But Mario is adamant. His daughter can scream and threaten suicide until she is blue in the face, he will not change his mind. But he hasn't allowed for Tecla’s intervention – YET AGAIN! Despite being in mourning, convinced that she will never see Pipotto again, Tecla still has enough fight in her to make short work of her husband’s objections. And not having a high opinion of the Neapolitan nobility, she feels her daughter could do worse than go out with an Englishman, one who happens to be an officer and a gentleman.
Mario admits defeat. And Anna Maria goes to the dance, chaperoned by her mother and her three sisters, to whom the party owes its success. The girls dance the officers and men off their feet. Ben dances with Tecla. His first words, as he waltzes her around the improvised dance floor, almost take her breath away, causing her to stagger and very nearly fall.
"I wish to marry your daughter." Just like that, no beating about the bush.
"Marry my daughter?!" Mario screams at Tecla and his daughters after being informed of Ben's proposal. "Did I miss something? Has Anna Maria been gallivanting around behind my back?"
"Mario!" Tecla cries, scandalised.
"Beh, per l’amor di Dio! They can't have said more than a dozen words to each other. Don't the English converse with their women? I know they're supposed to be reserved, but this is ridiculous. Is he insane? Did his mother drop him on his head at birth? Has he drunk his brain (a literal translation from the Italian)? What does he take my daughter for? The spoils of victory? Does he think he can just march in here at the head of an army and requisition my little girl? An Englishman marry my daughter?! Over my dead body! No, no and no!"
Italians can get absurdly excited.
He locks Anna Maria in her room, and rants and raves through the night and most of the following day. In vain. He loses. Again. He is no match for Tecla.
Ben is given permission to court Anna Maria.
The entire village is soon talking about Ben and Anna Maria, the young couple's every chaperoned move food for lengthy discussion and some heated debate – again depending on one’s political point of view.
The fact that neither one speaks more than a few words of the other’s language does nothing to stop them being exquisitely happy together.
Mario thinks they are insane.
Their courtship consists of looks and hand signals, a typically Italian trait that Ben soon learns to master. He is a gentleman, a sweet-natured man who wouldn't hurt a fly… until Anna Maria, a hot-blooded, Mediterranean beauty, turns his head completely around.
One day, on being informed by Tecla that Anna Maria has gone to the pharmacy with a girlfriend, Ben astonishes everyone by hitting the roof and storming out.
Tecla frowns, and exchanges a look of astonishment with Mario and the three sisters.
"What do you expect?" Mario intones with a shrug. "He's English. They are all mad."
Ben's Italian being what it is, he misunderstood, and thinks that Anna Maria has gone to the cinema… with another man. He goes to the Officers Mess to drown his sorrows in red wine. Nicely smashed, he then searches the village - a fact that disrupts various black market activities, as people rush to hide their illegal wares, etc… - until he finds Anna Maria walking along the main street with the girlfriend.
With the entire village following him or hanging out of their windows to watch - the word has spread - Ben strides up to Anna Maria and, without the slightest hesitation, slaps her.
This very (Latin) masculine conduct is greeted with cheers and thunderous applause from the onlookers - men and women alike. Ben scores a lot of points that day. Italians, especially in the South, love people to express their emotions openly.
Anna Maria bursts out laughing - she loves it too.
When Mario hears of Ben’s slap, he applauds. "Bravo! There's hope for this Englishman yet! Never let a woman have the upper hand. Not even a daughter of mine."
Everyone in the café laughs, and mimes moments of the courtship, the memory of ‘Maggiore Ben’ searching for Anna Maria, finding her and then slapping her still so vivid.
Women’s Lib is still way in the future, and even when it does finally come to Italy it will bypass Arienzo altogether.
A good time is being had by one and all, and I love every minute of it. To hear stories of my grandfather is the reason I drove all this way from England.
"Marry my daughter?!" Mario screams at Tecla and his daughters after being informed of Ben's proposal. "Did I miss something? Has Anna Maria been gallivanting around behind my back?"
"Mario!" Tecla cries, scandalised.
"Beh, per l’amor di Dio! They can't have said more than a dozen words to each other. Don't the English converse with their women? I know they're supposed to be reserved, but this is ridiculous. Is he insane? Did his mother drop him on his head at birth? Has he drunk his brain (a literal translation from the Italian)? What does he take my daughter for? The spoils of victory? Does he think he can just march in here at the head of an army and requisition my little girl? An Englishman marry my daughter?! Over my dead body! No, no and no!"
Italians can get absurdly excited.
He locks Anna Maria in her room, and rants and raves through the night and most of the following day. In vain. He loses. Again. He is no match for Tecla.
Ben is given permission to court Anna Maria.
The entire village is soon talking about Ben and Anna Maria, the young couple's every chaperoned move food for lengthy discussion and some heated debate – again depending on one’s political point of view.
The fact that neither one speaks more than a few words of the other’s language does nothing to stop them being exquisitely happy together.
Mario thinks they are insane.
Their courtship consists of looks and hand signals, a typically Italian trait that Ben soon learns to master. He is a gentleman, a sweet-natured man who wouldn't hurt a fly… until Anna Maria, a hot-blooded, Mediterranean beauty, turns his head completely around.
One day, on being informed by Tecla that Anna Maria has gone to the pharmacy with a girlfriend, Ben astonishes everyone by hitting the roof and storming out.
Tecla frowns, and exchanges a look of astonishment with Mario and the three sisters.
"What do you expect?" Mario intones with a shrug. "He's English. They are all mad."
Ben's Italian being what it is, he misunderstood, and thinks that Anna Maria has gone to the cinema… with another man. He goes to the Officers Mess to drown his sorrows in red wine. Nicely smashed, he then searches the village - a fact that disrupts various black market activities, as people rush to hide their illegal wares, etc… - until he finds Anna Maria walking along the main street with the girlfriend.
With the entire village following him or hanging out of their windows to watch - the word has spread - Ben strides up to Anna Maria and, without the slightest hesitation, slaps her.
This very (Latin) masculine conduct is greeted with cheers and thunderous applause from the onlookers - men and women alike. Ben scores a lot of points that day. Italians, especially in the South, love people to express their emotions openly.
Anna Maria bursts out laughing - she loves it too.
When Mario hears of Ben’s slap, he applauds. "Bravo! There's hope for this Englishman yet! Never let a woman have the upper hand. Not even a daughter of mine."
Everyone in the café laughs, and mimes moments of the courtship, the memory of ‘Maggiore Ben’ searching for Anna Maria, finding her and then slapping her still so vivid.
Women’s Lib is still way in the future, and even when it does finally come to Italy it will bypass Arienzo altogether.
A good time is being had by one and all, and I love every minute of it. To hear stories of my grandfather is the reason I drove all this way from England.
MORE TO COME
1 comment:
Very entertaining! It feels like I'm there with the characters in the past. Very enjoyable and with an exciting romance, am interested to know what will happen.
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