Augusto De Angelis > Quotes

“Papina had grey hair and a purple face. She was like a trained mouse, one of those small white ones that sit up on their tails and then fall flat, their stomachs slapping the ground. She got up on her tail and stayed there through some miracle of balance, to the confusion of all who saw her walking around on her little bow legs and funny round feet. Yet her hands were so quick and lively that one couldn’t even feel her buttoning up a dress, lacing a belt or pulling a skirt round the hips to adjust it. As she took the blue trousers and yellow sash from the wardrobe for Irma, she walked behind Gioia and shook the girl’s shoulders. “Quickly, my lovely! If you sit there under a spell, the prince can’t carry you off to the wedding…” She’d read all the fairy stories and took delight in being irresistibly droll, so instead of wedding she’d said werewolf; she was imitating Macario, whom she’d seen at the cinema.”
― Augusto De Angelis, The Mystery of the Three Orchids

“The lift door was opened for him on the first floor by Rosetta, who was wearing a white apron over a black dress. Wound around her head like a mouse’s tail was a blonde plait. Her hands and feet were too large and her legs massive, the calf muscles showing through artificial silk stockings that shone as if a snail had left a layer of slime across them. She gave the new arrival the once-over and held out her hand to take his hat. Clara, the senior employee, appeared at the door; she always assisted Marta during the first few days of a show, and she came in, cards and pencils in hand. She too was dressed in black silk and walked in wearing shiny silver leather sandals with cork soles and heels over ten centimetres high. She said nothing, but her look, lips pursed, rendered her face a picture of perplexity.”
― Augusto De Angelis, The Mystery of the Three Orchids

“He shrugged. “You won’t find anyone who can make a well-founded accusation against me. What have I done? I’ve grown and sold tobacco; I’ve been a stoker on the Sea of Azov; fisherman on the Black Sea; I’ve traded in bricks and watermelons, going up and down the Dnieper; I’ve been a clown in a circus; I was an actor. Now? I deal in trifles. Indispensable objects—because they’re unnecessary. Men don’t always need bread, but they always need someone to make them marvel. A little paper flower, which opens as if by magic…”
― Augusto De Angelis, The Hotel of the Three Roses

“De Vincenzi put his hand on the shiny black box, touching it almost lovingly. “My dear, tyrannical telephone! It’s this which, during the long hours of waiting at night, connects me to the city… I’m exaggerating. Let’s say to the world, my world as a policeman, head of the flying squad. Through it alarmed voices reach me, the first desperate pleas.” He smiled indulgently, as if sorry for himself. “For the most part, they are doormen awakened by the noise of burglars or the abrupt bang of a revolver or just by the din of a party of nocturnal troublemakers. Look at it! It’s chunky, black, inexpressive. For you, nothing but a black box with a silly mouthpiece and a green cord. But for me it has a thousand voices, a thousand faces, a thousand expressions. When it rings, I already know whether it’s bringing an ordinary administrative request or is about to announce some new drama, some tragic crime of passion.”
― Augusto De Angelis, The Murdered Banker