The Fly (La mosca, 1923)

The fifth group of Stories for a Year is comprised of fifteen tales previously published by Bemporad in 1923.

Seven of the fifteen stories were previously included in the 1906 Treves volume Two-faced Erma (Erma Bifronte): “The Fly” (“La mosca”), “The Catara Heresy” (“L’eresia catara”), “The Surprises of Science” (“Le sorprese della scienza”), “The Medals” (“Le medaglie”), “The Warmer” (“Lo scaldino”), “With Other Eyes” (“Con altri occhi”), and “The Old Man’s Slumber” (“Il sonno del Vecchio”). The tale “Far Away” (“Lontano”) was previously included in the volume Whites and Blacks (Bianche e nere) published by Streglio in Turin in 1904, while “The Cap from Padua” (“La berretta di Padova”) was collected in the 1902 Treves edition of Quando ero matto (When I was Mad).

Those short stories previously published in literary journals and magazines were: “With Other Eyes” (“Con altri occhi”), in Il Marzocco, July 28, 1901; “Faraway”, in Nuova Antologia, 1-16 January 1902; “The Cap from Padua,” in Il Marzocco, February 23, 1902; “The Medals,” in Il Marzocco, August 21, 1904; “The Fly,” in Il Marzocco, October 2, 1904; “The Catara Heresy,” in La Riviera Ligure in February 1905; “The Warmer,” in Avanti della Domenica, March 12, 1905; “The Surprises of Science,” in Il Marzocco, December 3, 1905; “Between Two Shadows” (“Tra due ombre”), in Il Marzocco, February 1, 1907 and in Novella (issue n. 8) in 1921; “Paper World” (“Mondo di carta”), in Corriere della Sera, October 4, 1909; “The Wax Madonna” (“La Madonnina”), in Corriere della Sera, August 7, 1913; “The Destruction of Man” (“La distruzione dell’uomo”), in Novella, December 1921; and “Faith” (“La fede”), in Il mondo, January 29, 1922.

The short story “The Fly”, together with chapter IV from the novel The Late Mattia Pascal (1904), served as source for the 1917 three-act “country-comedy” Liolà, which Pirandello wrote and staged in the local dialect of Agrigento. The comedy was not performed in Italian until 1942.

The tale “The Warmer” inspired the subject for the eponymous movie, which Augusto Genina directed in 1920. Giorgio Bolza drew inspiration from the tale “The Medals” (“Le medaglie”) for his comedy of the same name, which he staged in 1948.

The fifteen short stories contained in the Collection The Fly (La mosca) are:

“The Fly” (“La mosca”)
“The Catara Heresy” (“L’eresia catara”)
“The Surprises of Science” (“Le sorprese della scienza”)
“The Medals” (“Le medaglie”)
“The Wax Madonna” (“La Madonnina”)
“The Hat from Padua” (“La berretta di Padova”)
“The Warmer” (“Lo scaldino”)
“Far Away” (“Lontano”)
“Faith” (“La fede”)
“With Other Eyes” (“Con altri occhi”)
“Between Two Shadows” (“Tra due ombre”)
“Nothing” (“Niente”)
“Paper World” (“Mondo di carta”)
“The Old Man’s Slumber” (“Il sonno del vecchio”)
“The Destruction of Man” (“La distruzione dell’uomo”)