‘There is still one [city] of which you've never spoken about.’

Marco Polo bowed his head.

'Venice,' the Khan said.

Marco smiled.

'What else do you believe I have been talking to you about?'

The emperor did not turn a hair.

'And yet I have never heard you mention that name.'

And Polo said

'Every time I describe a city I am saying something about Venice.’

‘When I ask you about other cities, I want to hear you say about those. And about Venice, when I ask you about Venice.’

‘To distinguish the qualities of the others, I must start from a first city that remains implicit. For me it's Venice.’

‘You should then start each story of your travels from the start, describing Venice as it is, all of it, without omitting anything you remember about it.’

The water of the lake was just rippling; the copper reflection of the ancient palace of the Sung shattered into sparkling reflections like floating leaves.

​

‘Memory's images, once they are fixed in words, are erased,’ Polo said. ‘Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once, if I speak of it, or perhaps, speaking of other cities..

I have already lost it, little by little.’

​

The invisible cities

Italo Calvino