within that threshold, thou shalt pay for this with interest, that thou shalt. While Renzo was putting on his jacket and taking up his hat, the notary beckoned to one of the bailiffs to lead the way downstairs. The prisoner came next behind him, then the other kind friend, and he himself brought up the rear. On reaching the kitchen, and while Renzo was saying, And this blessed landlord, where has he fled to? The notary made a sign to the two police officers, who seizing each hand proceeded hastily to secure his wrists with certain instruments, called, in the hypocritical figures of euphemism, ruffles. In plain language, handcuffs. These consisted, we are sorry that we are obliged to descend to particulars unworthy of historical gravity, but proposcuity requires it. They consisted of a small cord a little longer than the usual size of a wrist, having at the ends two little bits of wood, two tallies, so to say, two small straight pegs. The cord encircled the wrist of the patient, the pieces of wood, passed through the middle and third fingers, were shut up in the hand of the captor, so that by twisting them he could tighten the bandage at pleasure, and thus he possessed means not only of securing his prisoner, but also of torturing the refractory, to do which more effectually the cord was full of knots. Friends who struggled and cried, what treachery is this to an honest man? But the notary, who had fair words at hand on every disagreeable occasion, replied, Have patience, they only do their duty. What would you have? They are only formalities, and we can't always treat people as we would wish. If we don't do as were bid, it will fare badly with us, and worse with you. Have patience. While he was speaking the two bailiffs gave a sudden twitch at the handcuffs. Renzo, bore it as a restive horse, bears the jerk of a severe bit, and exclaimed, patience! Brave lad, said the notary, this is the best way of getting off well. What would you have? It is an annoyance, I know, but if you behave well, you'll very soon be rid of it. And, since I see that you're well disposed, and I feel inclined to help you, I'll give you another little piece of advice for your good. You may believe me, for I'm practiced in these matters. Go straightforward without looking about, or attracting observation, so no one will notice you. No one will observe what you are, and you will preserve your honor. And our hints, you will be set at liberty. There is so much to be done, that they too will be in a hurry to have done with you. And besides, I will speak. You shall go about it on your own business, and nobody will know that you've been in the hands of justice. And you, continued he, turning to the two bailiffs with a severe countenance, take care you don't do him any harm, for I will protect him. You are obliged to do your duty, but remember that this is an honest man, a civil lad, who will shortly be at liberty, and who has some regard for his honor. Let nothing appear but that you are three honest men walking together, and in an imperative tone and with a threatening look he concluded. You understand me? He then turned to Renzo, his brow smoothed, and his face rendered in an instant more cheerful and pleasant, which seemed to say, what capital friends we are, and whispered to him again, Be careful. Do as I tell you. Don't look about. Trust one who wishes you well, and now let us go. And the convoy moved off. Renzo however believed none of these fine words, nor that the notary wished him well more than the bailiffs, nor that he was so mighty anxious about his reputation, nor that he had any intention of helping him. Not a word of all this did he believe. He understood well enough that the good man, fearing some favorable opportunity for making his escape, might present itself in the way. Laid before him all these flattering inducements to divert him from watching for and profiting by it, so that all these exhortations serve no other purpose than to determine Renzo more decidedly on a course which he had instinctly meditated, which is, to act exactly contrary to them. Let no one hereby conclude that the notary was an inexperienced novice in his trade, for he will be much deceived. Our historian, who seems to have been among his friends, says that he was a matriculated knave, but at this moment his mind was greatly agitated. With a calm mind, I venture to say, he would have laughed at anyone who, to induce others to do something which he himself mistrusted, would have gone about to suggest an inculcate, if so eagerly, under the miserable pretense of giving him the disinterested advice of a friend. But it is a general tendency of mankind when they are agitated and perplexed, and to discern what another can do to relieve them from their perplexities, to implore it of him eagerly and perseveringly, and under all kinds of pretext, and when villains are agitated and perplexed, they also fall under this common rule. Hence it is that in similar circumstances they generally make so poor a figure. Those masterly inventions, those cunning subtleties by which they are accustomed to conquer, which have become to them almost a second nature, and which put an operation at the proper time, and conducted with the necessary tranquility and serenity of mine, strike a blow so surely and secretly, and discovered even after the success, receive such universal applause. These, when their unlucky employers are in trouble, are hastily and tumultuously made use of without either judgment or dexterity, so that a third party who observes them laboring and busying themselves in this manner is moved to compassion or provoked to laughter. And those whom they attempt to impose upon, those less crafty than themselves, easily perceive the game they are playing, and gain light from their artifices, which may be turned against them. It can never therefore be sufficiently inculcated upon knaves by profession, always to maintain their sang-froid or, what is better still, never to get themselves into perplexing circumstances. No sooner, therefore, were they in the street, than Renzo began to look eagerly in every direction, throwing himself about, bending his head forward and listening attentively. There was, however, no extraordinary concourse, and though a certain air of sedition might easily be discerned on the face of more than one passer-by, yet everyone went straight on his way, and of sedition, properly speaking, there was none. Prudence, prudence, murmured the notary behind his back, your honor, your reputation, my good fellow. But when Renzo, listening to the three men who were approaching with excited looks, heard them speaking of a bakehouse, concealed flour and justice, he began to make signs at them by his looks, and to cough in such a way as indicated anything but a cold. These looked more attentively at the convoy, and then stopped. Others who came up stopped also. Others who had passed by turned round, and hearing the noise and retracing their steps joined the party. Take care of yourself, prudence, my lad. It is worse for you, you see. Don't spoil it all. Honor, reputation, whispered the notary. Renzo was still more intractable. The bailiffs, after consulting with each other by a look and thinking they were doing quite right, everybody is liable to air. Again twisted the manacles. Oh, oh, oh! cried the tortured victim. The bystanders gathered close round at the cry. Others arrived from every part of the street and the convoy came to a stand. He as a dissolute fellow, whispered the notary to those who had gathered round. A thief, taken in the act, draw back and make way for justice. But Renzo, seeing this was the moment, seeing the bailiffs turn white, or at least pale. If I don't help myself now, thought he, it's my own fault. And he immediately called out. My friends, they are carrying me off because yesterday I shouted, bread and justice. I've done nothing. I'm an honest man. Help me. Don't abandon me, my friends. A murmur of approbation, followed by more explicit cries in his favour, arose in reply. The bailiffs first commanded, then asked, then begged the nearest to make way and let them pass. But the crowd only continued still more to trample and push forward. The bailiffs, seeing their danger, let go of the manacles, and only endeavored to lose themselves in the throng so as to escape without observation. The notary earnestly longed to do the same. But this was more difficult on account of his black cloak. The poor man, pale and face and dismayed in heart, tried to make himself as diminutive as possible and writhed his body about so as to slip away through the crowd. But he could not raise his eyes without seeing a storm gathering against him. He tried every method of appearing a stranger who, passing there by chance, had found himself entangled in the crowd like a bit of straw in the ice. An encountering a man, face to face, who looked at him fixedly with a more terrible countenance than the others, he, composing his face to a smile with a look of great simplicity demanded, What is all this stir? Ah! you ugly raven! replied the man. A raven! A raven! resounded around. Pushes were added to cries, so that in short, partly with his own legs, partly by the elbows of others, he obtained what lay nearest to his heart at that moment, a safe exit from the pressing multitude. Leading done by Jules Hurlick of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni. CHAPTER 16 PART I ESCAPE, ESCAPE, MY GOOD FELLOW. Here is a convent. There is a church. This way, that way, was heard by Renzo on every side. As to escaping, the reader may judge whether he would have need of advice on this head. From the first moment that the hope of extricating himself from the talents of the police had crossed his mind, he had begun to form his plans and