3
" Daqui a dizer que o dragão é a psicologia, não custa um passo: mais ainda, é a psique, é o fundo obscuro de si mesmo que são Jorge enfrenta (...) Soam as trombetas e os tambores, é uma execução capital a que viemos assistir, a espada de são Jorge está suspensa no ar, todos nós temos o fôlego suspenso, estamos a ponto de compreender que o dragão não é apenas o inimigo, o diverso, o outro, mas somos nós, é uma parte de nós mesmos que devemos julgar. "
― Italo Calvino , The Castle of Crossed Destinies
6
" And yet the city is not dead: the machines, the engines, the turbines continue to hum and vibrate, every Wheel's cogs are caught in the cogs of other wheels, trains run on tracks and signals on wires; and no human is there any longer to send or receive, to charge or discharge. The machines, which have long known they could do without men, have finally driven them out; and after a long exile, the wild animals have come back to occupy the territory wrested from the forest: foxes and martens wave their soft tails over the control panels starred with manometers and levers and gauges and diagrams; badgers and dormice luxuriate on batteries and magnetos. Man was necessary; now he is useless. For the world to receive information from the world and enjoy it, now computers and butterflies suffice. "
― Italo Calvino , The Castle of Crossed Destinies
16
" In ogni caso, San Giorgio compie la sua impresa davanti ai nostri occhi, sempre chiuso nella sua corazza, senza rivelarci nulla di sé: la psicologia non fa per l'uomo d'azione. Caso mai potremmo dire che la psicologia è tutta dalla parte del drago, coi suoi rabbiosi contorcimenti: il nemico il mostro il vinto hanno un pathos che l'eroe vincitore non si sogna d'avere (o si guarda bene dal mostrare). Di qui a dire che il drago è la psicologia, il passo è breve: anzi, è la psiche, è il fondo oscuro di se stesso che San Giorgio affronta, un nemico che già ha fatto strazio di molti giovani e giovinette, un nemico interno che diventa oggetto di estraneità esecranda. È la storia d'un'energia proiettata nel mondo o il diario d'una introversione? "
― Italo Calvino , The Castle of Crossed Destinies
18
" He hopes at least after pulling himself up from one branch to another he will be able to see farther, discover where the roads lead; but the foliage beneath him is dense, the ground is soon out of sight, and if he raises his eyes toward the top of the tree he is blinded by The Sun, whose piercing rays make the leaves gleam with every colour against the light. However, the meaning of those two children seen in the tarot should also be explained: they must indicate that, looking up, the young man has realized he is no longer alone in the tree; two urchins have preceeded him, scrambling up the boughs.
They seem twins: identical, barefoot, golden blond. At this point the young man spoke, asked: “what are you two doing here?” or else: “how far is it to the top?” And the twins replied, indicating with confused gesticulation toward something seen on the horizon of the drawing, beneath the sun’s rays: the walls of a city.
But where are these walls located, with respect to the tree? The Ace of Cups portrays, in fact, a city, with many towers and spires and minarets and domes rising above the walls. And also palm fronds, pheasants’ wings, fins of blue moonfish which certainly jut from the city’s gardens, aviaries, aquariums, among which we can imagine the two urchins, chasing each other and vanishing. And this city seems balanced on top of a pyramid, which could also be the top of a great tree; in other words, it would be a city suspended on the highest branches like a bird’s nest, with hanging foundations like the aerial roots of certain plants. "
― Italo Calvino , The Castle of Crossed Destinies
