Bell for Adano, A - John Hersey [64]
In due course Lojacono finished his work, and everyone pronounced it quite good, although, one said, it would be hard for a porpoise to jump that high out of the water with a man on his back, and, another said, should not the name of the boat, which was now Americano, be a little lower? Lojacono attributed the former highness to good spirits and the latter highness to the way the name American had been raised in everyone’s esteem by the Mister Major; and everyone went away satisfied.
The next morning the boats went out. Major Joppolo went down to the harbor to see them off, and the people in town were all excited at the prospect of eating fish.
The catch that day was excellent. When the boats were all in and the fish all weighed, it was estimated by Agnello that a total of three thousand two hundred pounds had been taken in. Better than that, the fish were mostly of good grades. It was the custom to sort the fish into four grades, the biggest to be sold for five lira, the next for four, the next for three, and the smallest for one. More than half of that first day’s catch were of the five lira grade.
The second day’s catch was even better - nearly thirty-five hundred pounds.
On the third day it was still over three thousand.
There were near riots at the fish market, and in the Albergo dei Pescatori, which in the old days had specialized in fish for fishermen (and that is the most delicate and finicky of all fish cookery), the crowds were bigger than they had ever been, and lots of people went away disappointed, not because of a shortage of fish, but simply because there wasn’t time to feed them all.
The fishermen were wildly happy. The mere fact of going out again would have made them happy, but to have the catch so good, and their boats in such good condition, and their income so high for a change -they were delighted.
On the evening of their third day, some of them went to Tomasino, and Agnello said: “Tomasino, don’t you think you ought to go to the Mister Major and thank him for making it possible for us to go fishing?”
Tomasmo was as happy as he could ever be, but that did not mean that he smiled, or that he would answer happily. “I have been to the Palazzo once to see him, because my wife Rosa forced me to. Never again. I hate that place.”
The young man named Sconzo said: “Then don’t you think we should send Agnello? We think that we owe our thanks to the Mister Major. We were talking about it while we were out today.”
Tomasino was not pleased with the suggestion that Agnello should go in his place. “Is Agnello the head of the fishermen?” he said.
“No,” Sconzo said, “but if you do not wish to go…” “The best fishing boat in this harbor is named Tina,” Tomasino said, and though he spoke gloomily, there was a kind of gaiety in his idea. “Therefore the one for whom that boat is named ought to be the one to go and thank the Mister Major.”
The other fishermen thought that that was a fine idea, but Agnello said: “We would all like to be present when you give instructions to your daughter as to what she is to say to the Mister Major.” He was afraid that grim old Tomasino would tell her to say something begrudging.
So all the fishermen went up to Tomasino’s house and found Tina, and Tomasino said: “Tina, we have an errand for you. The fishermen of Adano want you to go to see the Mister Major for them...”
Tina surprised everyone by blushing and refusing to go:, But why not?” Agnello asked. “We thought it would be nice if a beautiful girl took our message to the Mister Major instead of a man who stinks of fish.”
Tomasino did not like that remark and he said angrily: “Tomasino does not stink of fish any worse than certain other fishermen he knows.”
Agnello said: “I did not have any particular fisherman in mind, old gassy bowels. Do not forget that it