When he talked about his homeland, Ambrogio was crushed that he could not convey the undulating blueness of the mountains, the damp saltiness of the air, and many other things that made Italy the most wonderful place on earth. But were you not sorry to leave a land like that? Mayor Gavriil once asked him. Of course I was sorry, answered Ambrogio, but the beauty of my land did not allow me to concentrate on what is most important. Ambrogio devoted all his time to reading Russian books, attempting to find in them an answer to the question that was troubling him.
