Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to sexual violence, antisemitism, genocide, and suicide.

The narrator introduces himself by emphasizing the importance of the Finzi-Contini family during the brief time that he knew them. He becomes inspired to write while driving around on a day trip with friends and impulsively visiting different parts of Italy. The group is quiet, which allows him to focus on describing the scenes of nature and the Italian coastline. Despite the lack of responsibilities or worries, only the young girl, Giannina, is happy. Before the group returns to Rome, they detour to the montarozzi (mounds). Giannina’s questions about the famous tombs reveal that the narrator is Jewish, but no one else in the car is. Giannina looks at him “filled with mistrust” (5).

The careful arrangements that the ancient Etruscans made for their dead greatly affect the narrator, and he is meticulous in detailing all that he sees. When the group returns to Rome, the scene is contrasted with modern cars slowing traffic down to a crawl. The narrator is free to reminisce about his younger years in the town of Ferrara and the Jewish cemetery there. His heart breaks remembering that the only Finzi-Contini he knows buried in that ugly, impressive tomb is his old friend Alberto.