resolved, if he succeeded in this one, to flee without delay, not only out of the city but also out of the duchy of Milan. For, thought he, they have my name on their black books, however on earth they got it, and with my name and surname they can seize me whenever they like. As to an asylum, he would not willingly have recourse to one, unless indeed he was reduced to extremity. For, if I can be a bird of the woods, thought he again, I won't be a bird of the cage. He had, therefore, designed as his limit and place of refuge, a village in the territory of Bergamo, where his cousin Bortolo resided, who the reader may remember had frequently solicited Renzo to remove thither. But now the point was how to find his way there. Left in an unknown part of a city almost equally unknown, Renzo could not even tell by which gate he should pass to go to Bergamo, and when he had learned this he still did not know the way to the gate. He stood for a moment in doubt whether to ask directions of his liberators. But as in the short time he had had for the reflection on his circumstances, many strong suspicions had crossed his mind of that obliging sword-cutler. The father of four children, he was not much inclined to reveal his intentions to a large crowd, where there might be others of the same stamp. He quickly decided, therefore, to get away from that neighborhood as fast as he could, and he might afterwards ask his way in a part where nobody would know who he was or why he asked it, merely saying then to his deliverers, thank you, thank you, my friends, blessings on you, and escaping through the space that was immediately cleared for him. He took to his heels and off he went, up one little street and down another, running from some time without knowing whether. When he thought he was far enough off, he slackened his pace, not to excite suspicion, and began looking around to choose some person of whom he could make inquiries, some face that would inspire confidence. But here also there was need of caution. The inquiry in itself was suspicious. Time pressed, the bailiffs immediately on making their escape from this Ron Contrera would undoubtedly renew their search of the fugitive. The rumor of his flight might even have reached hither, and in such concourse, Renzo might carefully scrutinize a dozen physiognomies before he could meet with the countenance that seemed likely to suit his purpose. That fat fellow standing at the door of his shop with legs extended, and his hands behind his back, the prominent corpulency of this person projecting beyond the doorway, and supporting his great double chin, who from mere idleness was employing himself in alternately raising his tremendous bulk upon his toes and letting it sink again upon his heels. He looked too much like an inquisitive gossip who would have returned interrogatories instead of replies. That other, advancing with fixed eyes and a drooping lip, instead of being able expeditiously and satisfactorily to direct another in his way, scarcely seemed to know his own. That tall, stout boy, who to say the truth certainly looked intelligent enough, appeared also rather maliciously inclined, and probably would have taken a mischievous delight in sending a poor stranger exactly the opposite way to the one he was inquiring after. So true it is that, to a man in perplexity, almost everything seems to be a new perplexity. At last, fixing his eyes on one who was approaching in evident haste, he thought that he, having probably some pressing business in hand, would give an immediate and direct answer to get rid of him and hearing him talking to himself, he deemed that he must be an undesigning person. He, therefore, accosted him with the question, will you be good enough to tell me, sir, which direction I should take to go to Bergamo? To go to Bergamo, the Porta Orientali. Thank you, sir, and to the Porta Orientali. Take this street to the left, you will come out into the square of the cathedral, then. That will do, sir, I know the rest, heaven reward you. And on he went by the way that had been pointed out to him. His director looked after him for a moment, and comparing in his mind his way of walking with the inquiry, thought within himself, either he is after somebody or somebody is after him. Renzo reached the square of the cathedral, crossed it, passed by a heap of cinders and extinguished combustibles, and recognized the relics of the bonfire at which he had assisted the day before. He then passed along the flight of steps leading up to the cathedral, and saw again the bakehouse of the crutches half demolished. And guarded by soldiers, still he proceeded onward, and by the street which he had already traversed with the crowd, arrived in front of the convent of the cappuccines, where, glancing at the square and at the church door, he set to himself with a deep sigh. That frayer yesterday gave me good advice when he bid me go wait in the church, and employed myself profitably Here he stopped a moment to reconnoiter the gate through which he had to pass, and seeing even at that distance many soldiers on guard, his imagination also being rather overstrained. One must pity him, for he had had enough to unsettle it. He felt a kind of repugnance at encountering the passage. Here he was with a place of refuge close at hand, where, with the letter of recommendation, he would have been well received, and he felt strongly tempted to enter it. But he quickly summoned up his courage and thought, a bird of the woods as long as I can. Who knows me? Certainly the bailiffs cannot have divided themselves into enough pieces to come and watch for me at every gate. He looked behind him to see if they were coming in that direction, and saw neither them nor anyone who seemed to be taking notice of him. He, therefore, set off again, slackened the pace of those unfortunate legs which, with their own good will, would have kept constantly on the run, when it was much better only to walk, and, proceeding leisurely along, whistling in an undertone, he arrived at the gate, just at the entrance there was a party of police officers, together with a reinforcement of Spanish soldiers. But these all had their attention directed to the outside. To forbid entrance to such as, hearing the news of the insurrection, would flock thither, like vultures to a deserted field of battle. So that, Renzo, quietly walking on, with his eyes bent to the ground, and with a gate between that of a traveler and a common passenger, passed through the threshold without anyone speaking a word to him. But his heart beat violently. Seeing a little street to the right, he took that way to avoid the high road, and continued his course for some time before he ventured to look round. On he went, he came to cottages and villages which he passed without asking their names. He felt certain of getting away from Milan, and hoped he was going towards Bergamo, and this was enough for him at present. From time to time he kept glancing behind him, while walking onwards, occasionally looking at, and rubbing one or the other of his wrists, which were still a little benumbed, and marked with the red line from the pressure of the manacles. His thoughts were, as everyone may imagine, a confused medley of repentance, disputes, disquietude, revenge, and other more tender feelings. It was a weary endeavor to recall what he had said and done the night before to unravel the mysterious part of his mournful adventures, and above all how they had managed to discover his name. His suspicions naturally fell on the sword-cutler, to whom he remembered having spoken very frankly, and retracing the way in which he had drawn him into conversation, together with his whole behavior and those proffers which always ended in wishing to know something about him. His suspicions were changed almost to certainty. He had, beside some faint recollection, of continuing to chatter after the departure of the cutler, but with home. Guess it, you crickets of what? His memory, spite of his efforts, could not tell him this. It could only remind him that he had not been at all himself that evening. The poor fellow was lost in these speculations. He was like a man who has affixed his signature to a number of blank formulae, and committed them to the care of one he esteemed honest and honorable, and having discovered him to be a shuffling meddler, wishes to ascertain the state of his affairs. What can he discover? It is a chaos. Another painful speculation was how to form some design for the future that would not be a merely aerial project, or at least a melancholy one. By and by, however, he became still more anxious about finding his way, and after walking for some distance at a venture, he saw the necessity of making some inquiries. Yet he felt particularly reluctant to utter the word Bergamo, as if there were something suspicious or dangerous in the name, and could not bring himself to pronounce it. He resolved, however, to ask directions, as he had before done at Milan, of the first passenger whose countenance suited his fancy, and he shortly met with one. You are out of the road, replied his guide, and having thought a moment, he pointed out to him, partly by words and partly by gestures, the way he should take to regain the high road. Renzo thanked him for his directions, and pretended to follow them by actually taking the way he had indicated, with the intention of almost reaching the public road, and then without losing sight of it, to keep parallel with its course as far as possible, but not to set foot within it. The design was easier to conceive than to effect, and the result was that by going thus from right to left in a zigzag course, partly following the directions he obtained, by the way, partly correcting them by his own judgment, and adapting them to