stick[1],' 'Morra,' 'Even or odd,' 'the Bell,' 'the Boaster,' 'Little Castles,' 'Throw the ball here,' 'Two or one,' 'The Owl,' or 'The Ball.'
At length the Prince, tired of these games, commanded some instruments to be brought, and that they should sing awhile; and instantly a number of attendants, who were dilettanti in music, came with lutes, tambourins, guitars, harps, mandolins, violins, castanets, flutes and cornets; and giving a beautiful concert, and playing the harmonies of the Abbate Zefero, and Cuccara Gianmartino, and the Florentine dance, they sang a number of Canzoni of the good old time, which are now more easily sighed for than found again; and amongst the rest they sang the following[2]:—
"Fie for shame, O Margarita!
’Tis indeed too cruel this,
That for every little kiss
I must to a new gown treat her.
Fie for shame, O Margarita!"
And this one:—
"O cruel Fair! I fain would see
Myself a slipper, but to be
Under that foot; yet if she knew it,
She'd stamp and run, to make me rue it!"
- ↑ Mazz'e ppiuzo. A game very common in our streets; a boy strikes the tip of a little bit of wood on the ground, and makes it spring into the air. For remarks on these games, see the Notes at the end of this volume.
- ↑ The difficulty of translating these verses into corresponding measures is my excuse for their lameness.
