For a long time, Sicilians used the carrettu sicilianu to carry goods of all sorts. One day, under unusual circumstances, it was adopted to transport love.
Back in time, in Salice, Graziella, a feisty Sicilian girl, was to marry a young man from the nearby village, Castanea. The wedding ceremony was all set. The bomboniere had been purchased. All that Graziella had to do was to show up on the wedding day. But Graziella felt unsettling emotions.
Going back more in time, Graziella had the charge to bring water jugs to thirsty young men working for the forestale of the Peloritani Hills of Sicily.
Antonino was one of the hired forestry handymen to clear off the fallen branches. On a hot day, while sipping a fresh glass of water he was longing for, Antonino found the courage to tenderly whisper to Graziella, "Signorina, lei e' un angelo."
"Miss, you are an angel."
Was it love at first sight? Un fulmine? It was a moment that decided Graziella's future.
La fuga d'amore was furtively devised. Before the twilight of dawn, Antonino's trusted friends paused quietly with a carrettu sicilianu by her doorsteps. Graziella gently hid under the hay. Off she went to begin the journey of a lifetime.
It was early morning in September of 1948 when she arrived in the Contrada Vallone to embrace Antonino.
It was early morning in June of 1949 that, for the first time, I saw my mom's angelic smile.
"La prima gioia della mia vita," my mother later confided in me, "The first joy of my life."
U Carrettu Sicilianu
Amuri Sicilianu
Picciotta zita
Cu bummulu
Acqua pi biviri carriavi
Fimmina 'nnammurata
Cu l'occhi
vulivi beni
Carusa sula
Cu Cori
Curpa purtavi
Picciotta zita
Cu Carrettu
Amuri carruzziavi
Fimmina 'nnammurata
Cu l'arba
Vinni u tu jornu
Carusa 'nnammurata
Cu jornu
Vinni l'amuri
Ma bedda madri addivintasti
Sicilian Cart
Sicilian Love
Young betrothed girl
With a jar
Drinking water you carried
Young girl in love
With your eyes
You felt love
Lonely girl
With your heart
You felt guilty
Young betrothed girl
With the cart
You were holding love
Young girl in love
With dawn
Your day came
Young girl betrothed in love
With the day
Came love
My mother, you became