his intentions, and partly allowing himself to be guided by the lanes he traversed. Our fugitive had walked perhaps twelve miles when he was not more than six distance from Milan, and as to Bergamo, it was a great chance if he were not going away from it. He began at last to perceive that by this method he would never come to an end, and determined to find out some remedy. The plan that occurred to his mind was to get the name of some village bordering on the confines, which he could reach by neighboring roads, and by asking his way thither, he could collect information without leaving behind him the name of Bergamo, which seemed to him to savor so strongly of flight, escape, and crime. While ruminating on the best way of obtaining these instructions without exciting suspicion, he saw a bush hanging over the door of a solitary cottage just outside a little village. He had for some time felt the need of recruiting his strength, and thinking that this would be the place to serve two purposes at once, he entered. There was no one within but an old woman with her disc staff at her side, and the spindle in her hand. He asked for something to eat, and was offered a little straccino, and some good wine. He gladly accepted the food, but excused himself from taking any wine, feeling quite an abhorrence of it. After the errors, it had made him guilty of the night before, and then sat down, begging the old woman to make haste. She served up his meal in a moment, and then began to tease her customer with inquiries, both about himself and the grand doings at Milan, the report of which had already reached here. Renzo not only contrived to Perry and elude her inquiries with much dexterity, but even profited from the difficulty and made the curiosity of the old woman subservient to his intentions when she asked him where he was going to. I have to go to many places, replied he, and if I can find a moment of time, I want to pass a little while at that village, rather a large one, on the road to Bergamo, near the border, but in the territory of Milan. What do they call it? There must be one there, surely, thought he, in the meanwhile. Gorgonzola, you mean, replied the old woman. Gorgonzola repeated, Srenzo, as if to imprint the word better in his memory. Is it very far from here? Resumed he. I don't know exactly, and maybe ten or twelve miles, if one of my boys were here he could tell you. And do you think I can go by these pleasant lanes without taking the high road? There is such a dust there, such a shocking dust, it's so long since it rained. I fancy you can, you can ask at the first village you came to, after turning to the right, and she named it. That's well, said Srenzo, and rising he took in his hand a piece of bread remaining from his scandy meal, of a very different quality to that which he had found the day before at the foot of the cross of San Dionigi, and paying the reckoning he set off again following the road to the right hand, by taking care not to wander from it more than was needful, and with the name of Gorgonzola in his mouth he proceeded from village to village until about an hour before sunset he arrived there. During his walk he had resolved to make another stop here, and to take some rather more substantial refreshment. His body also craved a little rest, but rather than gratify these desires, Srenzo would have sunk in a swoon upon the ground. He proposed gaining some information at the end about the distance of the adda, to ascertain dexterously if there was any crossroad that led to it, and to set off again even at this hour immediately after his repast. Born and brought up at the second source, so to say, of this river, he had often heard it said that at a certain point, and for some considerable distance, it served as a boundary between the Melanes and Venetian states. He had no very distinct idea of where this boundary commenced, or how far it extended, but for the present his principal object was to get beyond it. If he did not succeed in reaching it that evening, he resolved to walk as long as the night and his strength would allow him, and afterwards to wait the approaching day in a field, or a wilderness, or wherever God pleased provided it was not an inn. After walking a few paces along the street at Gorgonzola, he noticed a sign entered the inn, and on the landlord's advancing to meet him, ordered something to eat, and a small measure of wine, the additional miles he had passed, and the time of day having overcome his extreme and fanatical hatred of this beverage, I must beg you to be quick, added he, for I am obliged to go on my way again very soon. This he said not only because it was the truth, but also for fear the host, imagining that he was going to pass the night there, should come and ask him for his name and surname, and where he came from and on what business, but enough. The landlord replied that he should be waited upon immediately, and Renzo sat down at the end of the table near the door, the usual place of the bashful. Some loungers of the village had assembled in this room, who, after having argued over and discussed and commented upon the grand news from Milan of the preceding day, were now longing to know a little how matters were going on. The morsel, as their first information, was rather fitted to irritate their curiosity than to satisfy it. As addition, neither subdued nor triumphant, suspended rather than terminated by the approach of night. A defective thing, the conclusion of an act rather than of a drama, one of these detached himself from the party and seating himself by the newcomer, asked him if he came from Milan. I, said Renzo, in a tone of surprise, to gain time for a reply. You, if the question is allowable. Renzo, shaking his head, compressing his lips, and uttering an inarticulate sound, replied, Milan, from what I hear, from what they say around, is not exactly a place to go at present, unless in a case of great necessity. Does the uproar continue? Then, today, demanded his inquisitive companion more eagerly. I must have been there to know that, said Renzo. But you, don't you come from Milan? I come from Liscotti, replied the youth promptly who, in the meanwhile, had decided upon his reply. Strictly speaking, he had come from there because he had passed it, and he had learned the name from a traveler on the road, who had mentioned that the village as the first he must pass on his way to Gorgonzola. Oh, said his friend, in that tone which seemed to say, you have done better if you had come from Milan. But patience, and at Liscotti, added he, did you hear nothing about Milan? There may be very likely have been somebody who knew something about it, replied the mountaineer. But I heard nothing, and this was proffered in that particular manner, which seemed to mean I've finished. The queries returned to his party, and a moment afterwards the landlord came to set out his meal. How far is it from here to Atta, as Renzo, in an undertone with an air of one who is half asleep, and an indifferent manner, such as we have already seen him assume on some other occasions? To the Atta, to cross it, said the host. That is, yes, to the Atta. Do you want to cross by the bridge of Cassano, or the ferry of Canonica? Oh, I don't mind where. I only ask from curiosity. Well, I mention these because they are the places gentlemen generally choose, and people who can give an account of themselves. Very well, and how far is it? You may reckon that to either one or the other, it is somewhere about six miles, more or less. End of chapter 16 part one. Chapter 16 part two of The Betroth. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading done by Jules Harlech of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The Betroth by Alessandro Manzoni. Chapter 16 part two. Six miles, I didn't know that, said Renzo. Well resumed he, with the still greater air of indifference, almost amounting to affectation. Well, I suppose there are other places for crossing if anybody is inclined to take a shortcut. There are certainly, replied the landlord, fixing his eyes upon him with a look full of malicious curiosity. This was enough to silence all the other inquiries, which our youth had ready on his lips. He drew his plate before him and, looking at the small measure of wine which the landlord had set down on the table, said, is the wine pure? As gold, said the host, ask all the people of the village and neighborhood, for they know it, and besides you can taste yourself. So saying, he turned towards his other customers. Plague on these landlords exclaimed Renzo in his heart. The more I know of them, the worse I find them. However, he began to eat very heartily, listening at the same time without appearing to pay any attention, to see what he could learn, to discover what was the general impression here about the great event in which he had had no little share. And, above all, to ascertain if, amongst these talkers, there was one honest man of whom a poor fellow might venture to make inquiries without fear of getting into a scrape and being forced to talk about his own doings. But, said one, this time it seems clear the Melanes wanted to bring about a very good thing. Well, tomorrow at latest we shall know something. I'm sorry I didn't go to Milan this morning, said another. If you do go, tomorrow I'll go with you, said a third. So will I, said another, and I, said another. What I want to know, resume the first, is whether these Melanes gentlemen will think of us poor people out of the city, or if they'll only get good laws made for themselves. Do you know how they do, eh? They are all proud citizens everyone for himself, and we strangers mightn't be Christians. We have mouths, too, either to eat or to give our own opinions, said another, with a voice as modest as