On the island of San Pietro, north of the Gulf of Palmas (Sardinia), in the village of Carloforte there was a tavern where a beautiful girl was working in the age of twenty, so beautiful to make fall in love every male who laid his gaze on her. Her smile lurked and attracted both young and old but aware of her own beauty, the young girl refused marriage proposals of her people by aspiring to much more noble pretenders, without denying to make sweet eyes to those who paid attention but she never engage with anyone. Naturally, this was for the benefit of the father who saw increasing the number of his clients.
One day, a young son of a Cagliari baron arrived on the island and, inevitably, fell in love with the young girl. The young woman, aware that the young man was owner of several lands on the island, accepted the loving proposals. The relationship between the two was seen by the inhabitants of the area as a tresca and the bad voices came to the ears of the Baron, who went to Carloforte to move his son away from the island.
The young woman wept desperately for a long time but then decided to console with other loves and, over time, the girl decided to marry, even with one of the claimants so far refused. Unfortunately, her relationship with the young baron had shaken the pretenders who did not let themselves be persuaded by her smiles or lusts.
There was a stormy day and a boat landed on the island. The boat, which was very disadvantaged, needed several days of repairs so the captain, who was also the owner of the boat, and his crew decided to stop in the town.
A fascinating person was the captain, tanned, with a dark, penetrating look, energetic, indomitable, almost fierce, but unable to withstand the beauty of the young tavern, and he too fell in love with her.
Although warned by members of his crew about rumors about the lovers of the girl, the captain decided to ask her in the wife and her father consented without a doubt. After the wedding, reconsidering the words of his crew, the captain said to his young wife:
“Always remember the oath you have made today before God, if you are less than one of these promises!…”
The young woman was pale, but was reassured by the tenderness of a caress.
Until the day of the end of the work on the boat, before taking up the sea, the couple lived happily, and the captain fell in love more and more with his bride. So it was time to resume the voyages for the sea man and his crew. The travels did not last nearly a month, but after the return from one of these trips, the jealousy seed was finding place in the captain’s mind.
On returning from a trip from Cagliari, where the captain had purchased a precious gift for the bride, in the tavern of Carloforte he did not find his wife but her father that told him that the girl was visiting a relative outside the village and that she would be returning before evening.
Back to the boat, shaken by a thousand doubts, the captain found on board a young man who warned him that the bride did not go to a relative but instead went to meet the young baron. Incredulous, the captain asked the young man to shut up but he said he could accompany him on the spot to prove that what he said was truth.
Before getting convinced to follow him, the captain threatened the young man severely, but then he had to reconsider. Following the young man and hiding behind a bush, the captain had evidence of his wife’s infidelity. Sadly, he went back to the ship and sailed off without warning of his destination or without leaving any news to anyone.
Six years passed since that day, when, in December 1798, some large warships approached the shore and more than a thousand Tunisians landed who immediately started their work of piracy, looting and violence. Spiteful of booty and blood, the Tunisians in Carloforte raided people, raped women, plundered houses and shops. Who was so lucky to have saved his life was imprisoned and taken aboard the ships.
To guide this wave of pirate inferno was a dark man, with his head wrapped in a thick turban, which, accompanied by a large following, headed toward the tavern of the beautiful young woman. He walked through the door and climbed the stairs to the woman’s room, which looked horrified to the large group of men under her blankets.
The silence was broken by the voice of the captain of those pirates who, taking off the turban and in a loud voice, said,
“You forgot the oath you made at the foot of the altar, you deceived me and I came back to take revenge.”
The girl, taken by a terrible panic, almost crazy, recognized her husband, who, confirming his thirst for vengeance, left the young woman at the wilderness of his hundred men.
Was this really the story that prompted Captain Gian Samosa to ask the Tunisian Bey for ships and men to attack the island of St. Peter?
