Heart (de Amicis)/The Day of the Dead
THE DAY OF THE DEAD
(All-Soul's Day)
November 2d.
This day is sacred to the memory of the dead. Do you know, Enrico, that all you boys should, on this day, devote a thought to those who are dead? to those who have died for you,—for boys and little children. How many have died, and how many are dying continually! Have you ever reflected how many fathers have worn out their lives in toil? how many mothers have descended to the grave before their time, worn out by the privations to which they have condemned themselves for the sake of sustaining their children? Do you know how many men have planted a knife in their hearts in despair at beholding their children in misery? how many women have drowned themselves or have died of sorrow, or have gone mad, through having lost a child? Think of all these dead on this day, Enrico. Think of how many schoolmistresses have died young, have pined away through the fatigues of the school, through love of the children, from whom they had not the heart to tear themselves away; think of the doctors who have perished of contagious diseases, having bravely sacrificed themselves to cure the children; think of all those who in shipwrecks, in fires, in famines, in moments of supreme danger, have yielded to infants the last morsel of bread, the last place of safety, the last rope of escape from the flames, to expire content with their sacrifice, since they preserved the life of a little innocent.
Such dead as these are countless, Enrico; every graveyard contains hundreds of these sainted beings, who, if they could rise for a moment from their graves, would cry the name of a child for whom they gave up the joys of youth, the peace of old age, their affections, their learning, their life: wives of twenty, men in the flower of their strength, octogenarians, youths, heroic and obscure martyrs to infancy, so grand and so noble, that the earth does not produce as many flowers as should strew their graves. To such a degree are ye loved, O children! Think to-day on those dead with gratitude, and you will be kinder and more affectionate to all those who love you, and who toil for you, my dear, fortunate son, who, on the day of the dead, have, as yet, no one to grieve for.
Your Mother.