A Single Day (Una giornata, 1937)

This final group of short stories, A Single Day, was published by Mondadori in 1937, shortly after Pirandello’s death late in 1936. In contrast to the other fourteen Collections, this one is named not after the first story in the Collection but rather the last one, “A Single Day.”

Only one of these fifteen stories was previously collected by Pirandello, “Mrs. Frola and Mr. Ponza, her Son-in law,” which was included in the earlier volume And Tomorrow, Monday (E domani, lunedì; Milan: Treves, 1917).

The others all appeared in various newspapers and magazines: “God, My Master” in the Rassegna settimanale universale, September 18, 1898; “When You’ve Understood the Game” in the Corriere della Sera, April 10, 1913; “Someone’s Laughing” in the Corriere della Sera, November 7, 1934; “When a Bear Went to Church” in the Corriere della Sera, October 22, 1935; “The House of Agony” in the Corriere della Sera, November 6, 1935; “The Luck to Be a Horse” in the Corriere della Sera, November 23, 1935; “A Challenge” in the Corriere della Sera, January 1, 1936; “The Nail” in the Corriere della Sera, January 21, 1936; “Victory of Ants” in La lettura, February 1936; “The Visit” in the Corriere della Sera, June 16, 1936; “The Turtle” in La lettura, August, 1936; “Effects of an Interrupted Dream” in the Corriere della Sera, December 9, 1936; and “A Single Day” likewise in the Corriere della Sera, September 24, 1935. The short story “Kindhearted” was published posthumously in Nuova antologia, February 16, 1937.

The story “When You’ve Understood the Game” formed the basis for Pirandello’s comedy in three acts, The Rules of the Game (Il giuoco delle parti), which was first staged in 1918 and published by Bemporad in 1925.

“Mrs. Frola and Mr. Ponza, her Son-in law” was the source for the theatrical adaptation, one of Pirandello’s most well-known plays, Right You Are (If You Think So) (Così è (se vi pare)), which premiered in 1917 and was published in the Nuova antologia January 1-16, 1918, and then issued in a volume by Bemporad in 1925.

A Single Day includes the following fifteen short stories:

“Effects of an Interrupted Dream” (“Effetti d’un sogno interrotto”)
“Someone’s Laughing” (“C’è qualcuno che ride”)
“The Visit” (“Visita”)
“Victory of Ants” (“Vittoria delle formiche”)
“When You’ve Understood the Game” (“Quando s’è capito il giuoco”)
“God, My Master” (“Padron Dio”)
“The Test” (“La prova”)
“The House of Agony” (“La casa dell’agonia”)
“Kindhearted” (“Il buon cuore”)
“The Turtle” (“La tartaruga”)
“The Luck to Be a Horse” (“Fortuna d’esser cavallo”)
“A Challenge” (“Una sfida”)
“The Nail” (“Il chiodo”)
“Mrs. Frola and Mr. Ponza, her Son-in law” (“La Signora Frola e il Signor Ponza, suo genero”)
“A Single Day” (“Una giornata”)