the proposition was daring, and when things have gone a little further. But he did not think fit to finish the sentence. There's corn hidden not only at Milan, another was beginning with the dark and designing continents, when they heard the trampling of a horse approaching. They ran to the door, and having discovered who it was, they all went out to meet him. It was a Melanes merchant who generally passed the night at this then, in journeying two or three times a year to Bergamo on business, and as he almost always found the same company there, they were all his acquaintances. They now crowded around him, one took his bridle, another his stirrup, and saluted him with welcome. I'm glad to see you. Have you had a good journey? Very good, and how are you all? Pretty well, pretty well. What's the news from Milan? Ah, you are always for news, said the merchant, dismounting and leaving his horse in the care of a boy. And besides continued he, entering the door with the rest of the party. By this time you know it, perhaps better than I do. I assure you we know nothing, said more than one, laying his hand on his heart. Is it possible, said the merchant, then you shall hear some fine or rather some bad news. Hey, landlord, is my usual bed at liberty? Very well, a glass of wine and my usual meal. Be quick, for I must go to bed early and set off tomorrow morning very early, so as to get to Bergamo by dinnertime. And you, continued he, sitting down at the opposite end of the table, to where Renzo was seated, silently but attentively listening. You don't know about all the diabolical doolings of yesterday. Yes, we heard something about yesterday. You see now, rejoin the merchant, you know the news. I thought when you are stationed here all day to watch and sound everybody that comes by. But today, how have matters gone today? Ah, today. Do you know nothing about today? Nothing, whatever. Nobody has come by. Then let me wet my lips and afterwards I'll tell you about everything. You shall hear. Having filled his glass he took it in his right hand and lifting up his moustachios with the first two fingers of his left and then settling his beard with the palm. He drank it off and continued, there was little wanting my worthy friends to make today as rough as a day as yesterday or worse. I can scarcely believe it true that I am here to tell you about it, for I had once put aside every thought of my journey to stay and take care of my unfortunate shop. What was the matter then, said one of his auditors. What was the matter? You shall hear. And carving the meat that was set before him, he began to eat at the same time continuing his narration. The crowd standing at both sides of the table listened to him with open mouths and Renzo apparently giving no heed to what he said listened perhaps more eagerly than any of the others as he slowly finished the last few mouth folds. This morning then those rascals who made such a horrible uproar yesterday repaired to the appointed places of meeting. There was already an understanding between them and everything was arranged. They united together and began again the old story of going from street to street, shouting to collect a crowd. You know it is like when one sweeps a house, with respect be it spoken, the heap of dust increases as one goes along. When they thought they had assembled enough people, they set off towards the house of the superintendent of provisions as if the treatment they gave him yesterday was not enough to a gentleman of his character, the villains, and the lies they told about him, all inventions. He is a worthy exact gentleman and I may say so for I am very intimate with him and serve him with cloth for his servant's livery. They proceeded then towards this house. You ought to see what a rabble and what faces, just fancy they're having passed my shop with faces that the Jews of the Via Crucis are nothing to them and such things as I uttered enough to make one stop one's ears if it had not been that it might have turned to a count in discovering one. They went forward then with the kind intention of plundering the house but here he raises his left hand and extended it in the air placing the end of his thumb on the point of his nose but said almost all his auditors but continued the mission. They found the street blockaded with planks and carts and behind this barracado a good file of soldiers with their guns leveled and the butt ends resting on their shoulders when they saw this preparation. What would you have done? Turned back to be sure and so did they but just listen if it wasn't the devil that inspired them they reached the Cardusio and there that saw the bakehouse which they wanted to plunder the day before. Here they were busy and distributing bread to their customers there were noblemen there I the very flower of the nobility to watch that everything went on in good order but the mob they had the devil within them I tell you and besides there was some whispering in their ears and urging them on the mob rushed in furiously seized the way and I will seize too in the twinkling of an eye noblemen, bakers, customers, loaves benches, counters, troughs, chests bags, sieves, blrand flower, dough all were turned upside down and the soldiers the soldiers had the vickers house to defend one cannot sing and carry the cross at the same time it was all done in the twinkling of an eye I tell you off and away everything that could be put to any use was carried off and then they proposed again the beautiful scene of yesterday dragging the rest to the square and making a bonfire they had already begun the villains to carry something out of the house when one greater villain than the rest what do you think was the proposal he made what what to make a pile of everything in the shop and to set fire to the heap and the house together no sooner said than done did they set fire to it wait a worthy man of the neighborhood had an inspiration from heaven he ran upstairs sought for a crucifix found one and hung it in front of one of the windows then he took two candles which had been blessed lit them and set them outside on the windowsill one on each side of the crucifix the mob looked up it must be owned there is still some fear of God in Milan everybody came to their senses at least I mean most of them there were some certainly devils enough to have set fire to paradise for the sake of plunder but finding that the crowd was not of their opinion they were obliged to abandon their design and keep quiet just fancy now who arrived all their graces of the cathedral in procession with the cross elevated and in their canonical robes and my lord the arch-respiteer began preaching on one side and my lord the penitentiary on the other and the others again scattered here and there but good people what would you do is this the example you set your children go home go home you shall have bread at a low price if you'll only look you'll see the rate is pasted up at every corner was it so what was it so do you think that their graces of the cathedral would come in their magnificent robes to tell them falsehoods and what did the people do they dispersed by degrees some ran to the corners of the street and for those who could read there was a fixed rate sure enough what do you think of it eight ounces of bread for a penny what good luck the proof of the pudding is in the eating how much flour do you think they have wasted yesterday and this morning enough to support the duchy for two months then they've made no good laws for us in the country what has been done at Milan is entirely at the expense of the city I don't know what to say to you it must be as God wills fortunately this edition is finished for I haven't told you all yet here comes the best part what is there besides only that last evening or this morning I'm not sure which many of the leaders have been seized and four of them it is known are to be hung directly no sooner did they get this abroad then everybody went home the shortest way not to run the risk of becoming number five when I left Milan it looked like a convent of friars but will they really hang them undoubtedly and quickly too replied the merchant and what will the people do ask the same interrogator as had put the other question the people will go to see them said the merchant they had such a desire to see a Christian hanging in the open air that they wanted the vagabonds to dispatch the superintendent of provisions in that way by this exchange they will have four wretches attended with every formality accompanied by cappuccines and by friars of the bon amorte but they deserve it it is an interference of providence you see and it is a necessary thing they were already beginning to divert themselves by entering the shops and helping themselves without paying if they let them go on so after bread wine would have had its turn and so on from thing to thing you may imagine whether they would abandon so convenient a practice of their own free will and I can tell you that was no very pleasant thought for an honest man keeping a shop certainly not said one of his hearers certainly not replied the rest in chorus and continued the merchant wiping his beard with the tablecloth it had all been projected for some time there was a league you know a league was there yes there was a league all cabals formed by the navarinis but by that french cardinal there you know with a half turkish name who every day contrives something fresh to annoy the court of spain but above all he aims at playing some trick in melanne for he knows well enough the nave that the strength of the king lies there I shall I give you proof of it those who've made the greatest noise were strangers they were faces going about which had never before been seen in melanne by the by I forgot to tell