It is hard in just a few selections to give an idea of the remarkable range of subjects, genres, and tone of the two hundred and two pieces in Rodari’s Telephone Tales. The volume is supposed to be a collection of bedtime stories Signor Bianchi, an accountant from Varese, told to his little girl the six nights out of seven he was on the road selling pharmaceuticals all over Italy. How did he keep his promise to her? He called home on a pay phone at precisely at 9:00 pm and told her a new one. The stories lasted just as long as the amount of time his coin bought
These three stories show Rodari s visionary side. They are more serious, but are still delightfully imaginative in the way feelings of altruism and hope are aroused without preaching.
Universal History
In the beginning, the Earth was all wrong, and making it habitable was quite a chore. There were no bridges to get across rivers. There were no trails to climb up mountains. What if you wanted to sit down? Not so much as a shadow of a bench. And if you were dropping from exhaustion? There was no such thing as a bed, nor shoes or boots to keep sharp stones from cutting your feet. If your eyesight was weak, there were no eyeglasses. If you wanted to play a game of soccer, there were no soccer balls. And there was no pasta pot or fire for cooking macaroni. In fact, now that I come to think of it, there wasn’t even any pasta. There was nothing at all. Zero plus zero, and that’s it. There were only human beings and strong arms with which to work, so the most serious lacks could be corrected. But there are still plenty of things still to be set to rights, so roll up your sleeves! There’s plenty of work left to be done!
The Sidewalk Conveyor
On the planet Beh, they’ve invented a moving sidewalk that runs all around the city. It’s like an escalator, but instead of stairs, it’s a sidewalk, and it moves slowly to give people time to look at shop windows and to get on or off without losing their balance. There are even benches on the sidewalk for people who want to travel sitting down, especially old people or women carrying their groceries, When little old men grow tired of sitting in the park and staring at the same old tree, they often go for a ride on the sidewalks. They sit there, content and happy Some read newspapers, others smoke cigars, and they all relax comfortably.
Thanks to the invention of this sidewalk, trolley cars, electric buses, and cars have been abolished. There are still streets, but they’re empty of vehicles, and children use them to play ball. If a policeman even tries to confiscate the ball, then he has to pay a fine.
The Words: To Cry
This story hasn’t happened yet, but it will surely happen tomorrow. Here is what it says.
Tomorrow a kind old schoolmistress will lead her pupils in a line, two by two, on a tour of the Museum of Bygone Times, which houses a vast collection of things that are no longer used, such as a king’s crown, a queen’s long silk train, the tram to Monza, and so on.
In a somewhat dusty display case are the words “To cry.”
The young pupils of tomorrow will read the sign, but they won’t understand it.
“Teacher, what does that mean?”
“Is it an antique jewel?”
“Did it once belong to the Etruscans, perhaps?”
The teacher will explain that once upon a time, that word was widely used, and it was very sorrowful. She will show them a vial that contains old tears. Who knows? Perhaps a person beaten up by another had shed them, or a homeless child had wept them.
“It looks like water,” says one of the pupils.
“But it scalded and burned,” says the teacher.
“Did they boil it before using,?”
The young pupils simply couldn’t understand. In fact, they were already starting to get bored. And so, the good school teacher took them to visit other sections of the museum, where there were easier things to see, such as prison bars, a watchdog, the tram to Monza, and so, on all tings in that happy land of tomorrow will no longer exist.