The Wedding Banquet
Some time ago, in a region of Italy known as the Abruzzi, a very handsome man named Enrico lived in a very handsome house with a very handsome black and white dog called Caesar. The three of them -- the house, the dog, and the man -- all fit together so perfectly that it was hard to imagine one without the others. The house looked like it belonged to the man and the man looked like he lived in the house, and of course the man and the dog looked like each other. Enrico was a tall and watchful man who seemed to be curious about everything. He had wavy black hair on the sides of his regal head, a straight nose, and sharp dark eyes that took in everything and sparkled when he was listening to someone speak. Like the man, the black and white dog called Caesar was lean and alert. The house was made of stone; it was very large and had many windows of different shapes and sizes; it stood on a hill overlooking the small town of Terrina and it was surrounded by a high stone wall that had taken many men many years to build. There was something castle-like about the house and something lordly about the man who lived in it.
The man had traveled and studied all over the world and had collected many strange and wonderful things. The stone house was filled with treasures such as a tiger skin from India, a samurai warrior's sword from Japan, and a shrunken head from the depths of Africa. There were large wooden chests brimming with glittering jewels and precious stones and old coins made from gold and silver. There were glass cabinets filled with crystal goblets and the thinnest bone china dishes, some so thin you could almost see through them. There were vases small enough to hold a single tear and scene-painted urns large enough for a man to hide in. There were drinking vessels made from huge shells and trimmed with gold that even the strongest man could not lift with one hand. From the land of the Egyptians, came delicate eating utensils carved from ivory. From the Netherlands, there were richly embroidered tapestries so huge they covered an entire wall and carpets as thick as summer grass from the land of the Persians.
Every object the man had fallen in love with in his travels all over the world were with him now in his magnificent house. And that wasn't all. The man also loved animals, and he had created a special park for the animals he had brought home with him. The park was not a zoo with cages but a lovely place where the animals could move freely, for the man did not believe in keeping a living thing in a cage. However, he trained the animals to obey him and behave with dignity for his guests -- this was the price they had to pay for their safe and comfortable lives. At least once a day, the man would exercise and play with his animals. With his lions, he would get down on all fours and roar and sometimes he would wrestle with them like a brother. Then he would climb a tree or play tag with his monkeys.
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