From its
mother it inherits plums and citron, while its father bestows upon it
almonds and consistency. In hardness of character it is half-way between
the two,--having neither the maternal tenderness on the one hand, nor
the paternal stoniness on the other. One does not break one's teeth on
it as over the _torone,_ which is only to be cajoled into masticability
by prolonged suction, and often not then; but the teeth sink into it as
the wagoner's wheels into clayey mire, and every now and then receive a
shock, as from sunken rocks, from the raisin-stones, indurated almonds,
pistachio-nuts, and pine-seeds, which startle the ignorant and innocent
eater with frightful doubts. I carried away one tooth this year over my
first piece; but it was a tooth which had been considerably indebted to
California, and I have forgiven the _pan giallo._ My friend the Conte
Cignale, who partook at the same time of _torone,_ having incautiously
put a large lump into his mouth, found himself compromised thereby to
such an extent as to be at once reduced to silence and retirement behind
his pocket-handkerchief. An unfortunate jest, however, reduced him to
extremities, and, after a vehement struggle for politeness, he was
forced to open the window and give his _torone_ to the pavement--and
the little boys, perhaps.
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