But Veiled In
Sonorous Latinisms, The Staleness Of Such Remarks Assumes An Air Of
Profundity.
"For my part," he went on, warming to his theme, "I am thoroughly
satisfied.
Who will complain of the trees? Only a few makers of bad
pictures. They can go elsewhere. Our country, dear sir, is encrusted,
with old castles and other feudal absurdities, and if I had the
management of things - - "
The sentence was not concluded, for at that moment his hat was blown off
by a violent gust of wind, and flew merrily over beds of flowering
marguerites in the direction of the main street, while he raced after
it, vanishing in a cloud of dust. The chase must have been long and
arduous; he never returned.
Wandering about the upper regions of this fortress whose chambers are
now used as a factory of cement goods and a refuge for some poor
families, I espied a good pre-renaissance relief of Saint Michael and
the dragon immured in the masonry, and overhung by the green leaves of
an exuberant wild fig that has thrust its roots into the sturdy old
walls. Here, at Manfredonia, we are already under the shadow of the holy
mountain and the archangel's wings, but the usual representations of him
are childishly emasculate - the negation of his divine and heroic
character. This one portrays a genuine warrior-angel of the old type:
grave and grim. Beyond this castle and the town-walls, which are best
preserved on the north side, nothing in Manfredonia is older than 1620.
There is a fine campanile, but the cathedral looks like a shed for
disused omnibuses.
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