you one thing which was told me for certain the police had caught one of those fellows in an inn renzo who had not lost the single sellable of this conversation was taken with a cold shutter on the hearing this court touched and almost slipped under the table before he thought of trying to contain himself no one however perceived it and the speaker without interrupting his relation for a moment had continued they don't exactly know where he came from who sent him nor what kind of man he was but he was certainly one of the leaders yesterday in the midst of the uproar he played the very devil and then not content with that he must begin to harangue the people and proposed a mere trifle to murder all the nobility the great rascal who would support the poor if all the nobles were killed the police who had been watching him laid hands upon him they found on his person a great bundle of letters and were leading him away to prison but his companions who were keeping guard round the inn came in great numbers and delivered him the villain and what became of him it isn't known he may be fled or he may be concealed in Milan there are people who have neither house nor home and yet find lodging in a place of refuge everywhere however though the devil can and will help them yet they may fall into the hands of justice when they least expect it or when the pair is ripe it must fall for the present it is well known that the letters are in possession of the government and that the whole conspiracy is therein described and they say that many people are implicated in it this much is certain that they have turned Milan upside down and would have done much worse it is said that the bakers are rogues I know they are but they ought to be hung in the course of justice they say there is corn hidden who doesn't know that but it is the business of the government to keep a good look out to bring it to light and to hang the monopolist in company with the bakers and if the government does nothing the city ought to remonstrate and if they don't listen to the first time remonstrate again for by dint or appeals they will get what they want but not adopt the villainous practice of furiously entering shops and warehouses to get booty Renzo's small meal had turned into poison it seemed like an age before he could get out of and away from the inn and the village and a dozen times at least he had said to himself now I may surely go but the fear of exciting suspicion now increase beyond measure and prevailing over every other thought had kept him still nailed to his seat in this perplexity he thought the chatterer must at last stop talking about him and determined in his own mind to make his escape as soon as another subject was started for this reason said one of the party knowing how these things go and that the honest men fare but badly in such disturbances I wouldn't let my curiosity conquer and have therefore remained quietly at home neither would I move for the same reason said another I added a third if I had happened by chance to be at Milan I would have left any business whatever unfinished and have returned home as quickly as possible I have a wife and children and besides to tell the truth I don't like such stirs at this moment the landlord who had been eagerly listening with the rest advanced towards the other end of the table to see what the stranger was doing Renzo sees the opportunity and beckoning to the host asked for his account settled it without dispute though his purse was by this time very low and without further delay went directly to the door past the threshold and taking care not to turn along the same road as that by which he had arrived set off in the opposite direction trusting to the guidance of providence end of chapter 16 part 2 chapter 17 part 1 of the betroth this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org reading done by Jules Harlock of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni chapter 17 part 1 one wishes often enough to allow a man no peace what then must two have been one at war with the other our poor Renzo as the reader knows has had two such conflicting desires in his mind for several hours the wish to make his escape with the wish to remain undiscovered and the unfortunate words of the merchant had increased both one and the other to an extravagant degree his adventure then had got abroad there were means then employed to seize him who knew how many bailiffs were in the field to give him chase or what orders had been forwarded to keep a watch in the villages at the inn on the roads he reflected however that after all there were but two bailiffs who knew him and that his name was not written upon his forehead but then again a hundred stories he had heard rushed into his mind of fugitives caught and discovered in many strange ways recognized by their walk by their suspicious air and other unthought of tokens everything excited his alarm although as he left Gorgonzola the tolling of the Abba Maria sounded in his ears and the increasing darkness every moment diminished his danger yet it was very unwillingly that he took the high road proposing to follow the first by lane which seemed likely to bring him to the point he was so anxious to reach at first he occasionally met a traveler but so full was his imagination of direful apprehensions that he had not the courage to detain anyone to inquire his way that innkeeper said six miles thought he if by taking these footpaths and bilanes I make them eight or even ten my legs which have lasted me so far will manage these two I'm certainly not going towards Milan so I must be going towards the adda walk away then sooner or later I shall get there the adda has a good voice and when once I'm near it I shan't want anyone to point it out to me if any boat is there I'll cross directly if not I'll wait till morning in a field or on a tree like the sparrows better on a tree than in prison very soon he saw a lane turning down to the left and he pursued it at this hour if he had met with anyone he would no longer have hesitated to address him but he heard not a footstep of a living creature he followed therefore the windings of the lane indulging them meanwhile in such reflections as these I play the devil I murder all the nobility a packet of letters I my companions keeping guard around me I'd give something to meet with that merchant face to face on the other side of the adda ah when shall I get across that blessed adda I'd make him stand and ask him at my convenience where he had picked up all this fine information just pleased to be informed my dear sir that the thing went so and so and that all the mischief I played was helping for rare as if he had been my brother no moreover that those rascals who to hear you talk one would think were my friends because once I said a word or two like a good Christian wanted to play me a very rough trick no to that while you were taking care of your own shop I was endangering my ribs to save your senior the superintendent of provisions a man I never either knew or saw in my life wait and see if I ever stir again to help gentlemen it is true we ought to do it for our souls good they are neighbors too and that great bundle of letters where all the conspiracy was revealed and which you know for certain is in the hands of the government sure enough I couldn't show it to you here without the help of the devil would you have any curiosity to see this mighty packet look here a single letter yes my good sir one letter only and this letter if you'd like to know was written by a monk capable of instructing you in any point of doctrine you wish a monk without doing you injustice a single hair of whose beard is worth all yours put together and this letter I should like to tell you is written you see to another monk also a man just see now whom I rascally friends are learn if you please how to talk another time particularly when you are talking about a fellow creature after a little time however these and similar reflections gave way to others his present circumstances occupying the whole attention of our poor traveler the dread of being pursued and discovered which had so incessantly embittered his day's journey now no longer gave him any uneasiness but how many things made his nightly wandering sufficiently uncomfortable darkness solitude increasing and now painful fatigue a gentle but steady and piercing breeze which would be far from agreeable to a man still dressed in the same clothes which he had put on to go to a short distance to a wedding and quickly to return in triumph to his home only a few steps off and what rendered everything doubly irksome walking at a venture in search of a place of rest and security if he happened to pass through a village he would walk as quietly and wherely as possible lest any of the doors should be still open but he saw no further signs of remaining wakefulness among the inhabitants than occasionally a glancing light in one of the windows when on the road away from every abode he would pause every now and then and listen eagerly for the beloved murmur of the adda but in vain he heard no sound but the distant howling of dogs at some solitary dwelling which floated through the air at once mournful and threatening on approaching any of these abodes the howling was changed into an irritated angry bark and in the passing before the door he heard and almost fancy he saw the fierce creatures with their heads at the crack of the door reiterating their howls this quickly removed all temptation to knock and ask shelter and probably his courage would have failed had there been no such obstacle in his way who's there thought he what do you want at this hour how did you come here tell who you are isn't there an inn where you can get a bed this at best is what they will say