Marvelous
Father Quentin
We
were living in Naples , Italy
Father Quentin was a Dominican priest living in Rome New England hospitality and I
could practice talking Russian with him.
We invited him to come down for a weekend.
Father Quentin took the train from Rome
to Naples
A porter
was holding a large suitcase and another couple of bags for him.
We had heard that Quentin was quite the linguist, so we
were surprised when he seemed to be having a lot of trouble with the
porter. It came time for him to hand the
man a tip, and Quentin seemed not to have any money for a tip, so I gave the
porter a tip.
At that moment, I began to see a pattern developing.
We bundled the good Father into our Fiat station wagon and
were off to Posillippo, our home.
Father Quentin told us that he lived in a cubicle in a
very monastic existence in Rome Rome
We had plans to take Father Q. out to dinner that night,
with our friends, Aggie and Al Koster. When
we had arrived in Italy Mediterranean .
After Quentin was shown to the guest bedroom, he revealed
that he had brought a large bag of laundry from the nuns that occupy his
religious dwelling in Rome
Before we left for the restaurant, we thought we’d have a
cocktail, and that was when Father Quentin ordered a Beefeater’s Martini.
If you are in a bar it is OK to order a particular brand
of liquor, but I think it is a bit presumptuous to call for “Beefeater’s” when
your host might be so humble as to have only Gordon’s on hand. He had to settle for what we had.
We met the Kosters at the restaurant, and ordered vino di
tavola, or table wine, and the waiter gave us our menus.
A little light meal, Italian style
Italian dining can be a marvelous experience, with a meal
that begins with aperitivi, then antipasti consisting of olives, other
pickled vegetables, bruschette (toast
with oil and tomatoes). and sausages and cold meats. Then there’s the pasta course, and next the secondo, or second course, which is a
meat or fish. After that you have a dolce (pastry) plus fruit. Then comes the coffee, and cheese, and
perhaps a glass of cognac or grappa,
a powerful, clear liquid. Finally, for
Italians there is the digestivo, like
Fernet Branca or Jägermeister. This is a
peculiar drink which seems to act like a giant plunger to take all that food
you have consumed and push it down into your belly with force.
Americans at dinner would tend to order only two or three
courses, but if Italians were having a real dinner, it might consist of
several pasta courses, and then perhaps a vitello
(veal) parmigiana or saltimbocca, followed by a nice pesce, or fish. And the waiter, in true Neapolitan style,
would query you on your health and perceived illnesses, and then prescribe the vegetables you might like
to eat.
Father Quentin didn’t speak much Italian, except when it
came to the menu, and then this round little holy man showed his prowess. He ordered every course, in beautiful
Italian.
“Vorrei un poco di
spaghettini, è un pezzo di lasagne, e --- ooo, un piccolo pezzo di carne di
vitello, per piacére,”
He
ordered the spaghetti, and then a little lasagna, and rice and veal and on and
on. Al and I were sharing the cost of
the meal, and we could see this was going to be a zinger.
The next day, Al and I were at work, so Marty and Aggie
drove Quentin down to the Amalfi coast, and of course at lunch time they
stopped for what they thought would be a light lunch.
Quentin, however, had other ideas, and began to order the
menu again. In those days, you paid for
meals with lire, not credit cards, and Al and I had left a few thousand lire
with the girls to entertain Quentin.
Marty announced to Quentin that he would have to restrict his luncheon a
bit.
Quentin pouted, but complied, and everyone had a nice,
light luncheon.
Marty washed and dried all the robes and clothing for the
nuns, and then gave it to Father Quentin and showed him the iron and ironing
board. Then she went out to shop for a cocktail buffet we were having for my
boss, Captain Al Higginbotham, who was leaving Italy
Marty returned two hours later, and Quentin, in his brown
robe, was spread across the floor in our dining room, next to the ironing
board. She thought he had collapsed.
No, the good Father said
that the ironing had completely worn him out, and he was collecting enough
energy to continue.
Marty roasted a turkey for the buffet. Quentin volunteered to carve the turkey for
the buffet, and he did, with spectacular artfulness, garnishing the bird
elegantly.
That night the Commander of the Sixth Fleet, Vice Admiral
Harry Train, came to our buffet along with the other guests, and was pleased to
meet Father Quentin. We all bid farewell to my boss, and the guests left.
As soon as the guests were gone, Father Quentin descended
upon the turkey and finished it single-handedly.
Soon it was time for us to say goodbye to Quentin, but he
was enjoying the food and relaxation so much he wanted to stay. We gathered him and all his possessions up,
along with all the ironing for the nuns, and drove him forthwith to the train
station, and put him on the train for Rome
The next time he came to Naples
Here are some books and papers that The
Personal Navigator would like to offer you:
Osage Indians
from painting by Charles Banks Wilson
Farmers' Cabinet, Amherst, (N.H.) Saturday, August 3,
1822 No. 46 Vol. 20. 1822 Amherst ,
NH Milford
being adjacent to Amherst Turkey
and Russia Moldavia and Wallachia . Greeks in two villages sacked by Turks have
immolated Greek wives and children to prevent them from being violated. Greeks
have burnt two Turkish ships of the line, two frigates, a corvette. Spanish Aggression: U.S.
Schooner Porpoise, commanded by
Lieutenant James Ramage arrived at St.
Thomas Cuba Amherst ;
Samuel Gill, indentured boy--Notice to all persons harboring him or trusting him on account of
Caleb Turner of Milford Amherst
Henry Clay, 1818
By Mathew Harris Jouett
New-Hampshire Patriot, Concord, (New-Hampshire), Tuesday,
April 9, 1816; Printed by Isaac Hill, Publisher of the Laws of the United
States 1816 Concord, NH: Isaac
Hill. 4 pp. 35 x 53 cm. Speech of the
Hon. Mr. (Henry) Clay in the House of Representatives on the Subject of the
Direct Tax. Clay notes debt accumulated by the recent war (War of 1812) as well
as the Revolutionary War and the wars with Tripoli
and Algiers London , and saw the illuminations and
celebration after Wellington Newfoundland Dartmouth New Hampshire
Biographical History of Massachusetts; Biographies and
Autobiographies of the Leading Men of the State, Volume X Eliot, Samuel Atkins, A.M., D.D.,
editor-in-chief 1918 Boston, MA: Massachusetts Biographical Society.
Frontispiece steel engraving of William E. Huntington; Article on Co-Education
in Massachusetts , by Huntington Massachusetts Massachusetts Haverhill
La Guerre
D'Amérique: Récit d'un Soldat du Sud [in French] (The American {Civil} War:
Narrative of a Southern Soldier); Tome Premier [Volume One ONLY] par Fontane, Marius ca. 1866 Paris, France: Adrien Le Clere ET
Ce, Éditeurs, Rue Cassette, 29. Volume One of a two volume set. Small foldout
map ( "Carte du Théâtre de la Guerre d'Amérique") at rear of
first volume. Narrative by Marius Fontane (1838-1914). Entrée de Charleston. L'exploitation des
forêts de la Caroline du Sud. Toinot le
planteur. Les case des nègres. Premier coup de fusil (6 avril 1861). Jefferson
Davis, président des États confédérés. L'arsenal de Norfolk (6 mars 1862). Marche
des Nordistes vers Richmond
Life of Horace Greeley, The; Editor of The New York Tribune, first edition by Parton, J. 1855 New York , NY Greeley from his
Scotch-Irish parentage to early days in Amherst ,
NH free states Greeley ,
Civil War, and Greeley
Contact me at scoulbourn1@verizon.net
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