Grazie, Papà! Come on, we'd better hurry.Luca · 2021 — Chapter 6 of 9 · 3'05" · B1
Signing Up for the Portorosso Cup, Explained: eat someone for breakfast
The town gathers for the Portorosso Cup sign-ups, and Ercole wastes no time reminding everyone he's the champion. The underdogs don't back down: someone tells him flatly, "They don't love you. They're afraid of you." By the end, three kids have signed up as a team with one goal: beating him.
What happens
The whole town turns out for the Portorosso Cup sign-up, where the announcer reads a sponsor's pasta ad before finally explaining the rules. The race means swimming the bay, eating a mystery bowl of pasta, and cycling up Mount Portorosso and back. Ercole and his cronies shove through the crowd, take the boys' money, and mock them, but Giulia steps in and the three of them register as a team.
Listen for
take foreverput an end toeat someone for breakfastin a row
00:00 / 03:05Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Phrase of the scene
eat someone for breakfast
to defeat someone with no effort at all
埃尔科莱当众威胁两个外乡孩子，说自己收拾他们就像吃早饭一样简单。
That champion would eat a rookie for breakfast.
Also in this scene
- take forever
to take an extremely long time
- put an end to
to bring something to a stop
- in a row
one after another without a break
Everything marked in this scene
30 notes across 72 lines
Grazie, Papà! Come on, we'd better hurry.had better for advice
Slayer of sea monsters and beloved purveyor of pasta!She works for the sponsor for the race.to take an extremely long time
This is gonna take forever.The finest pasta in Liguria at a price every family can afford.Get to the rules!Get to the rules!Enthusiasm. Love to see it.flap
To win my famous race, your team must be the first to brave the treacherous waters of the bay,But don't forget, we're going to have to go through...Aren't you a little old, Ercole?liaison
You said that last year.You might want to save your money, ragazzi.This year, Ercole's gonna break the record and make it six in a row.This year, Ercole's gonna break the record and make it six in a row.Spewlia, you teamed up with these vagrants?-(LAUGHS) -Ignore him.in a row for a streak
I'm afraid your friends still need to pay the out-of-town weirdo tax.liaison
I'm afraid your friends still need to pay the out-of-town weirdo tax.Hey! Ercole! You have to give it back!They don't love you. They're afraid of you.Raise your hand if you love me.to bring something to a stop
Ercole, you're just afraid we're gonna put an end to yourput an end to something
Huh?to defeat someone with no effort at all
I eat kids like you for breakfast.I eat kids like you for breakfast.I'll make it my mission to destroy you.-You can put your hand down. -(KID GROANS)make it one's mission to do
Ha-ha! Luca! Bravo, we did it!Signing Up for the Portorosso Cup, explained
What's really going on
On paper this is a sign-up sheet; in practice it's a status fight. Ercole can't let the newcomers join quietly, because his whole identity rests on being number one: he makes his friends chant, takes the boys' coins as an invented tax, and calls them vagrants. Someone finally names the game out loud: "They don't love you. They're afraid of you." That line strips away the act — Ercole's power is intimidation, nothing more. Luca and Alberto, who have been hiding what they are, find in Giulia someone willing to stand with them instead of watching. The joke is that both sides use the same loud, theatrical language, from the announcer's proclamations to the kids' threats of an "evil empire." The scene ends with a team, not just a rivalry.
Theme
PrideErcole's entire act depends on being number one, so any challenger is a threat to be crushed.
CourageTwo boys who normally hide sign their names in public and take on the town champion.
Listen for
- take forever — flap
- coming through — liaison
- six in a row — liaison
Yeah. Hard to lose. We're going to win.A confident reversal: instead of fearing how hard the race is, someone flips it and says the hard part would be losing. Pure bravado before the challenge.
They don't love you. They're afraid of you.The crowd cheers for Ercole because they fear him, not because they admire him — a one-line takedown of the bully's whole image.
I'll make it my mission to destroy you.Ercole frames beating two kids as a personal crusade, which shows how seriously he takes this contest and how small he actually is.
Listen, piccoletto, I eat kids like you for breakfast.An Italian-flavored threat claiming he can handle kids like them without effort, the kind of line bullies use to sound unbeatable.
Questions about this scene
Why does Ercole pick on Luca and Alberto?
He sees them as outsiders and easy targets, and his status depends on keeping everyone below him. Calling them vagrants and charging a made-up tax is his way of proving he still runs the town.
Do Luca and Alberto actually get to race?
Yes. Giulia joins them and the three register as a team, giving them one week to train before the Portorosso Cup starts.
What does "six in a row" mean?
It means winning six times consecutively. Ercole's followers brag that this year he'll break the record and take his sixth straight title.
Why does Giulia team up with the boys?
She has had enough of Ercole's act and would rather take him on than compete alone. Registering with Luca and Alberto turns a one-person entry into a real challenge.
Is Ercole really loved by the town?
No. When he demands a show of hands, people raise them out of fear more than affection. The line "They're afraid of you" puts it plainly.
Luca · 9 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 7too muchGiulia Shows Luca the Stars
Chapter 1if I ever saw oneMom Bans Luca From the Surface
Chapter 2catch yourselfLuca Learns to Walk on Land
Chapter 3Silenzio, BrunoAlberto Teaches Silenzio, Bruno
Chapter 4underdogsGiulia Recruits the Underdogs
Chapter 5Money is tightLuca and Alberto's Dinner with Massimo
Watching · Chapter 6eat someone for breakfastSigning Up for the Portorosso Cup
Chapter 7too muchGiulia Shows Luca the Stars
Chapter 8bossing him aroundLuca Wants to Go to School
Chapter 9worried half to deathSea Monsters Revealed at the RaceChapter 6 of 9 · about 11 min to go