The bronze boar
In the city of Florence, not far from Piazza del Granduca, runs a cross street, called Porta Rossa. In it, in front of a vegetable market, stands the curious figure of a bronze boar, sculpted with great art. Clear and fresh water flows from the animal's mouth, which over time has taken on a dark green color. Only the snout shines, as if it had been polished - and it is indeed so - by the action of the many hundreds of children and poor people who, holding it in their hands, bring their mouths closer to that of the animal to drink. It is a beautiful painting of the well-drawn beast embraced by a graceful half-naked raptor, who applies his fresh mouth to the bronze snout.
It was a winter evening; the mountains were covered with snow, but in the sky the full moon shone.
A ragged boy had sat all day in the Grand Duke's garden, under the roof of pines, where even in winter roses bloom by the thousands; a boy who could pass for the image of Italy, such was he beautiful, smiling and yet sickly looking. He was hungry and thirsty, no one gave him a penny and when it got dark - time to close the garden - the doorman threw him out. For a long time she reveled in his daydreams on the bridge that spans the Arno, looking at the stars reflecting on the water between him and the magnificent marble bridge "della Trinita."
Then he went to the bronze boar, dropped to one knee as he reached it, and, throwing his arms around the figure's neck, he put his mouth to the gleaming snout and drank in great gulps of its cool water. Beside it lay some leaves of lettuce and two or three chestnuts; that was his dinner. In the street there was not a soul; the boy was completely alone; he sat on the boar's back, leaned forward so that his curly little head rested on the animal's, and without realizing it fell fast asleep.
As midnight struck, the bronze boar shuddered, and the boy heard it say:
"Hold on tight, kid, I'm going to run!"
And he started the race, with him in tow. Strange ride! First they reached the Piazza del Granduca, where the bronze horse of the prince's statue greeted them neighing. The polychrome coat of arms of the old town halls shone as if transparent, while Michelangelo's David brandished his sling. Everywhere there was an amazing life. The bronze groups representing Perseus and the Abduction of the Sabine Women waved frantically; From the mouths of the women came a cry of mortal anguish, which echoed in the great lonely square.
The bronze boar stopped at the Palazzo degli Uffizi, under the arcade where the nobility gather at carnival parties.
"Hold on tight," repeated the animal, "we're going up this ladder."
The boy remained silent, between trembling and happy.
They entered a long gallery that he knew very well. Magnificent pictures hung on the walls, and there were statues and busts, all illuminated by the most vivid light, as in broad daylight. But the most beautiful thing came when the doors that gave access to an adjoining room opened. The boy had not forgotten how magnificent it was, but he had never seen it as splendid as that night.
The boy was dazzled by all that splendor; the walls were ablaze with color and everything was life and movement. Two Venuses could be seen, representing the earthly Venus, turgid and ardent, just as Titian had pressed her over his heart.
What splendor and what beauty from room to room! And the boy saw everything; the bronze boar advanced step by step through all that magnificence. One vision eclipsed the other, but a single image was fixed in the child's soul, surely because of the happy and happy children that appeared in it, and that the little one had already seen before in the light of day.
There are many who pass in front of that painting without hardly noticing it; however, it contains a treasure of poetry. It is Christ descending into hell; but around him are not the damned, but the heathen. The Florentine Angiolo Bronzino painted that picture, the most sublime of which is the certainty reflected in the children's faces, that they will go to heaven: two of them are already embracing; one, very small, reaches out his hand to another who is still in the abyss, and points to himself, as if to say: I'm going to heaven! All the rest remain undecided, waiting or humbly bowing before Jesus Our Lord.
The boy spent much more time contemplating that painting than he did all the others. The bronze boar was still standing in front of him. There was a slight sigh; Did it come out of the painting or the animal's chest? The boy extended his arm to the smiling little ones in the painting, and then the boar continued on his way, leaving through the open hall.
Thank you, and God bless you, good animal! exclaimed the boy, petting his mount, which was bounding down the stairs.
"Thank you, and God bless you!" answered the boar. I have rendered you a service, and you have rendered another to me, for only with an innocent creature on my back am I given the strength to run. You see, I can even enter the circle of light that comes from the lamp hanging before the painting of the Virgin. Everywhere I can take you, except to church; but if you're with me, I can look into it through the open door. Don't get off my back; if you do, I will drop dead, just as you see me during the day in the Rue de la Porta Rossa.
"I will stay with you, my good animal," replied the boy; and the boar began a swift race through the streets of Florence, not stopping until he reached the square where the church of Santa Croce stands.
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