Il mus c'al svuale (The donkey that flies)

There is a phrase in Friulian that everyone here knows: "Cjale, cjale il mus c'al svuale!" Look, look at the donkey flying. It is said to the naive, to those who let themselves be fooled too easily. A way of laughing together, with that slightly sly lightheartedness that is so deeply Friulian.

But where does it come from? The answer comes from Provence, and it is told to us by Bruno Sedran, a Friulian scholar and longtime contributor to the Barbacian of Spilimbergo, in an article from 1995. In Gonfaron, a small village in the Var with fifteen hundred souls, a legend from 1645 tells of an ill-tempered local who challenged the town's patron saint, paying dearly for it along with his donkey. Since that day, the saying has flown from mouth to mouth, a warning against arrogance and a knowing smile among those who understand that certain things just shouldn't be done.

Provence and Friuli, surprisingly similar lands. And us, right in the middle, with a glass of white wine and good conversation.

Read the full article by Bruno Sedran in the 1995 edition of the Barbacian, preserved in the digital archive of Extramuros, to whom we owe our gratitude for their precious work in preserving our memory.