erections. These
were originally human sacrifices, for which, in later times, the animals
were substituted. Hence the legends of the devil having been defrauded
out of a promised soul by driving a goat or cat over the bridge as a
first crosser. The spirits of the Ponte Vecchio and Ponte alla Carraia
clearly indicate this origin.

The next legend on this subject is that of the Ponte alle Grazie, which
was built by Capo, the fellow-pupil of Arnolfo, under the direction of
Rubaconte, who filled the office of Podesta in 1235. Five hundred years
are quite time enough to attract traditions in a country where they
spring up in five; and when I inquired whether there was any special
story attached to the Ponte alle Grazie, I was soon supplied with the
following:

LE PONTE ALLE GRAZIE.

"When one passes under a bridge, or in halls of great palaces, or the
vault of a church, or among high rocks, if he calls aloud, he will hear
what is called the _echo_ of his voice.

"Yet it is really not his own voice which he hears, but the mocking
voices of spirits, the reason being that they are confined to these
places, and therefore we do not hear them in the open air, where they are
free. But we can hear them clearly in great places enclosed, as, for
instance, under vaults, and far oftener in the country, because in
limited spaces their voices are confined and not lost. And these are the
voices of people who were merry and jovial while on earth, and who now
take delight _a rifare il verso_, to re-echo a strain.

"But under the Ponte alle Grazie we hear the cry of the spirit of a girl.
She was very beautiful, and had grown up from infancy in constant
companionship with a youth of the neighbourhood, and so from liking as
children they went on to loving at a more advanced age, with greater
fondness and with deeper passion.

"And it went so far that at last the girl found herself with child, and
then she was in great trouble, not knowing how to hide this from her
parents. _Sta beccata da una serpe_, as the proverb is; 'she had been
stung by a serpent,' and now began to feel the poison. But the youth was
faithful and true, and promised to marry her as soon as he could possibly
arrange matters. So she was quieted for a time.

"But she had a vilely false friend, and a most intimate one, in a girl
who, being a witch, or of that kind, hated her bitterly at heart, albeit
she knew well _portare bene la masc