Legends Of Florence Part 34

"Tu non potrai giammai Essere solo, che l'ombra Mia ovunque andrai Ti seguira: tu non potrai Essere mai solo, tu sarai Sempre in mio potere!

"Al mio incantesimo non avrai Ne pace ne bene, al mio Incanto tu tremerai, Te e tutta la casa dove ti troverai, Se sei in mezzo alla strada, Tu tremerai- Te e tutta la terra!

"Al mio volere tu andrai Come cane alla pagliaio, Alla voce del suo maestro; Tu me vorrai Vedere, e non mi vedrai, Mi sentirai- Vedrai sola la tua ombra.

"Tu sei cattivo e scelerato, Tu sei avelenato, Nel cuore e nell anima, E piu bene non avrai, Sei avelenato nel cuore, E nell anima, vai, Tu siei maladetto; E il spirito sempre ti seguira Ovunque tu vada!"

TRANSLATION.

_The Demon to the Sorcerer_.

"Wretch! long lost in wickedness, Thou shalt ne'er have happiness; Though to distant lands thou'lt flee, Still my shadow thou shalt see, And I will revenged be.

"Solitude thou ne'er shalt know, Where thou goest my shade shall go, And wherever thou mayst fly Still the shadow will be by- Ne'er alone at any hour, And for ever in my power.

"By my spell thou ne'er shalt know Peace or joy on earth below, At my charm a deadly fear Shall seize on all men standing near; Thou shalt tremble in thy home, Or if thou abroad shouldst roam, s.h.i.+vering with fear thou'lt be, And the earth shall shake with thee.

"At my bidding thou must stir, And hasten as the vilest cur Must hasten when his master calls, And leave his straw amid the stalls; And if thou wouldst gaze on me, Still my form thou shalt not see; Thou shalt feel when I am here, Feel me in thy deadly fear, Yet only see thy shadow near.

"Thou art vile and wicked too, Thou art poisoned through and through; In thy heart and in thy soul, Cursedness is in the whole, In thy soul and in thy heart, Poison steeped in every part.

Cursed ever! now, depart!

Yet wherever thou shalt flee I will ever follow thee!

"Then this man will be in terror, and he will ever see the shadow before him by day and by night, and thus he will have no peace, and yet this is all the time the spirit of Intialo.

"Now, when he is thus tormented for some past misdeed, and he feels himself haunted, as it were, by the shadow of the one whom he has wronged, when he finds at last that he is not pursued, indeed, by it, but by Intialo, then he shall repeat the Exorcism:

_Scongiurazione di Intialo_.

"Intialo! Intialo! che quando Una persona ai preso, O per seguitare le ingombri Le ingombri sempre la cammina.

"Intialo! Intialo! se libero Il pa.s.so mi lascerai meglio Per te sara, se non mi verrai Lasciare ti faccio sapere Tu sarai sempre in mio potere.

"Intialo! Intialo! ti faccio sapere, Se metto in opera La mia scongiurazione, Non ti lasciero piu bene avere, E ogni mi a chiamata Ti faro correre Come chane al pagliaio.

"Intialo! Intialo!

Ti faccio sapere Che tu pensi a fare Il tuo dovere, Se ancora mi viene a tormentare Muso di porco tu possa diventare.

"Intialo! Intialo!

Tu siei furbo e maligno, Ma io me ne infischio, Perche io sono di te, Molto piu maligno.

"Intialo! Intialo! ti prego Di non mi piu tormentare Se vuoi aver bene, Se no ti acquisterai Delle pene-e questo sara Il tuo guadagno.

"Intialo! Intialo!

Con tutta la tua furberia, Non sai ancora Che io son protetto Da una bella stregha Che mi adora.

"Intialo! Intialo!

Se piu ne vuoi sapere Vieni sta sera, Vieni a mezza notte, Viene di dove sei, Te lo faro vedere, Vieno sotto 'quel noce E tu lo vedrai.

"Intialo! Intialo!

La mezza notte in punto, Noi l'abbiamo, E ti vedo (vedro) appogiato Al noce che credi di vedere, Vedere l'ombra mia, E vedi l'ombra tua stessa!

"Intialo! Intialo!

Dentro al mio seno Quattro cose tengo, Che mi fanno vedere, E non son veduto, Ellera, pane, Sale e ruta, E la mia buona fortuna.

"Intialo! Intialo!

