Italo Calvino's hilarious "Mushrooms in the City" serves as a testament to the dangers of greed and the foolishness of mankind.
When Marcovaldo finds what he considers to be a hidden treasure of little, delicious-looking mushrooms, he instantly becomes greedy and plans to hide them from everyone except his family. Marcovaldo's first mistake comes from not being willing to talk to others about the mushrooms; are the mushrooms poisonous or edible? Are they tasty or unpleasant? Marcovaldo doesn't know, yet he takes the opportunity to be the only one who found them.
I'd certainly avoid picking the mushrooms unless I could be absolutely certain that the mushrooms were safe to eat. There are a large number of poisonous, lethal, and psychedelic mushrooms, all of which I'd strongly prefer to avoid. If I could be absolutely certain that the mushrooms were not only safe to eat, I'd want to know their nutritional value as well as the quality of taste. Will they help my body function, or do they at least taste delicious? If so, I'd pick the mushrooms, but I'd certainly avoid Marcovaldo's greed. If the mushrooms were safe, nutritional, and delicious, I'd share them with the town, for there's no use enjoying something in solitude!
https://www.britannica.com/list/7-of-the-worlds-most-poisonous-mushrooms
Thursday, December 8, 2011
If you were Marcovaldo, what would you have done differently after you discovered the mushrooms?
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