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Vitangelo was a man from Fallo who was having a relationship with a woman from Montelapiano, whom he went to visit once a week. |
Vitangelo era un uomo di Fallo che aveva una relazione con una donna di Montelapiano e, una volta a settimana, l'andava a trovare.
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He always came back to Fallo late at night and usually half drunk. |
Tornava a Fallo sempre la sera tardi e di solito era mezzo ubriaco. |
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| Once, near the brook of Montelapiano, he met a small boy. It was about midnight, and to Vitangelo it seemed strange that the little boy was there at that hour. The little boy kept looking at him without saying anything, then Vitangelo, curious, asked him: |
Una volta, vicino al ruscello di Montelapiano, incontrò un bambino. Era verso mezzanotte e a Vitangelo sembrò strano che a quell'ora il ragazzino si trovasse là. Il fanciullo lo guardava e non parlava, allora Vitangelo incuriosito, gli chiese: |
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- Who are you? What are you doing here? - The little boy continued to look at him for a little longer, then rudely answered him:
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- Chi sei tu? Cosa ci fai qui? - Il ragazzino lo guardò ancora per parecchio tempo, poi, sgarbatamente gli rispose:
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| - What do you care? - |
- A te che cosa importa? - |
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| - I care that you are too little to be here at this hour. - |
- A me interessa poichè tu sei troppo piccolo perché stia qui a quest'ora. - |
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- I am small but I have teeth! -
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- Io sono piccolo, ma ho i denti! -
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| Answered the boy opening his mouth wide. Then Vitangelo saw that the little boy had many big and sharp teeth. |
Gli rispose il ragazzino spalancando la bocca. Allora Vitangelo vide che il bambino aveva molti denti grandi ed affilatissimi. |
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| The man was frightened and covered his eyes not to see, but when he uncovered his eyes, the little boy had disappeared. |
L'uomo si spaventò e si coprì gli occhi per non vedere, ma, quando tolse la mano, il ragazzino era scomparso. |
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| Vitangelo then, even more frightened, began to run in the direction of Fallo and, as soon as he got back home, he locked himself in. During the night he could not sleep because he was so frightened. The next day he told everybody that near the brook of Montelapiano a ghost had appeared to him, a ghost, which still today, is remembered as "Vitangelo's Ghost". |
Vitangelo, allora, sempre più spaventato, si mise a correre verso Fallo e, appena tornato a casa, si chiuse dentro. La notte non riuscì a dormire per lo spavento. Il giorno dopo raccontò a tutti che, vicino al ruscello di Montelapiano, gli era apparso un fantasma il quale, ancora oggi, è ricordato con il nome di "Ombra di Vitangelo". |
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| The fervent imagination of the peasants contributed much to this anecdote, however, the hypothesis of the ghost's appearance (in dialect the term "ombra" indicates an evil spirit) has been always considered rather remote by most locals. It is more probable that Vitangelo, with his mind blurred by wine, may have had a hallucination. In spite of this, when the sentence "I am small but I have teeth" (Sò cirille ma tienghe li diente!) is cited, it is to warn someone from underestimating a person who, behind a gentle appearance, could hide a character not so gentle. |
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