" Or else there will be a triumphal
entry into my room, with a full water-can in her hand, one of the very
large ones that are used here. "What is that, Filomena? What am I to do
with that?" "Look, sir, it is full." "Well, what of that?" "It is the
waiter's water-can; it has been standing there full for ten days
(scornfully): he is afraid of water; he only uses it for his coffee."
She has forgotten how few months it is since she herself was afraid of
water.
She came in while I was eating my supper, and remarked: "You always read
at your meals; how can you eat and read at the same time? I do not know
what reading is like, but I thought it was more difficult than that. It
is a great misfortune for me that I can neither read nor write.
Supposing I were to be ill like you, how should I pass away the time!
There was no school at Camarino, where I was born, and I lived in the
country till I was eighteen, and learnt nothing at all. We were nine
brothers and sisters; there was seldom any food in the house; sometimes
we worked; sometimes we lay on the ground. It is unfortunate that I
cannot read, for I am not at all beautiful; if I could only do
something, I should be able to get a husband."
"Don't you know any of the letters, Filomena?"
"No, sir." "Don't trouble about that. You are happier than I, who know a
great deal more than you.
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