THE SPIRIT OF THE SNOW OF COLLE ALTO. [134]
“And hence, O virgin mother mild,
Though plenteous flowers around thee blow,
Not only from the dreary strife
Of winter, but the storms of life,
Thee have thy votaries aptly styled
Our Lady of the Snow.”Wordsworth: Tour on the Continent.
Once in the olden time, in Colle Alto, the snow fell in one night many yards in depth, and the people were astonished and frightened when they awoke in the morning at beholding it spreading far and wide. Many tried to shovel it away, but were discouraged, because, as they removed it, as much came in its place, so that at last they all remained at home, for no one could pass through the snow, and they were afraid of being buried in it.
But the poor, who had but scant provision in their homes, suffered from hunger. And among these was a good man to whom his five children pitifully cried:
“Babbo-il pane!”—Papa, give us bread!
And he replied:
“My children weep, and I must risk my life to save them.” And looking out, he cried unthinkingly:
“And yet the snow is very beautiful!
O Spirit of the Snow—no mortal knows
How beautiful thou art. Be kind to us!”
As he said this there appeared before the window, and then among them, a lady of marvellous beauty and dazzling brightness, all clad in white, who said:
“What wilt thou have, since thou hast invoked me?”