Michael Ende

The Corridor of Borromeo Colmi – Michael Ende's tale about a legendary corridor that never seems to end:
An alcoholic beggar tells the narrator about a mysterious corridor in the Palazzo Varanova in Rome, built by the doctor, architect and magician Borromeo Colmi. The only person with whom the mysterious Borromeo Colmi was on friendly terms was the papal grand seal keeper Conte Fulvio di Baranova. The narrator's curiosity about the aforementioned corridor is aroused and he succeeds in getting to the last descendant of the Conte: Maddalena Bó, a convinced communist about eighty years old. Together with his wife, the narrator visits the corridor of Borromeo Colmi – and cannot believe his eyes ...

Originally published in the volume The Prison of Freedom, this story is now also available as a single edition.