Ligurian:
I baraccoin a-a Foxe

Scì, mi me sovvëgno de quande s’anava a-a Foxe à vedde i baraccoin, e o ciarlatan o levava i denti con un corpo de pistòlla e i paggiassi piggiavan pe man i scimpansé domestegæ e î favan anâ in sciâ biçicletta, e i figgeu anavan a-o tiatrin di marionetti, e gh’ea o dommatô de ciante che mangia carne, ch’o ghe dava un cravetto intrego, ò un bæ, da desporpoâ e e ciante se ô collavan zu inte un momento. Me sovvëgno, scì, da dònna con træ teste e de quell’atra co-a coa de pescio; ma dæme mente ben, no gh’ea ninte de veo, mai ninte de veo. E se ô diggo, sò cöse me diggo, apreuvo che unna vòtta son introu derê e quinte, co-a comprixitæ de un amigo, à vedde cöse succedeiva pe in davei là drento, quande no gh’ea de spettacolo. E ò descoverto che no gh’ea ninte de veo: o mæ amigo o l’à averto unna pòrta d’arrescoso e o m’à fæto vedde che inte gagge no gh’ea i scimpansé, ma i òmmi, vestii da paggiassi, che giavan tutti sciätæ de sa e de là, comme de anime in peña; e gh’ea i scimpansé che ghe dava da mangiâ, e se i òmmi ean tròppo nervoxi, e scimie î piccavan ascì. Ean e scimie, quelle ch’aiva domestegou i òmmi à fâ i paggiassi e à fâ mostra de commandâghe, e no a-a reversa. Ma a cösa, ch’a metteiva ciù poia che tutto, l’ò vista into baraccon apreuvo, da-o tiatro di marionetti; inta gròssa coffa, che pe commun a contëgne e figue de legno quande no travaggian, gh’ea i marionettisti, fermi, sensa vitta, co-i euggi fissæ into veuo. I vëi marionetti ean lô, e ançi ghe n’ea un che se gh’ea stoccou un brasso, e doveivan dâghe recatto comme poeivan: o l’ea in sce unna töa e tutto d’in gio o gh’aiva i marionetti de legno che ghe davan drento à opeâlo, tanto ch’o foïse lesto pe-o spettacolo da seia. Son i marionetti, quelli che fan mesciâ i marionettisti, e no a-a reversa. O mæ amigo o voeiva fâme intrâ ascì inte quell’atro baraccon, quello de ciante che mangia carne, ma no gh’ò avuo cheu, e no ghe son mai anæto.

English translation:
The Sideshows at the Foce

Yes, I remember when we used to go to the Foce to see the sideshows, and the charlatan would pull teeth with a pistol shot and the clowns would take the trained chimpanzees by the hand and make them ride bicycles, and the children would go to the puppet theatre, and there was the tamer of carnivorous plants, who fed them a whole kid, or a lamb, to strip clean, and the plants would swallow it in an instant. I remember, yes, the woman with three heads and that other one with a fish’s tail; but mark me well, there was nothing real, never anything real. And if I say so, I know what I’m saying, for once I went behind the scenes, with the complicity of a friend, to see what really went on in there, when there was no show. And I discovered there was nothing real; my friend stealthily opened a door and showed me that in the cages there weren’t chimpanzees, but men, dressed as clowns, wandering frantically here and there, like souls in torment; and it was the chimpanzees who fed them, and if the men were too restless, the apes would even beat them. It was the apes who had trained the men to play clowns and to pretend to be in command, and not the other way round. But the most frightful thing I saw was in the next booth, the puppet theatre; in the big basket, which usually holds the wooden figures when they’re not working, there were the puppeteers, motionless, lifeless, their eyes fixed on emptiness. They were the real puppets, and indeed there was one who had broken an arm and they had to repair him as best they could; he was on a table, and all around him the wooden puppets were doing their utmost to operate on him, so that he would be ready for the evening performance. It is the puppets who make the puppeteers move, and not the other way round. My friend wanted to take me into the other booth as well, the one with the carnivorous plants, but my courage failed me and I never went in.