ART. I.

JULIETTA:

A TALE,

TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN

OF COUNT LUIGI DA PORTO.

By F. D. S. Esq.

INTRODUCTION.

LUIGI DA PORTO to Lucina Savorgnana.

Is a conversation with you sometime ago,

I

expressed myself willing to write down a melancholy story, formerly heard by me, the circumstances of which happened at Verona. I have therefore thought fit to relate it to you in these few pages, as well to fulfil my promise, as because it becomes me, who am wretched, to relate the misfortunes of unhappy lovers, with which it is filled, and address it to you; so that by reading it you may clearly

perceive, to what dangerous hazards, and in most cases to what untimely, cruel ends, unhappy lovers are exposed by their passion. And I send it the more willingly to you, as being probably my last effort of this nature, I shall finish my Authorship with you; who as the harbour of all worth and virtue, will afford shelter to the frail bark of my wit, which loaded with many and various desires, and driven by Love, has hitherto ploughed the less profound waters of Poetry; so that, having reached you, it may give over helm, sails and oars, to others who navigate more happily in those seas, and cast itself secure and unarmed on your shores. Take this then, Madam, in its present suitable dress, and read it with good will, as well for the subject, which appears to me full of pathos, as for the strict bands of friendship and relationship, which unite you to the Author. I say then, that as you know, in my early youth, before Heaven had turned all its anger against me, I gave myself to arms, and after the example of many great and valiant men, exercised myself some time in your delightful country of Friuli, over which I had occasion at different times, publicly or privately, to travel. I was accustomed, in my expeditions, to lead with me, among others, a Veronese Archer, named Pellegrino, a man

about fifty, skilful, practiced, in his profession, with lively manners, and who, like almost all the Veronese, excelled in conversation. This man besides his being a bold and experienced soldier, had a handsome person, and was, more perhaps than suited his years, addicted to fall in love; a circumstance that added greatly to his value; for he delighted in tales, such chiefly as treated of love, which he related with more grace and order, than any I have ever heard. For which reason, when departing from Gradisca, where I was lodged with him and two others, perhaps driven by Love towards Udine, that road being at that time very lonely, and the country burned and destroyed by war, the said Pellegrino, seeing me buried in thought, and far from the rest, as if divining my thoughts, approached me, and said: « will you always lead this sad life, because a cruel beauty, though feigning otherwise, loves you little? And though I own, that good advice is easier given than retained, I will tell you, my master, that besides its being forbidden to you in the army to enter deeply into the prison of love, so sad are the ends, to which he leads us, that there is great danger in following him; in testimony of which, if it pleases you, and to render the journey less irksome and solitary, I will relate you a tale of our City, in which

you will perceive how two noble lovers were conducted by love to a piteous and miserable death. » I having made sign that I would hear him willingly, he commenced thus:

JULIETTA.

At the time when the courteous and humane Prince, Bartholomew della Scala, held the reins of Government, there existed in Verona, (as my father remembered to have heard) two noble families, the one named MONTECCHI, the other CAPPELLETTI, who, whether by the effect of public faction, or private enmity, lived in constant hostility towards each other. From the first are thought certainly to be derived Messer Nicolo and Messer Giovanni, called Monticoli of Verona, who now reside by some strange accident at Udine; although they have brought with them to that place little, besides their gentle courteousness. I happened to find in some old legend, that these two families, united, drove out Azzo da Esti governor of that country, who afterwards returned by the aid of St. Boniface. However this may be, I will tell you the story as I heard it, without alteration.

These families were then, under the said Prince,

equally endowed by Heaven and by

Fortune, with valiant men and great riches, and between them, as for whatever reason often happens among great Houses, reigned a most deadly enmity, by which so many had fallen on both sides, that partly through weariness, and partly by the menaces of the Prince, who saw their divisions with grief, they had abstained from doing each other injury; aud had become in time so peaceable, that a great part of their followers associated together. When they were thus nearly reconciled, it happened during a Carnaval, that at the house of Messere Antonio Cappelletti, a gay, good-humoured man, who was the head of the family, many entertainments were given day and night, at which the whole City assisted. To one of these, following a cruel mistress, (as is the custom of lovers, who follow their mistresses, with body as well as heart, wherever they can,) came a youth of the Montecchi family. He was very young; his person tall and handsome, and his manners engaging. When he took off his mask like the rest, being in a woman's dress, every eye was fixed on him, as well on account of his beauty, which equalled that of any woman present, as from astonishment at seeing him, particularly at night, in that house. But she on whom his appearance produced the greatest effect, was the only daughter of Messer Antonio, a most