Non ti voglio dire, Perche io voglio Andare a dormire; Ma solo ti ho fatto Ti ho fatto vedere Che non son' in poter tuo, Ma tu siei in mio potere."

_The Exorcism of Intialo_.

"Intialo! it is known When thou followest any one, Be the victim whom he may, Thou art ever in his way.

"Intialo-hear! if free Thou wilt leave the road to me, Better for thee shall it be; If thou wilt not, from this hour I will hold thee in _my_ power.

"Intialo! thou shalt learn That I'm wizard in my turn; All the power of sorcery So about thee I will throw- All around, above, below- That thou shalt accursed be, Held in fear and agony, And as a dog shalt follow me.

"Intialo! thou shalt know What thou art ere thou canst go; If thou comest here again To torment or give me pain, As thou'dst make a dog of me, I will make a swine of thee.

"Intialo! sorry cheat, Filled with hate from head to feet, Be malignant if you will, I am more malignant still.

"Intialo! for thy sake I pray thee no more trouble take To torment me, for thy gain Will only be thy greater pain, For so cursed thou shalt be That I needs must pity thee.

"Intialo! now, confess That with all thy craftiness Thou didst not know what now I tell, That I am protected well By a lovely witch, and she Is mightier far, O fiend! than thee.

"Intialo! ere we go, If thou more of me wouldst know, Come at midnight-I shall be 'Neath the witches' walnut tree, And what I shall make thee see I trow will be enough for thee.

"Intialo! in that hour Thou shalt truly feel my power, And when thou at last shalt ween That on the witches' tree I lean, Then to thee it shall be known That my shadow is thine own.

"Intialo! everywhere With me magic charms I bear, Ivy, bread and salt and rue, And with them my fortune too.

"Intialo! hence away, Unto thee no more I'll say; Now I fain would go to sleep, See that thou this warning keep.

I am not in power of thine, But thou truly art in mine."

I had the belief, derived from several writers, that _Hinthial_ in Etruscan meant simply a ghost or _revenant_-the apparition of some one dead. But on mentioning my discovery of this legend to Professor Milani, the Director of the Archaeological Museum in Florence, and the first of Etruscan scholars, he astonished me by declaring that he believed the word signified a _shadow_, and that its real meaning in its full significance had apparently been marvellously preserved in this witch-tradition. Too little is known as yet of the old Etruscan language to decide with certainty as to anything in it, but should this opinion of Professor Milani be sustained, it will appear that at least one word of the mysterious tongue has existed till now in popular tradition.

There will be very few of my readers who will not be struck, as I was, with the remarkable resemblance of the terrible curse uttered by Intialo to the invocation in Byron's tragedy of "Manfred." It is like it in form, spirit, and, in many places, even in the very words. That there was, however, no knowledge of the English poem by the Italian witch-poet, and therefore no imitation, is plain from intrinsic evidence. As the question is interesting, I will here give the Incantation from "Manfred":

INCANTATION.

"When the moon is on the wave, And the glow-worm in the gra.s.s, And the meteor on the grave, And the wisp on the mora.s.s; When the falling stars are shooting, And the answered owls are hooting, And the silent leaves are still In the shadow of the hill, Shall my soul be upon thine With a power and with a sign.

"Though thy slumber may be deep, Yet thy spirit shall not sleep; There are shades which shall not vanish, There are thoughts thou canst not banish; By a power to thee unknown Thou canst never be alone; Thou art wrapt as with a shroud, Thou art gathered in a cloud, And for ever shalt thou dwell In the spirit of this spell.

"Though thou see'st me not pa.s.s by, Thou shalt feel me with thine eye, As a thing that, though unseen, Must be near thee, and hath been; And when in that secret dread Thou hast turned around thy head, Thou shalt marvel I am not As thy shadow on the spot, And the power which thou dost feel Shall be what thou must conceal.

"And a magic voice and verse Hath baptized thee with a curse, And a spirit of the air Hath begirt thee with a snare; In the wind there is a voice Shall forbid thee to rejoice; And to thee shall night deny All the quiet of her sky; And the day shall have a sun Which shall make thee wish it done.

"From thy false tears I did distil An essence which hath strength to kill; From thy own heart I then did wring The black blood in its blackest spring; From thy own smile I s.n.a.t.c.hed the snake, For there it coiled as in a brake; From thy own lip I drew the charm Which gave all these their chiefest harm; In proving every poison known, I found the strongest was thine own.