Military life in Italy : sketches - Societa italiana di storia militare

THE MOTHER. 43
down the stairs, meet at the door-way their neighbors who were
waiting for them, form a little circle, begin a vivacious conversation,
and grouping their heads together, like flowers in a bouquet,
and swinging
around their forefingers the ribbon which fastens
the scissors to. their belt, reply to the words whispered by the
young fellows who pass : Charming ! in their hearts, and with
their mouths : !
Impudence then
turn their backs in a scornful
manner, not so fully, however,
that they are unable to measure
them from head to foot out of the corners of their eyes, to see
who they are and what they are like. Others, drawn up in
fours and fives, all arm-in-arm, bareheaded,
arrive at the end
of the street, hitting each other with their elbows as they pass,
whispering in their ears,
laughing aloud, and turning now and
then to chide with a maternal air the younger ones who are
rambling about. Meanwhile the young men are leaving the
factories and workshops with their hats pushed down over their
ears, their jackets slung carelessly over their shoulder, the
stump of a cigar
in their mouths and twisted and turned indifferently
between their black lips. They come down the
street in shoals, moving their shoulders in a rough fashion, shouting
the latest stornello, meet the girls, approach them, hit them
with their elbows and knees, puffing a mouthful of smoke into
their faces ;
and the latter scatter with a shriek, coughing,
and passing their hands over their tear-filled eyes. The
gamins loosen the theatre placards with their nails and
then tear them down from the walls ;
the small children play
in the squares ;
and the mothers, standing in groups
at the
door-ways, their babies in their arms, delay giving
the usual
cry: "To bed!" thanks to the softness. of the air and the
clearness of the sky. Along the streets, from the shops on