by Dino Buzzati
If your favourite character is the Screech-Owl, drink the cocktail in the middle of the night.
If your favourite character is the Old Man of the Mountains, drink the cocktail all by yourself.
If your favourite character is the bear Saltpetre, add ½ cup of salt in honour of his salty name.*
If your favourite character is the Grand Duke, add 5 dashes of strong cologne in honour of his personal grooming habits.*
If your favourite character is Count Molfetta, add a slice of bacon in honour of his boars.*
If your favourite character is the Troll, add a small child to the cocktail, in honour of the Troll’s favourite meal. You will probably need a larger glass.*
If your favourite character is Marmoset the Cat, the Sea Serpent, or the Werewolf, add a monstrous amount of black pepper.*
*These changes to the recipe will make the cocktail taste terrible, but those who prefer such dreadful characters will probably enjoy a dreadful beverage as well.
SECTION THIRTEEN
Chapter 10
page 102
A brief summary of events: alerted by a letter from Dandelion, King Leander bursts in on a gambling house, where to his horror he finds Tony. Enraged by the corruption in his kingdom, Leander confronts the citizens of Sicily, but Saltpetre manages to calm him down by proposing that a large statue of Leander be erected on top of a hill overlooking the city. But before the statue is finished, fishermen report that a monster has appeared.
The lesson of this chapter is clear: all of the joys and sorrows in the world can be forgotten in a moment if a sea serpent attacks.
QUESTIONS YOU MAY FIND INTERESTING:
Dandelion’s letter contains several major grammatical and spelling mistakes, and yet it finally convinces Leander of the serious problems in his kingdom. Does it matter if an important message contains these kind of errors?
Do people ever point out minor errors in your own written work? What is to be done with such people?
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY:
Saltpetre distracts King Leander through flattery, a word which here means “excessively complimenting someone, even to the point of building a statue in his or her honour”. Flattery is one of the most powerful forces in nature, and everyone would be wise to use it. Practise the art of flattery by trying the following exercises:
Interrupt a relative who is yelling at you by complimenting their clothing or hair.
When a teacher says something ridiculous to you, reply, “You are absolutely right. You are an absolutely brilliant person,” and try to keep a straight face.
When you break something that belongs to a friend, tell your friend that you were so distracted by his or her beauty, intelligence and social charms that you lost your composure.
Compose a long poem in honour of someone you scarcely know. Read the poem out loud in a dramatic voice. Then, ask that person for an enormous favour and see what happens.
When someone you don’t like enters the room, bow.
When someone is rude to you, burst into overdramatic tears and say, “Even one unkind word from someone as wonderful as you shatters my heart into a million pieces.” Keep wailing until they apologize.
SECTION FOURTEEN
Chapter 11
page 114
A brief summary of events: reading this chapter will likely make you gasp in pain several times in a row, as if you are falling down a short but sharp-edged flight of stairs. First, King Leander bravely faces the Sea Serpent and manages to destroy the creature with a harpoon… just as the treacherous Saltpetre shoots the King, hoping the crime will look like an accident in the confusion. But Dandelion, who always suspected Saltpetre of terrible things, realizes at once what has happened and executes the criminal on the spot. All in all, it is a terrible afternoon.
The lesson of this chapter is clear: when you are facing a monster, it is impossible to watch your back.
QUESTIONS YOU MAY FIND INTERESTING:
Traditionally, criminals are arrested and go through a judicial process. Instead, Dandelion immediately cuts off Saltpetre’s head. Which method of justice do you prefer?
Traditionally, wild beasts are captured and taken to remote locations. Instead, Leander kills the serpent with a harpoon. Which method of justice do you prefer?
Examine the illustration. You will notice that the men and women seem to be on one side of town, and the bears on the other. Why do you think this is?
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY:
Many events in this story can be linked together to make a sort of chain. For instance, if Tony had not been kidnapped, the bears might not have invaded Sicily. If the bears had not invaded Sicily, Saltpetre might not have wanted to be king himself. If Saltpetre had not wanted to be king himself, Leander might not have been murdered. If Leander had not been murdered, Saltpetre would not have been executed. Write down a chain of events in your own life, and try to imagine what would happen if you changed one link in the chain.
