his admiration for England, he could hardly believe
that we really do deserve our Shakespeare.

I was beginning to feel giddy, as though the _Sorella di Ninu_, instead
of being quietly in port, was out on the tumbling ocean in a sudden gale,
so very unusual is it to hear such opinions in Italy. But Peppino is
full of surprises. To recover my balance I turned the conversation back
to the wine, taking my way through the music and telling them that in
England we thought very highly of the Austrian and German composers, and
asking Vanni if he would recommend any one to introduce their
compositions into Sicily. He replied that if it was pleasing music it
might be successful, but that if it was very different from Italian music
it would hardly pay to bring it over until the people had been educated.
I feared it would be the same with the wine. He must first educate us to
forsake our old friends, beer, whisky and tea, before he could create a
market on which he could put his Marsala.

Driving back, I told Peppino about the lottery at Castelvetrano and how
my numbers had lost. He inquired whether my birthday fell during the
week I bought the ticket. It did not.

"Then," said he, "of course you could not be winning and Angelo very
stupid to let you play those numbers."

It seems that numbers are no good unless they are connected with
something that happens to you during the week. This explained why at
Selinunte the brigadier had discarded the price of my clothes, which was
not his concern but mine and belonged to the week in which I had bought
them, and preferred to play the number that fell from the cigarettes, of
which he was at the moment actually smoking one.

"If there shall be a railway accident," continued Peppino, "on Thursday
night, then shall there be going plenty much people and shall sleep in
the ground to be first on Friday morning, because the office shall shut
early to take the papers to Palermo to turn the wheel the Saturday. And
if to come out the number, the people shall be gaining many money, but if
to don't come out, shall be gaining no money. This is not a good thing.

"They think it is fortunate the--please, what is sogno? Excuse me, it is
the dream. But it must be the dream in the week you play. When the man
in the dream shall be coming from the other world and shall be saying,
'Please you, play this number,' then they believe you shall certainly
win. But if to play the number, very unce