[124] Razionato.
[125] This chapter will be read with interest by students of the Commedia dell' Arte. It throws light upon the way in which an actor of originality could adapt one of the fixed characters of that comedy, in this case the servetta, to his own talents and to local circumstances.
[126] Pallone is a game played with a large leather ball, filled with air, and something like our football. In Italy it is struck with the hand, which is armed for the purpose with gloves or a flat short bat fixed on the palm. Sides are chosen, and the game roughly resembles tennis on a large scale. Pallone is the original of our balloon.
[127] The sequin at this time was worth twenty-two lire Venete. The worth of the lira was about half a franc, says Romanin (vol. viii. p. 302). Romanin in the same place fixes the ducat at eight lire. Gozzi's debt amounted to 1248 lire. This would make only 156 ducats at the above rate. But the relation of the ducat to the sequin and the lira is very obscure, and seems to have varied according to the kind of ducat.
[128] Decime. Taxes annually raised upon the whole property of a Venetian.
[129] Opere, vol. vii. p. 393. This is the stanza—
| Gli antichi di provincia tuoi fedeli |
| Son quasi tutti fuggiti alle ville, |
| In castellacci discoperti a' cieli, |
| Con figli e figlie e nipoti e pupille, |
| Ripieni di pensieri acri e crudeli, |
| Allor che suonan mezzodì le squille. |
| Educazion non han, mangiar, nè bere; |
| Pensa se daran nerbo alle tue schiere! |
This is said to the burlesque Carlo Magno of the poem. The passage in the text confirms the theory that Gozzi intended his Carlo Magno to represent the decrepit majesty of Venice.
[130] Almorò is the Venetian form of the name Ermolao.
[131] Gozzi's description of the Venetian Cortesan may serve as illustration to a popular play of Goldoni's, Momolo Cortesan. This was the first comedy of character Goldoni composed. Its title-rôle was written for a celebrated Pantalone, Golinetti (see Goldoni's Memoirs, part i. ch. 40). When he printed it, he translated the title into L'Uomo di Mondo, finding no exact equivalent for the Venetian phrase Cortesan. Goldoni's account of the character tallies with Gozzi's.