“All in vain dost thou intoxicate thyself by studying statues, saying, ‘This one is beautiful, that still more so; this sculptor—é bravo—has talent, that even cleverer;’ but, after all, the best of their work is motionless, and produces on me the effect of a corpse. I should call him a clever sculptor who could make a statue inspired with motion like a living man—che caminasse o magari saltasse—who runs and hops, but not a piece of marble merely carved.”
And this moved Giovanni to make a statue which should not have its equal in the world. And thinking of Mercury, the liveliest and quickest of all the gods, who is ever flying like a falcon, he said:
“If I could behold him,
Though ’twere but for once,
I should have the model
Of a wondrous statue
Inspired unto life!”
One evening Giovanni found himself in the Temple of Mercury, that which is to-day called the Baptistery of Saint John [and there he found Virgilio], to whom he said that he so greatly longed to see Mercury living and in flight.
Virgilio replied:
“Go at midnight to the hill of Vallombrosa when the moon is full, and call the fairy Bellaria, who will aid thee.”
Giovanni went to the hill and called to Bellaria, but she made no reply. So he returned to Virgilio, who said:
“It is not enough to simply call to her, she must be scongiurata—called by an incantation.”
Then Giovanni, having learned this, thus conjured her:
“Stella lucente,
Ed aria splendente,
Col tuo splendor,
Bell’ Aria infiamma
Mercurio, e fa lo scendere
In terra che io posso
Levarne il modello!
Tu che siei bella,
Bella quanto buona,
Fa mi questa grazia;
Perche io sono molto,
Molto infelice,
Se non faro una statua
Come il desiderio mio,
Vedi Bellaria.
Finquaseù in questo monte,
Son venuto per potermi
A te raccomandare;
Tù prego non indugiare
A far mi questa grazia,
Perche sono infelice.”“Shining star!
Resplendent glowing air, [156]
With thy burning splendour,
Bell’ Aria, inflame,
Inspire great Mercury,
Make him descend to earth
That he may copied be.
Thou who art beautiful,
As beautiful as good,
Grant me, I pray, this grace,
For I am lost in grief
Because I cannot make
A statue as I wish.
Behold, Bellaria!
I’ve come unto this hill
To beg this thing of thee!
I pray thee grant my prayer,
For I am suffering.”