Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/251

 10 S. VII. MARCH 16, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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verbio chiamati ciechi) credetteno alle sue [Totila] false lusinghe." But that the Florentines were proverbially " orbi " or " ciechi " because they were " malavveduti " once or twice is open to question. In fact, Scartazzini himself quotes Bambaglioli con- trariwise : " Crede invece che Dante chiami orbi i Fiorentini ' Ex Vitio superbie avaritie et invidie,' " and we certainly have an analogous proverb in " Blinded by passion, avarice," &c. To which may be added " Blind to one's own interests " ; " Blind as a bat." These are veritable proverbs, while the above is dubious. Dean Plumptre, however, accepts the phrase as a proverb :

"The proverb of the 'blind Florentines,' still extant (Scart.), has been referred either to their trusting the promises of Totila (Vill. ii. 1) or their having been cheated by the Pisans, who covered with crimson cloth two columns of porphyry that had been injured by fire, and palmed them off as new (Bocc.)."

To me 1. 99 enshrines a genuine proverb, rightly so termed by Scartazzini :

Bene ascolta chi la nota.

This has all the shape and force of a proverb, and paraphrased or extended runs thus admirably as instanced by Scartazzini : " Utilmente ascolta chi ben imprime nella' mente le parole dei savi." 3. Ibid., xvi. 102 :

Ove dovria per mille esser ricetto. Authorities differ over the meaning of this line, which the absence of a noun after mille renders obscure. Plumptre translates it

Where should be room for full a thousand head,

and gives two interpretations of it :

"(1) As strictly a picture of the scene [the Acqtia- cheta, a torrent rushing down a gorge near a Bene- dictine abbey], the rock-wall affording space for a thousand small cascades, instead of the one big waterfall ; (2) as a sarcastic hit at the degenerate condition of the Benedictine abbey, where there might have been more than a thousand monks, while actually there were but few. 'A thousand thread' would give the former meaning." If the line be regarded as parenthetical (as it clearly is), ove probably refers to the abbey, and the allusion is intelligible. Monad would then be the missing noun. If this be so, it still remains doubtful as to the nature of the " sarcastic hit at the degenerate condition of the Benedictine abbey." Was it levelled simply against the fewness of the monks in so large an abode, or rather against the lack of generous administration of their princely revenues ? Both Scar- tazzini and Bianchi seem to hold the latter view. Says the former :

" Dovria : a motive delle sue ricche rendite, che soltanto pochi si godono. Cosl i piu."

And Bianchi :

"La lez. com. dovria, che io seguito, favorisce la Badia, di cui si accennerebbe che queibxioni monaci si godevano in pochi le rendite che avrebber dovuto servire a molti, e a piu. larga ospitalita."

It is just possible that the pochi and in pochi of these passages may signify the few- ness of the brethren who enjoyed the revenues, but the piu larga ospitalita points to a certain penuriousness on their part, whether few or many. Mr. Tczer, per contra, says that " the monastery does not appear to have been a rich one,"* though he gives no authority for his statement. He also englishes the line as meaning " where there should have been (i.e., where it was intended that there should be) a settle- ment for a thousand." This rendering of ricetto as " settlement " recalls another explanation of the line, which is given thus by Bianchi :

"Poco sotto al monastero, e presso alia con- giunzioii dell' Acquacheta e del Riodestro e il Villaggio di San Benedetto ove ebbero signqria tin tempo i nobili della Rocca San Casciano, e i Conti G-uidi ; onde nascerebbe il dubbio se la Badia o il villaggio sia il luogo che il Poeta dice destinato a

mille L' altra lez. dovea, che e dell' Ottimo e del

Boccaccio, s' adatta meglio al villaggio, ove dicesi che i Conti avessero in animo di indurre ad abitare gran quantita di loro vassalli, dopo che 1' avesser renduto capace; il qual disegno non ebbe effetto."

Dr. Moore's text (Witte's) has dovea, and, with regard to per mille, the Doctor fur- nishes another view:

" The form mile proves nothing for the absurd interpretation mile* (sc. Christi), i.e., 'nel quale 1' autore dovea essere ricevuto per frate,' suggested by Scarabelli, h.L, in his edition of the Commentary of Delia Lana."

The whole matter is evidently a case of Utrum horum mavis accipe.

J. B. McGovERN.

St. Stephen's Rectory, C.-on-M., Manchester.

CHERTSEY MONUMENTAL

INSCRIPTIONS.

(See ante, p. 43.)

THESE inscriptions were noted some years I ago, and my former article unfortunately I appeared without my being able to return I the proof. The following corrections should j therefore be noted. Three other tablets making the total 36. The reference to Manning and Bray should be to vol. iii., not i. The heads in the arms on Nos. 1
 * (Nos. 34, 35, and 36) have since been erected,