The Call of the Blood - Page 176/317

Something like this Maurice thought for a moment, ere a large

thoughtlessness swept over him, bred of the sun and the odors, the

movement, the cries and laughter of his companions, the gay gown and the

happy glances of Maddalena, even of the white dust that whirled up from

the feet of the cantering donkeys.

And so, ever laughing, ever joking, gayly, almost tumultuously, they

rushed upon the fair.

San Felice is a large village in the plain at the foot of Etna. It lies

near the sea between Catania and Messina, but beyond the black and

forbidding lava land. Its patron saint, Protettore di San Felice, is

Sant' Onofrio, and this was his festival. In the large, old church in the

square, which was the centre of the life of the fiera, his image,

smothered in paint, sumptuously decorated with red and gold and bunches

of artificial flowers, was exposed under a canopy with pillars; and thin

squares of paper reproducing its formal charms--the oval face with large

eyes and small, straight nose, the ample forehead, crowned with hair that

was brought down to a point in the centre, the undulating, divided beard

descending upon the breast, one hand holding a book, the other upraised

in a blessing--were sold for a soldo to all who would buy them.

The first thing the party from Isola Bella and from Marechiaro did, when

they had stabled their donkeys at Don Leontini's, in the Via Bocca di

Leone, was to pay the visit of etiquette to Sant' Onofrio. Their laughter

was stilled at the church doorway, through which women and men draped in

shawls, lads and little children, were coming and going. Their faces

assumed expressions of superstitious reverence and devotion. And, going

up one by one to the large image of the saint, they contemplated it with

awe, touched its hand or the hem of its robe, made the sign of the cross,

and retreated, feeling that they were blessed for the day.

Maddalena approached the saint with Maurice and Gaspare. She and Gaspare

touched the hand that held the book, made the sign of the cross, then

stared at Maurice to see why he did nothing. He quickly followed their

example. Maddalena, who was pulling some of the roses from her tight

bouquet, whispered to him: "Sant' Onofrio will bring us good-fortune."

"Davvero?" he whispered back.

"Si! Si!" said Gaspare, nodding his head.

While Maddalena laid her flowers upon the lap of the saint, Gaspare

bought from a boy three sheets of paper containing Sant' Onofrio's

reproduction, and three more showing the effigies of San Filadelfo, Sant'

Alfio, and San Cirino.