Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-01-10
wAKEMAN's wANDERlNGs.


ADOut tnc year fSV, NJ tnt uhNu "
The golden age ia Italy, there were
daily gathered ut the table Of the chief
citizen OF Florence such men rs Pulci,
Filipino Lippi Botticelli, Ghirlandajo
and Michael Angelo. The host, whose
wealth md natchlcss attainments
made him known among the potcn.
tatcs and savants Of southern Europe
~ "Lorcnro, the Magnificent" wrote
u pastoral poem Of wondrous sweetness
and power called ola Nencia Da Bar
barino." l was once In n position (bc-
ing an editor, worse luckl) TO have this
llttlc.known though surprising compo-
rltion translated for the flrst time Into
EnglIsh, In the original metre, by no
less scholar and poet than Sir Edwin
Arnold. The poem comprising 800
lines, depicts In simple though glowing
words and imaginary the hopeless and
consuming passion Of the shepherd
lad, "Ravella,v for u dainty peasant
glrl, "Ncncla." Onc cannot read this
lowly.life hcart-cry without the
awakening In his own soul OF n thrill.
irg and commis-cratlvc tenderness for
the humble lives 1t ~ plaintively 70.
vsals; and II wns with this feeling
that sought, perhaps over-much for
the poetic and romantic side Of the
picture, 10 know the real everyday
lives Of those who tend the fiocks and
herds Of Italy.
My first wandcrings were In southern
Italy, the territory Of olden Apulla.
Once this was part Of Gnccia Magma.
It's great cities were Arpinum,
IuccrIa, Arpi and Canusium. Partly
sn foot, partly by the antique
cabriolct of provincial Italy,
partly by lettIgn, the lectia Of the an.
client Romans, and partly on the backs
Of tiny donkcys ~ wondrous shnggi'
ne~s and marvellous power, | made my
way In n zig. gag course back aud forth
across the infrcqucntiy travelled, little
known, weird and lonely, yet always
trnnscendnntly beautiful and hucinht.
ing peninsula. Upwards Of 200 castles,
modern, medlnval and In ruins, rtrik.
ipgly recalling the splcndor and decay
Of Ireland, were counted. The few
remaining relies Of Canine, where the
Romans met their crushing defeat OF
u. q. ZIG, and where the historic city
was finally destroyed, In 1858, by Rob.
ert Guiscari, one Of Tasno's heroes,
sere found. Bnri, upon the Adriatic
" famous now for Ia fish M In the tim,
N Horace, WINS seen. The ancient
abbey and church OF s. Nlccolo,
where are found the painting
Of one OF tho earliest Italian
masters, Vivarini, and wherc
III zoos, Pope Urban II. held the faniou
council which sought 10 reconcile thu
church Of Greece with that u Rome
was visited. climb past Meln, with
iis glorious castlo Of the old Norman
sovercigns, 10 the extinct volcano
Monte Vuiturc, tho "Apulian Vuitur'
Of Horace, whose crater, overgrowr
with oaks aud bsechc-, now containi
two lakes, pcrched above one NJ which
Ii the most ccric monastery u Europe
possibly excepting Monserrat, In spain
and from whose towers the blue water
Of tho Mediterranean ON tho wcst, and
those Of tho Adriatlc ON the east
could 10 discerncd. trampcd, too
with hundreds OF returning pilgrims
camping with them ut night by III,
waysIde; sat with the carrcttnJo IN hi,
cart aud OK waited by the fountains;
climbed 10 the shrines with feycrcntial
pilgrims; waited by the mountain
blocks with roadside beggaf-; mad,
countless aud astounding excuses u
yet Into the Interior u cabins FOL
dmughtH Of acqua III latte and mania,
butter-milk aud orange water,
which you eau get everywhere In the
country for the value Of half an Amcri.
can cent; stIagglcd from town 10 noun.
tain with tho pecoro aud his ilocks;
assisted moro than onr shepherd Ia
buildingA rude hut OF stone, after the
manner of the Pagan "bee.hivc" coll
upon windswcpt moon, aud after
making my home for "a brief season
among the shepherds VI the eastern
mountain range of OtrantO, followed
IN foot, the classic Applnn Way 20 the
shepherd hauntH " the olive aud vine.
girt hills Of Tuscany. shepherds,
shepherds everywhere; but nowhere
was the dream Of sh.pheri.llfc breath
Ing from Ella Nencla," ~ the altar
from the henri Of u rose, fulfilled.
One Of th- ost interesting facts ~.
sarding the shepherds OF southern
Italy II that they ar, not only u dis.
unct class, but, through holding them.
selves aloof from all other peasant
classes, are almost distinct race. In
ancient times all this country was sub.
Iect 10 scourglng depreda,ions
by tho Saracens, to an extent r..
qulring that people should herd 10.
g.ther In walled towns for protection
" life aud property. Then nearly the
entire population Of old Apulla were
shepherds. They drove their herds
from the towns TO the mountains, re-
turning for safety Mt night. The
descendants Of these IN direct line
for more than two thousand years are
doing that identical thing todny, not
Tor safety but from traIitionary Gus.
tom. All those who exist In southern
Italy today who are not shepherds,
goat-herds or hefdsmcn, form the pop.
ulatlon OF cities and towns aud com.
prise the coutndini or field laboer;
anu lhe ancestors Of all these may he
said 10 have gradually grown away
from the shepherdis Ille, rather linn
ohAt the shepherds OF our time are a
product Of new forms Of rural econom.
ic necessities. They rarely inter.
marry with other classes. When
Ihey do, they instantly depart
from the ilOcks, are Absorbed In
lower orders " the cities, or
become the most desperately hopeless
OF the human cattle that labor In the
hells' The pride In their own descent,
IN the eNclusiveuess Of their class, In
the long line Of shepherd ancestry they
can lnIce, amounts almost 10 passion.
It's practically the one pride they pos.
sess. Thi. isolation u blood and int.
rest has preserved interesting traces In
physiognDmy. They are wonderfully
Saracenic In their look. Tho tail,
slender, supple figure, the oval face
aud shining skin, the neck, tiny Mt the
tAroat, spreading quickly and heavily