Saturday 14 December 2019

'Whether he is on earth or on the treetops, he behaves with decency!'

Calvino’s Cosimo | Qualities of a Gentleman!

Italo Calvino’s Cosimo is an ethereal being and a literary being, both literally and figuratively!

Cosimo has already found space in our past post here, over a year ago!

Well, for newbies then, Cosimo is a young nobleman of high rank, who decides one fine day to live high up among the trees and resolves to remain there for the rest of his life!


Quite interesting ain’t it, when a young nobleman of very high rank, suddenly, one fine day, climbs up and up, higher and higher into the trees as an act of rebellion and never ever decides to come back down to the earth?

From here, settled amongst the branches of the trees, he does a soulful connect with the great minds of the Enlightenment with ardent vigour and enthusiasm, and towards the end of his life, steps onto a better, wiser and higher plane.

Interestingly, Calvino, oops Cosimo ;-) comes up with wonderfully unique and ingenious answers to the pressing problems of humankind such as food, hygiene, clothing, friendship, etc through this brilliant text.

Although Calvino’s Cosimo is now a man so confined to the branches of the wildest of trees, he is still able to get the most revolutionary of thoughts and ideas, thanks to the books!


In fact, Calvino portrays Cosimo’s whole life as being guided passionately by three things: books and books and books!

Some of the descriptions found at the beginning of the book are so throbbing with the solace and the luxuries of Nature: on the nature of each tree, the animals, the sounds and scents.

The young baron’s resolve to lead an arboreal existence, makes him one of the most believable characters in the entire gamut of world literature. The alternate reality that enthralls the reader skyhigh with such intense wisdom, connecting so subtly with memory, history and nature, is unique and so one of its kind!

Earlier on, we had discussed the book over the ‘alternate reality’ platform. Hence, for this post we would be looking at the gentlemanly traits that the baron believes in, after his rejuvenating stay high above in the trees!

One fine day, when Cosimo was challenging ‘men on the ground’ to compete with him on his aiming skills, partly to try out his own capacities and discover just what he could manage to do up there on the treetops, he saw his father approaching him on horseback!

Now the baron’s life amongst the trees had a refreshing, therapeutic effect on him to such an extent that, he preferred the life among the trees, with ‘savages’ at the expense of his stately baronly life in his father’s fiefdom.

So when his father requests him to come down the trees, and take up his station, his role and his responsibility that he has inherited by way of heredity, Cosimo wasn’t convinced at all.

The discussion that ensues is so filled with the father-son warmth, and at the same time it highlights the son’s view of gentlemanliness has changed, thanks to his arboreal existence.

I quote – [Chapter 8]

The Baron Arminio rode right up under the tree. The sunset was red.

Cosimo stood among bare branches. They looked straight at each other. It was the first time since the dinner of the snails that they found themselves like that, face to face. Many days had passed, things had changed. Both of them knew that the snails did not enter into it now; nor did the obedience of sons or the authority of fathers; that all the many logical and sensible things which could be said would be out of place; yet they had to say something.

“You’re making a spectacle of yourself!” began the father, bitterly.

“Really worthy of a gentleman!” (He called him by the formal “voi,” as he did for the most serious reprimands, but the use of the word now had a sense of distance, of detachment.)

“A gentleman, my Lord Father, is such whether he is on earth or on the treetops,” replied Cosimo, and at once added: “If he behaves with decency.”

And that explains the hugey turnaround shift that has been effected in the likes of a baron, a man of noble lineage, who had thus far been conditioned by the rank and file of his lineage in counting on the qualities and the character of a gentleman! So to Cosimo, it is not colonial wealth, or colour, or noble birth, or heredity, or lineage, or dazzling swords and shining armour that becometh a gentleman!

It is ‘decent behaviour’, through which means he shatters any ideal idiosyncrasies there are to a gentleman!

On this count, me so tempted to get you back to a previous past post done in 2011 right here, that enumerates the qualities of a gentleman as outlined and defined by Cardinal Newman, in the year 1865! We have it prescribed on our syllabus too!

Newman’s take is quite amazing! To Newman then, a gentleman is one, ‘who never inflicts pain’.

Pardon me, ladies and gentlemen, I’m so tempted to quote lines from off our past post here.

Over to Newman, Cardinal Newman, ladies and gentlemen!

Outlining the qualities of a gentleman, Newman says that, a gentleman doesn’t assert his nature, but instead makes others who are around him feel comfortable and at ease. He also helps others by making it easier for them to succeed.

A true gentleman is like an easy chair or a good fire that helps people to be warm and cozy. An easy chair does nothing really; it just provides a wonderful place to relax and make people feel at ease and at comfort. Moreover, we don’t have to do anything to enjoy the easy chair; it is always there, always welcoming, and always comfortable. Similarly, the gentleman is not always in front of you, but still he is there... waiting with open arms to comfort you, helps make your life easier, and to support you when you need it most. The gentleman is also compared to a good fire, which helps dispel cold and fatigue. The gentleman in like manner, is a secure solace during times of sadness and weariness, and is a warm reassurance of solace during times of trouble.

He carefully avoids whatever may grieve the minds of the people with whom he meets and interacts in the ordinary course of his life. Because his great concern is to make every one feel relaxed and at home.

Exposure to a good liberal education at a good university makes a person have a disciplined intellect. A disciplined intellect is an intellect that has been trained to handle any situation by applying thought to problem-solving. A student with a disciplined intellect knows his own intellectual strengths and weaknesses, and consciously attempt to improve on his strengths and correct his weaknesses. This process is commonly called “critical thinking.”

A disciplined intellect also preserves a gentleman from the blundering discourtesy of uneducated minds, who waste their strength on trifles.

As regards religious beliefs, a gentleman is open-minded person regarding others religious beliefs and curious to know and hear what other religions can teach him. He respects piety and devotion; honours ministers of religion and is a friend of religious toleration. His philosophy has taught him to look on all forms of faith with an impartial eye, which is an essential ingredient of civilisation.

How beautifully he has enshrined in these lines, on some of the virtuous qualities that becometh a gentleman and gentlewoman!

Shall we take a moment then, dear readers, to thank our parents and all our teachers who have shown us, through their own sweet examples, through their thoughts, words and deeds, on how to live our sweet lives as gentlemen / gentlewomen, not hurting anybody, not inflicting pain on anybody, through our thoughts, words and deeds!

To be continued…

image: florenceitalydotorg, amazondotin

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