I giorni della merla (literally, the days of the blackbird) refer to the last three days of January (29th - 31st) which are said to be i piu freddi (the coldest) of l’inverno (the winter).
This expression comes complete with una legenda, passed down from nonni (grandparents) to nipotini (grandkids), explaining both why these days are so cold, and why the blackbird is so named.
C’era una volta una merla, con uno splendido candido piumaggio, regolarmente strapazzata da Gennaio, mese freddo e ombroso, che si divertiva ad aspettare che la merla uscisse dal nido in cerca di cibo, per gettare sulla terra freddo e gelo.
Stanca delle continue persecuzioni la merla un anno decise di fare provviste sufficienti per un mese, e si rinchiuse nella sua tana, al riparo, per tutto il mese di Gennaio, che allora aveva solo 28 giorni.
L’ultimo giorno del mese, la merla pensando di aver ingannato il cattivo Gennaio, uscì dal nascondiglio e si mise a cantare per sbeffeggiarlo.
Gennaio si risentì talmente tanto che chiese in prestito tre giorni a Febbraio e si scatenò con bufere di neve, vento, gelo, pioggia.
La merla si rifugiò alla chetichella in un camino, e lì restò al riparo per tre giorni.
Quando la merla uscì, era sì, salva, ma il suo bel piumaggio si era annerito a causa del fumo e così rimase per sempre con le piume nere.
Once upon a time there was a blackbird, with a splendid white plumage, who was regularly mistreated by January, the cold and shadowy month, that enjoyed waiting for the blackbird to leave its nest in search of food then hurling it to the icy cold ground.
Fed up with this continual persecution, the blackbird decided one year to store enough provisions for a month, and closed itself in its nest, sheltered, for the whole month of January, which in those days had only 28 days.
On the last day of the month, the blackbird, thinking that it had out-witted the evil January, came out of its hiding place and started singing to mock it.
January resented this so much that it borrowed three days from February and went wild with blizzards, wind, ice and rain.
The blackbird sneakily took refuge in a chimney and stayed there for three days.
When the blackbird came out it was safe, but its beautiful plumage had been blackened by the smoke and so it remained forever with its black feathers.
Il giorno di San Valentino (Valentine’s Day), like pretty much everywhere else, is having a roaring success in Italy. The romantic (and, some would say, cheesy) nature of Italians makes for big business at this time of the year. Although people tend not to keep their identity a secret, bigliettini (cards) are popular along with regali (gifts) of cioccolatini (chocolates), fiori (flowers) or gioielli (jewellry). Men will feel they have to take their partners out for una cena a lume di candela (a candlelit dinner) and the ladies will almost certainly be shopping for new lingerie!
