“Then he came to a thick forest, so thick that not even a bird could get through. ‘Now I’m lost,’ he thought. ‘Yet if I’m lost, so is the horse, so I’ll trust in God.’ And he went on into the woods, where he met an old man who was cutting a tree with a stalk of wheat. ‘What are you doing,’ he asked, ‘cutting a tree with that stalk of wheat?’

“To which the old man replied, ‘Another word and I’ll cut off your head as well.’

“The orphan galloped off, and then he saw an arch of fire with two lions on each side of it. ‘If I go through that arch I’ll burn,’ he thought, ‘but if I burn so will the horse, so let’s go with trust in God!’

“He galloped on until he saw a woman on her knees praying, before whom the horse stopped. The orphan knew then that the letter was for that woman and he gave it to her. The woman opened the letter, read it, then took a handful of sand and threw it in the air. The orphan mounted the horse again and returned to town.

“When he got back, he saw that his master was the Lord, who told him: ‘The ravine you saw was the fall into Hell, the large body of water the tears of my Blessed Mother, the river of blood was from my five wounds, the thick forest was the thorns of my crown, the man cutting the tree with the stalk of wheat was Death, the arch of fire was Hell and the two lions your brothers, and the kneeling woman was my Mother. You obeyed me, now take what you want from that pile of gold.’

“The orphan wanted nothing, but finally he picked up one gold coin and then took his leave of the Lord.

“On the next day, when he went to buy his bread, he spent his coin and yet it still remained in his pocket. And thus it was ever after, and thus he lived happy and well.”

Umbertina smiled at the end, content with the story. But Benedetto, always the suspicious one, the one of her sons who had most inherited her dark and brooding nature, spoke up shrilly. “Why did it have to be the two older brothers who go to Hell? Is that Jake and me?”

“Is it?” repeated Jake, who was older but slower to draw conclusions than Ben.

“Stupidi!” said Umbertina indulgently. “Are you orphans?” And she laughed at seeing them so uncertain and eyeing Paolo warily as he slept in her lap.