“Capitolo 23: Nell’ Arkansas,” <i>Come ho “fatto” l'America</i> (1932)

Like my father said, I had achieved the American dream—or at least my American dream. I had finally reached my goal. It was not the fantastic dream my pharmacist friend in Brooklyn thought I should aspire for, and to tell the truth, it was not even the one that my father had dreamed of the night of my first and only oratory triumph at that political meeting. It was my humble goal, and it was sufficient to satisfy my cravings and ambitions.I needed to be in Arkansas the first of September, but I always worried about what can happen on such a long trip. I decided to arrive about eight days ahead of time. I thought that arriving early would make a good impression, since obviously one would need to get settled and organized before classes were to begin.The state of Arkansas is about 2,500 kilometers from New York City, and to get there it took me three days by train through a third of the vast North American continent. I boarded the train early in the morning with my parents there to see me off. My father was enthusiastic about my good luck while my mother was trying to hold back the tears behind her smiles. I was full of confidence, and they were both happy to see me leaving for my new destiny.Since an early age, I had wanted to see the American countryside. The early train would give me the chance to see the country where my adventure was leading me. From a map, it appeared to be a monotonous endless plain, but what I found was the florid exuberance of agriculture that constitutes so much of the country's wealth. When I saw the evening shadows getting longer, I got off the train to spend the night before darkness surrounded the beautiful scenery. The second stop was in St. Louis where I spent the night. The following day was the most attractive part of my long trip.I boarded the train that morning with a certain pleasure, not only because I was approaching my destination but also because I had been assured by my friends in New York that this would be a picturesque part of America. Most of the day, my face was stuck against the window looking for Indigenous villages with the Indigenous people wearing feathers in their hair. The country that passed before my eyes, however, was vibrant and wealthy. The towns all looked like typical American towns, and they followed each other at monotonous intervals without any variation. I kept thinking about reading Gustave Aimard when I was younger, in which he spoke of Arkansas as a land of the Redskins, but all the people I could see from the train were white Americans. As we were getting closer to the border of Arkansas, the view kept increasing in beauty. There was a mixture of steep hills, thick woods, and fertile valleys making this part of the country look like the most celebrated tourist areas of old Europe.As the third night was approaching, the proximity to Fayetteville kept me from interrupting the trip with another stop. At eleven o'clock at night, I arrived at my destination. I stepped from the train, and I had my first look at Fayetteville, the home of the University of Arkansas, where I was to settle. My trip had taken thirty hours excluding the nights. Incanto e seduzione del primo arrivo in una cittadina sconosciuta nella quale già si sa che si dovrà passer tanta esistenza! Giunto alla Stazione, solo e inatteso, non so dire il sentimento che provai nel riconoscere il primo aspetto delle cose che avrebbero poi dovuto divenirmi tanto abituali. Uscii dalla Stazione cercando di darmi l'aria più di casa di questo mondo, e mi guardai attorno prima di avventurarmi al mio destino, mirando la cittadina linda e tranquilla che si distendeva nell'incantevole scenario dei suoi frondosi viali. E quando me ne fui saturato da quella prima soglia, presi una vecchia vettura traballante e mi feci condurre all'Albergo, ove segnai, non senza una certa trepidazione, il mio nome. Poi, siccome intorno era tutto silenzio, mi ritirai io pure nella mia stanza.1Arriving in this unfamiliar town where I knew I would spend a very long time was both enchanting and seductive. I was alone when I got to the station. No one was waiting for me. I do not know how to tell you what I felt exploring for the first time things that eventually would become so habitual. I stepped out of the station to get a breath of fresh air. I wanted to acclimate myself to this new world. I looked around before venturing on to my destination, looking at the pretty, quiet town that expanded before me with incantevole scenery and its leafy avenues. And when I was saturated with that first threshold, I took a rickety old carriage to the hotel. I signed my name not without a certain trepidation. The lobby was completely silent, so I went up to my room.Prima lontana notte di Fayetteville, che dolce dormire!How sweetly I slept that first long ago night in Fayetteville!La mattina uscii per tempo a completare la mia scoperta della città. M'apparve subito il tipico borgo del sud, le residenze tutte sparse tra il verde intorno al nucleo central: l'Ufficio Postale nel centro della piazza quadrata, tutta cinta torno torno di negozi e pur rallegrata, come ogni altra strada di freschi alberi e di aiuole. Un'area da città di centomila abitanti, pei tremila o poco più che poteva contare allora Fayetteville.The next morning, I went out for a while to complete my exploration of the town. It immediately appeared to me like the typical village of the South. The houses were all scattered among the green neighborhoods surrounding the central nucleus. The post office was in the center of the downtown