Italy is a land rich in proverbs that are lost in the nuances of the different regional dialects. Used since ancient times for describe situations and convey teachings, among them peeps out a saying that goes well with the current one winter season. Have you ever heard of days of the blackbird? Have you ever wondered why they are called exactly that? Let's try to understand more in this article.
Calendar in hand
Always described as the coldest of the whole winter season, the days of the blackbird arrive at the very end of this first month of the year. It is a widespread tradition practically everywhere in Italy with only one difference. In some areas of our peninsula the days of the blackbird coincide with the last three of January. This is true for Milan, Forlì, Cesena, Maremma, Sardinia and many other areas of Italy. The same cannot be said for Cremona where we are talking about the last two days of January to which February XNUMXst is added. Why this little variation of dates? To answer this question we must consult ancient calendars but above all remember it vengeful spirit of January! The numerous legends spread throughout the Italian territory tell us of a remote time in which January gave mild and sunny days. But someone made fun of this good weather and so, on time, he arrived the punishment of the three coldest days.
Why the blackbird?
All the fault of a blackbird that chirped too quickly! So they tell old traditions, albeit with some regional variations. Among them there is an ancient version that has one as protagonists blackbird with white plumage and a January with a spiteful temperament. In fact, whenever the blackbird decided to put its beak out of the den, January enjoyed unleashing the cold.
The blackbird then thought of getting smart and so, with the arrival of the first month of the year, she decided to stock up on food. That way he no longer needed to leave the nest. At that time January was only 28 days and when that date came the blackbird jumped out happy for having survived the winter. But this gesture unleashed the anger of January which, feeling mocked, decided to punish the fleeting joy of the blackbird by adding to his month three days of cold and snow. The frost prompted the blackbird to seek shelter in a fireplace from which he came out on the first of February all dirty with soot. Since that day all blackbirds have black and grayish feathers. This legend, like so many others, it fits into the mentality of peasant life of a time when it was essential to know the rhythms of nature. Thus it was believed that the cold days of the blackbird were auspicious of a hot spring while on the contrary if the last dates of January had mild temperatures, a late spring would follow.
The particularity of Sardinia
Let's move now to Sardinia to remember a story that tells of the coldest days of the year in an alternative way to the traditional days of the blackbird. First of all we are not talking about three but about two days of cold and frost. Secondly, the protagonist is not a blackbird but a shepherd with his flock. Furthermore, this ancient narrative allows us to take up the question of the old calendars that we quickly mentioned at the beginning of the article.
The "days borrowed" is the name by which this Sardinian legend is known. It is said that once January was only 29 days and it was at that time that a shepherd boasted of the good weather. The sunny days cheered the herdsman because he would get a good pasture from them. So believing that the month had now come to an end, he went about striding around. But here's that right away January got angry and he decided to punish those who too quickly rejoiced with two days of cold and snow. But how to do it if the month was already over? “February, lend me two days so that he can unleash winter and teach the shepherd a lesson! " thus spoke the vengeful soul of January. From that moment the first month of the year had 31 days while February was only 28. In the meantime all the sheep died because of the so much snow that, covering the meadows, did not leave the animals to feed. Only one of these was saved: the herdsman had managed to hide it near the copper boiler used to make the cheese.
