armelo had thought this over and had felt uncomfortable that I
should shun Rosario for being a jail-bird and not shun him who was one
also. It seemed to indicate considerable delicacy of feeling on his part
and I was pleased with him for taking so much trouble to get the
confession off his chest. Whereas Rosario had treated his disgrazia as
merely an annoying little accident that might happen to any gentleman.

Peppino returned, stood on the quay and shouted to the ships; presently a
small boat containing Vanni and a sailor detached herself from the
confusion and rowed to our feet. I was introduced and, amid the usual
compliments, we took our seats and glided past the _Sacro Cuore_, the
_Due Sorelle_, the _Divina Provvidenza_, the _Maria Concetta_, the
_Stella Maris_, the _La Pace_, the _Indipendente_, the _Nuova Bambina_
and many more. Peppino called my attention to the names of the ships and
said how commonplace and dull they were after the romantic names he had
seen on the beach at Brighton. He gave, as an instance, _Pride of the
Ocean_, which I remembered having often seen there; it was all very well,
but somehow it had never impressed me as hitting the bull's-eye of
romance. During their voyage through time the words of one's own
language become barnacled over with associations so that we cannot see
them in their naked purity as we see the words of a foreign tongue. I
translated _Pride of the Ocean_ into _Vanto del Mare_ and offered it to
Peppino; it seemed to me to gain, but he said I had knocked all the
poetry out of it. One of the ships was the _Riunione dei due Fratelli_.
I inquired whether the brothers had quarrelled and made it up.

"Yes," said he, "that is the worst of family quarrels; they do not last."

"What do you mean, Peppino? Surely it is better for brothers to be
friends than to quarrel?"

"If to be friends inside also, then is it a good thing and much better;
but look here, excuse me; the brothers are quarrelling and fighting and
are failing to kill each others and the parents are telling to don't be
quarrelling and the brothers are telling that they would be quarrelling
and the parents are telling to don't be stupid and to embrace and became
friends and the brothers are telling, Go away, parents, and to leave
alone to be quarrelling in peace. But it is too difficult and many
months are passing and the brothers are--please, what is stanchi? Excuse
me, it is fatigued, and are embracing t