Marta dared not interrupt them. She watched Pappina with pain in her heart, saying almost continually to herself:
"Grand dio! Quando, quando [Great God! When, when]?"
Gold! Riches! They meant nothing to her. Her one desire was to see Pappina liberated from this life she felt sure would destroy her health, innocence, and beauty.
Hark! "Le parlete d'amore," that beautiful air from "Faust," came floating to their ears. The fresh, clear voice rang through the morning air.
"Odi, chi e [Listen, who is it]?" Pappina exclaimed, peering down the winding road. A young girl came around a bend, leading a small pig, and the child darted toward her. A few yards from the singer she paused, uncertain whether to continue or not, but being reassured by a bright smile from the girl, she hastened on. Reaching the maiden, she stopped, and looked wonderingly at the pig.
"What is it you have?" she asked timidly, for it is only in the country that girls have pet pigs, and Pappina had never seen one.
"What have I? Why, don't you know, little one? It is my pet pig." The young girl laid her hand caressingly on the animal's head as she spoke.
Tender little Pappina had never in her short life had anything to pet, not even a doll. She took hold of the ribbon around the pig's neck.
"How pretty!" she exclaimed. "He won't hurt me, will he? What's his name?"
"I named him Savio, because he is so wise."