Other statues that are in general installed at
the top of small mound - where
smelly flowers grow - are made of
a quite similar sort of column, although a bit shorter, on which is put a kind of terracotta bowl, gently
inclined in order to make a rather
elegant sort of seat.
The bowl is quite wide-mouthed, but
not very broad and the seat is hence
not that big but its curve makes it
nevertheless very comfortable. Moreover, this seat is mobile in such a way that it may be inclined in more or less any
direction depending on the way the
lady who uses it adjusts it
by moving the lower part of her
back.
Towards the lower edge of the bowl, in line
with the column is a hole through
which a kind of terracotta mushroom may come and go.
A mecanism automatically starts up
each time someone passes at the top of the mound and the mushroom goes up and down with slowness and majesty.
In general on festival days, this
mushroom is covered with a transparent rubber sheath
which is lubricated with each move
by the sap of a special plant that we grow in a corner of the
garden.
When the column detects the shadow of a skirt
dawdling close by, the mushroom
wisely retires in its hole for a few minutes, long enough for the passing by lady to sit comfortably
and then , slowly, surreptitiously,
the top of the mushroom, which is
round and glowing, points its little
nose outside (not more than two or
three centimeters out of the edge of the bowl) and starts to delicately move.
Since it is made of terracotta and the wheather
is beautiful, the mushroom
accumulated the warmth of the sun rays, so that when you sit against it towards the end of the afternoon
it is warm exactly as it should be
- you should not do that in the
middle of the day, of course - and
still loaded with the vibrations of hot air.
After a couple of minutes, the mushroom becomes
more daring and starts to come and
go - very very slowly - while lengthening its course and while rocking a bit from side to
side like a drunken sailor or a
drunken ship would do. Once the
mushroom has reached the maximum length of its course, its speeds automatically ajusts to the ardour of the
lady's movements
From far, the passer-by, absorbed in himself or
vague who slowly glides
away sees nothing but a woman with
a long skirt at the top of a mound, a woman with a strange pose of course,
who softly sways and oscillates,
there, around her centre of gravity - humming maybe - without suspecting the slightest from the depth of his evening walk the inner fervour of the lady, so that she may openly go on with her game, as she pleases,
in the open air, in the dark fury of
the evening, among the scents and the perfumes without taking the risk of being surprised nor
interrupted