FROM FATHER TO SON

di John Monaco

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The mornings in Capracotta were always cold, both in summer and winter. Amadeo was fortunate because one day his father had made the ten-mile trek to and from Campobasso, where, with several months savings from his pre-dawn labors, he had bought his son a lovely leather coat lined with warm fur. He had hoped for something inexpensive for himself also, to keep him warm on his long, morning walks, but the coat for his son had cost him all he had. No matter. It was important that Amadeo be protected against the cold, unhealthy air.

In the mornings, Amadeo sat at the kitchen table and along with bread and cheese, his mother set before him the fresh milk his father had brought. He enjoyed this breakfast, but was often left less than satisfied with the simplicity of this fare.

After breakfast, he would gahter his schoolbooks, ready to leave in his warm coat and the new shoes his father had bought for him when school began that year. At the door, he hung his books over his shoulder with a strap, and his mother would hand him the two eggs she had just boiled. These he held, one in each hand, to keep his fingers warm until he reached school. There, he would sit at his table, poke a hole in each egge, and suck it warm from its shell as the last course to his breakfast.

• J. Monaco, From Father to Son, in «The Angle», XXI:1, St. John Fisher College, Rochester 1976, p. 5.

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Note:

• Parte di questo racconto è stato tradotto in italiano nel secondo volume della "Guida alla letteratura capracottese".

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