- "Sophronia" means "self-controlled" or "sensible." If the half-city that bears permanently the name, Sophronia, is the carnival, then what is Polo (I daren't say Calvino here) getting at?
- The two preceding cities, both Olivia and, if you're willing to stretch a little, the unnamed city of departures, both hold as part of themselves a reflection, double, or twin--a repetition of itself (herself?). Is this the motif?
- What do you think of Calvino's imagination?
- Is the banking, concrete half a reflection of or just a balance of mass to the permanent half?
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