The Oil Jar and Other Stories (11 page)
“And meanwhile,” she concludes with a sigh that on her lips assumes the form of a sweet, very sad smile, “meanwhile my poor daughter has to pretend she's not herself but someone else; and I am also obliged to pretend I'm crazy to believe my daughter is still alive. It doesn't cost me much, thank God, because my daughter is there, well and full of life; I see her, I speak to her; but I'm condemned not to be able to live with her, and also to see her and speak to her only from a distance, so that he can keep on believing, or pretending to believe, that my daughter, God forbid, is dead and the woman he has with him is a second wife. But I say once more, what's the difference if, on these terms, we have succeeded in restoring peace of mind to both of them? I know that my daughter is adored, contented; I see her; I speak to her; and I resign myself, out of love for her and for him; to live this way and even to be considered a madwoman, madamâpatience! ... ”
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I ask you, don't you think that things are at such a pass in Valdana that we all go around with open mouths, looking each other in the eye, like lunatics? Who of the two is to be believed? Who is the crazy one? Where is the reality, where the illusion?
Mr. Ponza's wife would be able to tell us. But there's no trusting her when, in his presence, she says she is the second wife; just as there's no trusting her when, in Mrs. Frola's presence, she confirms the statement that she's her daughter. It would be necessary to take her aside and make her tell the truth privately. But that's impossible. Mr. Ponzaâwhether or not he's the crazy oneâis really very jealous and doesn't let anybody see his wife. He keeps her up there, as if in prison, under lock and key; and without a doubt this fact is in Mrs. Frola's favor; but Mr. Ponza says he is compelled to do this, in fact that his wife herself makes him do it, for fear that Mrs. Frola will unexpectedly come into the house. That may be an excuse. But it's also a fact that Mr. Ponza doesn't even have one maid in the house. He says he does it to save money, obliged as he is to pay rent on two apartments; and in the meantime he himself assumes the burden of doing the daily marketing; and his wife, who according to her own statements is not Mrs. Frola's daughter, out of pity for herâthat is, for a poor old woman who was formerly her husband's mother-in-lawâalso takes it upon herself to attend to all the household chores, even the most humble, doing without the aid of a servant. It seems a bit much to everybody. But it's also true that if this state of affairs can't be explained by pity, it can be explained by his jealousy.
Meanwhile, the governor of Valdana has been satisfied with Mr. Ponza's declaration. But surely the latter's appearance and in large part his conduct do not speak in his favor, at least for the ladies of Valdana, who are all more inclined to give credence to Mrs. Frola. Indeed, that lady comes solicitously to show them the loving notes that her daughter sends down to her in the little basket, as well as many other private documents, the credibility of which, however, is totally denied by Mr. Ponza, who says that they were delivered to her to bolster the pious deception.
One thing is certain anyway: that both of them manifest a marvelous, deeply moving spirit of sacrifice for each other; and that each of them has the most exquisitely compassionate consideration for the presumed madness of the other. Both of them state their case with wonderful rationality; so that it would never have occurred to anyone in Valdana to say that either of them was crazy, if they hadn't said it themselves: Mr. Ponza about Mrs. Frola, and Mrs. Frola about Mr. Ponza.
Mrs. Frola often goes to see her son-in-law at the governor's office to get some advice from him, or waits for him when he comes out so he can accompany her to do some shopping; and very often, for his part, in his free time and every evening Mr. Ponza goes to visit Mrs. Frola in her little furnished flat; and every time they accidentally run into each other in the street they immediately continue on together with the greatest cordiality; he lets her walk on the right and, if she's tired, he offers his arm, and so they go off together, amid the sullen anger, amazement and dismay of the people who study them, scrutinize them, spy on them, butâno use!âcannot yet in any way manage to understand which of the two is the crazy one, where the illusion is, where the reality.
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“Uncle” and “aunt” were respectful terms of address in rural speech, for people older than the speaker but of the same social class.
The night, contractually set aside, on which a member of a dramatic or operatic troupe would perform his or her specialties and share in the box-office take.
A term of respect for a landowner, nobleman or other prominent member of society in Sicily.
Onza
, or
oncia,
an old Sicilian monetary unit.
That is, planted by the former Arab occupants of Sicily.
A pun: literally, “in the cool” (that is, out of the heat of the sun); humorously, “in jail.”
Member of an order of chivalry.
Toti is a
professore ordinario
in a
liceo.
A
liceo
corresponds more or less to an American high school, but even high-school teachers are addressed as “Professore” in Italy. At a university a
professore ordinario
would be a “full professor”; here it has been rendered as “permanent-staff teacher.”
“Musica vecchia,” first published in 1910.
A character in
I promessi sposi
(The Betrothed), the great early nineteenth-century novel by Alessandro Manzoni.
Using different terms, Fofo and Blackie are “wheelers” and the other two horses are “leaders.”
Prefetto
, chief officer of a
provincia
(Italy is divided into “provinces” administratively).
