Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/421

Rh With true German amazement, we asked him what he was about? was not the cask full of wine? To all which he replied with great coolness, he had left a third of it empty; and as no one in this country drank unmixed wine, it was better to mix it at once in a large quantity, as then the liquids combined better; and, besides, you were not sure of finding water everywhere. During this conversation the cask was filled, and we had to put up with this ancient and Oriental wedding custom.

And now as we reached the heights beyond Mon Reale, we saw wonderfully beautiful districts, but tilled in traditional, rather than in a true economical style. On the right, the eye reached the sea, where, between singular-shaped headlands, and beyond a shore here covered with, and there destitute of, trees, it caught a smooth and level horizon, perfectly calm, and forming a glorious contrast with the wild and rugged limestone rocks. Kniep did not fail to make miniature outlines of several of them.

We are at present in Alcamo, a quiet and clean little town, whose well-conducted inn is highly to be commended as an excellent establishment, especially as it is most conveniently situated for those who come to see the temple of Segeste, which has a very lonely situation, out of the direct road.

, Thursday, April 19, 1787.

Our agreeable dwelling in this quiet town among the mountains has so charmed us that we have determined to pass a whole day here. We may then, before anything else, speak of our yesterday's adventures. In one of my earlier letters, I questioned the originality of Prince Pallagonia's bad taste. He has had forerunners, and can adduce many a precedent. On the road toward Mon Reale stand two monstrosities, beside a fountain with some vases on a balustrade, so utterly