After the Divorce Grazia Deledda (white hot kiss .TXT) đ
- Author: Grazia Deledda
Book online «After the Divorce Grazia Deledda (white hot kiss .TXT) đ». Author Grazia Deledda
âToo late!â cried Brontu, waving a salute.
The others shouted with laughter, and when Giacobbe presently told them it was time to be off, they refused to go. The host, thereupon, seizing a lath covered with plaster, tried to drive them out, and the entire troop of rough, bearded men began to run from room to room, pushing one another by the shoulders, yelling, tumbling over each other, and shrieking with laughter like so many schoolboys. Driven forth at length, they continued their horseplay in the street, until Giacobbe, having locked the door and put the key in his pocket, led the way back to the tavern. At dusk Brontu and the herdsman, supporting one another, appeared at the white house.
Aunt Martina was sitting on the portico with her hands beneath her apron, reciting the rosary. When her eyes fell on the two men she remained perfectly still and silent, but her lips tightened, and she shook her head ever so slightly, as though to say: âTruly, a fine sight!â
âWhere is Giovanna?â demanded Brontu.
âShe went to her motherâs.â
âOh! she went to her motherâs, the old harpyâs? Well, sheâs always going there, curse her.â
âDonât shout so, my son.â
âI will; Iâll shout as much as I like; Iâm in my own house,â and turning towards the common, he began to call at the top of his voice:
âGiovanna! Giovanna!â
Giovanna appeared at the door of the cottage, and started to cross the common hastily with an alarmed air; as she drew near, however, her expression changed to one of annoyance and disgust. Pausing in front of the two men, she regarded them with a look of undisguised scorn. Giacobbe laughed, but Brontu reddened to the tips of his ears with anger.
âWell,â she demanded; âwhat is the matter? Have you got the colic?â
âHe would have got it pretty soon if you hadnât come,â said Giacobbe.
Brontu opened his mouth and his lips moved, but no sounds came forth, and his anger presently died away as senselessly as it had come.
âWellâ ââ he stammered. âI wanted you. We have hardly seen each other all day. What were you doing at your motherâs? Who was there?â
âWho was there?â she repeated, in a tone of intense bitterness. âWhy, no one. Who would you expect to find at our house?â
âWhy, San Costantino might comeâ âtâ âoâ âoâ âgiâ âiâ âiâ âve youâ âu a poâ âemâ ââ sang Giacobbe thickly. âHave you ever seen San Costantino? Well, thereâs Isidoro Paneâ âheâs perfectly crazyâ âhe doesnât like you; no, indeed, he doesnât, andâ âandâ ââ
âShut up; hold your tongue!â said Aunt Martina. âAnd the sheepfolds left all this time to take care of themselves! Thatâs the way you attend to your masterâs business! Youâre all alike, accursed thieves!â
Giacobbe sprang forward, erect and livid; and Giovanna, fearing that he was really going to strike the old woman, stepped quickly between them. He turned, however, without saying a word, and sat down, but with so lowering an expression that Giovanna remained near her mother-in-law in an attitude of protection.
Brontu, on the contrary, was struck with the idea that his mother deserved a rebuke.
âWhat sort of manners are these?â he demanded in a tone that was intended to be severe. âWhy, you treat people as thoughâ âas thoughâ âas though they were beastsâ âeverybody! Todayâ âtodayâ âno, yesterday was a holiday. If he chose to get drunk, what business was that of yours?â
âI got drunk on poison,â remarked Giacobbe.
âYes, poison,â agreed Brontu. âAnd I did too. And thereâs another thing. Iâm tired of all this, mother and wifeâ âand the whole business. So there! Iâm going away. Iâm going to spend the night with him in his palace. After all, we are relations, andâ âandâ ââ
âSay it right out!â shouted Giacobbe. âYou may be my heir; thatâs what you mean! Ha, ha, ha!â
He laughed boisterously, emitting sounds that were more like the howls of a wild beast than human laughter. Brontu, trying to imitate him, only succeeded in producing a noise like the cry of some happy animal in the springtime.
Giovanna felt herself grow sick with dread; she was afraid of the rapidly approaching darkness, of the solitude that enwrapped the common, of the presence of these two men whom wine had turned into quarrelsome beasts. âThe excommunication,â she thought, âhas fallen on us all: on this servant, who dares to defy his master; on the son, who upbraids his mother; on me, Giovanna, who loathe and despise them one and all!â
Aunt Martina arose, went into the kitchen, and lit the candle. Giovanna followed her and set about preparing the supper. When it was ready they all sat down together, and for a little while everything went well. Presently Brontu began to tell of how they had watched the procession from the windows of Giacobbeâs âpalace,â his account of their foolish doings bringing a smile to his motherâs lips. Then he tried to put his arm around his wife, but Giovannaâs heart was full of gall. For her the holiday had been, if anything, sadder than an ordinary day; she had worked hard, she had not been to church, she had not so much as changed her dress; and yet, the moment she had allowed herself to go for a little recreation to the cottageâ âthe scene alike of her greatest misery and of her most intense happinessâ âshe had been ordered back as peremptorily as a dog is told to return to its kennel. Consequently, she was in no mood for endearments, and repulsed Brontuâs proffered caress, telling him he was drunk.
Giacobbe, thereupon, laughed delightedly, which irritated Giovanna as much as it angered Brontu.
âWhat are you laughing at, you mangy cur?â demanded the latter.
âI might say I am not as mangy as you are yourself. But then, Iâ âI want to say thatâ âthatâ âwell, Iâm laughing because I choose to.â
âEh! I can laugh too.â
âFools!â said Giovanna scornfully. âYou make me sick, both of you.â
At this
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