Page:Under the shadow of Etna; Sicilian stories from the Italian of Giovanni Verga (IA undershadowofetn00vergrich).pdf/203

Rh "No, you can't possibly get along alone," interposed comare Sidora. "You must find another wife for the sake of this poor little motherless girl, left in the midst of the street."

"And how shall I get along? And my colt? And my house? And who'll look after the hens? Let me weep, comare Sidora! It would have been better if I had died instead of that good soul."

"Hush, hush! you don't know what you are saying, and you don't know what a house without its head is!"

"That is true," assented compare Meno, comforted.

"Just take example from poor comare Angela! First, her husband died; then her grown-up son, and now her ass is also dying."

"The ass ought to be bled in the belly, if it has the colic," said compare Meno.

"Come, you know all about such things," suggested the neighbor. "Do a work of charity for the sake of your wife's soul."