An Italian version which lies before me is entitled, _Canzonetta nuova, sopra la Madonna, quando si partò in Egitto col Bambino Gesù e San Giuseppe_, "A new Ballad of our Lady, when she fled into Egypt with the Child Jesus and St. Joseph."
It begins with a conversation between the Virgin, who has just arrived from her long journey, and the gypsy-woman, who thus salutes her:--
ZINGARELLA. Dio ti salvi, bella Signora, E ti dia buona ventura. Ben venuto, vecchiarello, Con questo bambino bello!
MADONNA. Ben trovata, sorella mia, La sua grazia Dio ti dia. Ti perdoni i tuoi peccati L' infinità sua bontade.
ZINGARELLA. Siete stanchi e meschini, Credo, poveri pellegrini Che cercate d' alloggiare. Vuoi, Signora, scavalcare?
MADONNA. Voi che siete, sorella mia, Tutta piena di cortesia, Dio vi renda la carità Per l'infinità sua bontà. Noi veniam da Nazaretta, Siamo senza alcun ricetto, Arrivati all' strania Stanchi e lassi dalla via!
GYPSY. God save thee, fair Lady, and give thee good luck Welcome, good old man, with this thy fair Child!
MARY. Well met, sister mine! God give thee grace, and of his infinite mercy forgive thee thy sins!
GYPSY. Ye are tired and drooping, poor pilgrims, as I think, seeking a night's lodging. Lady, wilt thou choose to alight?
O sister mine! full of courtesy, God of his infinite goodness reward thee for thy charity. We are come from Nazareth, and we are without a place to lay our heads, arrived in a strange land, all tired and weary with the way!
The Zingarella then offers them a resting-place, and straw and fodder for the ass, which being accepted, she asks leave to tell their fortune, but begins by recounting, in about thirty stanzas, all the past history of the Virgin pilgrim; she then asks to see the Child--
Ora tu, Signora mia. Che sei piena di cortesia, Mostramelo per favore Lo tuo Figlio Redentore!
And now, O Lady mine, that art full of courtesy, grant me to look upon thy Son, the Redeemer!
The Virgin takes him from the arms of Joseph--
Datemi, o caro sposo, Lo mio Figlio grazioso! Quando il vide sta meschina Zingarella, che indovina!
Give me, dear husband, my lovely boy, that this poor gypsy, who is a prophetess, may look upon him.
The gypsy responds with becoming admiration and humility, praises the beauty of the Child, and then proceeds to examine his palm: which having done, she breaks forth into a prophecy of all the awful future, tells how he would be baptized, and tempted, scourged, and finally hung upon a cross--