EXTRACTS DESCRIBED YOU OF ATMOSPHERES OR SITUATIONS

 

GALUGNANO

 

Galugnano is a cluster of houses taken root on the slopes of a height of entroterra salentino to 11 km. From C#lecce covering be them 16 that give C#lecce lead to Meshes.

Typical entroterra of the peninsula salentina. Sea, “salò” for the Greeks and therefore “Salentina”, characterized region greenhouses impervie and to love, to love as it knows them, but that, as knows them to the food, it gives an indispensable touch in order to fully taste the beauties of the landscape offered from one earth language sdraiata between waters of two seas, scaldata from an always present and overbearing sun, eroded from one frequent north wind and arrogating, under a sky laid a trap from intente nuvolaglie to get hold of; vain fight theirs against the breath of the north wind that forces them to the escape or the dispersion, restoring, with an intense blue, the serene one for the serenity of faces scarni and rugosi that give to the greenhouses scrutano the sea with fixed eyes and bewitches to you for dives in waters of the infinite.

 

And' the putting in attic de “the uru”: incredible, fantastic, alarming and frightful gnometto.

In other zones salting some it comes called “scazzamurieddhru”, “monacieddhru”, “lauru” or “laurieddhru”, this last two named to you carry to us of spun to “laures” of the Latins, protecting of the house, or to the monastero bizantino: “laura”, in this case would acquire more sense the name than “monacieddhru”, small monaco, but the derivation more reliable task is that from the Latin uro-uris-ussi-ustum- to urere: to torment, to mortificare.

  This esserino, much similar one to those innumerevoli and varies of Nordic fables, it comes to us handed on smallest and with cappellino red the much highest one of its entire body.

There is who allegates that it is be a matter of the spirits of dead children without baptism or angels fallen in misfortune and condemned to one strange cohabitation with the men.

Dispettoso and joker, but also harmful and annoying. It makes to disappear the disparati objects irrimediabilmente more, annoys the domestic animals, it upsets the preconstituted order of the daily oggettistica, nottetempo coils hats of the women and criniere of the horses in tiny treccine and intricatissime and, if irritateed, public square on the stomach of the dormiente malcapitato one oppressing it and reprimendogli the breath. Protecting other that of the house. They are still many, between old, that they swear of to have been made sign of its attentions and, someone, to have just seen it.

 It is narrated of a family that, exasperated, also to get rid some traslocando. The nonnina, behind carretto of the masserizie with a broom in hand asking the information for knowledge where to go for the new room, before that the interpellato one answered was felt to say: you go calm that I accompany you. To speak it had been “the uru” accovacciato on the broom.

It seems that this plague of “uru” was not visible to all but you go to make to understand it who supports the absolute its nonexistence and that the disappearance or the movement of objects has had to the lack of memory or the arteriosclerosis of some. The treccine? The particular Fantasticherie, chance or job and rare bugs. Soffocamenti or nocturnal lack of breath? Up fatigue for a hard day of job, indigestioni or of elbow.

 

And' the end of traditions that sink roots in the night of the times like the exposure on poles to the angles of the roads, in the courtyards, but also on balconies of “quaremma”: vecchina dressed of black, “cu lu maccaturu” (risen of rigorously black scarf”, “cu the scialla” (with scialle) and “lu tamantile” (the apron from the life in down) intenta spinning the wool “cu cunucchia” (conocchia) and “lu fusu” (the fused one). Hanging to flour life seven taralli of I luff without I leaven that they come removed one for attended week in of the Passover Saint, in fact “quaremma” does not represent others that the Lent and comes exposed the day of Sacred Ashes, beginning of the quaresimale period. Symbol of penance and hardships is a sacred and profane concoction of that seems to be connected to Cloto, Atropo and Lachesi the Parche pertaining to the greco-roman culture; intenta before to spin stame of the life and the others two rappresentani the chances of the life and the ineluttabilità of the Greek dead women which was rifared the Mòire Ninth, Decuma and Morta which from birth presided to the destiny of the man the dead women; in countries of Greece salentina, like Sternatia, still today “quaremme” they are exposed in groups of three and, like a time the Parche and the Mòire, come dates to rogo the evening of the Saint Saturday. 

Subsequently briar-root in the tradition the “Quaremma” like moglie of Carnival, represented from “Paulinu” (Paolino), fantoccio also this, given rogo to the last carnescialesco day. To the “Quaremma”, remained vedova, it does not remain that to work hardly poorly living of hunger and hardships until to the Saint Saturday, day of fine its. Here a copy of “quaremma” from cured me in 2001 with the hope that the tradition is restored:

 

Galugnano so much does not fear the war in if same; it is far. Of the pitiless combats or the deportations a tenuous echo reaches only, and then the war bulletins speak only about victories.

