The Poor Shoemaker Dying of Hunger—Lu scarpareddu mortu di fami

I’ve heard tell that there was once a shoemaker who had a wife and threedaughters. He was truly miserable and poor. He carried his tools in a sackaround his neck and went about crying, “Any shoes to repair?” Then he said to himself, “Oh Lord! Nobody is responding . . . There’s

nothing left for me to do but drown myself.” He left and went to the river Bilici50 to drown himself. While he was prepar-

ing to throw himself into a deep pool of water, his fate approached him and said, “What are you doing?”