- Narrator: It's not an easy voyage. It's only for those who've spent a lifetime on the Po. Their homes are on the barges. The barge is their work, their home, their love. Up and down the great river.
- Narrator: "A poor village where life passes as slowly as the seasons or the river." That's what the bells are saying.
- Narrator: It's a grim life that never changes. But, further along, between the sky and the marsh, life for the people of the Po becomes even bleaker. Their beds aren't always safe when a storm is brewing...
- Narrator: There are washerwomen on the banks. Beyond the banks are the melancholy facades of country houses where someone's always looking out at the river.
- Narrator: It's a hard life that never changes. Perhaps those watching the convoys go by think about happiness, about leaving, traveling, starting a new life. At the end of the voyage awaits the open sea.