Another time my hostess fell foul of the waiter, because he had
brought me goat's milk which was very sour. There ensued the most
comical scene. In an access of fury the stout woman raged and
stormed; the waiter, a lank young fellow, with a simple,
good-natured face, after trying to explain that he had committed the
fault by inadvertence, suddenly raised his hand, like one about to
exhort a congregation, and exclaimed in a tone of injured
remonstrance, "_Un po' di calma! Un po' di calma!_" My explosion of
laughter at this inimitable utterance put an end to the strife. The
youth laughed with me; his mistress bustled him out of the room, and
then began to inform me that he was weak in his head. Ah! she
exclaimed, her life with these people! what it cost her to keep them
in anything like order! When she retired, I heard her expectorating
violently in the corridor; a habit with every inmate of this genial
hostelry.
When the worst of my fever had subsided, the difficulty was to
obtain any nourishment suitable to my state. The good doctor, who
had suggested beefsteak and Marsala when I was incapable of taking
anything at all, ruled me severely in the matter of diet now that I
really began to feel hungry.
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