Sunday, March 13, 2011

Amanuensis Monday -- Nonno Enzo's Diary -- November 2 and 4, 1915

Continuation from last Monday's "Amanuensis Monday."



Translation below...

Click on the pictures to enlarge.
                                                                                                                   November 2, 1915

Today is the commemoration of the dead. At nine o'clock in the morning we went for a walk.
I had filled my pockets with chestnuts, and when we arrived in the countryside I distributed them to my friends who accepted them.

I will gladly walk with the Director, a good priest who truly cares for us, and from whom I learn so many little facts (and stories) he eagerly recounts to the young novices who are heading for an ecclesiastical career.

                                                                                                                    3 o'clock in the morning

About two and a half hours after midnight, I awoke to the sound of the wind flapping against the windows. Around a quarter after 3, the window before me opened in a furious burst of wind and the cold air entered the dormitory room, and I was forced to hide my head under the covers. Around four o'clock,  the wind having calmed down a little, I put socks on my feet, got out of bed to close the window, and then returned to bed to regain the lost sleep during the night.

                                                                                                                   November 4

After lunch, at 3:30, during the Italian class of Don Ercolini, a little incident occurred that made me die from laughter. We had all entered (the classroom), and I being the last one, closed the door behind me. I was about to take my seat when the bench suddenly fell apart with my two classmates -- Valenti, Agostino and Torrisi, Giuseppe, who both fell to the ground. Valenti hit hard against the back part of the bench, while Torrisi hit his head against the foot of the bench behind him.

The laughs were endless, and even Don Ercolini laughed heartily; but then we had to quiet down to begin Italian class.

I was called into the parlor, and a woman I did not recognize gave me a box with three eggs and some biscuits.  (This probably was sent to my grandfather from his family.)

1 comment:

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