“Late summer. Afternoon. Voices, sounds, noise can be heard from neighboring houses. Libero Bocca, a strong old man of about seventy, sits on a bench and looks at the cover of a magazine. Luigi Paglia, also in his seventies, comes out leaning on a stick and stops, unhappy that the bench is occupied. After some hesitation, he decides to sit next to Bocca, who apparently does not notice him. Paglia's attention is drawn to the magazine in Bocchi's hands, and he puts on his glasses to better see the cover. In response to his neighbor’s admiring exclamation, Bocca turns and looks at him seriously...”