"Ho an capello di paglia,--ma bello!
Un zinale di sopra fino;
Chi mi osserva nel mio tavolino,
Gli vien sete, se sete non ha.
"Spaccio spirti, siroppi, acquavite
Fo 'ranciate di nuova invenzione;
Voi vedete quante persone
Chiedon acqua,--e rispondo,--Son qua!"
The _limonaro_ is the exponent, the algebraic power, of the Church
processions which abound this month; and he is as faithful to them as
Boswell to Johnson;--wherever they appear, he is there to console and
refresh. Nor is his office a sinecure now; and let us hope that he has
his small profits, as well as the Church,--though they spell theirs
differently.
The great procession of the year takes place this month on Corpus
Domini, and is well worth seeing, as being the very finest and most
characteristic of all the Church festivals. It was instituted in honor
of the famous miracle at Bolsena, when the wafer dripped blood, and is,
therefore, in commemoration of one of the cardinal doctrines of the
Roman Church, Transubstantiation, and one of its most theological
miracles. The Papal procession takes place in the morning, in the
piazza of Saint Peter's; and if you would be sure of it, you must be on
the spot as soon as eight o'clock at the latest.
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