Legends Of Florence Part 23

"_Haec fabula docet_," wrote Flaxius, "a strange lesson. For as it was anciently forbidden to make images, because it was an imitation of G.o.d's work; and secondly, because men believed that spirits would enter into them-even so doth it become all novel-writers, romancers, and poets, to take good heed how they portray satyrs, free-love nymphs, and all such deviltry, because they may be sure that into these models or types there will enter many a youthful soul, who will be led away thereby to madness and ruin. Which is, I take it, the most practical explanation for commandment, which hath been as yet set _coram populo_."

THE RED GOBLIN OF THE BARGELLO

"Lord Foulis in his castle sat, And beside him old Red-cap sly; 'Now tell me, thou sprite, who art mickle of might, The death which I shall die?'"

-SCOTT'S _Border Minstrelsy_.

The Bargello has been truly described as one of the most interesting historical monuments of Florence, and it is a very picturesque type of a towered mediaeval palace. It was partly burned down in 1322, and rebuilt in its present form by Neri di Fioravanti, after which it served as a prison. Restored, or modernised, it is now a museum. As I conjectured, there was some strange legend connected with it, and this was given to me as follows:

IL FOLLETTO ROSSO.

"The Red Goblin is a spirit who haunts the Bargello, or was there of old in the prisons, _nelle carceri_, and he always foretold to every prisoner what his sentence would be before it was p.r.o.nounced.

"He always appeared in the cell of the condemned, and first lighting a candle, showed himself all clad in red, and said to the prisoner:

"'Piangi, piangi, ma piangi forte, E prepararti che e giunta L'ora della tua morte.'

"'Weep, oh weep full many a tear; Make ready; thy hour for death is near.'

"Then if the prisoner replied boldly:

"'Anima chi siei!

Ti preg di volermi aiutare A liberarmi dalla morte!'

"'Spirit, whoe'er thou be, I beg thee now for aid; From death pray set me free!'

Then the goblin would burst into a laugh and say:

"'Non piangere, ridi, ridi!

Ma ride sempre, e spera Che io ti aiutera!'

"But if the prisoner had replied badly, or cursed, or said '_Vai al diavolo_!' or '_Che il diavolo ti porti_!'-then there were heard dreadful sounds, such as frightened all the prisoners and a.s.sistants, and the goblin vanished crying:

"'Woe, woe, and woe to thee!

For thou soon shalt punished be; Away be led, to lose your head, There is no hope for thee!'

"And after that the man might well despair. Yet the Red Goblin was a jolly sprite when not crossed, and made great sport for the prisoners, who all knew him. He went into every cell, and would tell wild tales, and relate to every one all that he, the prisoner, had done since he was a boy, and how he came to be locked up, and what would be the end of it, and told all this with such peals of laughter that the most unhappy were fain to laugh with him.

"Then the a.s.sistants and the director hearing such sounds, thought it was the prisoners rioting, but could not detect them. {161a} And the spirit relieved many innocent men from punishment, and especially visited those condemned to wear the iron collar or _gogna_, which was fastened to a post, but at the Bargello it was on the Campanile outside, in sight of all the people. {161b}

"Now there was a young man in the prison who was good at heart, and deeply repented that he had done wrong, and now feared that he indeed was in the power of Satan, and destined to be in prison for all this life and in _inferno_ all the next.

"And when he was thus sunk in misery one night, he heard him, and was in great alarm, but it said, 'Fear not, for I am the protecting spirit of the prisoners in the Bargello, and have come to free thee; put thy trust in me and I will save thee!'

"Then he told the youth how he was to act, and bade him say certain things when examined, and follow closely all the goblin would whisper to him; but whether it was his fault or his failure, he missed every point and went wrong in his replies, the end being that he was condemned to prison for life. Truly it went to his heart to think that while he lived he should always see the sun looking like a chess-board, {162} and bitterly reflected on the proverb:

"'Ne a torto ne a ragione, Non ti lasciar metter prigione.'

"'Whether you're right or wrong, my man, Keep out of prison as long as you can.'

