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Rollo in Naples

Rollo in Naples

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Chapter 1 No.1

Word Count: 4781    |    Released on: 06/12/2017

Vett

country. There are very few railroads there; and though there are stage coaches on all the principal routes, comparatively few people, except the inha

ura, which means a travelling carriage, and it denotes the man that owns the carriage, and drives it wherever the party that employs him wishes to go.

on long journeys, wherever they wish to go. Our word coachman does not express the idea at all. A coachman is a man employed by the owner of a carriage simply to drive it; whereas the vetturino is the proprietor of his esta

m Florence to Rome, or from Rome to Venice, or to Naples, the vetturino determines the length of each day's journey; he chooses the hotels where to stop, both at noon and for the night; he attends to the passports in passing the frontiers, and also to the examination of the baggage at the custom houses; and on arriving at the hotels he orders what the travellers require, and settles the bill the next morning. For all this the travellers pay him one round sum, which includes

ng through the middle of it, and ancient stone bridges leading across the river from side to side. The town is filled with magnificent churches and palaces, built, some of them, a thousand years ago, and all so richly adorned with sculptures, paintings, bronzes, and mosaics, that the w

jug or jar of earthen ware, with a handle passing over across the top, by which they carry it about. They fill these jars half full of hot embers, and so carry them with them where

g themselves warm all the time with these little fire jars; and artists in the palaces and picture galleries, each with one of them by

ing embers. The way they do it is this: they hang the jar in the inside of a sort of wooden cage, shaped like a bushel basket, and about as large. They turn this cage upside down, and hang the jar up in it by means of a hook depending inside. They turn down the

on account of the paintings or statues,-for he did not care much about such things,-but because he liked to go any where where he could see new places, and be entertained by new scenes. Accordingly, while Mr. George was at work in the galleries of Fl

, docks for the storage of merchandise, houses and stores in cities, to let for the sake of the rent, and country seats, or pretty private residences of various kinds, for themselves. But in the middle ages very little could be done in the way of investments like these. There were no railroads, and there was very little use for ships. There was no profit to be gained by building houses and stores, for there were

they contained, was regarded as sacrilege; and sacrilege they deemed a dreadful crime, abhorred by God and man. Thus, while they would burn and destroy hundreds of dwellings without any remorse, and turn the wretched inmates out at midnight into the streets to die of exposure, terror, and despair, they would stop at once when they came to the church, afr

ur Jesus Christ, it must be a greater sin to burn down the cottage of a poor widow, and turn her

he great cities and towns of Europe, were made for churches. Sometimes these churches were so large that they were several hundred years in building. One generation would begin, another w

ey are so profusely adorned with altars, chapels, crucifixes, paintings, vessels of gold and silver, and with sculp

and others in the transepts, and in various little chapels opening here and there from the transepts and the aisles; and so extensive and vast is the interior th

orge and Rollo were now staying. There is a representation of it on the next page, which will

ide, and almost as high as it is wide. It is more than a hundred and thirty feet high, which is enough for twelve or fifteen stories of a good-sized house. And this is the dome alone. The whole height of the church, from the

of so lofty a building. But he insisted that it was not impossible. He could not only build the dome at that height, but he could first build an octagonal lantern, he said, on the top of the church, and then build the dome upon that, which would car

his is the bell tower. There are six bells in it. It was designed to have a sp

H AT FL

different colored marbles, and the four walls of it, on the outside, are so profusely adorned with sculptures, statue

bell tower. The engraving does not show us the length of the edifice at all, except so far as we gain an idea of it by the long processi

ortal honor. After his death a statue of him was made, and placed in a niche in the wall of the houses on one side of the square, opposite the dome. He is represented as sitting

ust return

the streets and squares, while Mr. George spent his time chiefly in the churches, and in the galleries of painting and sculpture, studying the works of art. One morning after breakfast, Mr. George was going

is it going to take for you to study these

years," sai

llo; "I have seen as much of t

n one of them yet

of them!" re

f them," repli

at you mean by t

or other," said Mr. George, "when you

ready to go on towards Naples. I'd rather see Mount Vesuvius than all the paintings in the worl

settled," said Mr. Georg

e ways than on

but there is a seaport on the coast for each city. So we can go from here to Leghorn, which is the seaport for Florence, by the railroad, and ther

ike that best of all. There are a r

Mr. George, "is, we can

st," said Rollo; "they keep the hors

r. George, "if we choose

dge. They ask me almost, every day, when I go by, whether I want a carriage. 'Wa

the peculiar intonations with which they spoke, in quite

. George, "tho

th a vetturino. We ride along so pleasantly day after day, and go through all the t

lty. We are only two, and the carriages of the ve

they go for two

then the men must have full price for their carriage

," asked Rollo, "when th

t want to go," replied Mr. George, "and ma

e do that?"

any body here,"

s silent, and walked along, thinking what it was bes

vetturinos if they have n

tturino, in Italian," said Mr.

Italian," said Rollo; "

said Mr.

e is a very ancient one, and is quite a curiosity, as it is built massively of stone, and is lined with a row of shops on each side, so that in passing over it you would thin

mous, and great numbers of these mosaics, as well as various other kinds of jewelry, are exposed to view in little show cases

d to stop, and look at the mosaics, and

frock, and with a sort of woollen comforter of bright colors about his neck, came up to him, and asked him in French wheth

we do," said he. "Hav

have got a large and very nice ca

re only two in our party, and a large carria

tturino. "You see I'm a return, and I will take yo

much?" as

rino, "for a full party; but as you are only two, I will

little," s

ollo concluded to make an appointment with him to com

ely after dinn

e?" asked th

x," said Rollo, "and uncle Ge

e at eight," sai

ad an open and intelligent countenance, and his air and bearing were such as to give Rollo the idea that he was a very g

ening, a short time before dinner

uld not be surprised if we should be able to fi

en spending the day, he had met with a lady of his acquaintance who was travelling with two children

en girls or boy

e other is a boy," said Mr. G

?" aske

rge. "She has had a fever, but now she is

ather a sentimenta

osie, sometimes,

aid Rollo, "but not much. A

said Mr.

ther to see it. It was in a stable near by. Mr. George and Rollo were both well pleased with the carriage. It had four seats inside, like an ordinary coach. Besides these

B] The place outside, under the chaise top, is call

two seats there entirely open. In the same manner the top of th

we want," said Rollo, "if Mrs. Gray w

out that," sa

rty should conclude to hire the carriage; and after ascertaining precisely what they were, he told Vittorio that he would decide the next morn

e?" asked Rollo, as they walked al

terms and conditions I can make wi

t you think she will be w

s she is willing to pay the whole,

t her pay the who

er pay her share, which will be just two thirds,

ur sixths," said Rollo, "and t

" said Mr

s all settled

orm a plan for travelling together in the same carriage for many days, it is necessary to have a very

el!" repe

ate their friendship for each other is before they se

urious,"

; but before long each begins to think that the other assumes too much of the direction. Mrs. A. thinks that Mrs. B. keeps the carriage too much shut up, or that she always manages to have the best seat; and Mrs. B. thinks that Mrs

way they act?

n very brightly, but ended in heart-burnings, miffs, and all sorts of troubles. The only way to prevent this is to have a very

eement," said Rollo. "She'll say, 'La,

go with her,"

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