In which young Odo embarks on a solemn pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Oropa, encountering a faded prima donna whose poignant tale of lost glory and hardship stirs both compassion and reflection amidst the mingled piety and gaiety of the devotees. The chapter traces Odo’s impressionable awakening to the complex world beyond his sheltered upbringing, mingling sacred devotion with the worldly shadows that cluster inevitably around human endeavour.