to me if i knock even if it shouldn't be a cowardly sleeper who would begin to shout out lustily help thieves i must have something ready for an answer and what could i say if anybody hears a noise in the night nothing enters their head but robbers villains and rogues they never think that an honest man may be benighted not to say a gentleman in his carriage he determined therefore to reserve this plan as the last resource in the case of necessity and continued his way still with the hope of at least discovering the adder if not of crossing it that night and not being obliged again to go in search of it in the broad daylight on therefore he went till he reached a part where the country changed from cultivated fields into a heath of ferns and broom these seemed if not a sure indication at least a kind of argument that there was a river in the neighborhood and he advanced across the common pursuing the path which traversed it after walking a few paces he stopped to listen but in vain the tediousness of the journey seemed to be increased by the wildness of the place not a mulberry nor a vine was to be seen nor any other signs of human culture which in the early part of his progress seemed almost like half companions to him however he still went forward beguiling the time and endeavoring to drive away the images and apparitions which haunted his mind the relics of a hundred wonderful stories he had heard by repeating as he went along some of the prayers for the dead by degrees he entered among the larger patches of brushwood wild plum trees dwarf oaks and brambles continuing his way with more impatience than elecrity he saw scattered occasionally throughout these patches a solitary tree and still following the guidance of the foot bath perceived that he was entering a wood he felt a kind of reluctance to proceed but he conquered it and unwillingly went forward the further he went the more this unwillingness increased and the more did everything he saw vex and harass his imagination the bushes he discerned before him assumed strange marvelous and uncouth forms the shadows of the drops of the trees alarmed him as slightly agitated by the breeze they quivered on his path illuminated by the pale light of the moon the very rustling of the withered leaves as he trampled them underfoot had in it something hateful to his ear his limbs felt a strange impulse to run and at the same time seemed scarcely able to support him the cold night breeze blew more chilly and sharply against his forehead and throat he felt it piercing through his thin clothes to his skin which shivered in the blast and penetrating more subtly to his very bones extinguishing the last remains of vigor at one time the weariness and undefined horror with which he had so long been struggling had suddenly almost overwhelmed him he nearly lost his self-government but terrified above all things at his own terror he summoned up his former spirits and by a great effort forced them to assume their usual sway thus fortified for a moment he stood still to deliberate and resolved to leave the wood by the same path as he had traversed to go straight to the last village he had passed to return once more among mankind and there to seek shelter even at the inn while he thus stood the rustling of his feet among the leaves hushed and perfectly silent around him a noise reached his ear a murmur a murmur of running water he listens assures himself and exclaims it's the adder it was like the restoration of a friend of a brother of a deliverer his weariness almost disappeared his pulse again beat he felt his blood circulate freely and warmly through all his veins his confidence increased the gloominess and oppression of his mind in great part vanished away and he no longer hesitated to penetrate farther into the wood towards the friendly murmur at last he reached the extremity of the flat at the edge of the steep declivity and peeping through the bushes that everywhere covered its surface he discerned at the bottom the glittering of the running water then raising his eyes he surveyed the extents of plain on the opposite side scattered with villages beyond this the hills and on one of these a large whitish track in which he fancied he could distinguish a city Bergamo undoubtedly he descended the steep a little way separating and pushing aside the brushwood with his hands and arms and looked down to see if there were any boat moving on the water or to listen if he could hear the splashing of oars but he saw and heard nothing had it been anything less than the adder Renzo would have descended at once and attempted to ford it but this he knew well in such a river was not a matter of very great facility he therefore stood to consult with himself what we're best to be done to clamor up into the tree and there await the dawn of morning in the chill night breeze in the frosty air and in his present dress was more than enough to be numb him to pace up and down for constant exercise all that time besides that it would have been a very inefficacious defense against the severity of the temperature was also asking too much of those unfortunate limbs which had already done much more than their duty suddenly he remembered having seen a Casanado in one of the fields adjoining the uncultivated down thus the peasants of the Melanie's plain designated certain little cottages thatched with straw constructed of the trunks and branches of trees fastened together and filled up with mud where they are in the habit of depositing their harvest during the summer season repairing thither at night to protect it during the rest of the year they are usually unoccupied he quickly fixed upon this as his resting place for the night and again setting off on his way repass the wood the tract of bushes and the heath and entering upon the cultivated land he quickly aspired the Casanado and went towards it a worm eaten and tumbled down door without lock or chain blocked up the entrance Renzo drew it towards him and on entering saw hurdle intended to serve the purpose of a hammock suspended in the air and supported by bands formed of little twigs he did not however make use of it but seeing a little straw lying on the ground thought that even there sleep would be very welcome before stretching his weary frame on the bed Providence had prepared for him he knelt down to offer up his thanks for this blessing and for all the assistance he had received that terrible day he then repeated his usual prayers and having finished them begged pardon of God for having omitted them the evening before and gone to rest as he said like a dog or even worse and for this reason added he to himself resting his hands upon the straw and from kneeling changing his posture to that of lying for this reason I was awaked by such agreeable visitors in the morning he then gathered up all the straw that was scattered around and spread it over him so as to make the best covering he could to secure himself from the cold which even there under shelter made itself sufficiently felt and crouching beneath it he tried to get a little sleep thinking that he had purchased it that day more dearly than usual scarcely however had he closed his eyes before visions began to throng his memory or his fancy I cannot undertake to indicate the exact spot visions so crowded so incessant that they quickly banished every idea of sleep the merchant the notary the bailiff the sword cutler the landlord furrier the superintendent the party at the inn the crowds in the streets then Don Abondillo then Don Rodrigo and among so many there were none that did not bring some sad remembrance of misfortune or aversion there were but three images that presented themselves to his mind divested of every bitter recollection clear of every suspicion pleasing in every aspect and two principally certainly very dissimilar but closely connected in the heart of the youth the black locked Lucia and the white bearded father Cristoforo yet the consolation he felt in contemplating even these objects was anything but unmixed and tranquil in picturing to himself the good friar he felt more keenly than ever the disgrace of his faults his shameful intemperance and his neglect of the kind father's paternal advice and in contemplating the image of Lucia we will not attempt to describe what he felt the reader knows the circumstances and must imagine it himself neither did he forget the poor Agnes Agnes who had chosen him for her son-in-law who had considered him almost as one with her only daughter and before receiving from him the title of mother had assumed the language and affection of one and demonstrated parental solicitude for him by her actions but it was an additional grief to him and not the least bitter one that exactly on account of these affectionate and benevolent intentions the poor woman was now homeless and almost houseless uncertain of the future and reaping sorrows and troubles from those very circumstances which he had hoped would be the joy and comfort of her declining years what a night poor Renzo which was to have been the fifth of his nuptials what a room what a matrimonial couch and after such a day and to proceed such a morrow such a succession of days what god wills replied he to the thoughts which most tormented him what god wills he knows what he does it is for our good too let it be as a penance for my sins Lucia is so good god surely will not let her suffer for long for very long harassed by such thoughts as these despairing of obtaining any sleep and the piercing cold becoming more and more insufferable so that from time to time his whole frame shook and his teeth chattered in spite of himself Renzo longed for the approach of day and impatiently measured the slow progress of the hours I say measured because every half hour he heard resounding