A Bell for Adano Read Online Free PDF Page B

of her house. I also see the lazy Fatta leaning against the wall of his wife’s house. The crier wishes to thank Carmelina for storage of his uniform during the difficult time of the invasion. He wishes also to address a few words to her lazy husband. It is unfortuate, lazy Fatta, that you never learned to read. It is too bad that you were too slothful to memorize the letters of the alphabet. This afternoon you would have had a chance to read of the changes which our friends the Americans intend to bring about here in Adano.
    “You could have read the proclamations which our friends will post, Fatta. You would not have had anything to lean against while reading because the proclamations will be posted on the walls upon which you depend. The hour of the reading, that is to say about five o’clock, would have been bad for you, because it is the hour when you are overcome with energy and are able to lift a bottle of wine to your lips.
    “But the others will read, Fatta. They will learn that the Americans are our friends. They will learn of the changes. They will know what to do. They will avoid the punishments. For them, Adano will be a new town, and life will be different. For you, it will be the same. You will do wrong, and you will be punished. Adano will still be a place of fear.
    “Look at the lazy Fatta, peoplel Do not be like him. Read the proclamations. Acquaint yourself with the new Adanol I have cried.”
    And Mercurio Salvatore moved the drum around behind him and marched off to the several other places convenient for shouting, and in his own way he told the people about the changes which were to come.
     

 
     
    Chapter 3
     
     
     
    FATHER PENSOVECCHIO could not remember when so many people had come to the Church of Sant’ Angelo. Perhaps he had not been without guile when he had mentioned to ten or twelve people, quite casually, that the American Major would be in Church in the morning, and that he himself had something to say about the Americans. What priest does not like to have many listeners? What priest is not proud of the jingle of many coins in the box, coins for the Mother Church?
    Father Pensovecchio, in the wildest hopes of his casual remarks, had not expected a crowd to equal this. The priest knew that he would repent later of his pleasure in drawing so many people away from the twelve other churches of the town, but for the moment he let his pleasure have rein. He stood in the front and nodded to the ones he had not seen in his church for years. There was Margherita the wife of Craxi, from the Church of San Sebastiano. There was old Bellanca the Notary, from the Church of the Orphanage. There was Afronti the loud-voiced cartman and Basile the fat cartman, both from the Church of the Benedettini. There were people standing up in the side aisles. There was even the lazy Fatta, who had not gone to any church since the baptism of his last baby in 1935, leaning against one of the pillars.
    It was a pleasure, certainly it was a pleasure, to have so many come to the Church of Sant’ Angelo.
    But now Father Pensovecchio had a thought which made him very uneasy. What if the Mister Major should not come? Think of the shame. Think of how the other priests would laugh. Think how this vanity, this large crowd, would complain. Think of how his own faithful would flock on later Sundays to the other churches. Think of preaching to empty pews.
    It was already five minutes past seven. The senior acolyte had already whispered in his ear that it was time to begin the mass. And the Mister Major had not come.
    The Mister Major, at that moment, was sitting in his office having a breakfast of fruit and discussing with Borth and with the usher Zito, who never went to church, the matter of the bell. Major Joppolo sat with his feet on the huge desk eating fruit, Borth sat on the end of the desk also eating, and the little Zito stood at attention in front of it, not eating but wishing he were.
    Borth said: “As usual,