square, and the square was surrounded by a belt of stores one next to the other that seemed to welcome all the other streets with their lush trees and flower beds. The area of the city could have had 100,000 inhabitants instead of the 3,000 or less counted in Fayetteville at that time.Se non s'incontravano penne di Indiani per le vie, pur notai subito qualche diversità nella gente. Essa m'appariva tutt'altra nei modi, nel fare e nel parlare, di quella così nervosa e perpetuamante agitata del Est, dove si assume inconsciamente una posizione di eterna difesa contro qualcuno; fenomeno forse acuito dai perpetui flussi e reflussi etnici e da una più accanita lotta per la vita. Qui la gente camminava più calma, parlava più pecata, si fermava volontieri agli incontri, ispirava un senso di maggior confidenza. E questo, a chi era capitato solo e sconosciuto in mezzo ad essa, dava un senso di infinito conforto.Even though I did not encounter any Indigenous people in the streets, I quickly noticed some diversity amongst the people. There was a difference in the way they acted and the way they talked compared to the nervous and perpetually agitated ways of the East where everyone subconsciously assumes a position of self-defense against everybody else. This is a phenomenon perhaps exacerbated by the constant ebb and flow of immigrants and by the necessity of a fiercer struggle for life. Here, the people walked more calmly, spoke more quietly, and would voluntarily stop and visit with people they encountered inspiring a sense of confidence. This gave a great deal of comfort to a person like me who was alone and not familiar with the town.M'incamminai verso l'Università per vederlo al di fuori senza farmi riconoscer da alcuno. Immaginavo che in un centro come quello di Fayetteville, anche il mio arrivo dovesse costituire un avvenimento di qualche conto, e seppi poi che il giornale locale aveva acuito la curiosità della gente scrivendo, e come al solito abbellendo assai la verità di questo straniero che doveva arrivare per occupare una cattedra all'Università. Nessuno forse mi sospettava, eppure sentivo, passando, gli occhi della gente fissi sopra di me ma fissi al modo riservato e per nulla impacciante degli Americani, così diverso dal paesano (ficcar gli occhi addosso) dei nostri luoghi. Avevo ancora i miei baffi (e come scioccamente ci tenevo!) e camminavo trionfalmente dietro di essi, sentendo in quell'alone che mi circondava, germinare l'eterna domanda della curiosità insoddisfatta:—Chi sarà?I walked to the university to see it from the outside without getting noticed by anyone. I imagined that in a town like Fayetteville, my arrival constituted an event of some importance. I later learned that the local newspaper had aroused people's curiosity by embellishing the truth about this foreigner who had arrived to occupy a tenured position at the university. Nobody suspected me, but I could sense the eyes of people staring at me walking around. They were looking at me in the reserved way Americans do, which is so different from the nosy way of the people of our country. I still had my mustache, and how silly it was that I wanted it! I nevertheless proceeded confidently among the people sensing an aura of curiosity surrounding me with the eternal question that was never satisfied:“Who might he be?”Seppi presto che nessun'altro dell'Università aveva avuto la mia fretta e che pertanto nessun college o scolaro era ancor giunto in città.I soon realized that nobody at the university seemed to be in a hurry because school was not in session, and not many teachers or students were in town.La Domenica mi recai alla Messa e la domanda che da qualche giorno era su tutte le bocche e in tutti gli occhi nei quali m'imbattessi per via, la sentii silenziosamente ripetere da cento sguardi:—Ma chi sarà?On Sunday, I went to Mass and the question that had been in every mouth and in every eye that had seen me, was silently repeated with hundreds of glances:“But, who can he be?”Forse otto giorni passaron così e non dico i più belli, ma certo essi furono i più singolari della mia vita a Fayetteville.Perhaps eight days passed that way, and I'm not saying that they were the most beautiful, but certainly they were the most extraordinary of my life in Fayetteville.Venne finalmente il mattino della mia presentazione officiale al Rettore dell'Università. Egli mi accolse con la maggior cordialità, parlandomi affabilmente come ad un vecchio amico e assicurandomi che avrei fatto a tutti la stessa buona impressione che facevo a lui.Finally, the morning arrived for my official introduction to the chancellor of the university. He welcomed me with the utmost cordiality, talking to me affably as to an old friend and assuring me that everyone would have the same good impression that he had upon meeting me.Quando in città si seppe chi ero, la prima curiosità per lo sconosciuto si tramutò in una visibile simpatia pel nuovo arrivato, simpatia che non tardò a spianarmi la via ad ogni sorta di conoscenze. Ero il primo Italiano che capitasse a insegnare a quell'Università, benché di Italiani ve ne fossero capitati altri, come studenti e come residenti occasionali a Fayetteville. Ma di Italiani titolati, di Italiani che andassero ad esercitar un grado da quelli parti, ero il primo. E s'intuisce facilmente che la volontà di non scomparire nel confronto coi pochi altri stranieri che insegnavano all'Università, era in me fortissima.When everyone in town got to know who I was, the initial curiosity about the unknown changed into a visible sympathy for the new arrival, sympathy that before long