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Voi potete veder la bolla, e leggere Le facultadi mie, che sono amplissime; E come, senza che pigliate, Bartolo, Questo pellegrinaggio, io posso assolvere E commutar i voti; e maravigliomi, Che essendo, com'io son, vostro amicissimo, Non m'abbiate richiesto; perchè, dandomi Quel solamente che potreste spendere Voi col famiglio nel viaggio, assolvere Vi posso, e farvi schifar un grandissimo Disconcio, all'età vostra incomportabile: Oltra diversi infiniti pericoli, Che ponno a chi va per cammino occorrere. |
The irony of this speech depends upon its plain and business-like statement of a simoniacal bargain, which will prove of mutual benefit to the parties concerned. Bartolo confides his case of conscience to the Friar, previously telling him that he has confessed it to the parson:
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Ma non mi sa decidere Questo caso, chè, come voi, teologo Non è; sa un poco di ragion canonica. |
At the close of the communication, which is admirable for its lucid exposition of a domestic romance adapted to the circumstances of the sixteenth century, the Friar asks his penitent once more whether he would not willingly escape this pilgrimage. Who could doubt it? answers Bartolo. Well then:
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Ben si potrà commutare in qualche opera Pia. Non si trova al mondo sì forte obbligo, Che non si possa scior con l'elemosine. |
Here again the sarcasm consists in the hypocritical adaptation of the old axiom that everything in this world can be got for money. On both sides the transaction is commercial. Bartolo, like a good man of business, wishes to examine the Frate's title-deeds before he engages in the purchase of his spiritual privileges. In other words he must be permitted to examine the Bull of Indulgence:[185]
| Porterollavi, E ve la lascerò vedere e leggere. Siate pur certo che la bolla è amplissima, E che di tutti i casi, componendovi Meco, vi posso interamente assolvere, Non meno che potria 'l Papa medesimo. | |
| Bartolo. | Vi credo; nondimeno, per iscarico Della mia conscienza, la desidero Veder, e farla anco vedere e leggere Al mio parrocchiano. |
| Frate. | Ora sia in nomine Domini, porterolla, e mostrerolla A chi vi pare. |
We may further notice how the parish priest is here meant to play the part of solicitor in the bargain. He does not deal in these spiritual commodities; but he can give advice upon the point of validity. The episode of Bartolo and the Dominican reminds us that we are on the eve of the Reformation. While Rome and Ferrara laughed at the hypocrisies, credulities, and religious frauds implied in such transactions, Northern Europe broke into flame, and Luther opened the great schism.[186]
The artistic merit of Ariosto's comedies consists in the perfection of their structure. However involved the intrigues may be, we experience no difficulty in following them; so masterly is their development.[187] It may be objected that he too frequently resorts to the device of anagnorisis, in order to solve a problem which cannot find its issue in the action. This mechanical solution is so obviously employed to make things easy for the author that no interest attaches to the climax of his fables. Yet the characters are drawn with that ripe insight into human nature which distinguished Ariosto. Machiavelli observed that, being a native of Ferrara, cautious in the handling of Tuscan idioms, and unwilling to use the dialect of his own city, Ariosto missed the salt of comedy.[188] There is truth in this criticism. Matched with the best Florentine dialogues, his language wants the raciness of the vernacular. The sdrucciolo verse, which he preferred, fatigues the ear and adds to the impression of formality. He frequently interrupts the action with tirades, talking, as it were, in his own person to the audience, instead of making his characters speak.[189] Yet foreigners, who study his comedies side by side with Plautus, at almost the same distance of unfamiliarity, will recognize the brilliance of his transcripts from contemporary life. These studies of Italian manners are eminent for good taste, passing at no point into extravagance, and only marred by a certain banality of moral instinct. The Lena has the highest value as a picture of Ferrarese society. We have good reason to believe that it was founded on an actual incident. It deserves to rank with Machiavelli's Mandragola and Aretino's Cortigiana for the light it throws on sixteenth-century customs. And the light is far more natural, less lurid, less partial, than that which either Machiavelli or Aretino shed upon the vices of their century.