ro_, a story of romance and chivalry invented by Angelo Grasso, the
father of Gregorio and of Giovanni.

I asked Gregorio where he had found the particulars for Misandro and the
remorse of Judas and for the dream of Pilate's wife and the pen that flew
away. He replied that he did not know where they came from, they are
traditional in the theatre and had probably come out of the libraries.
As to Judas and the angel preventing him from drowning himself in the
well, I asked whether they have in Sicily the saying about a man being
born to be hanged and whether any allusion was intended. Angiolino said
they have such a saying, or something like it, but it had never occurred
to him to suppose that any allusion was intended, it might be so, but he
thought not.

The Christ that had been prepared for the Resurrection in the Teatro
Sicilia was not the marionette that had been on the Cross; the stigmata
were there, the spear wound was wanted in the scene with Thomas, and the
people were free to take it as being the same figure with all the other
marks of suffering removed, or they might think it was a different one,
or they might come behind the scenes and find out for themselves as I
did. Dwellers in another planet, if they watch the recurrence of the
mystery of our spring, may think the flowers they saw sinking into the
earth last autumn return again with the marks of decay removed, they
cannot come behind our scenes and make sure; but we know that a new
generation is born. The marionettes are not didactic; if the people
choose to see in the Resurrection of Christ any one of Nature's ageless
mysteries they may do so; they may see the birth of the younger
generation, the blossoming of fresh flowers after winter, the awakening
to a new day after sleep; or, if they prefer it, they may see the
resurrection of their own dead bodies at the sound of the Last Trump--one
of those mysteries in which, as my priest at Tindaro told me, Nature does
not believe, and with which I need not concern myself.

I do not think they saw in it any of these meanings. At Ober-Ammergau
the play is presented so that Mendelssohn need not have hesitated to
advise the late Prince Consort to honour a performance with his presence.
In the Teatro Sicilia other tastes have to be consulted. I think the
audience looked on at the Passion of Christ as they are accustomed to
look on at _I Delitti del Caporale_ or _Feudalismo_ or at the _Story of
the Paladins_ o