Il Drago by Luigi Capuana Part 7: Ruminations of a Dragon
March 18, 2019/
In this seventh instalment of Luigi Capuana’s Il Drago, in translation, we continue to follow the story of Don Paolo, Giovanna and Lisa and we learn Don Paolo’s fears.
Il Drago Part 7: Ruminations of a Dragon
by Luigi Capuana, translation Michael Curtotti
He had put them to bed and then proceeded to bed himself, after first checking on the donkey. And (so that the children would not be exhausted) he had re-washed the pots and pans himself.
But he could not sleep. In his mind he was before the judge; ruminating on what he would say to him. He spoke aloud, almost as if the judge stood before him; and Don Paolo was debating with him. He paused at the possibility that the law might hold him in the wrong. In fact, she was their guardian, their only living relative …
“Well, what kind of law is that! To hell with it,” he grumbled, and became angry with himself.
What was he thinking mixing himself up with these troubles? What was it to him? Were they his children? The law wants them to go back to the Witch? Well let her have them!
So he grumbled; but the ache grew stronger in his heart.
Since they had been with him in his home, he no longer thought of them as strangers. He himself, his house, all — had sprung back to life, with the arrival of the two children. More than ever now, they seemed to him the spitting images of his dead daughters. If the law took them from him, it would be the end of him.
“So you want to kill me, Your Worship? So you want to throw those two poor children in the street?”
No, he would appeal. If the judge committed such an injustice, he would shout it across Sicily. There was no one in the world that could get the best of Don Paolo, not one. And if the Witch won, she would certainly have bested him. No! It could not be!
Tomorrow, before going before the judge, he would visit the lawyer. The orphans are mine now; they are my children: Lisa and Giovanna! You’d like me to die of a broken heart, Lord Judge? And he got up from bed to kiss the children, who were already asleep.
(The Old Dragon: Il Drago is now available in English translation as a paperback and ebook)
Image
Domenico Morrelli (Neapolitan painter 1823-1901). Extract from self-portrait.
In this third instalment of Il Drago by Luigi Capuana we learn how Don Paolo became "Dragone". Who is this fearsome old man who chased the children away when they begged in the streets? And took them in, in what all said was a miracle? And how was it that the Dragone was unmade? The Making and Unmaking of Don Paolo Dragone…
In this fifth instalment of Il Drago, Don Paolo comes back to life. After the unexpected battle between the Old Dragon and the Witch, the children's old lives with her have been swept away. Don Paolo's long dead daughters, Lisa and Giovanna, have risen from the grave. And the Old Dragon has much to do. The previous instalments of Il Drago…
In this fifth instalment of Il Drago, Don Paolo comes back to life. After the unexpected battle between the Old Dragon and the Witch, the children's old lives with her have been swept away. Don Paolo's long dead daughters, Lisa and Giovanna, have risen from the grave. And the Old Dragon has much to do. The previous instalments of Il Drago…
Luigi Capuana was a nineteenth century writer. His work, The Old Dragon (Il Drago), although an apparently light children's story, carries a poignant loss and search for redemption. In a strange way the story is a "might have been" of Luigi Capuana's life and of the children he never admitted as his own. Luigi Capuana, Giuseppina Sansone and their children Giuseppina…
Luigi Capuana was a nineteenth century writer. His work, The Old Dragon (Il Drago), although an apparently light children's story, carries a poignant loss and search for redemption. In a strange way the story is a "might have been" of Luigi Capuana's life and of the children he never admitted as his own. Luigi Capuana, Giuseppina Sansone and their children Giuseppina…
Luigi Capuana was a nineteenth century writer. His work, The Old Dragon (Il Drago), although an apparently light children's story, carries a poignant loss and search for redemption. In a strange way the story is a "might have been" of Luigi Capuana's life and of the children he never admitted as his own. Luigi Capuana, Giuseppina Sansone and their children Giuseppina…
Luigi Capuana was a nineteenth century writer. His work, The Old Dragon (Il Drago), although an apparently light children's story, carries a poignant loss and search for redemption. In a strange way the story is a "might have been" of Luigi Capuana's life and of the children he never admitted as his own. Luigi Capuana, Giuseppina Sansone and their children Giuseppina…
Luigi Capuana was a nineteenth century writer. His work, The Old Dragon (Il Drago), although an apparently light children's story, carries a poignant loss and search for redemption. In a strange way the story is a "might have been" of Luigi Capuana's life and of the children he never admitted as his own. Luigi Capuana, Giuseppina Sansone and their children Giuseppina…
In this third instalment of Il Drago by Luigi Capuana we learn how Don Paolo became "Dragone". Who is this fearsome old man who chased the children away when they begged in the streets? And took them in, in what all said was a miracle? And how was it that the Dragone was unmade? The Making and Unmaking of Don Paolo Dragone…
In this fifth instalment of Il Drago, Don Paolo comes back to life. After the unexpected battle between the Old Dragon and the Witch, the children's old lives with her have been swept away. Don Paolo's long dead daughters, Lisa and Giovanna, have risen from the grave. And the Old Dragon has much to do. The previous instalments of Il Drago…