through the deep silence the stroke of the large clock probably that of Trezzo the first time the sound reached his ear so unexpectedly without his having the least idea whence it came it brought with it something solemn and mysterious to his mind the feeling of a warning uttered in an unknown voice by some invisible person when at last the clock had told 11 the hour Renzo had determined to get up footnote it must be borne in mind by the reader that according to Italian computation of time the first hour of the day is seven o'clock in the morning two o'clock answerable to eight with us and so on till seven o'clock in the evening becomes one again this arrangement would make 11 o'clock in the text the same as five o'clock in the morning in England end of footnote he rose half benumbed with the cold and falling upon his knees repeated his meton prayers with more than ordinary devotion then standing up he stretched his limbs and shook his body as if to settle and unite his members which seemed almost dissevered from each other breathed upon his hands and rubbed them together and then opened the door of the Casanato first taking the precaution to look warily about him perchance anyone might be there no one being visible he cast his eye round to discover the path he had followed the preceding evening and quickly recognizing it much clearer and more distinct than his memory pictured it he set off in that direction end of chapter 17 part one chapter 17 part two of the betroth this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org reading done by Jules Harlock of Mississauga Ontario Canada the betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni chapter 17 part two the sky announced a beautiful day the pale and rayless moon was yet visible near the horizon in the spacious field of azure still softened by a tinge of morning gray which shaded gradually towards the east into a rosy and primrose hue still near the horizon a few irregular clouds stretched out in lengthened waves rather azure than gray their lower sides edged with almost the streak of flame becoming every moment more vivid and sharply defined while higher up light and fleecy clouds mingling with each other and of a thousand nameless hues bloated on the surface of the placid heavens a true lombard sky so beautiful when it is beautiful so brilliant so calm had Renzo been here to enjoy himself he would certainly have looked upwards and admired a dawn so different to what he had been accustomed to see among his native mountains but his eyes were bent to the ground and he walked on rapidly both to regain a little warmth and to reach the river as quickly as he could he retraced the fields the groves the bushes traverse the wood with a kind of compassion as he looked around and remembered the horror he had felt there a few hours before reached the edge of the precipitous bank and looking down through the crags and bushes discovered a fisherman's bark slowly making its way against the stream close by the shore he hastily descended the shortest way through the bushes stood upon the bank and gently called to the fisherman and with the intention of appearing to ask a favor of little importance but without being aware of it in a half-supplicatory manner back into him to approach the fisherman cast a glance along the shore looked carefully both up and down the river and then turning the proud towards Renzo approached the side Renzo who stood at the very edge of the stream almost with one foot in the water seized the prow as it drew near and jumped into the boat be good enough to take me across to the other side and I'll pay you for it said he the fisherman had already guessed his object and had turned the prow to the opposite bank Renzo seeing another ore at the bottom of the boat stooped down and took it up softly softly said the owner but on seeing how dexterously the youth laid hold of the implement and prepared to handle it aha added he you know your business a little replied Renzo and he began to row with a vigor and skill beyond those of an amateur while thus exerting himself he cast an occasional dark glance at the shore he had just left and then a look of anxiety to the one they were approaching he was annoyed at having to go at all down the stream but the current here was too rapid to cut directly across it so that the bark partly cleaving and partly following the course of the water was obliged to take a diagonal direction as it happened in all dark and intricate undertakings that difficulties present themselves to the mind at first only in general but in the execution of the enterprise are more minutely observable so now that the atta was forwarded so to say Renzo felt a good deal of disquietude at not knowing for certain whether here it was the boundary of the two states or whether when this obstacle was overcome there might not be others still to surmount addressing the fisherman therefore and nodding with his head towards the whitish spot which he had noticed the night before and which now appeared much more distinct is that Bergamo said he that town the city of Bergamo replied the fisherman and that shore there does it belong to Bergamo the territory of saint mark long live saint mark exclaimed Renzo the fisherman made no reply they reached at length the opposite shore Renzo jumped out upon it and thanking God in his heart expressed his gratitude in words to the boatman then putting his hand in his pocket he drew out hence a burlinga which considering his circumstances was no little loss to him and handed it to the worthy man who giving another glance at the Melanie shore and along the river in either direction stretched out his hand and received the gift he put it into his pocket and after compressing his lips at the same time laying his forefinger across them with a significant expression of countenance said a good journey to you and turned back that the reader may not be surprised at the prompt yet cautious civility of this man towards a perfect stranger it will be necessary to inform him that frequently requested to perform a similar service to smugglers and bandit he was accustomed to do so not so much for the sake of the trifling and uncertain gains which he might thereby obtain as to avoid making himself enemies among these classes he afforded this assistance whenever he could assure himself of not being discovered by the custom house officers bailiffs or spies thus without particularly favoring one party more than the other he endeavored to satisfy all with that impartiality usually exercised by those who are compelled to deal with a certain set of people while liable to give account to another friends will pause the moment on the bank to contemplate the opposite shore that ground which just before had almost burned beneath his feet ah I'm really out of it was his first thought hateful country that you are was his second bidding it farewell but the third recurred to those whom he had left there then he crossed his arms on his breast heaved a sigh bent his eyes on the water which flowed at his feet and thought it has passed under the bridge thus at leco was generally called among his fellow countrymen by way of eminence ah hateful world enough whatever god wills he turned his back upon these mournful objects and went forward taking for a mark the white track on the side of the hill until he met with someone to give him more particular directions in his way it was amusing to see with what carelessness and disembarassment he now accosted travelers and how boldly he pronounced the name of the village where his cousin resided without hesitation or disguise from the first person who directed him he learned that he had yet nine miles to travel his journey was not very blightsome independent of his own troubles his eyes rested every moment on pitiful objects which told him that he would find in the country he was entering the poverty he had left in his own all along the way but more particularly in the villages and large towns he saw beggars hastening along mendicants rather from circumstances than profession who revealed their misery more in their countenances than their clothing peasants mountaineers artisans entire families and a mingled murmur of entreaties disputes and infant's cries besides the mournful pity that it woke in Renzo's mind this site also aroused in him to the remembrance of his own circumstances who knows thought he as he went along if i shall find anything to do if there is any work now to be god as there used to be well Bertolo is kindly inclined to me he is a good fellow he has made some money and has invited me very often he surely won't forsake me besides providence has helped me hitherto and will help me i hope for the future in the meanwhile his appetite already considerably sharpened became as he went on his way more and more craving and though he felt that he could manage very well to the end of his journey which was now only about two miles without great inconvenience yet he reflected that would not be exactly the thing to make his appearance before his cousin like a beggar and address him with this salutation give me something to eat so drawing on all his riches from his pocket he counted them over on the palm of his hand to ascertain the amount it was an amount that required little calculation yet still there was more than enough to make a small meal he therefore entered an inn to get a little refreshment and on paying the account found that he had still a few pence remaining just outside lying in the streets and so close to the door that he would have fallen over them had he not been looking about him Renzo saw two women one rather elderly and the other a younger person with an infant at her breast which after vainly endeavouring to satisfy its hunger was crying bitterly they