书名：Italian Folk Tales 卡尔维诺：意大利童话
作者：Italo Calvino
出版社名称：Penguin Classics
出版时间：2000
语种：英文
ISBN：9780141181349
商品尺寸：12.9 x 3.4 x 19.8 cm
包装：平装
页数：800
Italian Folk Tales《卡尔维诺：意大利童话》是卡尔维诺根据意大利各地几个世纪以来用各种方言记录的民间故事资料，加以筛选整理后，用现代通用意大利语改写而成的一本适合全体意大利人民阅读、并且便于向全世界介绍的“全意大利的童话书”。在这里，卡尔维诺沉着地跃入故事之海，筛选濯洗散落在意大利民间乡野的传统和神话，还原它们本来所具有的干净简朴的面貌。

在两百则故事中，读者触摸的是一个极富意大利特色的世界：皇帝和农夫，圣徒和魔鬼，以及奇异的动植物；或幽默或质朴，或荒谬或神秘。因为卡尔维诺，《卡尔维诺：意大利童话》站在了与《格林童话》同样的高度，其叙述文字更为洗练出色。

本书为英文版，由著名翻译家George Martin翻译，语言地道，内容忠实原著。

媒体评论：
博尔赫斯、马尔克斯和卡尔维诺三人同样为我们做着完美的梦，三人之中，卡尔维诺是温暖明亮的。——作家约翰•厄普代克（John Updike）

卡尔维诺的想象像宇宙微妙的均衡，摆放在伏尔泰和莱布尼兹（Leibniz）之间。——符号学大师艾柯（Umberto Eco）
Meticulously selected and artfully recreated, the selection of stories in Italian is vast and ranges geographically from Corsica and Sicily to Venice and the Alps. Calvino is himself clearly captivated by the folkloric imagination and communicates this in what is a fascinating and rich addition to folk literature.
伊塔洛·卡尔维诺(Italo Calvino,1923-1985)是意大利当代具有世界影响的作家。于1985年获得诺贝尔文学提名，却因于当年猝然去世而与该奖失之交臂。但其人其作早已在意大利文学界乃至世界文学界产生巨大影响。
卡尔维诺从事文学创作40年，一直尝试着用各种手法表现当代人的生活和心灵。他的作品融现实主义、超现实主义与后现代主义于一身，以丰富的手法、奇特的角度构造超乎想像的、富有浓厚童话意味的故事，深为当代作家推崇，并给他们带来深刻影响。《我们的祖先》三部曲、《命运交叉的城堡》、《帕洛马尔》等达到惊人的艺术高度和思想深度。《意大利童话》很大限度地保持了意大利民间口头故事的原貌，艺术价值和学术价值兼具，是再现意大利“民族记忆”之深厚积淀的不可多得的作品。《美国讲稿》是卡尔维诺对自己近40年小说创作实践的丰富经验进行的系统回顾和理论上的总结与阐发。他的作品以特有的方式反映了时代，更超越了时代。
关于生平，卡尔维诺写道：“我仍然属于和克罗齐一样的人，认为一个作者，只有作品有价值。因此我不提供传记资料。我会告诉你你想知道的东西。但我从来不会告诉你真实。”

Italo Calvino, one of Italy's finest postwar writers, has delighted readers around the world with his deceptively simple, fable-like stories. Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and raised in San Remo, Italy; he fought for the Italian Resistance from 1943-45. He died in Siena in 1985, of a brain hemorrhage.
Dauntless Little John
There was once a lad whom everyone called Dauntless Little John, since he was afraid of nothing. Traveling about the world, he came to an inn, where he asked for lodgings. “We have no room here,” said the innkeeper, “but if you’re not afraid, I will direct you to a certain palace where you can stay.
“Why should I be afraid?”
“People shudder at the thought of that palace, since nobody who’s gone in has come out alive. In the morning the friars go up with the bier for anyone brave enough to spend the night inside.”
So what did Little John do but pick up a lamp, a bottle, and a sausage, and march straight to the palace.
At midnight he was sitting at the table eating, when he heard a voice in the chimney. “Shall I throw it down?”
“Go ahead!” replied Little John.
Down the chimney into the fireplace fell a man’s leg. Little John drank a glass of wine.
Then the voice spoke again. “Shall I throw it down?”
“Go ahead!” So another leg dropped into the fireplace. Little John bit into the sausage.
“Shall I throw it down?”
“Go ahead!” So down came an arm. Little John began whistling a rune.
“Shall I throw it down?”
“By all means!” And there was another arm.
“Shall I throw it down?”
“Yes!”
Then came the trunk of a body, and the arms and legs stuck onto it, and there stood a man without a head.
“Shall I throw it down?”
“Throw it down!”
Down came the head and sprang into place atop the trunk. He was truly a giant, and Little John raised his glass and said, “To your health!”
The giant said, “Take the lamp and come with me.” Little John picked up the lamp, but didn’t budge. “You go first!” said the giant.
“No, after you,” insisted Little John. “After you!” thundered the giant.