The Mouth of the Adda

Franca Cavagnoli & Giovanni Emilio Cingolani

In the summer, little Beatrice goes fishing in the river Adda with her older brother. Together they enjoy the peaceful scenery of its waters that enter the Po. But seeing the river in flood in winter is quite another experience. Beatrice’s grandfather carries her on the bar of his bicycle, wrapped in a cape, and leads her along the flooded fields to the point where the foaming waters of the two rivers meet. The myth of Eurydice that comes to Beatrice’s mind increases the fear that the mouth of the river may swallow them both: she tightens her grip on the handlebar and looks at the wet wheel. Beatrice’s restlessness convinces her grandfather to return to the tranquility of the known countryside, along the road to the village.

The Mouth of the Adda is a story that has the strength of a river in flood and the calm of the cultivated plains around it; the excitement of a little girl and the wisdom of a grandfather.