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"I also made calendars, with the map of Capri, drawing here and there the Certosa, the Piazzetta, the Grotta Azzurra. One day I convinced Jackie to go to the Tragara square, where the senior officers were staying, with a box of fruit and my Christmas-cards and calendars lined up on top. He was very good, he sold them all. That day my aunt and the chief general came to visit and stared at Jackie fixedly: "But haven't I seen you before, where did I see you? "and as Jackie and I turned red with shame: "Ah yes, little fellow, you were selling Christmas-cards in front of Tragara."

"It's not a shame to do honest trading."

"Probably not, but we were still ashamed. My first attempt at making money was with drama. I conceived a comedy and forced everyone to attend the premiere. Me, with a mother's hat on my head, was his wife; Jackie, wearing Stefano's jacket, was my husband. He was about to leave for the holidays and I wanted to go to the beach, he to the mountains. We quarreled, tearing our suitcase until Teresina arrived and decided we could go 15 days at the beach and 15 days in the mountains. Then we left, suitcase in hand, all happy. A somewhat simple plot, also due to the lack of actors. I held several protests, so I got a discount on the tickets. Sorry to be very very young. Do I bore you?"

"Not at all. Continue."

"A few years later, the year in which I received my first communion, I found the door of the chapel open and I entered. I was struck by the state of abandonment. At the time of my grandparents, mass was said there every Sunday and the gates of the garden were left open for anyone to attend, But in the former years it was never used and, imagine, I found a whole brood of dead mice in the flower pots on the altar. I immediately called...