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Antonio goes so far as to think that a Bolshevic workman had hoped to attract the attention of an aeroplane flying over the house, but whether it was to have us bombed by the Fascists or courted by a friendly English or American bomber, Antonio could not decide. He has now plastered whitewash over the device. 

December 6th. In town the shop-windows have very little to show; only the book shops seem prosperous. The many beautifully illustrated books on Italian art made me sad....the art treasure of Italy that have already been destroyed or stolen; the remaining art treasures that may in the future have no meaning for anyone in a retrograde world. 
While waiting in the dusk for a tram, suddenly there loomed in front of me a big blond head with a wide open mouth to which a hand was pointing. I heard the word "dentista". The apparition was a German soldier suffering from tooth-ache. 
Nowadays to get into a tram is a life or death struggle, an awful moment when everyone reveals his worst instinct. I always try to get Natalie in before me; her legs are shorter than mine and she has more difficulty in hoisting herself up the steps. But I am now very careful not to help up anyone else. Once, while trying to push an old woman up from behind, she suddenly fell back and rested her whole weight on my hands, the wrists were all but broken. Yesterday the struggle was worse than ever and the chief offender this time was a