A hint or memory of gracious things ran in the slight breeze, the
wreaths of fog would lift a little for a few yards, and in their
clearings I thought to approach a softer and more desirable world. I
was soothed as though with caresses and when I began to see somewhat
farther and felt a vigour and fulness in the outline of the Trees, I
said to myself suddenly -
'I know what it is! It is the South, and a great part of my blood.
They may call it Switzerland still, but I know now that I am in Italy,
and this is the gate of Italy lying in groves.'
Then and on till evening I reconciled myself with misfortune, and when
I heard again at Airolo the speech of civilized men, and saw the
strong Latin eyes and straight forms of the Race after all those days
of fog and frost and German speech and the north, my eyes filled with
tears and I was as glad as a man come home again, and I could have
kissed the ground.
The wine of Airolo and its songs, how greatly they refreshed me! To
see men with answering eyes and to find a salute returned; the noise
of careless mouths talking all together; the group at cards, and the
laughter that is proper to mankind; the straight carriage of the
women, and in all the people something erect and noble as though
indeed they possessed the earth. I made a meal there, talking to all
my companions left and right in a new speech of my own, which was made
up, as it were, of the essence of all the Latin tongues, saying -
_'Ha! Si jo a traversa li montagna no erat facile! Nenni! II san
Gottardo? Nil est! pooh! poco! Ma hesterna jo ha voulu traversar in
Val Bavona, e credi non ritornar, namfredo, fredo erat in alto! La
tourmente ma prise...'_
And so forth, explaining all fully with gestures, exaggerating,
emphasizing, and acting the whole matter, so that they understood me
without much error. But I found it more difficult to understand them,
because they had a regular formed language with terminations and
special words.
It went to my heart to offer them no wine, but a thought was in me of
which you shall soon hear more. My money was running low, and the
chief anxiety of a civilized man was spreading over my mind like the
shadow of a cloud over a field of corn in summer. They gave me a
number of 'good-nights', and at parting I could not forbear from
boasting that I was a pilgrim on my way to Rome.
