Collection of Unbelievable Stories from Around the World

Author: (German) Egon Fain / (German) Schulmeier Ed. / Li Yan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: Is the Black Sea black? What caused the extinction of dinosaurs? A dog that can go to the bank to deposit money by itself—do you believe it? Why is it said that the ideal person should be 1.5 meters tall and weigh 46 kilograms? Our world is filled with inexplicable, mysterious, and strange phenomena. Whether it's animals, nature, science, the universe, or the future—there is one thing in common among the stories in this book: they are simply unbelievable. The Global Collection of Unbelievable Stories, compiled by the German Egon Fain, wisely avoids lengthy descriptions. This not thick book contains nearly a thousand short stories, covering various aspects such as the animal world, scientific mysteries, advanced future technologies, witnesses of the past, mysterious phenomena, and magical futures, allowing readers to appreciate the author's concise and humorous writing style.
In the section "Magical Animal World," the chapter "Poet and Mouse" tells us about a mouse temple near a city in India, where approximately 100,000 mice live. This temple is dedicated to an Indian goddess who represents all poets and writers. Locals believe these mice are the reincarnations of her followers, so they are well protected. If someone accidentally steps on a mouse while offering sacrifices to a deceased poet in the temple, they must pay a penalty—compensating with silver equivalent to the poet's weight before death. For this reason, the temple has a special book that meticulously records the weights of various poets. Clearly, in this city, plump poets hold higher value, though it seems that plump poets are relatively rare, as poets are generally slim and stylish.
In the section "Mysteries of Nature," there is a story about "Giant Sunflowers." In the yard of an Argentine family, there is a giant sunflower that grows right where the family cleans the cage of their pet—a small hamster. The hamster's food is sunflower seeds from the sunflower. As the book says, this is indeed a special cycle. Many of the contents provided in this book are based on accurate knowledge, such as how fog is formed from water droplets or how to measure atmospheric pressure, and it does not deliberately distort facts just for fun. Parents can also rest assured that their children can read it.
There are also some anecdotes in the book that are hard to believe, just as Borges said, the text appears rigorous on the surface but is actually ambiguous in substance. For example, in the section "From Space," there is a story called "Drunk Clouds." It tells of British researchers discovering a massive cloud cluster containing several trillion liters of pure alcohol. These alcohol molecules are cooled to minus 148 degrees Celsius, forming a misty cloud that drifts in the sky. Based on the Earth's daily beer supply of 150 liters per person, this alcohol could last us for many years. Unfortunately, it is too far away—about 10,000 light-years away. This passage is short and amusing, almost reminding one of Calvino's Cosmicomics.
The compiler of this book, Egon Fain, was born in the 1920s and worked as a journalist and editor for newspapers and magazines for many years. It is clear that such experience greatly facilitated his compilation of this book. The illustrations were created by Heinz Schulmeier, who was born in 1954 and began painting at the age of 12. His illustrations add a great deal of charm to this delightful book.