They began to save and put in the crate all kinds of linen that could be used for their daughter’s trousseau and for her future home, because they knew from experience that time would pass quickly and that at the right moment they would not have the economic strength to procure everything in one go. They used to assigne to the little girl, immediately, every piece of canvas that they could weave on their own, if they were able to, and every fabric (percale / poplin / linen / flannel / Flanders / linen) and fabric of all kinds and above all of cotton canvas robust and durable, for the sheets, when they had some savings to spend at the great annual fair and, a little at a time, they prepared them or had them prepared by the seamstresses for the linen that, growing up, the girl would embroider for her trousseau. The maidens had to grow up chaste and pure and without crickets in their heads (that is without strange ideas in their heads). They were to be industrious and hardworking, were to know how to look after the house, how to cook and how to work in the fields. The hardworking and also virtuous maidens, who even knew how to embroider, were rare.

Even rarer were those who managed to find, in the pasture, in the farmyard, on the donkey horseback or by the fire, before it got too dark, in the evening, the infinite spare time necessary for the wonders of the trousseau Of them it was said: “That girl has painted hands” (italian for the dialect jargon: quila guangnonI ghead’i meanI pindI). Angela, who was not only one of the girls with painted hands, but was good at peasant jobs like a man, took care of the house like the most virtuous women, knew how to cut and sew linen and women’s and men’s clothing, could knit sweaters and stockings, weave on the loom, darn in a refined way, embroider and do lace marvels and crocheting like an angel, was a legend.