DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55699#0315
TERNI.
255
capacious brim., ornamented with a feather of no insig-
nificant proportions 5 a short blade suspended from his
side, hitherto guiltless of strife with pistols in his hol-
sters, never yet having been discharged since they were
proved by the maker, completed his outward equipment.
He bestrode a nag, that was in every respect the coun-
terpart of his master. His sleek comely sides bore
abundant testimony to the care with which he had been
treated5 and his whole appearance betokened a life of
ease very much at variance with the serious service into
which he was now for the first time called.
Behold, then, Messer Pietro mounted, his adieus made
to wife, family, and friends, and fairly on his way to
Loretto! We will not follow him through the little ad-
ventures of his journey, but join him on his arrival at the
holy city. He had a letter recommending him to the
care of Father Urban, a pious Jesuit, and who, moreover,
officiated at the holy house. The good father took the
worthy burgher under his especial protection, and set
forward with him to unfold the mysteries of the santa
casa. On his road, the Jesuit explained how, after the
destruction of Ptolemais in Palestine by Malech-Seraph,
sultan of Egypt, the Virgin Mary, fearing lest the in-
fidels should treat her dwelling with disrespect, caused a
band of angels to transport it, in one night, from its
foundation to a place in Dalmatia. Thence it made
a second trip to the territory of Ancona, and was re-
moved for the third time to a neighbouring mountain,
where, its possession being disputed by two brothers, to
avoid such scandal, the Virgin caused its transportation
to the spot where it at present stands. To prevent its any
255
capacious brim., ornamented with a feather of no insig-
nificant proportions 5 a short blade suspended from his
side, hitherto guiltless of strife with pistols in his hol-
sters, never yet having been discharged since they were
proved by the maker, completed his outward equipment.
He bestrode a nag, that was in every respect the coun-
terpart of his master. His sleek comely sides bore
abundant testimony to the care with which he had been
treated5 and his whole appearance betokened a life of
ease very much at variance with the serious service into
which he was now for the first time called.
Behold, then, Messer Pietro mounted, his adieus made
to wife, family, and friends, and fairly on his way to
Loretto! We will not follow him through the little ad-
ventures of his journey, but join him on his arrival at the
holy city. He had a letter recommending him to the
care of Father Urban, a pious Jesuit, and who, moreover,
officiated at the holy house. The good father took the
worthy burgher under his especial protection, and set
forward with him to unfold the mysteries of the santa
casa. On his road, the Jesuit explained how, after the
destruction of Ptolemais in Palestine by Malech-Seraph,
sultan of Egypt, the Virgin Mary, fearing lest the in-
fidels should treat her dwelling with disrespect, caused a
band of angels to transport it, in one night, from its
foundation to a place in Dalmatia. Thence it made
a second trip to the territory of Ancona, and was re-
moved for the third time to a neighbouring mountain,
where, its possession being disputed by two brothers, to
avoid such scandal, the Virgin caused its transportation
to the spot where it at present stands. To prevent its any