Item 108 - Letter from Alphonse Grandmont to R. C. Trevelyan

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Taormina. - Is delighted that Wolfram [von Eschenbach's] Perceval is appreciated by Trevelyan and his friends: he thinks it one of the best medieval chivalric poems, admiring its depiction of character and unity of action, as well as its philosophical and moral scope; encourages Trevelyan to compare the beginning of the first song with the Epistle of St James. He had thought his translation [published 1892] would be read by the French, but thanks to Trevelyan it is the English who buy it. The heavy rains in Sicily, reported in the newspapers, have damaged his houses and spoiled his vegetable, tomato and olive crops, while his grapes have been carried off by rats, lizards and insects since all the neighbouring vineyards have been destroyed by phylloxera. Attempted murder of a young man from Taormina, Ciccia Fallone, by his deserted lover Saredda Bugra: Trevelyan and Bessie will remember them both. Rumour that the end of the world will come tomorrow, so he and Bramine jokingly send all their love.

• francês