New York City, May 2011
Zeno and Domitilla

Zeno Porno
comic script writer for Disney

Domitilla Emmer
lawyer, web designer

Capitan Biscotto
Milanese superhero

... and the twin girls
A & B Savinio

-... Zeno, it's over, it ended four years ago!
- What the heck have you come to do here in New York?

-What have I come to do?... Domi, I have the takotzubo syndrome! ...Chronic!
-The what?
-The takotzubo syndrome! In the 18th century they used to call it broken heart. Researchers found that it is a cardiomyopathy affecting those who have suffered a severe loss, a bereavement, or indeed an emotional trauma, an abandonment. It's more frequent in spring and summer...
-... it can be deadly, you know?

- Zeno, I don't know if I'll come back to Italy, but I certainly won't come back together with you. Will you set your mind at rest once and for all!
- Certainly not!
-...I am reading this book by Ippolito Nievo, "The Castle of Fratta"...
- Ippolito Nievo? Risorgimento? Streets, squares, schools, monuments...
- Exactly, that's him. Listen to what he writes:...

-"... the naughty girl didn't care. Maybe she had sensed the sort of person I was, and redoubled her vexations, while I doubled my submission and affection; for in some beings the devotion for those who torment them is even stronger than the gratitude for those who make them happy. I don't know if these people are good or bad, wise or foolish;
-... but I know I am one such specimen..."

-... and I am another one, 150 years after Nievo.
-... hum
-... hey uncle, is it true you are a superhero?

-... of course I am, shortie!
- don't I look like one?
-in Milan, Italy, I am known as Capitan Biscotto!
-Capitan Biscotto?
-What a silly name!

-I have never heard about Italian superheroes... Superheroes are American, period!
-What kind of superpowers do you have, uncle? Can you fly?

-Of course I can!
-... but only on Wednesdays.
-What day is today?
-Sunday!
-... too bad!

-... today I have the superpower of buying you a good ice cream!
- provided that you have learned Italy's regions by heart...
-I promised I would pass on to you a lot of knowledge about your country of origin
- ... so, do you know them?
-Of course!

-You know, Domitilla, Nievo tells about a perfect example of takotzubo. The protagonists are a dog, Marocco, and an anonymous cat...
-...I'm gonna read it to you!
- ÇThe master's dog, old Marocco, refused to follow the master in his escape. He kept on wandering about the desert castle, sniffing here and there as if he were looking for a soul better than his...È

-So, let's hear the region list!
-Ç... but he didn't succeed, and a reckless young Frenchman had fun running him through with his bayonet, in the middle of the courtyard...È
-Ç... the stench of the carcass had been fouling the air for three days, so I sent for a peasant and ordered him to throw it in the gutter...È
-Ç... but the peasant called me after a while, so that I could see with my own eyes an extraordinary thing.È

- There, on the already maggoty corpse of Marocco, sat the big tabby cat who had been his companion for so many years, and it was impossible to remove him.
-Umbria!
-Calabria!
-Caresses, threats and tugs were useless...
-Tuscany!
-... I had him detached by force...

-... and ordered that Marocco be buried right where he had received the fatal prize of his faithfulness.
-Liguria!
-Campania!

-Sicily!
-The peasant dug a three-fathom deep hole and then threw earth over him, thinking that he had completed the task.
-Abruzzo!

-But for months...
-Veneto!

-... and months ...
-Puglia!

-Valle d'Aosta!
-Meeeoow

-...uninterrupted...
-Marche!

-... each morning the earth had to be put back in its place...
-Molise!

-... because the faithful cat spent its nights pawing it out
- scratch
-rasp
-rst
-Friuli Venezia Giulia!

-... so that he could keep on resting...
-scratch
-scratch
-rasp
-rasp
-Emilia Romagna!

-... on the remains of his friend.
-meeoooow
-Trentino Alto Adige!

-I had them covered with a stone.
-Lazio!

- And the cat sat on it day and night, incessantly wailing and circling around the grave...
-Lombardy!
-meeeoooww
-Basilicata!

-Piedmont!
-... and then he died.

-... isn't it beautiful?
-Takotzubo!
-Hum... Zeno....

-Excellent!
-Very well...
-Ice cream!

-Yippee!

THE END

Paolo Bacilieri, New York, Milan, 2011. Merci Pascal!