Galugnano fears the hunger, that one already very famous of the first world war. It fears and of it has very donde: the numerous families, the better arms in war.

Of winter to the hunger the cold joins. The firewood becomes precious well, is unavailable. The little remained men work from the dawn to the sunset, in own earth handkerchiefs, and in many cases to say earth it is an insult since the emerging cliff predominates. Very rarely the opportunity is had to work “to day” under “the Master”; little it imports if the remunerazione consists in a pair of chili of fave sand banks, or peas, or ceci; those that it counts is that, plowing the earth, in the moments in which the “master” it is absent, passing under the olive tree trees, in prechosen points vomere so much is sunk to the maximum to concur the removal of roots with fior of earth: hidden and recovered night time they guarantee the indispensable fire for the kitchen, in order to heat boneses reumatizzate from the penetrating sirocco umidiccio and and the meats intirizzite from the pungente north wind, debilitated from the hunger, mortified from the impossibility to feed the own beloveds.

In campaign, all in campaign. And' the only source of maintenance. Every family has its kidskin, its sheep; re-united in groups of a ten are capacities to the pasture from children who would have for before the time to know a classroom and that the hunger makes to become prematurely scaltri: reached a sure hour, when the stomach makes to contorcere for the cramps of the hunger, every shelter is good in order mungere the sheep of the neighbors; if a container in mouth is not had directly and when it is had a container then the munto one comes transformed in an improbable produced cheese replacing to the rennet the resin obtained from the fico tree. And but it is necessary not to exaggerate: to evening, given back the sheep to the owners, in the ovile the mungitore knows perfectly how many latte produces its sheep and if the expectations often come disappointed are the shepherdesses to pay the consequences, always esageratamente, and then for the child shepherdesses the only sure shelter is always she: the mother.

 

 

 

 She yes that she knows all; been based she has always the force to take it on the ginocchia, of poggiargli the head on the shoulders, of accarezzargli hats watching elsewhere, folding the head in order to avoid that a repressed tear does not fall on the small hand that the stà rovistando between the labbra.

The mother would want… But she cannot make more. Exausted day marked the rhythm from the deprived of hope food search is thrown on the straw mattress not before the midnight, after one: wild verdure, collection of ears escaped to the harvester or of olives to the binder, fichi buckets to they time fallen from the tree and never harvests, of snails… and fire: wild sterpaglie, rovi and thistles us legacies in fascina, load to you on the back and counterbalance to you from a bag to tracolla and hanging on full load of the food that the season has concurred to find to it.

All sleep when it prepares the kitchen for the day after, risciacqua the last cloth, rammenda the clothing, rattoppa the eternally bucati pants of the old father from the part of seating, fail last its prefixed and punctual engagement because picked from the sleep: to work a pair of irons for a wool scarf to those its figlioletto raggomitolato under blankets irrobustite from a indecoroso coat of the grandfather and dreaming fragrante warm bread and white man, smoking and crazy plates race and you play and litigi and quarrels with the contemporarys how much he victims of: “It listens - You obey - You fight “.

Yes the sleep has taken it once again on that scarf and it is not still deep when a new day stà in order to begin and is necessary to jump down from the bed.

 

For more, the workers of the earth, the times are hard, hardest until to half century. The atavistic hunger is accompanied to the hardest job, all it is entrusted to the own arms and the clemenza of the agricultural season.

Every family has its two good little sheeps, maialetto and a variable number of hens. The sheep come capacities to the pasture from improbable shepherds grouped in suitable number to the abilities to the same ones, pigs and hens “graze” liberations for the roads of the country, to evening disciplinatamente and spontaneously the rooms of the legitimate owners re-enter in the courtyards or the rear ortali.

The rooms! Generally one room and kitchen; the bath, or more better fossa to the Turk, in the ortale I place side by side to a shaking stable where finds shelter the immancabile asinello after a hard day of job, shared with its landladies, and after to have crossed incurante and unaware of room and kitchen, depositing on the pavement last withheld earth sods from the hooves and spin of straw or of grass it steals you to the load in moments of disattenzione of the master and cadutigli from the mouth for the haste messagli from the same one.

