Bella Ciao

E ho trovato l'invasor...

(Not the real story behind the song, I made it up, but it is based on true events, which in turn inspired the song. I am not Italian and I am not a historian either, it is all based on my private research, so I cannot guarantee it can that it is all historically accurate.) -DonnaLawliet
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Stamattina mi sono alzato,
Oh bella, ciao! Bella, ciao! Bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
Stamattina mi sono alzato,
E ho trovato l'invasor.

This morning I woke up,
Goodbye my beautiful! Goodbye my beautiful! Bye, bye, bye my beautiful!
This morning I woke up,
And I found the invader.

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Saluzzo, Piemont, Italy                                                                                                    17th of November, 1943

This morning I woke up even earlier than usual. Normally, the whole village still sleeps during the third hour. At first, I thought that the old man De santi woke me up, but that wasn't the case. 

The streets were full with Squadrismo soldiers, without stating their purpose or intention. The old man called me down for the fourth hour, to prepare the dough. He didn't know what was going on either, at least he didn't answer any of my questions. Multiple Squadrismos came by for the morning sale. They didn't say much, but at least they paid without writing it up.

Bella came by during the fifth hour. She is really the personification of her name, but she doesn't go out into public that often. Secretaries work far too much inside. I sold her the best loaf and asked her how Mr.Buoni was doing. He can count himself lucky to be promised to her. According to Bella, he's working on a new article for our newspaper, but she refused to tell me more.

The sale finally finished up fort he eighth hour. I was as tired as a bear preparing to sleep for the winter, but I promised Matteo to go shoot birds with him. There's no better friend one could wish for, even though he can be a bit strange sometimes. He applied for a position at the tailor and wants to sew women's dresses there. A bit surprising, I have never seen him seriously talk to a woman. He seems to prefer a man's company. 

During the shooting, he told me why the Squadrismos are here. In other regions, apparently, some people rebelled against their superiors, so now they plan to control and check everything even more.

The taxes are just going to get higher now, am I right? I asked him, why you would oppose them in the first place. Matteo didn't give me a clear answer. The old man always told me to keep away from trouble, not look for it.

I came home by the time the clocktower announced the fifth hour of the evening. Mother told me that the Squadrismos had stopped by while I had been away. According to her, they had asked for Matteo. They also took half of our earnings from the sale this morning! How are we supposed to make it over the rounds now? 

But the old man stayed calm: Tomorrow is another day.

Domenicus De santi