read..
(1) why read the classics? by italo calvino
reading
in youth can be rather unfruitful, owing to impatience, distraction,
inexperience with the product's "instructions for use," and inexperience
in life itself. books read then can be (possibly at one and the same
time) formative, in the sense that they give a form to future
experiences, providing models, terms of comparison, schemes for
classification, scales of value, exemplars of beauty - all things that
continue to operate even if the book read in one's youth is almost or
totally forgotten. if we reread the book at a mature age we are likely
to rediscover these constants, which by this time are part of our inner
mechanisms, but whose origins we have long forgotten. a literary work
can succeed in making us forget it as such, but leaves its seed in us
when
reading kafka, i cannot avoid approving or rejecting the legitimacy of
the adjective "kafkaesque," which one is likely to hear every quarter of
an hour, applied indiscriminately
i wish every book i write were the first
read italian folktales by italo calvino. dario asked if actor after rendition of lose your temper, and you lose your bet. simone shared same bday secret
day had dawned, and the bridegroom turned into a tortoise and crawled off to begin his journey around the world
the
girl spent her time trying on gowns and jewels, eating soup and
lasagna, and got to the last day with all the hemp still waiting to be
spun. she was weeping over it when, lo and behold, something dropped
down the chimney, and into the room rolled a bundle of rags. it came to
rest on its feet, and there stood an old woman
so the king
issued a proclamation for all marriageable girls to come to the garden,
under pain of death, to try to pick the pomegranates
stella diana gave him a quick kiss, and he gave her the fish for the sewing mistress's supper
a crab so enormous that one pair of eyes was not enough to take it all in
the young man, who happened to be a prince
"the goose goes where i go. it's too fine a goose to stay in a barn
they
picked up some of the bones and a skull and went back upstairs into
church, where they stood the bones in a straight line on the floor.
"these are our ninepins." they picked up the skull. "this is our
ball." and they began bowling
the wedding was celebrated
immediately. giricoccola's sisters learned of this from the astrologer
and died of rage right then and there
give me a paper bag full of live hornets that have fasted for seven or eight days
she felt herself being taken by the hand, but saw no one
the king sank into a black armchair he reserved for his bad days
and i do believe everyone is there to this day and still dancing
the
next morning pirolo rose early, shined the archpriest's shoes, put on a
white shirt, washed his face, and went to wake up his employer. they
left the house together, but as soon as they got out on the road it
began to rain and the archpriest said, "go back and get my wooden
shoes. i don't want to muddy my nice shoes i say mass in. i'll wait
for you under this tree with the umbrella."
pirolo ran home and said to the servants, "quick, where are you? the archpriest said for me to give you both a kiss!"
"kiss us?" have you lost your mind? we can just hear the archpriest saying such a thing!"
"upon
my word, he said to kiss you both! if you don't believe it, i'll let
him tell you himself!" he called out the window to the priest waiting
outside, "one, father, or two?"
"why, both of them, of course!" cried the archpriest. "both of them!"
"you see?" said pirolo, who gave them each a kiss
the knight knelt at her feet and said, "here is the monster. i was under a spell and obliged to remain a monster until a beautiful maiden promised to marry me as i was"
the lad pulled out the harmonica and began to play. the prisoners started dancing around him, with their ankle-chains clanking loudly. they broke into minuets, gavottes, and waltzes, and couldn't stop. the jailer rushed in, and he too started dancing, with all his keys jingling at his side
she prepared a poisonous pastry for him and said, "we call this pizza"
the two women embraced and made a big to-do over each other, telling their stories in turn. "but how are we going to get away from here?" asked the queen. "have you no opium?"
the sorcerer awakened, but he was already dead, with his head cut off by a sweep of the saber and sent flying to the bottom of the well
one morning campriano slipped a few gold pieces he had saved into his mule's rear end.."why campriano, your mule makes droppings of money!..you must sell him to us!"
the murderer started piercing the cotton with his sword and, before long, wounded the girl hiding there. but as he drew his sword out, the cotton wiped the blood off, and the sword came out clean
the giant tiptoed up to him and dealt him a blow to the head. but it so happened that every night jack put a pumpkin on his pillow and slept with his head at the foot of the bed. as soon as the giant smashed the pumpkin, he heard jack say, "little do i care if you've beaten my head. but you're going to pay for disturbing my sleep!"
and swish! her head flew off before she could say a single "amen"
every last warrior lay lifeless on the ground beside his splintered lance and dead horse
in portugal, so as not to be recognized, the youth decided to hide his golden hair and therefore bought an ox bladder from a butcher. he put it on his head, and thus looked as if he had the mange. he tethered horseradish in a meadow, and nobody could steal him, for during his stay in the devil's stables, the horse had learned to eat humans
(abruzzo)
the jordan river did not lower his waters, and the ogress was swept away in the current. from the bank the little girl made faces at her
every day he went to the woods to gather firewood, and he would sell the bundle to buy bread and thus keep body and soul together
"puffarello," he replied. "i can imitate all the winds. fooooooooooo! that's the north wind. pooooooooooo! that's the southeast wind. fffffffffff! that's the east wind." and he went on imitating winds, blowing with all his might. "if you order a hurricane, i can even produce a hurricane." he blew, and trees began crashing to the ground and rocks flying through the air with all the fury of the gods
stabbed him all over, until he looked like a strainer
the sirens' choir
the earth yawned beneath the princess, and she disappeared into the flames
the next day he went shopping and spent the coin, but he always found it in his pocket and lived happily ever afterward
goose pimples
"just where do you expect to find figs this time of year?"
"if this face does not please you, none ever will"
the chief lazybones
peppi then sprinkled a little salt over everybody's food. "see how it tastes now, majesty"
the boat was soon loaded with cats and went meowing across the sea
"you'll
have to see that the cocks don't crow, the clock doesn't strike, nor
the bells ring. cover the window with a dark cloth with the moon and
stars embroidered on it, so that you can't see when it's daytime. once
the sun is high in the sky, pull away the cloth, and the fairies will
turn into lizards and green reptiles and flee."
the next morning, the king had his crier announce this order: silence all bells and clocks, and butcher all your cocks!
the king had the maiden brought to the palace, boiled the marquise and her daughter in oil, and lived happily from then on with his little queen
as
soon as st. anthony's pig was inside hell, he began running around
rooting everywhere, throwing the whole place into an uproar. the devils
scampered behind him picking up firebrands, raking up pieces of cork,
standing up the tridents he knocked over, putting pitchforks and torture
tools back in their places
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