n enough to brave the mockery; this
was Bastiano, the most formidable diver of that coast. He also sang, but
with a deep and hollow voice; his chant was mournful and his melodies
full of sadness. He never accompanied himself upon any instrument, and
never retired without concluding his song. That day he was gloomier than
usual; he was standing upright, as though by enchantment, upon a bare
and slippery rock, and he cast scornful glances upon the women who were
looking at him and laughing. The sun, which was plunging into the sea
like a globe of fire, shed its light full upon his stern features,
and the evening breeze, as it lightly rippled the billows, set the
fluttering reeds waving at his feet. Absorbed by dark thoughts, he sang,
in the musical language of his country, these sad words:--

"O window, that wert used to shine in the night like an open eye, how
dark thou art! Alas, alas! my poor sister is ill.

"Her mother, all in tears, stoops towards me and says, 'Thy poor sister
is dead and buried.'

"Jesus! Jesus! Have pity on me! You stab me to the heart.

"Tell me, good neighbours, how it happened; repeat to me her last words.

"She had a burning thirst, and refused to drink because thou wast not
there to give her water from thy hand.

"Oh, my sister! Oh, my sister!

"She refused her mother's kiss, because thou wast not there to embrace
her.

"Oh, my sister! Oh, my sister!

"She wept until her last breath, because thou wast not there to dry her
tears.

"Oh, my sister! Oh, my sister!

"We placed on her brow her wreath of orangeflowers, we covered her with
a veil as white as snow; we laid her gently in her coffin.

"Thanks, good neighbours. I will go and be with her.

"Two angels came down from heaven and bore her away on their wings. Mary
Magdalene came to meet her at the gate of heaven.

"Thanks, good neighbours. I will go and be with her.

"There, she was seated in a place of glory, a chaplet of rubies was
given to her, and she is singing her rosary with the Virgin.

"Thanks, good neighbours. I will go and be with her."

As he finished the last words of his melancholy refrain, he flung
himself from the top of his rock into the sea, as though he really
desired to engulf himself. Nisida and the other women gave a cry of
terror, for during some minutes the diver failed to reappear upon the
surface.

"Are you out of your senses?" cried a young man who had suddenly
appeared, unobserved among the w