Cosmicomics is a series of short stories by Italo Calvino.

Le Cosmicomiche sono una serie di racconti brevi scritti da Italo Calvino.

Each story takes a scientific fact, and builds a wonderfully imaginative story around it.

Ciascun racconto parte da un fatto scientifico e ci costruisce attorno una meravigliosa storia di fantasia.

Every story is narrated by an always extant being called Qfwfq, who talks like a cranky old grandfather reminiscing about the better days.

Ogni racconto è narrato da un essere da sempre esistente chiamato Qfwfq, che parla come un vecchio nonno un po' bizzarro che rievoca i suoi giorni migliori.

The most well known is probably the first one, "The distance of the moon", which takes the fact that the moon used to be much closer to the earth, and builds it into a romantic story about two men and one woman in a tribe of people who used to jump up onto the moon when it passed overhead.

Il più conosciuto è probabilmente il primo racconto, "La distanza della Luna" che, partendo dal fatto che la luna nel passato era molto più vicina alla terra, costruisce la storia romantica di due uomini ed una donna appartenenti ad una tribù i cui membri erano avvezzi a saltare sulla luna quando passava sopra di loro.

Some other stories:

Alcuni altri racconti:

• "The aquatic uncle" - A tale on the fact that at one stage in evolution animals left the sea and came to live on land.

• "Lo zio acquatico" - Un racconto sul fatto che, ad un certo punto della loro evoluzione, gli animali abbandonarono il mare e vennero a vivere sulla terra.

The story is about a family living on land that is a bit ashamed of their old uncle who still lives in the sea, refusing to come ashore like "civilized" people.

La storia narra di una famiglia che abita sulla terra e si vergogna un po' di un vecchio zio che vive ancora nel mare e si rifiuta di venire a terra come le persone "civilizzate".

Especially at Christmas, when it's really embarrassing.

La cosa diventa specialmente imbarazzante a Natale.

• One story is about Qfwfq looking at other galaxies, and spotting one with a sign pointed right at him saying "I saw you."

• Un altro racconto parla di Qfwfq che, osservando altre galassie, ne individua una con un cartello rivolto proprio verso di lui che dice: "Ti ho visto".

Given that there's a gulf of 100,000,000 light years, he checks his diary to find out what he had been doing that day, and finds out that it was something he wished to hide.

Considerando il fatto che c'è una distanza di 100 milioni di anni luce , Qfwfq controlla il suo diario per vedere che cosa aveva fatto in quel giorno particolare e scopre che era qualcosa che desiderava nascondere.

Then he starts to worry.

Allora inizia a preoccuparsi.

• "All at one point" - The fact that all matter and creation used to exist in a single point.

• "Tutto in un punto" - Il fatto che tutta la materia e la creazione erano coesistite in un unico punto.

"Naturally, we were all there, - old Qfwfq said, - where else could we have been?

"Ovviamente eravamo tutti là - disse il vecchio Qfwfq- dove altro avremmo potuto essere?

Nobody knew then that there could be space.

Allora nessuno sapeva che ci poteva essere lo spazio.

Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines"

O il tempo: a cosa ci serviva il tempo, stipati là come delle sardine?

• "A sign in space" - The idea that the galaxy slowly revolves becomes a story about a being who is desperate to leave behind some unique sign of his existence.

• "Un segno nello spazio" - L'idea che la galassia ruota lentamente diventa la storia di un essere che vuole disperatamente lasciare dietro di sé un qualche segno distintivo della propria esistenza.

• "The Spiral" - A beautiful story about life as a mollusk, and the nature of love.

• "La spirale" - Un bellissimo racconto sulla vita vista da un mollusco e sulla natura dell'amore.

• "The Dinosaurs" - How some dinosaurs lived after most of them had become extinct, and how it felt to be that last existing dinosaur in an age where all the current mammals feared your kind as demons.

• "I dinosauri" - Narra di come alcuni dinosauri continuarono a vivere dopo che la maggioranza di loro si era estinta e di come ci si sentiva ad essere  l'ultimo dinosauro in un'epoca in cui i tutti mammiferi del tempo  temevano la tua specie come il demonio.

• A galactic game of marbles back before the universe had formed much more than particles.

• Una partita a biglie galattica giocata prima che l'universo avesse originato qualcosa di più di mere particelle.

• "How Much Shall We Bet" - A story about betting on the long term evolution of mankind.

• "Quanto scommettiamo" - Il racconto di una scommessa sull'evoluzione a lungo termine dell'umanità.

All of the stories feature non-human characters with very human qualities.

Tutti i racconti presentano personaggi non umani con caratteristiche spiccatamente umane.

Cosmicomics is a series of short stories by Italo Calvino.

Each story takes a scientific fact, and builds a wonderfully imaginative story around it.

Every story is narrated by an always extant being called Qfwfq, who talks like a cranky old grandfather reminiscing about the better days.

The most well known is probably the first one, "The distance of the moon", which takes the fact that the moon used to be much closer to the earth, and builds it into a romantic story about two men and one woman in a tribe of people who used to jump up onto the moon when it passed overhead.

Some other stories:

• "The aquatic uncle" - A tale on the fact that at one stage in evolution animals left the sea and came to live on land.

The story is about a family living on land that is a bit ashamed of their old uncle who still lives in the sea, refusing to come ashore like "civilized" people.

Especially at Christmas, when it's really embarrassing.

• One story is about Qfwfq looking at other galaxies, and spotting one with a sign pointed right at him saying "I saw you."

Given that there's a gulf of 100,000,000 light years, he checks his diary to find out what he had been doing that day, and finds out that it was something he wished to hide.

Then he starts to worry.

• "All at one point" - The fact that all matter and creation used to exist in a single point.

"Naturally, we were all there, - old Qfwfq said, - where else could we have been?

Nobody knew then that there could be space.

Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines"

• "A sign in space" - The idea that the galaxy slowly revolves becomes a story about a being who is desperate to leave behind some unique sign of his existence.

• "The Spiral" - A beautiful story about life as a mollusk, and the nature of love.

• "The Dinosaurs" - How some dinosaurs lived after most of them had become extinct, and how it felt to be that last existing dinosaur in an age where all the current mammals feared your kind as demons.

• A galactic game of marbles back before the universe had formed much more than particles.

• "How Much Shall We Bet" - A story about betting on the long term evolution of mankind.

All of the stories feature non-human characters with very human qualities.