Jansy: I can, with reasonable certainty and
to a certain degree, thus correct your interpretation of this saying:
"He who sows spinach shall not walk
barefoot." "Isculzo" is a dialect derivation, probably Sicilian,
perhaps genuine, of "scalzo", which, in "lingua", or legitimate
Italian, in turn derives from "calzare" (to wear on one''s feet),
preceded by "s", a contraction of the negative "dis". In many dialect
forms in Sicily and Sardinia the "o" vowel has undergone a mutation
into "u". Hence, my take on the statement and my conjecture regarding
its sense: "he who cultivates a valuable crop shall never be
impoverished". My dictionary of Italian dialects unfortunately does
not contain these forms, so I'll confirm my surmise next time I
converse in Sicilian with a live source. I am also less certain about
the spelling "ki" for "chi" ("who"), or about "ispinaza" which looks
suspiciously like a macaronic variant of "spinaci" (spinach).,
and about a few other details. As for plums, Red Admirables and dead
rabbits, I'd say it's safe to forget them.
DN