"But it went most bitterly to his heart to think that he had by his own stupidity and want of study lost the chance of freedom. And for some time the Red Goblin never came near him. But at last the prisoner heard him call, and then the spirit said, 'Now thou see'st to what a pa.s.s thy neglect of my advice has brought thee. Truly _il diavolo non ti tenterebbe_-the devil takes no pains to tempt such a fool as thou, for he knows that he will get him without the trouble of asking. And yet I will give thee one more chance, and this time be thou wide awake and remember that _a buona volonta_, _non manca facolta_-where there's a will there's a way.'

"Now there was a great lord and mighty man of the state who had been in the Bargello, and greatly comforted by the Red Goblin, who now went unto this Signore, speaking so well of the young man that the latter ere long had a new trial. And this time, I warrant you, he studied his case like a lawyer; for _asino punto_, _convien che trotte_-when an a.s.s is goaded he must needs trot-and the end thereof was that he trotted out of prison, and thence into the world, and having learned repentance as well as the art of watching his wits and turning them to account, prospered mightily, and to his dying day never forgot to pray for the Red Goblin of the Bargello."

There have been other spirits which haunted prisons; there was one in the Bastile, and the White Ladies of Berlin and Parma are of their kind.

This of the Bargello is certainly the household sprite with the red cap, in a short shirt, who was very well known to the Etruscans and Romans, and afterwards to the Germans, the _Lutin_ of the French castles, the Robin Goodfellow of England, and the Domovoy of the Russians. His characteristics are reckless good nature mingled with mischief and revenge; but he is always, when not thwarted, at heart a _bon garcon_.

Of the Bargello I have also the following anecdotes or correlative incidents:

GIORGIO.

"Truly I will not swear that this is a story of the Bargello, for I am very particular as to truth, Signore, but I will swear that 'tis of a prison in Florence, and that when it happened the Bargello was the only prison there. And it runs thus: Giorgio, whoever he was, had killed a man, and as the law ran in his case, in those strange days, he could not be executed till he had confessed or owned the deed. And he would not confess.

"Now there was a lawyer, _un notaio_, _ chi che si fosse_ (or whoever he was), who declared that he would bring to pa.s.s with a trick what justice had not been able to do with torture. So going to the prison, he called for wine, and when they had drunk deep he cried heartily:

"'_Orsu_, _Giorgio_, _stiamo un poco allegri_, _cantiam qualche cosa_'-'Come now, Giorgio, let's be merry and sing something!'

"'_Come ti piace_'-'As you please,' quoth Master Giorgio. 'You sing one line.'

"So the notary began, touching a lute:

"'Giorgi ha morto l'huomo.'

"'Giorgio once killed a man.'

"To which Giorgio, who was sharp as a razor, added:

"'Cos non canta Giorgio.'

"'But it was not thus that Giorgio sang.'

"So it pa.s.sed into a proverb, meaning as much as _Cos non dico io_-I don't say that; or _Cos non l'intendo io_-I don't see it in that light.

And so the notary found that you cannot see Verona from the top of every hill.

"And there is another story of a prisoner, who had long curling hair in the old Florentine style. Hair, Signore, like charity, may cover much sin. Now this man, after he had been a while in the Bargello, got his sentence, which was to have his ears cropped off. But when the _boia_ or hangman came to do the job, he found that the man had had his ears cut off smooth long before. Whence came the proverb:

"'Quel che havea mozzi gli orecchi, E'ci sara de gli arreticati.'

"'He whose ears had been cut away, Fooled another, or so they say.'

Which is a proverb to this day, when a man finds that somebody has been before him.

"And it may have been that Donatello, the great sculptor, was in the Bargello when he said, '_E'rise a me ed io riso a lui_'-'He laughs at me, and I do laugh at him.' Donatello was _in quistione_, or in trouble with the law, and in prison, for having killed one of his pupils. The Marquis di Ferrara asked him if he was guilty. But Donatello had already received from the Marquis a license to slay any one in self-defence, and so he made that answer."

A LEGEND OF THE BARGELLO.