I.
Every one of you little folks who has been to Naples knows Punchinello, and those who have not extended their travels as far as that beautiful city are well acquainted, I am sure, with "Punch and Judy."
Well, Punchinello, which, after all, only means "Little Punch," and who is the same Punch that we all know and like so well, was born on the shore of the Bay of Naples, and this is his wonderful history:
There was once upon a time a boatman named Pulci, who lived in a little white house with his wife quite near the shore where his boat was moored. Now these two good people always longed for a little child, and were quite unhappy because they did not have any.
But one day when they were sitting quite alone a big cat, black as soot, appeared to jump from under the bed, and ran between Pulci's legs, completely upsetting him. After which it rushed out at the half-open door. At the same time there came an odd cry from the cradle.
"Wife, go and see what it is," said the trembling Pulci.
Accordingly the poor woman approached the cradle, and nearly cried with joy when she saw a little human being inside.
"Husband! husband!" she cried, "what a pretty child!"
A mother's eyes are indulgent, and in a deformity more or less they never find anything to complain of. However, this pretty child only had two defects—one in front, his stomach being shaped like a comma, and the other on his back, which was like a note of exclamation. As far as his face went, there was nothing to object to, unless it might be that his nose was rather like a parrot's beak, the point of which very nearly joined his turned-up chin.