Here in Italy, La Befana (click link for more info) is the traditional end to the season’s festivities, and for children it’s almost like having a second Christmas. Instead of the Christmas stocking they hang up la calza della Befana (the Befana’s stocking), and if they’ve been good boys and girls … who knows what La Befana might leave in it! Here’s an amusing Befana story that I read in the paper a couple of days ago:

Il piccolo Luca, nome di fantasia, ha corso felice per ben cinque chilometri a bordo del suo nuovo monopattino, prima di accorgersi di essere molto lontano dalla mamma. La brutta disavventura ha coinvolto, il giorno della Befana, una famigliola di Ostia, che si stava godendo una mattinata domenicale sul Lungomare di Ostia.

Per il bimbo di cinque anni una vera festa provare l’ebbrezza del regalo appena uscito dalla calza della Befana, un luccicante monopattino. Complice la folla sul lungomare e l’energia del figlioletto, la mamma ha subito perso di vista il piccolo. Luca ha percorso una distanza enorme, circa cinque chilometri, dal Porto Turistico di Roma fino a piazzale Magellano, per poi alla fine girarsi e non trovare la madre. Il pianto accorato del bimbo  ha attirato l’attenzione dei passanti che hanno allertato il 113.

Gli agenti, intervenuti sul posto, hanno faticato non poco per calmare il minore, fino a conquistarlo, affidandogli palette e berretto della Polizia e facendone così la loro mascotte. Dopo esser riusciti a identificare il piccolo «ospite» e un rapido coordinamento con la sala operativa, i poliziotti hanno riconsegnato Luca alla mamma, che stava impazzendo per l’ansia. Il bambino però non ha voluto congedare gli agenti senza una visita guidata nella sua stanzetta.

Little Luca (a name invented by the journalist) happily raced a good five kilometres on his new scooter before noticing that he was a long way from his mum. The unpleasant misadventure, which happened on the day of Befana, involved a family from Ostia who were enjoying a Sunday morning on the sea promenade at Ostia (near Rome).

For the five year old it was like a party, the thrill of the present that had just come out of his Befana stocking, a shiny scooter. The crowd on the promenade and the young lad’s energy caused the mother to quickly lose sight of her little one. Luca covered the huge distance of around five kilometres, from the Porto Turistico di Roma to piazzale Magellano, only to turn around and realise that his mother wasn’t there. The desperate crying of the child attracted the attention of passers by, who alerted the 113 (113 is both the telephone number and the name of the state police who respond to emergency calls).

The police agents who arrived at the scene had a lot of difficulty calming the child down, until they managed to win him over by entrusting him with their palette (the red and white lollipop shaped signs used to flag cars down) and police beret, thus making him their mascot. After having managed to identify their little ‘guest’ and having  quickly coordinated with the control centre, the police delivered Luca to his mother, who was crazy with anxiety. The little lad, however, wouldn’t let the police agents go without giving them a guided tour of his room.