he was luxuriating in his grandiose,rncanopied bed, it occurred to him to turnrnover and luxuriate on his side, but then —rnPFRRR! —he decided against it. Hernstayed put, flat on his back. “I swear tornyon,” said my friend, “it was demonic.rnThe very instant the desire to turn overrntook hold of me, straight avva’ I couldrnhear the whirring.”rnLet me restate my case. A terrible conundrumrnof our bourgeois civilization isrnwhether money can buy happiness. Irnthink it cannot be solved in one go, just asrnan advanced theorem of geometr}’ cannotrnbe proved b’ a pupil unfamiliar with thernbasic principles of Euclidean reasoning.rnAn intermediate question to ponder, inrnthis case, is whether mone}’ can buy ordinaryrncomfort, such as the psychologicalrnfreedom to turn in your bed anv whichrnway you please. The answer is: not always.rnA more advanced question isrnwhether money can buv luxur)’, glamour,rnsplendor; and here I point to Italyrnwhich —quietly but stubbornly —whispers,rn”no.”rnBrescia, then Verona, sped bv, thenrnPadua. I kept looking out the window ofrnmy train, a grimy hiterCih originating inrnZurich, thinking how odd it was that nobodyrnat Bice made a fuss over mv iconicrnvis-a-vis, that no woman came overrnsquealing some Italian equialent ofrn”Oh, Miss Bacall, I just wanted to sav, Irnsaw you at the Academ’ Aw ards, and I’mrnso happy, my daughter was doing a lot ofrnacting at Princeton last year, and I justrnwanted to say, I hope ou don’t mind myrncoming up like this, I think you’re great,rnjust great, and . . . ” In 1867, on his wayrnfrom Milan to Venice, Mark Twainrnrecorded passing through the same oldrntowns, wedded to the customs andrnsteeped in the dreams of the elder ages,rnand perfectly unaware that the worldrnturns round! And perfecth’ indifferent,rntoo, as to whether it turns around orrnstands still. They hae nothing to do butrneat and sleep and sleep and eat, and toil arnlittle when they can get a friend to standrnby and keep them awake. T/7ey are notrnpaid for thinking—f/iey are not paid tornfret about the world’s concerns.rnAnd yet, he concluded with unconcealedrnenvy, “in their breasts, all theirrnstupid lives long, resteth a peace that passethrnunderstanding! How can men, callingrnthemselves men, consent to be so degradedrnand happ ?”rnThe answer, as I sa. is in the Italian attitudernto life’s luxuries that is still in evidencerntoda’, the degraded and happy attitudernthat—at least in the green backwaterrnof Venice for which I was headed —rnstill resists the global Pavlovian trainingrnintended to link glamour with money. Arnwisely and freshly made sandwich, howeverrncheap, is a greater luxury than a foolishlyrncut suit of clothes, however fancyrnthe designer; freshly squeezed juice is thernbest thing to be had at breakfast, whetherrnor not it is associated with swimmingrnpools and movie stars; and a homecookedrnSunday lunch for 20, all cousinsrnand aunts from as far afield as Trevisornand Padua, is more glamorous than thernveal escalope at Bice, however famousrnmy luncheon companion and whetherrnthe world turns round.rnIt was a long, long ride. But towardrnevening, as we sat silent and hardly consciousrnof where we were—subdued intornthat meditative calm that comes so surelyrnafter a conversational storm — someonernshouted: “VENICE!”rnAnd sure enough, afloat on the placidrnsea a league awa)’, la- a great eit}’, with itsrntowers and domes and steeples drowningrnin a golden mist of sunset.rnAndrei Navrozov is Chronicles’rnEuropean eonespondent.rnFACULTYrnTOPICSrnPLACErnTUITIONrnSixth AnnualrnLFAGUF, OF THE SOUTH INSTITUTF SUMMER SCHOOErn”Total War and Reconstruction”rnJiilv 23-28, 2001rnAbbeville, S o u t h C a r o l i n arnDr. Thomas di Lorenzo (Loyola College in Maryland), Dr. James Kiblcr (llniversity of Georgia),rnDr. Thomas P’lcming (Editor, Chronicles), Dr. CKdc Wilson (University of South Carolina),rnRoger Busbice (Nicholls State Universit’), Dr. Michael Hill (President, League of the SouflirnInstitute), John Chodes (Author and Dramatist), Dr. Donald Livingston (Emory University).rnA Philosophical, Moral, and Legal Examination of Total War and Reconstruction; Was flie LincolnrnAdministration Guilty of War Crimes?; The South’s Flxperienee of Total War and Reconstruction;rnThe Beginning of American Imperialism; The Imposition of a Nationalist System of b’.ducation onrnthe South; How Reconstruction Continues Today.rnAbbeille is the birthplace of John C. Calhoun, and the place where he first practiced law. Visitrn”Secession Hill,” where the act of secession began, and the Burt-Stark House, where the ConfederaternCabinet met for the last time and dissolved.rn$250 (includes banquet July 2?); $275 after June I. Open to students of all ages. A limited numberrnof scholarships are available to college and graduate students, and college-bound high-school seniors.rnSend all inquiries concerning registration, scholarships, and acconnnodations to Dr. DonaldrnLivingston, Director, League of the Soufli Institute, 478 Burlington Rd., Atlanta, GA ^0307;rnphone and fox (404) i77-0484.rn40/CHRONICLESrnrnrn