The Letters Of Mark Twain, Complete


google search for The Letters Of Mark Twain, Complete

Return to Master Book Index.

Page
833 834 835 836 837

Quick Jump
1 314 629 943 1257

The fine beautiful family portraits--the great carved ones in the large  
ovals over the doors of the big hall--carry one well back into the past.  
One of them is dated 1305--he could have known Dante, you see. Another  
is dated 1343--he could have known Boccaccio and spent his afternoons  
in Fiesole listening to the Decameron tales. Another is dated 1463--he  
could have met Columbus.....  
Evening. The storm thundered away until night, and the rain came down in  
floods. For awhile there was a partial break, which furnished about such  
a sunset as will be exhibited when the Last Day comes and the universe  
tumbles together in wreck and ruin. I have never seen anything more  
spectacular and impressive.  
One person is satisfied with the villa, anyway. Jean prefers it to all  
Europe, save Venice. Jean is eager to get at the Italian tongue again,  
now, and I see that she has forgotten little or nothing of what she  
learned of it in Rome and Venice last spring.  
I am the head French duffer of the family. Most of the talk goes over my  
head at the table. I catch only words, not phrases. When Italian comes  
to be substituted I shall be even worse off than I am now, I suppose.  
This reminds me that this evening the German girl said to Livy, "Man hat  
mir gesagt loss Sie una candella verlaught habe"--unconsciously dropping  
in a couple of Italian words, you see. So she is going to join the  
polyglots, too, it appears. They say it is good entertainment to hear  
835  


Page
833 834 835 836 837

Quick Jump
1 314 629 943 1257