Length10h 45m
About this audiobook
Excerpt: "Italian humour, says Mr. J. A. Symonds, died with Ariosto; and, in the face of such a declaration, any attempt to bring together a collection of specimens, some of which at any rate belong to a more recent date, would seem to savour of presumption. Yet, even at the risk of differing from such a recognised authority on Italian literature, we venture to think that a good deal has been produced since the age of Ariosto which may legitimately be defined as humour, though, for various reasons presently to be detailed, there are peculiar difficulties connected with its presentation in a foreign tongue It may as well be said at once that the professed humorist, the writer who is comic and nothing else, or, at any rate, whose main scope is to be funny, is all but unknown in modern Italian literature. Strictly speaking, he is perhaps a Germanic rather than a Latin product. The jokes in Italian comic and other papers are not, as a rule, overpoweringly amusing; and if we do come across a book which sets itself forth as Umoristico, the chances are that it turns out to be very tragical mirth indeed. But in novels and tales, even in essays and descriptions, which have no specially humorous intention, you often come across passages of a pure and spontaneous humour, inimitable in its own kind."
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics, Humor
Length10 hrs 45 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 20, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1INTRODUCTION.
36THE INTERRUPTED WEDDING.
2THE POET COMPLAINS OF UNREASONABLE FRIENDS.
37OUR CHILDREN.
3CALANDRINO FINDS THE STONE HELIOTROPE.
38STRAY THOUGHTS OF AN IDLER.
4STORY OF DANTE AND THE SMITH.
39MEN AND INSTRUMENTS.
5MESSER BERNABÒ AND THE MILLER.
40THE DELIGHTS OF JOURNALISM.
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6HOW SER NASTAGIO WAS COLLECTED FOR IN CHURCH.
41WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK.
7HOW A BARRISTER GOT HIS MONEY’S WORTH.
42THE FAMOUS TENOR, SPALLETTI.
8THE MERRY JESTS OF BUFFALMACCO THE PAINTER.
43RIVAL EARTHQUAKES.
9CHORUS FROM “LA MANDRAGOLA.”
44QUACQUARÀ.
10FRA TIMOTEO’S MONOLOGUE. FRA TIMOTEO (alone).
45THE EXCAVATIONS OF MASTRO ROCCO.
11THE MEDIÆVAL UNDERGRADUATE.
46THE WAR OF THE SAINTS.
12A ROMAN PRELATE OF 1519.
47HIS REVERENCE.
13THE VALLEY OF LOST LUMBER.
48PADRON ’NTONI’S POLITICS.
14THE POET TO HIS PATRON.
49MASTRO PEPPE’S MAGIC.
15BENVENUTO CELLINI OFFENDS THE POPE.
50A DAY IN THE COUNTRY.
16HE RESCUES A FOOL FROM DROWNING.
51THE THEOREM OF PYTHAGORAS.
17OPENING STANZAS OF “THE RAPE OF THE BUCKET.”
52AN ECCENTRIC ORDERLY.
18THE CALL TO ARMS.
53A PROVINCIAL ORACLE.
19THE ASSEMBLY OF THE GODS.
54DOCTOR PHŒBUS.
20PRAISES OF THE WINE OF MONTEPULCIANO.
55OUR SCHOOL AND SCHOOLMISTRESS.
21FROM A LETTER TO PIER MARIA BALDI.
56LOCAL JEALOUSIES.
22PULCINELLA’S DUEL. COLBRAND AND PULCINELLA (both armed).
57SUNSHINE.
23A BERGAMASC PETER PEEBLES.
58WHEN IT RAINS.
24HOW TO SUCCEED IN LITERATURE.
59THE PATENT ADAPTABLE SONNET. FROM “IL SIGNOR LORENZO.”
25A FABLE.
60LOVE BY PROXY.
26KING TEODORO AND HIS CREDITORS. FROM THE COMIC OPERA, “IL RE TEODORO.”
61A WET NIGHT IN THE COUNTRY.
27THE POET PROMISES TO PAY HIS CREDITOR—WHEN HE HAS MONEY.
62A LOST EXPLORER. FROM THE COMEDY “CORVI” (CARRION CROWS).
28DIDYMUS, THE CLERIC,[8] ON THE ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES.
63THE SPIRIT OF CONTRADICTION.
29THE FIRST HOUR AND THE SUN.
64TRUTH.
30FASHION AND DEATH.
65PASQUIN.
31THE POET ON TRAMP.
66EPIGRAMS.
32LOVE AND A QUIET LIFE. FROM “L’AMOR PACIFICO.”
67PROVERBS, FOLK-LORE, AND TRADITIONAL ANECDOTES.
33INSTRUCTIONS TO A YOUNG ASPIRANT FOR OFFICE.
68THE OLD LADY AND THE DEVIL.
34LETTER TO TOMMASO GROSSI.
69THE SUITOR AND THE PICTURE.
35DON ABBONDIO AND THE BRAVOES. FROM “I PROMESSI SPOSI.”
70NEWSPAPER HUMOUR.
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