The narrator tells us that the town of Naples is getting ready for Christmas. It's also known as "episodic," or "the day when the wise men bring their gifts to jesus" . This is the day that the witch, La Befana, gives presents to all the naughty kids in the town. The narrator says that she's looking forward to the day. She's excited because she thinks that she and her sister are acting like little kids. She says that as she got older, she stopped being so excited for Christmas and started getting less excited for it. She asks her sister what she would like for Christmas, and she says she'd like to be a princess in the land of "bubbles" , which is what the witch is referring to . Athena says that if she doesn't stop acting like a little kid, she'll go back home and get a drink.