As to breeding, we English should certainly say there was an excess of
familiarity. Everybody puts his arm on your shoulder, pats you on the
back, and calls you by your Christian name. I am "Giacomo" to a host of
fellows I don't know by name; and "Gemess" to a select few, who
pride themselves on speaking English. At all events, Bob, there is no
constraint,--no reserve amongst them. You are at your ease at once, and
good fellowship is the order of the day.
As to the women, they have a half-shy, half-confident look, that puzzles
one sadly. They 'll stand a stare from you most unblushingly; they think
it's all very right and very reasonable that you should look at them as
long and as fixedly as you would do at a Baffaelle in the Gallery: but
with all that, there is a great real delicacy of deportment, and those
coram-publico preferences which are occasionally exhibited in England,
and even in France, are never seen in Italian society. As to good looks,
there is an abundance, but of a character which an Englishman at first
will scarcely accept as beauty. They are rarely handsome by feature,
but frequently beautiful by expression. There is, besides, a graceful
languor, a tender Cleopatra-like voluptuousness in their air that
distinguishes them from other women; and I have no doubt that any
one who has lived long in Italy would pronounce French smartness
and coquetry the very essence of vulgarity. They cannot dress like a
Parisian, nor waltz like a Wienerin; but, to my thinking, they are far
more captivating than either. I am already in love with four, and I have
just heard of a fifth, that I am sure will set me downright distracted.
There 's one thing I like especially in them; and I own to you, Bob, it
would compensate to me for any amount of defects, which I believe do not
pertain to them. It is this: they have no accomplishments,--they neither
murder Rossini, nor mar Salvator Rosa; they are not educated to torment
society, poison social intercourse, and push politeness to its last
entrenchment. You are not called on for silence while they scream, nor
for praise when they paint. They do not convert a drawing-room into a
boarding-school on examination-day, and they are satisfied to charm you
by fascinations that cost you no compromise to admire.
After all, I believe we English are the only people that adopt the other
plan. We take a commercial view of the matter, and having invested so
much of our money in accomplishment, we like to show our friends that we
have made a good speculation. For myself, I 'd as soon be married to a
musical snuff-box or a daguerreotype machine as to a "well-brought-up
English girl," who had always the benefit of the best masters in music
and drawing. The fourth-rate artist in anything is better than the
first-rate amateur; and I 'd just as soon wear home-made shoes as listen
to home-made music.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account