What I Remember, Volume 2Trollope, Thomas Adolphus
History
What I Remember, Volume 2
Trollope, Thomas Adolphus
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Biography; Trollope, Thomas Adolphus, 1810-1892
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"DEAR MRS. TROLLOPE,--I have been thinking over your observations
about _terno_. I don't give up my translation; but would it not be
literal enough to translate it, 'the bravest three colours'?
[This refers to the rendering of the lottery phrase _terno_ in a
translation by my wife of the _stornello_ of Dall' Ongaro previously
mentioned. In the Italian lottery, ninety numbers, 1-90, are always
put into the wheel. Five only of these are drawn out. The player
bets that a number named by him shall be one of these (_semplice
estratto_); or that it shall be the first drawn (_estratto
determinato_); or that two numbers named by him shall be two of the
five drawn (_ambo_); or that three so named shall be drawn (_terno_).
It will be seen, therefore, that the winner of an _estratto
determinato_, ought, if the play were quite even, to receive ninety
times his stake. But, in fact, such a player would receive only
seventy-five times his stake, the profit of the Government consisting
of this pull of fifteen per ninety against the player. Of course, what
he ought to receive in any of the other cases is easily (not by me,
but by experts) calculable. It will be admitted that the difficulty
of translating the phrase in Dall' Ongaro's little poem, so as to be
intelligible to English readers, was considerable. The letter then
proceeds]:
"I did not start, you will see, direct from Livorno [Leghorn], for
Medici wrote me to join him here. Moreover, the steamer by which I
expected to have gone, did not make the trip, but was sent back to
this city. I will worry you with a letter when anything stirring
occurs. We sail to-night. Part went off last evening--1,500. We go in
three steamers, and shall overtake the others.
"With kind regards to all friends, believe me,
"Yours very faithfully,
"JOHN PEARD."
* * * * *
The remarks contained in the former of the two letters here
transcribed seem to make this a proper place for recording "what I
remember" of Garibaldi.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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