The humour of Italy; . every morning to hear mass at a church neartheir own house, but at so very early an hour that not eventhe artisans of the city, much less the young gentry ofthe place, were stirring. And there she heard serviceperformed by a priest expressly on her own account,though several other persons might happen to be present,who were in the habit of rising early. HOW SER NASTAGIO WAS COLLECTED FOR. 15 Now among thesewas a certain cornmerchant namedSer Nastagio deRodiotti, a manwho had drivenmany a hard bargainand thriven won-derfully in his trade,but of so devout aturn withal that
The humour of Italy; . every morning to hear mass at a church neartheir own house, but at so very early an hour that not eventhe artisans of the city, much less the young gentry ofthe place, were stirring. And there she heard serviceperformed by a priest expressly on her own account,though several other persons might happen to be present,who were in the habit of rising early. HOW SER NASTAGIO WAS COLLECTED FOR. 15 Now among thesewas a certain cornmerchant namedSer Nastagio deRodiotti, a manwho had drivenmany a hard bargainand thriven won-derfully in his trade,but of so devout aturn withal that hewould not for theworld have madean usurious con-tract, or even specu-lated to any extent,without having firstattended mass. Helost not a singleopportunity ofshowing himself atchurch among theearliest of the con-gregation, and wasready for businessbefore a great por-tion of his fellow-citizens were stir-ring. Now in a shorttime it also reachedthe ears of Faustino,through the goodoffices, it is sup-posed, of the young. I 6 ITALIAN HUMOUR. lady, that High Mass was to be heard every morning at acertain church, with every particular relating to the devoteeswho attended, and the nearest way thither. Rejoiced at thisnews, her lover now resolved to rise somewhat earlier thanhe had been accustomed to do, that he might avail himselfof the same advantage the lady enjoyed, in beginning theday with religious duties. For this purpose he assumed adifferent dress, the better to deceive the eyes of her carefulmother, being perfectly aware that she only made herappearance thus early with her daughter for the sake ofconcealing her from his sight. In this way the young ladyhad the merit of bringing Faustino to church, where theygazed at each other with the utmost devotion, except,indeed, when the unlucky tradesman just mentionedhappened to place himself, as was frequently the case,exactly in their way, so as to interrupt the silent com-munion of souls. And this he did in so vexatious amanner th
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwerneral, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1892