were all three as pale as death and standing by them was a man in whose face and limbs there might still be discerned tokens of former robustness though now broken and almost destroyed by long poverty the three beggars stretched out their hands to Renzo as he left the inn with a free step and revigorated air but none of them spoke what more could language have expressed there's a godsend for you said Renzo as he hastily thrust his hand into his pocket and taking out his last pence put them in the hand that was nearest to him and went on his way the refreshment and this good work together since we are made of both soul and body had gladdened and cheered all his thoughts certain it is that he felt more confidence for the future from having thus deprived himself of his last penny than if he had found ten such for if Providence had kept in reserve for the support of three wretched beggars almost fainting on the road the last farthing of a stranger himself a fugitive far from his own home and uncertain how to get a living could he think that that Providence would leave in distribution him whom he had made use of for this purpose and to whom he had given so vivid so effective so self-abandoning an inclination such was in general the feeling of the youth though probably not so clearly defined as that which we expressed in words during the remainder of his walk as his mind recurred to the different circumstances and contingencies which had hitherto appeared the most dark and perplexing all seemed to brighten the famine and poverty must come to an end for there was a harvest every year in the meantime he had his cousin Bartolo and his own abilities and as a help towards his support a little store of money at home which he could easily send for with this assistance at the worst he could live from day to day as economically as possible till better times then when good times have come at last continued Renzo in his fanciful dreams the demand for work will be renewed masters will strive who shall get Milanese weavers because they know their trade best the Milanese weavers will hold their heads high they who want clever workmen must pay for them we shall make something to live upon and still have some to spare we can then furnish a cottage and write to the women to come and besides why wait so long shouldn't we have lived upon my little store at home all this winter so we can live here there are curiots everywhere those two dear women might come now and we could keep house together oh what a pleasure to go walking all together on this very road to go as far as Ada in a cart and have a picnic on the shore yes just on the shore and I'd show them the place where I embarked the thorny path I came down and the spot where I stood to look if there was a boat at length he reached his cousin's village and just at the entrance even before he set foot in it distinguished the house considerably higher than the rest with several rows of long windows one above another and separated by a much smaller space than the divisions between the different stories required he had once recognized a silk mill and going in asked in a loud voice so as to be heard amidst the noise of the running water and the machinery if Bartolo Castagnari lived there the senior Bartolo he's there the senior that's a good sign thought Renzo and seeing his cousin he ran towards him Bartolo turned round recognized his relation as he exclaimed here I am myself and received him with an oh of surprise as they mutually threw their arms around each other's neck after the first welcome Bartolo took his cousin into another room apart from the noise of the machinery and the eyes of the curious and greeted him with I'm very glad to see you but you're a pretty fellow I've invited you so often and you never would come and now you arrive in rather a troubled time since you will have me tell you I have not come with my own goodwill said Renzo and then as briefly as possible and not without some emotion he related his mournful story that's quite another thing said Bartolo oh poor Renzo but you've depended upon me and I'll not forsake you certainly there's no great demand for workmen just now indeed it's all we can do not to turn off those we have and give up the business but my master likes me and he has got some money and to tell you the truth without boasting he mostly owes it to me he has the capital and I give my abilities such as they are I'm the head workman you know and besides between you and me I'm quite his fact totem poor Lucia Mandela I remember her as it were but yesterday a good girl she was always the best behaved in church and whenever one passed her cottage I see that cottage in my mind's eye outside the village with a fine fig tree peeping over the wall no no don't let us talk about it I was only going to say that whenever one passed that cottage there was the real always going going going and that Don Rodrigo even in my time he was inclined that way but now he's playing the devil outright from what I hear so long as God leaves him to take his own course well as I was saying here too we are suffering a little from the famine apropos how are you for appetite I got something to eat a little while on the road and how are you for money Renzo held out one of his hands and putting it to his mouth gently puffed upon it never mind said Bartolo I've plenty pluck up your heart for I hope things will soon change please God and then you can repay me and lay up also a little for yourself I have a trifling sum at home and will send for it very well and in the meantime you may depend upon me God has given me wealth that I might give to others and whom shall I serve so soon as my own relations and friends I said I should be provided for exclaimed Renzo affectionately pressing his good cousin's hand then rejoined his companion they've had a regular uproar at Milan I think they're all a little mad the rumor has already reached here but I want you to tell me things a little more particularly ah we've plenty to talk about here however you see we go about it more quietly and do things with rather more prudence the city purchased two thousand loads of corn from a merchant who lives at Venice the corn came from Turkey but when life depends upon it such things are not looked into very narrowly see now what this occasion the governors of Verona and Bressia stopped up the passages and said no corn shall pass this way what did the Bermaskans do thank you they dispatched a man to Venice who knew how to talk the messenger went off in haste presented himself to the doge and asked him what was the meaning of such a trick and such a speech he made they say fit to be printed what a thing it is to have a man who knows what to say an order was immediately issued for the free transit of corn requiring the governors not only to let it pass but to assist in forwarding it and now it is on its way there is provision also for the surrounding country another worthy man gave the senate to understand that the people in the country were starving and they have ordered them four thousand bushels of millet this helps you know to make bread and then i needn't say that if there isn't bread for us we will eat meat god has given me wealth as i told you now then i'll take you to my master i've often mentioned you to him and i know he'll welcome you he's a burgamaskan of the old sort and a kind-hearted man certainly he doesn't expect you just now but when he hears your history and besides he knows how to value good workmen for the famine must come to an end and business will go on but first of all i must warn you of one thing do you know what they call us melanese in this country no what is it they call us blockheads that's not a very nice name so it is whoever is born in the territory of malan and would make a living in that of bergamot must be content to bear it patiently it is as common among these people to give the name of blockhead to a melanese as your illustrious lordship to a cavalier they only say so i fancy to those who will put up with it my dear fellow if you are not disposed continually to brook the title don't reckon that you can live here you would be obliged always to have a knife in your hand and when you have killed we will suppose two three or four of your neighbors you'd meet with somebody who would kill you and what a nice prospect to have to appear before god's tribunal with three or four murders on your head and a melanese who has a little here he tapped his forehead with his fore finger as he had done at the sign of the full moon i mean one who understands his business it's all the same he too would be a blockhead do you know what my master says when he's talking of me to his friends heaven has sent me this blockhead to conduct my business if it were not for this blockhead i should do very badly it's the custom to say so it's a very foolish custom especially considering what we do for who was it in fact that brought the art here and now carries it on but us is it possible there's no help for it not hitherto there may be in the course of time among the young people who are growing up but in this generation there is no remedy they've acquired the habit and won't leave it off after all what is it it's nothing to the tricks they've played upon you and that most of our precious fellow countrymen would still play upon you well that's true if there's no other evil now that you are persuaded of this all will go well come let us go to my master and be of good heart everything in fact did go well and so exactly in accordance with Bartolo's promises that it is needless to give any particular description and it was truly an ordering of providence for we shall soon see how little dependence was to be placed upon the small savings Renzo had left at home end of chapter 17 part 2