The terra cotta dog, p.25
The Terra-Cotta Dog,
p.25
35 caught in the net, the chamber of death: A reference to traditional Sicilian tuna- and sword-fishing and the mattanza, when the fish are slaughtered. Schools of the fish are caught in nets which are then gradually closed until the space holding them, the cammara della morte, becomes very small, like a death chamber.
40 “the testimony of Cavaliere Misuraca ”: The honorific title of cavaliere, bestowed on members of various orders of knighthood (e.g., Cavaliere di Malta, Cavaliere della Repubblica) and often awarded in the modern age to successful men in different areas of business and industry (such as il cavaliere Silvio Berlusconi), was given out wholesale during the Fascist period. Cavaliere Misuraca, as the unfolding episode implies, was probably a beneficiary of this Fascist largesse or earned his title for his efforts in war.
43 government was red, black, or sky blue: Red refers to the Communist and Socialist parties, black to the Fascist (or now “Post-Fascist”) Party, sky blue to the now-defunct Christian Democratic Party.
48 “the repubblichini?” These were the members and supporters of the so-called Republic of Salò, the puppet government instituted in 1943 under the Nazi occupation in the North Italian town of the same name, after German parachutists boldly snatched Mussolini away from the anti-Fascist partisans who had captured him. The “government” was made up of die-hard Fascists under the recently deposed and now resurrected Duce.
49 the first Fascist militias: These were the fasci di combattimento, an association of private militias that engaged in strike-breaking, street violence, and other forms of political action and intimidation. The Fascist movement was born from these groups.
52 “Asinara”: A high-security prison on the island of the same name.
58 càlia e simenza: A mix of roasted chickpeas and pumpkin seeds; sometimes peanuts are added.
76 “Il Mezzogiorno”: This is an actual newspaper. It’s name means “The South” (or, literally, “Midday”).
78 “Essere Donna”: The magazine is purely fictional; its name means “To Be a Woman.”
106 “a traitor or repenter”: In Italy, Mafia turncoats who turn state’s witness are called pentiti, or “repenters.”
122 “L’è el dìdi mort, alegher!” “It’s the Day of the Dead, oh joy!” (Milanese dialect). Delio Tessa (1886-1939) is a well-known Milanese dialect poet. The Day of the Dead, November 2, is commonly called All Souls’ Day in English.
125 Customs Police: This is the Guardia di Finanza, a police force subordinate to the Ministry of Finance and responsible for overseeing customs, state monopolies, and taxes. Their duties include serving as the national coast guard.
138 pasta ’ncasciata: A casserole of pasta corta—that is, elbow macaroni, penne, ziti, mezzi ziti, or something similar—tomato sauce, ground beef, Parmesan cheese, and bechamel.
138 “Give land to those who work!”: In Italian, “La terra a chi lavora!” This was the rallying cry of the land-reform movement that, in the late 1940s, demanded the break-up of the large landed estates, much of whose vast territories (latifondi) lay fallow while the peasantry went hungry.
159 ten thousand lire: About $6.50.
159 “podestà”: The head of the municipal government, equivalent to the mayor, in the Fascist period. It was an appointed, not elected, office.
168 Sex standing up . . . to a bad end: “Fùttiri addritta e caminari na rina / portanu l’omu a la ruvina” (Sicilian proverb).
170 National Police: The carabinieri.
170 “outstanding corpse”: The term cadavere eccellente is Italian jargon for the dead body of an important personage, especially when the death has occurred in shady circumstances.
171 “Falcone and Borsellino!” Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino were prominent investigating magistrates in the struggle against the Mafia in Sicily, both murdered by the mob in 1992.
177 “Epiphany of ’43”: In Italy the Christmas holiday lasts until the first day after the Epiphany (January 6).
178 “Gentile”: Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944) was a prominent Italian philosopher and politician of Sicilian birth (Castelvetrano, province of Trapani), author of many important works of philosophy from the turn of the century onwards and editor and organizer of the Enciclopedia Italiana (1925-1943). As minister of education under the Fascist government from 1922 to 1924, he instituted sweeping reforms of the national educational system; as president of two commissions for the reform of the Italian constitution, he also contributed to laying the institutional foundations of the Fascist corporate state in 1925. Though his political influence steadily declined thereafter, he remained loyal to the regime until the bitter end, even serving as president of the Accademia d’Italia under the Nazi collaborationist Republic of Salò, established after the armistice of September 8,1943. He was killed by anti-Fascist partisans in Florence on April 15, 1944.
178 “lyceums”: The Italian word is liceo (sing.), which, like the French lycée, harks back to the ancient Greek Lykeion, the Gymnasium near Athens where Aristotle taught.
197 fresh anchovies all’agretto: Baked in a sauce of lemon juice.
211 “half a million lire”: About $650 at the time of the novel’s publication in 1996.
227 La Vuccirìa: The large, old market district in Palermo.
228 mèusa: Calf’s spleen sliced into thin strips and cooked in fat.
230 Giovani Italiane: This was the compulsory Fascist youth organization (the “Young Italians”) for adolescents aged sixteen and seventeen. The groups for younger children were the Figli della Lupa (Children of the She-Wolf) and the Balilla (named after the boy who incited the Genoese to rebel against the Austrian occupation in 1746). The girls’ uniform of the Giovani Italiane consisted of a black pleated skirt, a white blouse with an M (for Mussolini) on the front, and a black beret.
252 “forty thousand lire”: About $25 at the time. 265 pasta al forno: A casserole of pasta and a variety of other ingredients that may include meat, eggs, vegetables, tomato, or cream sauces, and so on. It is a typically southern Italian dish.
274 sacred area of the Phoenicians: Early Phoenician settlements existed in coastal Sicily and its surrounding islands before the Greek era. The most important Phoenician centers were Panormos (modern Palermo), Soloeis, and Motya (modern Mozia). Later Carthaginian settlement (fifth and fourth centuries B.C.) in the southern and western regions of the island reinforced this Sicilian link to Phoenician civilization, opposing these regions to the Greek culture fast gaining prominence in much of the rest of the island. Following the Punic Wars, when Rome defeated Carthage, all of Sicily became Roman (after 210 B.C.). In the Middle Ages, the Arab rule of the island from the late ninth to the mid-eleventh century again revived Sicily’s historic links to the cultures of North Africa and the Middle East.
281 “pasta con le sarde, and purpi alla carrettera”: Pasta con le sarde is a classic Sicilian dish served usually with bucatini, broad spaghetti-like strings that are hollow in the middle. The sauce consists of fresh sardines, tops of wild fennel, pine nuts, raisins, garlic, and saffron. Purpi alla carrettera is octopus served in a sauce of olive oil, lemon, and a great deal of hot pepper.
298 “ten million lire”: About $6,500.
304 RAI regional news: The RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) is the government-owned national television network, which also has regional news broadcasts.
308 “Fininvest, Ansa”: Fininvest is the financial and media conglomerate owned by Silvio Berlusconi; Ansa is an acronym for Azienda Nazionale Stampa Associata, the national news agency.
310 Corriere: Corriere della Sera, the Milan daily and the premier newspaper of Italy.
318 “leghista”: A member or supporter of the formerly secessionist Northern League (Lega Nord), a right-wing political party known for its prejudice against foreign immigrants and southern Italians.
Notes compiled by Stephen Sartarelli.
Andrea Camilleri, The Terra-Cotta Dog
