LI SPIRITI III (Ghosts 3)

Giuseppe Gioachino Belli

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Tu conoschi la moje de Fichetto:
Bè, lei giura e spergiura ch'er zu' nonno,
Stanno una notte tra la vej'e 'r zonno,
Se sentì ffà un zospiro accapalletto.

Arzò la testa, e ne sentì un siconno.
Allora lui cor fiato ch'ebbe in petto
Strillò: Spirito bono o maledetto,
Di' da parte de Dio; che cerchi ar monno?"

Dice: "Io mill'anni addietro ero Badessa,
E in sto logo che stava er dormitorio
Cor un cetrolo me sfonnai la fessa.

Da' un scudo ar piggionante, a don Libborio,
Pe ffamme li sorcismi e dì una messa,
Si me vòi libberà dar purgatorio".


English

III
You know Fichetto's [2] wife:
Well, she swears that her grandfather
One night while half-asleep
Heard a sigh coming from his bedhead.

He raised his head, and he heard a second one.
So with all his breath
He cried: "Good or evil spirit,
Tell me for God's sake; what are you looking for?"

It said: "A thousand years ago I was an Abbess,
And in this place where the dormitory stood
I was penetrated by a gherkin [3] .

Give one shilling to Father Liborio, the lodger,
To perform an exorcism and to say mass,
If you want to free me from purgatory".

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