Houses to “imbraci”, pavements in lastricato of leccese stone, dissestate, polverose or limacciose roads, impervie, with emerging and pebbly cliffs; animatissime until to forwarded dawn, then the presences diradano, disappear. Wrapped from Hush more and more stuffed with wadding a broken one every now and then barking of a dog, from the cigolio of the wagons of the wandering and from theirs grida: “Oliiio, oil, spirit (alcool), flitti (DDT), creeeeeeemaaa!! ”,” Uliiiiie, uliiieee us teeeene!! (olives, who has olives!!)“, “grape, com' is sweet the uuuuuva!!”. The massaie that socchiudono the door, are approached the vendor, not before but to have greeted the impaziente binder of letame filling up its open baskets of excrements of cows and horses deposit to you in road to empty in the letamaio of indispensable family for concimare full of rocks and insufficient productive lands, “bitter” are not many, to said of the grandfather by now malfermo on the legs, seated on a spuntone of cliff with the pipa accommodating residual of tobacco coming from from cicche of cigarettes saved to such must or collections for road, jetties from the little weel-off people forget about miseries and hardships. It is always, every day them, to watch ll around that that he does not succeed, to fill up empty with urlanti its silenzi the memories of life in which the hope it is one constant. Its to lower the look, when and if it lowers it, it is not rendered but wait, not more of tomorrow but of the evening, in order to still enjoy an ignited fireplace, a plate smoking on a table encircled from sons tires but it does not tame, not sad pensierosi but, starves to you eppur happy; from nipotini unaware of of the sweat that bathes that bread, sorridenti, exhibitionists in order to attract the attention of the mother intenta to serve already “cooked” with the look absent since operating in after.

 

L’attesa più grande è per le “mangiate” natalizie.

Mamma perché c’è un solo Natale?

Perché si nasce una sola volta ed a Natale è nato Gesù Bambino.

Mamma perché la carne si mangia solo quando è festa?

Perché…Sbrigati, mettiti il grembiule e scappa a scuola. Se torna tuo padre ti porta con lui in campagna.

E si va a scuola, quando si va. Ma la mente è sempre rivolta all’impellente Natale, al presepe.

Oh! Il presepe. Quanto fascino, come fanno volare la fantasia i suoi personaggi: la natività, i re magi, i pastori e poi: “la picia”, “frantoni” e “li ‘zzampugnari”, quest’ultimi sono i suonatori di zampogna. “La picia” è una vecchietta infreddolita seduta in una grotta con su le gambe un braciere, proprio così: un braciere sulle gambe. Simbolo di estrema povertà e di abbandono che tanto la accomunano a Gesù bambino. “Frantoni”, meglio sarebbe “fra ‘Ntoni” (fratello Antonio), è un monaco laico intento al lavoro dei campi in compagnia di pecore, agnellini e caprette. Con l’arrivo del benessere si aggiungono altri personaggi e fra questi anche il macellaio, impensabile ai tempi della “picia” e “fra ‘Ntoni” quando non manca solo la carne, manca anche l’acqua.

 

PECCARISI GIUSEPPE (LU 'CCI'PPI')

 

Ed a conclusione un personaggio popolarissimo, tipico di un’epoca, Peccarisi Giuseppe, per tutti “Ccìppì”. Trattasi dell’ultimo degli spazzini, oggi operatori ecologici, ma il “nostro”, in servizio sino al 1975, non si limita solo a spazzare, a ramazzare le strade ma anche a pulirle dalle erbacce spontanee e rigogliose ai loro lati, e non solo.

E si! Sono i tempi in cui la spazzatura prodotta, non che se ne produca molta, in casa non si consegna allo spazzino, è un bene prezioso, trattasi al 90% di rifiuti biodegradabili che si scaricano nel letamaio di famiglia, vera e propria concimaia, alla bisogna. Il restante 10% lo si abbandona nei posti più disparati, sventuratamente.

“Ccìppì” fa parte del paesaggio galugnanese. Quando le strade son deserte appare lui, piccolo, minuto, offeso ad una gamba e vistosamente claudicante, là in fondo alla strada col suo inseparabile e fido cassonetto ambulante.

Il cassonetto! Un parallelepipedo su due ruote di bicicletta munito di stanghe che consentono a Giuseppe di spingerlo e, quando sovraccarico, di sparire dietro di esso poiché costretto a incurvarsi per lo sforzo, tanto che a incontrarlo frontalmente si ha l’impressione che il cassonetto cammini da solo, spinto dal vento, anche quando vento non c’è. A vederselo sfilare affianco si ha netta l’impressione che siano le stanghe a sorreggere Giuseppe…Ma non è così. Ai lati del cassonetto, grazie a intelligenti supporti, trovano incredibilmente posto la lunga scopa, “la cardarina” (tipico recipiente usato dai muratori come contenitore della malta e da Giuseppe per la spazzatura), una capace, robusta e ben squadrata lamiera in sostituzione della paletta e la classica “sarchiugghra” (sorta di zappetta usata dai contadini per pulire dalle erbacce le piante già grandi e da Giuseppe per le erbacce ai lati delle strade).

“Ccìppì” è l’emblema di un’epoca galugnanese a cavallo tra l’immediato dopoguerra e l’avvento degli anni 80 portatori e/o consolidatori sì di sviluppo ma anche antesignani del degrado e dello sfaldamento del mondo della politica successo al ventennio fascista.