San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-18
A STUDY IN THRIFT.

Ientini, stretched out there like space of
dead sea, and the sere stubble of the Plain
of Catania, and the orange trees, always
green, of Francofonte, and the gray cork
trees of Resecone, and the lonely meadows
of Passaneto and Passinatello-if he should
ssk, in order to divert himself from the
WEAKNESS of the long dusty road, under
the sky hazy with heat, at the hour when
the bells of the litter ring sadly in the i'm
mense country and the mules hang their
heads and their tails, and the driver of the
litter sings his melancholy song in order
not to let himself be overcome by the sleep
of the malaria, "Whose is this land2"
would have the answer: -
"Mazzaro's."
And passing near farm as large as a
town, with storehouses that seem like
churches, and hens in fiocks sitting in the
shade by the well, and women screening
their eyes with their hands to see who was
going by, "And this?"
"Mazzaro's."
And on and on, while the malaria
weighed upon your eyelids, and the bark
ing of dog aroused you suddenly, passing
by vineyard that was endless and spread
over hill and plain, motionless, as if the
dust lay heavy on it, and the keeper of the
vineyard, stretched face downward upon
his gun, raised his drowsy head and opened
one eye to see who it might be:
'Mazzaro's."
Then came an olive grove thick as a
wood where the grass never sprouted and
the harvest lasted until March. They were
the olive trees of Mazzaro. And toward
evening, when the sun was setting as red
as fire and the country was yelled with
sadness, there were met the long lines of
the ploughs of Mazzaro going slowly home
ward from the field, and the oxen wading
the ford heavily with their muzzles in the
dark water; and there were seen in the
distant pastures of the Cambria, on the
rough slope, the immense whitish patches
which were the hocks of MazZaro; and
there was heard the shepherds whistle
echoing in the gorges, and the bell now
ringing and now silent, and lonely song
lost in the valley.
All property of Mazzaro.
1t seemed as if Mazzaro owned even the
setting sun, and the chirping locusts, and
the birds that went with short flights to
hide behind the burrows, and the cry of the
horned owl in the woods. 1t seemed as if
Mazzaro were spread out all over the earth,
and one walked over his body. Instead of
that he was an ugly little man, said the
driver of the litter, that you would not
give penny to look at; he had nothing
large about him but his paunch, and no
one knew how he filled it, for he ate moth
ing; the truth was he was rich as hog,
but he had a head that was a jewel, that
man.
Indeed with his jewel of a head he had
accumulated all those possessions where
formerly he used to come to dig or prune
or reap, from morning to night, in the sun,
the rain, the wind, without shoes to his
feet or rag of an overcoat; everybody re-
membered having given him kicks behind,
the same persons who now called him
your eXcellency" and spoke to him with
cap in hand But not for this had he
grown proud, now that all the excellencies
of the place were his debtors; and he said
that "eXcellency" means poor fellow and
bad payer. He still wore a cap, only it was
of black silk, it was his only grandeur,
and latterly he had even come to put on a
felt hat, because it cost less than the silk
cap. He had possessions as far as he could
see, and he was long sighted-everywher
to right and left, before and behind, on
mountain and plain.
More than five thousand mouths, with
out counting the birds of the sky and the
animals of the earth, that ate upon his
land, and without counting his own mouth,
that ate less than any; he was contented
with twopence worth of bread and bit OF
cheese, swallowed in hurry and haste,
standing, in a corner of the storehouse
4. H. ~ ,I f.,,
the grain, so that one could not see, while
the peasants emptied the sacks; or on top
of straw stack, when the wind swept over
the frozen country, at sowing time, or with
his head inside basket in the hot days of
harvest He did not drink wine, he did
not smoke or use tobacco, although his
plantations along the riverside produced
tobacco with large leaves as tall as boy,
such as sells at ninety-fve lire. He never
had had any womani to support but his
mother, who had cost him twelve tart eX-
ira, when he was Obliged to have her car
ried to the graveyard.
1t was that he had thought and thought,
again and again, what property means,
when he went without shoes to work on
the land that was NOW his own; and he had
experienced what it is to earn three tart a
day, in the month of July, to keep the back
bent for fourteen hours, with the overseer
on horseback after you, that takes you with
his whip if you straighten up for mo-
ment. For this he had not let pass a
minute of his life that was not employed in
getting riches, and now his plOws were
numerous as the long line of crows that
arrive in November, and ether lines of
mules, that seemed endless, carried seed for
sowing. The women who crouched in the
mud from October to March to gather his
olives were countless, as countless as the
magpies that came to steal the olives; and
at the time of the vintage whole villages
gathered about his vines, and as far as
singing was heard, in the country, it was