he housekeeping, speak for the women and make the dresses.
They told me a great deal that I wanted to hear. For instance, they knew
all about Michele and the Princess of Bizerta and told me that she is the
sister of Agramante, King of Campinas and Emperor of Yundiay, and her
name is Fulorinda di Nerbof di Bizerta; the name of her wicked Arabian
giant is Alaballak Aizan. I had asked Pasquale in the teatrino at
Trapani about them, but he had never heard of them. These professional
marionettists at Palermo had a poor opinion of the teatrino at Trapani
and, from what I told them about it, said it could only be an amateur
affair. They were particularly contemptuous of the management for
allowing the words to be read out of a book. They ought to be
improvised. At Palermo the only play that is ever read is _Samson_,
which was written by a Sicilian, and even in that the comic episode of
the masks with the riddle of Rosina is a home-made, unwritten
interpolation.

Pharaoh has nothing to do with the Egyptian Pharaohs. Faraone is his
private name and he is the king of the Philistines. The name of the
paladin is Acabbo and he is a Philistine and not a Scotchman; but they
excused me for falling into the error, and showed me that many of the
knights wear stuff sufficiently like a Scotch plaid to deceive a mere
Englishman. Moreover, Scotch knights do come into the story; Carlo Magno
sends Rinaldo off to fetch recruits and he returns with an army of Scotch
paladins under Zerbino, the Prince of Scotland. Samson ranks with
Christians because he is on the right side in religion and that is why
his skirt was really a skirt. Acabbo ranks with Turks because he is on
the wrong side in religion and that is why he wears trousers. The lady
is Tanimatea, but Dalila is brought on afterwards and it is she who cuts
Samson's hair. The buffo nearly wept when I told him I had gone away
without seeing the operation. However, he explained how it was done: his
long brown hair is a wig and is pulled off when she uses the scissors.

They told me all about the story, or rather stories, of the paladins.
First there is an _Introduction_ beginning with the conversion of the
Emperor Constantine, and passing rapidly through his son Fiovo and his
descendants to Pipino King of France and father of Carlo Magno. It lasts
about a month and is followed by--

I. _The Story of the Paladins of France_ with Carlo Magno, Orlando,
Rinaldo, Gano di Magonza a