I regret to say we found he had taken with him a watch belonging to one of the servants, and
had lef an accumulation of debts a the village near us, and, what I did not
know till later, had abstracted a sum of money entrusted to him to hand to my
wood-merchant. I had been suddenly
called to Rome, to friends who were in great trouble, and having written to the
wood-merchant to call for the money due to him, did not wish him to have a
fruitless journey, and had left it for him with the gardener. On my return I should, of course, have asked
for the receipt, but I was so worn out with grief and fatigue, that I had to go
to bed for some days, and entirely forgot the matter. That was quit the most curious and unpleasant
experience of the kind that I have ever had, and when I betook myself to the
residence of the German baron, and informed Angiolino’s sponsor of what had
occurred, he at first flatly declined to believe my tale of woe. One quite understands the reluctance felt by
people of all ranks and classes in Tuscany ever to recommend, for, as they say,
if they do so, the object “disgraces” them.
Great pity was felt for this young man’s father and family, who were
most honest, hard-working people.
I was thus left, just at the beginning of the busy spring
season, to find another gardener, - visitors in the house, and others in
prospect. The youth whom Angiolino had
imported was some years younger than he, and had had very little experience of
garden work, having been only employed as a general “help” in a florist’s establishment; but he seemed to me
of a good disposition, and honest and industrious. So I thought I would give him a trial. To this day I have never been able to decide
whether his having been brought to my house as he was, was a “plant” between
him and Angiolino or not; on the whole, I incline to think that it was. It would be quite in the Tuscan order of
things that Angiolino should have disclosed his plans to his friend, and said,
“You come and help me for a month, and I will show you all the ways and the
dodges, and then, if you please the Signora, perhaps she’ll give you a trial,
and after that, you must look to yourself.”
They are a most intricate people, in spite of a certain child-like
simplicity of demeanour which, however, is on the surface only.
This boy, Eugenio, has now been nearly four years with me, and has developed into a very fair
gardener. Like other people, he has his
good and bad points, but, on the whole, the former preponderate. I have so far
found him absolutely honest and straight in money matters, extremely
industrious and hard-working, of a most obliging disposition, and, what is to
me of supreme importance, he is very devoted to our pets.
His weak point is a certain tendency to shelter himself from
unpleasant consequences by telling lies.
I make the same rule in the garden, that we have always done indoors, in regard to
accidents and breakages; viz., that if these are at once frankly confessed,
reproof will be of the mildest description; but, that if I am left to discover
these and kindred misfortunes, things will be made decidedly unpleasant for the
culprit. It is very difficult to induce
the Tuscan mind to live up to this standard of frankness, and on several
occasions, Eugenio’s deficiencies in the art of speaking the truth have brought
him into dire disgrace. The rule that if
I discover any special plants dying or dead, he is obliged to replace them
(with reasonable limits) has proved most salutary. On two occasions during his incumbency I have
been obliged to call in the assistance of parental authority, and a most
decent-looking old contadino has appeared on the scene, with the happiest
results. On the last of these occasions
I was detailing his iniquities with some warmth, when the old man nodded his
head gently, and said “Dear Signora, leave the boy to me. His mother and I will have a little
conversation when he comes home next Sunday, and you will see he will be all
right.” I could not help wondering if these arguments would be enforced with
any applications of a weightier description.
The boy is the youngest of a large family, and has never done his
military service, according to the rule that, when three brothers have serves,
the fourth is exempt, as is also the only son of a widow. Privately, I have a sneaking affection for
Eugenio, who though only a kind of grown-up child, has really profited by his
opportunities in a way that does credit to his intelligence, and who takes a
great pride in his small domain. For myself,
I never go into any garden, private or public, large or small, without learning
something; it may be only a negative something of what is to be avoided, but
more generally there is a leaf of good to be taken out of your neighbour’s
book. But this is an attitude of spirit
not understood by the average Tuscan peasant, who is either so conceited that he
fancies all he does is perfection, or too unobservant to bestow any thoughts on
other people’s ways.
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