Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/444

418 aught corporeal get into the sky? Our guide enlightened us. This subject of our amazement was a side of Mount Ætna, which appeared through the opening clouds. Snow alternating with the crags formed the stripes: it was not, however, the highest peak that we saw.

The precipitous rock, on which ancient Enna was situated, lay behind us; and we drove through long, long, lonely valleys: there they lay, uncultivated and uninhabited, abandoned to the browsing cattle, which we observed were of a beautiful brown colour, not large, short-horned, clean-limbed, lank and lively as deer. These poor cattle had pasturage enough; but it was greatly encroached upon, and in some parts wholly taken possession of, by the thistles. These plants have here the finest opportunities to disperse their seed and to propagate their kind: they take up an incredible space, which would make pasture-land enough for two large estates. As they are not perennial, they might, if mowed down before flowering, be easily eradicated.

However, after having thus seriously meditated an agricultural campaign against the thistles, I must, to my shame, admit they are not altogether useless. At a lonely farmhouse where we pulled up to bait, there were also stopping two Sicilian noblemen, who, on account of some lawsuit, were riding straight across the country to Palermo. With amazement we saw both of these grave personages standing before a patch of these thistles, and with their pocket-knives cutting off the tops of the tall shoots. Then holding their prickly booty by the tips of their fingers, they peeled off the rind, and devoured the inner part with great satisfaction. In this way they occupied themselves a considerable time, while we were refreshing ourselves with wine (this time it was unmixed) and bread. The vetturino prepared for us some of this marrow of