smoothed the way for every sort of thing I needed to know. I was the first Italian to teach at that university. There had been other Italian students and occasional residents, but as far as titled Italians, Italians with any rank, I was the first one. It is easy to understand my motivation to not be overshadowed by the few other foreigners who were teaching at the university. For me, it was “fortissima.”Questa qualità originaria e, diremo così, esotica di Italiano, fu quella che più facilmente mi aperse le porte dell'ambiente mondano della città.I would have to say that this native quality, this exotic Italian quality, easily opened doors for me to the everyday life of the town.Due signorine che erano state in Europa ed, avendo viaggiato L'Italia, ne erano tornate piene del suo sole e delle sue memorie, vollero conoscermi. E fu per mezzo loro che potei stringere relazioni d'amicizia con questo così accogliente mondo Americano, improntato alla cordialità particolare del Sud, così in contrasto con la sostenutezza dell'Est, ove il troppo eterogeneo elemento straniero fa rimaner naturalmente sul “qui vive” di fronte a qualunque sconosciuto.There were two young ladies who had been in Europe and had visited Italy. They had returned tanned by Italy's sun and full of memories, and they wanted to meet me. It was through them that I started creating friendly relationships in this very cozy American world of hospitality particular to the South. This was in contrast with the stiffness of the East where the foreign element has a natural tendency to stay on the defensive around anyone they do not know. There was only one obstacle that presented itself since my arrival, and that was my name. Pronunciation of plain words is not the forte of the Anglo-Saxon population in general and of Americans in particular. There is a vague similarity of my name (Marinoni) and perhaps the only word that they knew of our language. The reader can easily guess what that is. Linguistic distinction can be difficult, but I did not care for it whether serious or facetious. It was a necessary distinction for everyone but especially for me as a professor teaching the secrets and dangers of similar sounding words. Therefore, to avert a lot of problems once classes started, there was a compromise. Considering my privileged position as the only Italian of some importance in the region, I did not want to worry about any misunderstandings and decided to be called simply “Signor.” Once christened with that much easier name, there was never a reason to go back or to complete it as “Signor Marinoni.” My last name almost never needed to be pronounced by anyone again. It has been almost thirty years now, and for all friends, colleagues, and students in the city and around the state, wherever I have acquaintances, relationships, or business, I am known as “Signor.” Quando cominciarono i corsi, tutto procedé a gonfie vele. La studentesca era quanto mai avessi potuto desiderare di più gentile, ed i Colleghi di più accogliente. Come a New York, molti dei miei discepoli potevano avere su per giù la mia età, ma pur qui riscontrai, anzi riscontrai a maggior ragione, quel senso di cavalleresca deferenza che, anziché far di una sostanziale parità una ragione di pericolosa confidenza, ne faceva una di più spiccato omaggio. Tutto sommato, L'ambiente mi piaceva immensamente, più qui che nell'Est, e le lettere che ne scrivevo ai miei genitori ridondavano di tutto il mio entusiasmo. La gioia dei poveri vecchi era colma.I mesi passarono così lietamente e la fine dell'anno scolastico giunse quasi più con rammarico che con letizia.Ma anche a questo punto m'attendeva la mia buona sorte per un'aggiunta insperata di favori. Si trattava di riordinare il Dipartimento delle Lingue Moderne nel quale erano state fin allora comprese le Lingue e la Letteratura neo-latine. Il titolare unico del Dipartimento partiva per altra destinazione e, partendo, proponeva la subddivisione della Facoltà nei tre distinti Dipartimenti di Lingua e Letteratura Inglese, Lingua e Letteratura Tedesca, Lingue e Letterature Neo-latine. Io avevo tenuta quest'ultima cattedra e dovevo averlo fatto con soddisfazione del Superiore se questi, lasciandoci, caldeggiò apertamente il mio nome per la direzione del terzo reparto.E così avvenne. Etnrato come Professore Assistente a una cattedra ed esperimentatovi come Ordinario, ne uscivo Titolare del Dipartimento che ne nasceva.La mia posizione, si e questo la era sul the proceeded as a with The students were as as I could and my were very As in New York, many of my students were more or less my age, but I could see a of and a sense of Here, there was a school and for their in I the a lot more back in the The I to my parents were with all my The old were with passed by and the of the arrived almost with even at this more good was waiting for me. It was decided to the of which had only the and The of the was leaving for another destination and had the into three and and and and I was the of the last I have to the of my because he had me a for the of this third so it I as an professor with into a full only two I in position had been from the but now, my American dream had been per New York, nella della mia solo del mio ma dal delle mi si la di senza ai miei E per di più ai miei vecchi il di quella che ad un tempo mi la e mi it was that I returned to New York with I could say I was not only in my but also from the problems of I had the before me of myself to my without any I could my old parents the of that that the and my could but was still There were things that very to the and of and they were to be