She manages all right, except that she
always jumps E and L. Lesson closed: "Were you at church to-day,
Filomena?" "No, I have nothing to confess." "Did you go to church last
Sunday?" "No, I have not been for six weeks now. I have committed no
sin. What wrong do I do? I have no love affair, nothing." "What used you
to confess?" "A few bad words, which had slipped out. Now I do nothing
wrong." "But one can go wrong, without committing any sin, when one is
high-minded, for instance." "I am not high-minded. If you, on the other
hand, were to imagine yourself better than the friends who come to visit
you, that would be quite natural; for you are better."
* * * * *
The day has been long. This evening the girl had errands to do for me.
She came in here after her Sunday walk in the Campagna. I said: "Shall
we read?" (Just then a band of young people passed along the street with
a harmonica and a lot of castanets, and commenced a song in honour of
Garibaldi. With all its simplicity, it sounded unspeakably affecting; I
was quite softened.) She replied: "With pleasure." I thought to myself:
"Now to see whether she remembers a word of what I said to her
yesterday." But she went on at once: "Signore, I have been industrious."
She had bought herself an ABC and had taught herself alone not only all
the large letters, but also all the little ones, and had learnt them all
off by heart as well.
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