Quarter Year

Riguardo al Peccato

by Mike

There I was, minding my own business being judgmental about all the other tourists, and I walked past a guy I’d seen a number of times before on the street – he was a street performer, one of those statues that moves when given a coin. He was dressed in a long, baggy robe made of stitched burlap sacks. The hood hung low over his head and eyes. He held a wooden staff and had long hair and a long beard, and I suspected his outfit was a reference to either Jesus or a monk.

I thought to myself, this guy is the most genuine person here. I don’t even look THAT different than the Italians, and they stare at me everywhere I go. “What, you’ve never seen women’s sunglasses before?” Well, he’s even a step beyond me with his long beard and hair, and they aren’t even dreadlocks, which is the standard counter cultural uniform here. So, I had to give this guy credit.

Instead of wasting a couple Euros on gelato I’d give him the coin. Solidarity.

I snuck up beside him, out of sight because I didn’t want any attention. At the moment my coin his his basket he was down in my face, looking straight at me with intense blue eyes no more than a foot away. He said something I didn’t understand, and in his hand he held a slip of paper rolled like a cigarette. I took it, and he straightened up and froze again.

I walked away from him buzzing and excited. I had thought I would be the one giving the gift, but here he made it an exchange. And even better, he gave me a riddle: the paper said something I’m still struggling to translate. It says, “Riguardo al peccato. V.G. XVI” Riguardo means “to look again,” and peccato is “sin,” though I’m not sure of the part of speech…

Tonight I’ll go back and see if I can get any information from him.

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Tags: Italian, street performer, Taormina