During visits to Italy between 1888 and 1890, George Gissing immersed himself in fictions by Matilde Serao, a journalist, editor, and leading practitioner of verismo (Italian realism), whose stories focused on the travails of the poor of Naples. Partly as a means of practicing his Italian and partly for his own pleasure, Gissing read serial installments of her novels Addio, Amore! (1890) and Il Paese di Cuccagna (1891). The latter novel, translated into English as The Land of Cockayne (or, The Land of Milk and Honey) in 1901, dramatized the damage wrought upon Naples' social and economic life by its state lottery. Swept up by lottery fever, locals forfeit their savings, exploit each other for loans, and ruin one another's lives. Cockayne invites comparisons with Gissing's The Whirlpool (1897), which captured a culture preoccupied with precarious financial investments, and In the Year of Jubilee (1894), which famously satirized the frenzy of the crowd. Yet, upon closer look, these comparisons do not fully hold. Serao's characters are city people, but they are strongly imprinted by a lingering peasant consciousness. Earnest in their domestic roles, these wives and daughters feel none of the troubling temptations of modernity. All of Serao's men and women hold an enduring folk belief in dreams and premonitions, the means by which they choose their lottery numbers. This was likely the source of Gissing's pleasure in the book. While aspects of Cockayne mirror the modernity of his fictions, Serao's Neapolitans evince an older worldview that intrigues him.

中文翻译：

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三次心爱的那不勒斯的肚皮：乔治·吉辛（George Gissing）和马蒂尔德·塞劳（Matilde Serao）的怀旧与匮乏

1888年至1890年间访问意大利期间，乔治·吉辛（George Gissing）沉迷于记者，编辑和verismo（意大利现实主义）的主要实践者Matilde Serao的小说中，他的故事集中在那不勒斯穷人的苦难上。吉辛（Gissing）一方面是练习意大利语的手段，另一方面是为了自己的乐趣，他读了她的小说《阿迪奥》（Addio，Amore）的系列文章。（1890年）和Il Paese di Cuccagna（1891年）。后者的小说在1901年被翻译成英文，名为《科卡恩土地》（或称《牛奶与蜂蜜之乡》），戏剧化地描述了那不勒斯的国家彩票对那不勒斯的社会和经济生活造成的损害。彩票狂潮席卷而来，当地人没收了自己的积蓄，互相剥削以获取贷款，并破坏了彼此的生命。库卡因邀请与吉辛的《旋涡》（1897年）进行比较，后者捕捉了充斥着不稳定的金融投资的文化，而《禧年》（1894年）则以讽刺人群的狂热着称。然而，仔细观察，这些比较并没有完全成立。Serao的角色是城市居民，但农民的缠绵意识却给他们留下了深刻的烙印。这些妻子和女儿认真履行家庭职责，没有丝毫困扰现代人的诱惑。Serao的所有男人和女人都对梦和预兆有持久的民间信仰，这是他们选择彩票号码的方式。这很可能是吉辛在书中高兴的源头。虽然科卡恩方面 Serao的那不勒斯人反映了他小说的现代性，以较古老的世界观吸引了他。