Il giusto Dio, quando i peccati nostri
hanno di remission passato il segno,
acciò che la giustizia sua dimostri
uguale alla pietá, spesso dá regno
a tiranni atrocissimi et a mostri,
e dá lor forza e di mal fare ingegno.
God, outraged by our rank iniquity,
Whenever crimes have past remission's bound,
That mercy may with justice mingled be,
Has monstrous and destructive tyrants crowned;
And gifted them with force and subtlety,
A sinful world to punish and confound.
(Translated by William Stewart Rose)
If God sent the tyrants to punish us then why fight for justice? Does this explain why Orlando furioso became the Bible of South Italy? I read Orlando furioso during the winter 1970/1971 in Lampedusa. When the tourists left, the locals would start playing scenes from Orlando furioso with stick puppets in an unmarked theatre. They didn't invite foreigners to attend because this was about their identity, Aspromonte was their Jerusalem.
In Orlando furioso, king Agramante and thief Brunello meet as equals, as do the Muslim king and the Christian king. King and thief, Muslim and Christian are bound by the same code of honor.
I'm not Sicilian. My family roots are in the Swiss Emmental another place where the authorities mandated and enforced what you have to believe. My ancestors where farmers... why should I forget what they suffered? Like in Sicily, people will always remember, always remember...