Further down, they find another strange palace.

"What are those numbers on the wall?" asks Marco.

"The numbers show the water level," replies the little mermaid. "Ever since Venice began to sink, they have marked the level of the water every year. See those workers on the roof? They're mending the tiles. There are many people — technicians, engineers, scientists — who keep working hard to save Venice, just as it was.

"Who knows! Perhaps one day the water will go down, the fish and jellyfish and octopuses will disappear, and Venice will come back to life just as before!" As Marco swims past, he sees that inside the houses nothing has changed at all. The children stare wide-eyed at the television; a little boy cries in his bath; another boy holds a big shell to his ear and seems to hear the sound of the wind and the cries of seagulls flying in the clouds...