Two Sicilian love rivals rolled back the centuries Thursday by resolving a dispute over a lady with a duel.
The men fought each other with knives and jackets wrapped around their arms as shields in the main square of Palma di Montechiaro, a town which features in Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's classic novel about Sicilian life, The Leopard.
The men, who are cousins, cut one another several times before police broke up the duel.
Both needed hospital treatment afterwards.
The row was sparked by the excessive attention one of the men, a 30-year-old farmer, devoted to the girlfriend of the other, a 40-year-old white-collar worker.
Police have charged the two men with grievous bodily harm.
