“I am a shadow now, alas! alas! Upon the skirts of human nature dwelling Alone. I chant alone the holy mass, While little signs of life are round me kneeling, And glossy bees at noon do fieldward pass, And many a chapel bell the hour is telling, Paining me through: those sounds grow strange to me, And thou art distant in Humanity!” THE MYSTERIOUS FIG-TREE A LEGEND OF THE VIA DEL FICO “In every plant lie marvellous mysteries, In every flower there is a dream divine; The fig-tree bears the measure of a life, And, as it leaves or fruits, our lives do pass, And all things in each other subtly blend.” “Ha chiappato il fico—_ficum capit_.”—_Old Proverbs_. “Quidam itidem medium digitum ostendunt, idque in Hispania adhuc dicitur fieri, et FICA appellator, hic illudendi actus, de quo Eryc. Puteanus, _loc. cit._, p. 70.”—_Curiosus Amuletorum Spectator_, D. Wolf, 1692. The following tale is, for reasons which I will subsequently explain, one of the most remarkable which I have collected: LA VIA DEL FICO. “There stood formerly in the Via del Fico a very ancient palace with a garden, in which there grew a fig-tree which was said to have grown of itself, or without ever having been planted. This tree bore much fruit of great beauty. “But however proud the owner of the tree was of its beauty, or however much he might desire to have its fruit, something always strangely occurred to prevent its being enjoyed. For when any one was about to pluck it, there suddenly appeared a great black dog, who, seizing men or women by their garments, dragged them away, beginning to howl and bay. {205} And then they hurried away and let the figs alone, in order to make the dog cease his terrible unearthly baying; for it is believed to be an omen of death when a dog utters such sounds, it being such a presage of disaster as when a _civetta_ or small owl hoots on the roof. “However, it sometimes happened that the dog did not come, but those who took and ate the figs fared just as badly all the same. For they soon began to feel ill and suffer dire pains, and when they had gone into their bedrooms and laid down, there always entered a beautiful girl clad in white, who began to whirl round (_a girarsi_) or spin, making all the time a great buzzing sound, until horror came over them, which when she perceived, she vanished. “And many tried also to lop off boughs from the fig-tree, but they were found the second night replaced by a perfect new growth with fully ripe fruit. And it was not the least marvel of the tree that it was always in full leaf, with abundance of ripe figs on it, even in winter, when there was snow on the ground. “One day men digging in the garden found a tablet of stone or metal on which was inscribed: “‘Il fico rispettate E non la toccate,’ E non cercate Neppure mangiarne.’