The Wheat Princess (Classic Reprint) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

It has been besieged and conquered, and, alas, betrayed and that by its own prince. Twice has it beers razed to the ground and twice rebuilt. In one way or another, though, it has weathered the cen turies, and it stands to-day grey and forlorn, clustering about the walls of its ddnjon and keep. Castel Vivalanti, as in the middle ages, still give the title to a Roman prince. The house of Vivalanti was powerfxil in its day, and the princes may often be met with not always to their credit in the history of the Papal States. They were oftener at war than at peace with the holy tse, ind there is the story of one pope who spent four weary months watching the view from a very small window in Vivalanti sdonjon. But, in spite of their unholy quarrels, they were at times devout enough, and twice a cardinals hat has been worn in the family. The house of lat years has dwindled somewhat, both in fortune and importance ;bat, nevertheless, Vivalanti is a name which is still spoken with respect among the old nobles of Rome. The lower slopes of the bill on which the village stands ar well wooded and green with stone-pines and cypresses, alive orchards and vineyards. Here th princes built their villas when the wars with the popes were safely at an end and they could risk coming down from their stronghold on the mountain. The old villa was built about a mile below the town, and the gardens were laid out in terraces and parterres along the slope of the hill. It has long been in ruin, but its foundations still stand, and the plan of the gardens may easily be traced. You will see the entrance at the left of the road a massive stone gateway topped with moss-covered urns and a double row of cone-shaped cypresses bordering a once stately avenue now grown over with weeds. If you pause for a moment and you cannot help doing so you will see, between the portal Bat the end of the avenue
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)