Do not stand in draughts of
cold air, and shut your windows when you go to bed. There is nothing an
Italian fears like a current of air, and with reason. He will never sit
between two doors or two windows. If he has walked to see you and is in
the least warm, pray him to keep his hat on until he is cool, if you
would be courteous to him. You will find that he will always use the
same _gentilezza_ to you. The reason why you should shut your windows
at night is very simple. The night-air is invariably damp and cold,
contrasting greatly with the warmth of the day, and it is then that the
miasma from the Campagna drifts into the city. And oh, my American
friends! repress your national love for hot rooms and great fires, and
do not make an oven of your _salon_. Bake yourselves, kiln-dry
yourselves, if you choose, in your furnaced houses at home, but, if you
value your health, "reform that altogether" in Italy. Increase your
clothing and suppress your fires, and you will find yourselves better
in head and in pocket. With your great fires you will always be cold
and always have colds; for the houses are not tight, and you only
create great draughts thereby. You will not persuade an Italian to sit
near them;--"_Scusa, Signore_" he will say, "_mi fa male; se non gli
dispiace, mi metto in questo cantone_,"--and with your permission he
takes the farthest corner away from the fire.
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