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ON A WARM spring morning in Treviso, a town in Italy’s north-east, several hundred people have gathered in the main square, in the shadow of a 13th-century bell tower, to listen to speeches. The crowd is so uniformly dressed, in casually smart clothes and expensive sunglasses, that an outsider might assume invitations to this event had been sent out weeks ago. Most people are clutching plastic flags on white sticks. Some of them carry children wearing rosettes in red, white and green. On a temporary stage a succession of speakers talk about the country’s glorious history. Italy has taken the day off to celebrate its 150th anniversary as a nation.
Treviso’s mayor, Gian Paolo Gobbo, is not celebrating. The desk in his office faces a large painting of Venice in the style of Canaletto. This has some significance for Mr Gobbo, who has spent his political career fighting to resuscitate the Republic of Venice, which finally expired in 1797 after a long illness. Below the painting stands a fluorescent-green bear. “It’s just like me!” exclaims the mayor, a portly man in his 60s. Green is the colour of the Northern League, a party which has sometimes toyed with the idea of breaking up Italy and allowing the northern part of the country to go it alone. This particular bear wears a sword, a gift from a champion fencer who is one of the town’s famous sons. Mr Gobbo’s opponents might claim that the bear resembles him in another way: last year the mayor was charged with having been part of an armed gang in the 1990s, a low-grade militia intended to protect Treviso. He denies the charges.

A. 어휘
get on with 進陟(진척)시키다. square 광장. casually 우연히.
rosettes 장미꽃 모양의 술(매듭). temporary 임시의.
celebrate 축하하다. anniversary 기념일.
Canaletto (1697.10.28 ~ 1768.4.19) 이탈리아의 화가. significance 의미.
resuscitate 소생시키다, 회복시키다. expire 끝나다, 죽다.
fluorescent 빛나는, 산뜻한, 형광성의. portly 살찐, 風采(풍채)좋은.
opponents 반대자. resembles 닮다. armed gang 무장 깽. charge 起訴(기소)하다.
militia 민병대.