SECTION FIFTEEN
Chapter 12
page 122
A brief summary of events: on his deathbed, King Leander asks the bears to give up the ways of men, abandon the city and return to the mountains. They obey, leaving behind everything. Only the unfinished statue survives, and it apparently survives to this day.
The lesson of this chapter is clear: the bears’ famous invasion of Sicily, like so many things in life, turns out to be scarcely worthwhile, with much tragedy and treachery on the way, with many horrifying detours, and finally a melancholy ending, full of death and sadness, that fades over years and years and leaves scarcely anything for people to remember. It must be said, however, that starving to death in the mountains wouldn’t have been fun either.
QUESTIONS YOU MAY FIND INTERESTING:
Traditionally, whatever is said on one’s deathbed must be obeyed. What are you planning to say on your deathbed?
“No one is indispensable in this world,” Leander says, using a word which here means “absolutely necessary” or “impossible to replace”. Do you agree with him? Are you indispensable? What about me? Am I indispensable? (Remember the previous activity regarding flattery.)
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY:
Gather your friends and comrades,
And meet them some place dark,
Like an abandoned notebook factory,
Or a lonely, shady park.
Hatch a plan to conquer
A land you do not like.
Gather food and weapons,
And set off on your hike.
Battle all the monsters,
Bury several friends.
Comfort those who say to you,
“The anguish never ends!”
Yes, you’ll win the conflict,
And rule for many years,
But your kingdom will be covered
In trouble and in tears.
More monsters will attack you,
And not just from outside:
In the hearts of certain friends
Much treachery will hide.
What terrible confusion
Has your invasion brought?
Has some moral come to light,
A lesson to be taught?
But now your life is over.
You have only one last breath.
You tell your friends to go back home
As you await your death.
So much pain has come your way,
So much bloodshed, so much crime.
But still, when all is said and done,
It was an interesting time.
A letter from Dino Buzzati
to Frances Lobb
Caption: On Christmas Eve, King Leander himself, accompanied by a host of musicians, goes beneath Frances Lobb’s balcony to sing serenades and carols of gratitude and goodwill.
Milan, 17th December 1947
&nbs
p; Dear Madam – I believe I’m allowed to address you in this way, since the bears have created a kind of bond between us. Only today I received your address from my publisher in New York. Therefore, only now can I, as I was by duty bound, introduce myself to you personally, and say: “Brava! Bravissima!”. My English is just sufficient to get me through my work as a journalist, but the little I know was enough for me to understand the subtlety, the wit and the passion with which you taught my bears to speak your language. I must confess that I was astonished by how beautiful and intelligent your translation was. I’m fully persuaded – and I say this in all honesty – that your bears are much better than mine. I also find it extraordinary how you were able to convey the tone and rhythm of the passages in verse, even recreating, with perfect British humour and style, all those idiosyncrasies and staccatos that I thought untranslatable. Other people too – for example Hans Mardersteig, the principal initiator of this English edition – were full of admiration at your work. In short, let me say again: “Brava!” and express all my gratitude.
Just think: my New York publisher, when he sent me your address, informed me that a group of “elderly ladies”, real authorities in the field of children’s education, believe that they have detected “militaristic tendencies” in the book. Imagine! This means that many newspapers won’t review it, and that a few bookshops are even boycotting the volume. However, there has been a wonderful review in the Saturday Literature Review and another fairly good one in the New York Times. And today – this I really wasn’t expecting – a correspondent from Time came to interview me. If this magazine will talk about the book, I believe it will be a great thing for the bears – a kind of international triumph. For this they have to be grateful to you too, since you are their ambassador on the other side of the Ocean.
Now I must leave you. Is there any chance you might pop over to Italy? I’d be really delighted to meet Frances Lobb in person. For my part, I doubt there will be an opportunity soon for me to travel to London, where I’ve never been.
Heartfelt thanks – and a very merry Christmas.
Yours,
Dino Buzzati
about the translator
Frances Lobb was the pen name of Leila Buckley (1917–2013), a linguist, poet and scholar who was educated in France, Germany and Italy. During the Second World War she worked in the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office. Her other translations include poetry, politics and philosophy and a number of children’s books by Karl Bruckner and Michael Ende. She was also the author of three highly individual novels.
