Pencillings by the Way: Written During Some Years of Residence and Travel in EuropeWillis, Nathaniel Parker
General
Pencillings by the Way: Written During Some Years of Residence and Travel in Europe
Willis, Nathaniel Parker
Europe -- Description and travel
It is Sunday, and the morning has been of a heavenly, summer, sunny
calmness, such as is seen often in Italy, and once in a year, perhaps,
in New England. It is a kind of atmosphere, that, to breathe is to be
grateful and happy. We have been to the Armenian island--a little gem
on the bosom of the Lagune, a mile from Venice, where stands the
monastery, to which place Lord Byron went daily to study and translate
with the fathers. There is just room upon it for a church, a convent,
and a little garden. It looks afloat on the water. Our gondola glided
up to the clean stone stairs, and we were received by one of the
order, a hale but venerable looking monk, in the Armenian dress, the
long black cassock and small round cap, his beard long and scattered
with gray, and his complexion and eyes of a cheerful, child-like
clearness, such as regular and simple habits alone can give. I
inquired, as we walked through the cloister, for the father with whom
Lord Byron studied, and of whom the poet speaks so often and so highly
in his letters. The monk smiled and bowed modestly, and related a
little incident that had happened to him at Padua, where he had met
two American travellers, who had asked him of himself in the same
manner. He had forgotten their names, but from his description I
presumed one to have been Professor Longfellow, of Bowdoin University.
The stillness and cleanliness about the convent, as we passed through
the cloisters and halls, rendered the impression upon a stranger
delightful. We passed the small garden, in which grew a stately
oleander in full blossom, and thousands of smaller flowers, in neat
beds and vases, and after walking through the church, a plain and
pretty one, we came to the library, where the monk had studied with
the poet. It is a proper place for study--disturbed by nothing but the
dash of oars from a passing gondola, or the screams of a sea-bird, and
well furnished with books in every language, and very luxurious
chairs. The monk showed us an encyclopædia, presented to himself by an
English lady of rank, who had visited the convent often. His handsome
eyes flashed as he pointed to it on the shelves. We went next into a
smaller room, where the more precious manuscripts are deposited, and
he showed us curious illuminated copies of the Bible, and gave us the
stranger's book to inscribe our names. Byron had scrawled his there
before us, and the Empress Maria Louisa had written hers twice on
separate visits. The monk then brought us a volume of prayers, in
twenty-five languages, translated by himself. We bought copies, and
upon some remark of one of the ladies upon his acquirements, he ran
from one language to another, speaking English, French, Italian,
German, and Dutch, with equal facility. His English was quite
wonderful; and a lady from Rotterdam, who was with us, pronounced his
Dutch and German excellent. We then bought small histories of the
order, written by an English gentleman, who had studied at the island,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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