throwing the
plates on the floor so that they break. On the supper-table at Catania
there was a wooden model of a roasted lamb, with jointed neck and legs,
lying on a dish. There were plates with lettuces cut up, bread and wine,
oil and vinegar and oranges, all real. Each apostle had a glass and
there was a metal chalice for Christ. I forget all the things that are
on the table in the chapel of the Last Supper at Varallo-Sesia, but I
remember they have ripe figs, which is a mistake, because figs do not
become ripe till later in the year. Oranges are at their best in Sicily
in the spring and lettuces are in season. The audience understand this
and know that lettuces are appropriate for supper because they contain
some narcotic, so that a raw lettuce is often eaten after dinner. The
supper had been prepared in front of the back scene, and behind it, ready
to be disclosed at the proper moment, was the garden wherein the capture
of Christ was to take place.

Soon after seven o'clock in the evening I was sitting in my room at the
albergo and saw a great light which I supposed might have something to do
with the electric tram. After this I heard a roaring noise which I
supposed might be occasioned by an explosive motor bicycle in the street.
Then the glass in the window rattled for a considerable time, which I
supposed might be due to a slight shock of earthquake. At about
half-past eight I went to the Teatro Sicilia. Gregorio and his
assistants were all outside, and received me with congratulations on my
courage; I was the only one of their patrons bold enough to think of
witnessing the performance, all the others had been too much frightened
by the earthquake--if it had been an earthquake; and in about ten minutes
we shut up the theatre and came away. I went to the Teatro Machiavelli
to see what effect had been produced there. There was some anxiety about
the phenomenon, but more, it seemed, as to whether enough people would
come to make it worth while to have a performance. We were waiting for
instructions when someone brought in a bolletino hastily prepared in a
newspaper office with an account of the avvenimento celeste. We sat
round and listened while one of the actors read about the convulsion of
nature, the trembling of the palaces, the flashes of flame at a great
height in the sky, the terror of the inhabitants of Catania. Was the
phenomenon of telluric origin--Etna or an earthquake? Was it of
atmosp