This is the sweetest candy in my life.

When I was about seven years old, I suddenly got an incredible set of books called the World Fairy Tale Gallery. Yes 1989, my father went to Beijing on business and didn't know about Shanghai. He is a book lover and likes to visit Xinhua Bookstore. He brought me this set of books. I lost all my childhood toys, only this set of books is still on my bookshelf. Several volumes were turned over too much, and the covers fell off. I carefully taped them together. Until today, I have benefited a lot from reading, and this set of books is the first scenery that shocked me on my journey.

World fairy tale gallery, 1988 edition.

In this set of books, I saw dozens of fairy tales such as Alice in Wonderland, Charlie's Chocolate Factory, Niels' Goose Riding Adventures, Pippi Longstocking and Nutcracker. It will take almost 20 years for these stories to be published in the form of singles and become ordinary children's books. Therefore, among my contemporaries, I have never met anyone who read these stories as a child.

The lonely reading time in my childhood is the sweetest candy in my life. I have a strong experience of the richness and magic of this world, which originally came from this set of books. I still remember that in Niels' Goose Riding Adventure, the little boy stepped on a rusty coin on the beach and kicked it away. Then, he saw a splendid city in front of him. Every businessman in the city put out dazzling goods for sale. As long as someone buys a coin, the city will stand on the beach forever. Because the coin had been kicked away, the boy watched the city sink to the bottom of the sea again and burst into tears.

I remember in "Education of Love", parents of wealthy families took their children to find a pair of poor mothers and children they saw in the newspaper to help them and told their children that "all kinds of people in the world, including prisoners, should study"; The teacher's shirt was smashed by an ink bottle, and a boy raised his hand to admit that he did it. When the teacher realized that the perpetrator was trying to help the bullied classmates, he praised the boy's noble heart. The headmaster took the students out hiking and watched the passing troops cross the river. He stopped the students to salute and told them that "these are the people who defend us".

I still remember in Little John, a girl who turned into a moth took Little John into a ballroom, and people danced all night in colorful clothes. The next day, the horse bug took him to see the coffin and told him, "This is the most beautiful wife at the dance last night. She has been dead for half a century now." The last sentence of this story is "Walk with me on the hard road of life".

So far, my understanding of the world has not gone beyond these themes. The shock that fell on the mind of a seven-or eight-year-old child constitutes my personality quality.

I didn't like stories when I was eight years old, and I still don't like them.

The story of that castle makes me believe that the world must be like a brilliant market, with countless contents that can arouse my interest to explore; The story of that school made me feel fair, just and noble emotionally. Although I can't find its corresponding reality in the surrounding environment at that time, I will always look for it, experience it and prove it in my later life; And the theme of death, people are still discussing whether it is suitable for children. But I remember when I was so young, when I was reading Little John, death changed the world I saw in a quiet and deep tone, and the world became more open, heavy and real to me. From that moment on, I have never experienced the stage of "re-understanding the world" that many people felt in college or middle age. Since reading these stories, the world has always been the same to me.

Home, by Ba Jin, People's Literature Publishing House, April 20 18.

This set of books accompanied me throughout the primary school period, until I began to read more realistic literature, such as Home, Spring, Autumn or Wildfire to the Ancient City. Few people try to interfere with my reading. Mom and Dad won't be surprised. One minute I was watching Pinocchio, and the next minute I switched to The Gadfly. Only when the meal is ready will my mother urge me to put the book down and read it after dinner. Sometimes my father would raid in the middle of the night and push open the door of my room to see if I was hiding in the quilt and watching Goldbach's conjecture with a flashlight. But until I can finish watching The Beautiful Course, I will always open the World Fairy Tale Gallery and go to see the story of Princess Chicken, Duck and Goose again. I never feel anything wrong. My reading life is my spiritual life. I am very grateful to them for buying me enough books, leaving me enough reading time, and at the same time not trying to enter the construction process of my spiritual life. This sense of distance makes books my wall and haven.

But there are some stories in this set of books that I don't remember. Although fairy tales are scarce, I have read those stories I like a hundred times, trying to find new resources from the rest, but there is no result. I still like stories I liked when I was eight, and I still don't like stories I didn't like when I was eight. In this set of books, about one-third of the stories are really "never tired of reading", not a metaphor. The remaining two-thirds are just "I remember seeing it". Later, I transferred this feeling to my attitude towards Chinese textbooks. Whenever I get a new textbook, I will browse it quickly, choose what I like and what I don't like, and pretend it doesn't exist. Generally, this distinction will not change because of the teacher's lectures. I think this is the cultivation of aesthetic interest and aesthetic autonomy. The "difference of heart" in reading is so natural, just like a child standing in front of the ice cream counter will naturally choose. I want to eat this, but I don't want to eat that.

Pippi's stockings comforted my not-so-good years.

In the world fairy tale gallery, my favorite stories are Alice in Wonderland and Pippi Longstocking.

Alice in Wonderland tells the story of a girl who fell into a rabbit hole. She fell in a completely broken world with all kinds of furniture until she landed in a hall. There are some small doors around the hall. She must be small enough to pass through them and old enough to reach the key on the table. Alice cried and grew bigger and smaller, and finally went through those doors, so she entered a more absurd world.

In this world, caterpillars sit on mushrooms and smoke, and rabbits with pocket watches keep running around. It is almost too late. At the Mad Hatter's tea party, the Dormouse was stuffed upside down into the teapot, and there was a sad mock turtle. What it says is my favorite. It was in the story of this mock turtle that I first learned that there are two ancient kinds of knowledge in the world: Latin and Greek. The absurd plot and specious dialogue in this book fascinate me. Cheshire cat said, "We are all crazy here, and so are you." . Alice said, "How do you know I'm crazy?" . Cheshire cat said, "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here.". Is it possible to infer from the above conversation who is not crazy? Until the university, learning formal logic, I suddenly felt the pleasure of a familiar language game, which is the language of Cheshire cat.

Pippi Longstocking, written by Astrid Lindegren [Sweden], translated by Li Chi Ngai, China Children's Publishing House, March 1999.

Pippi Long Socks tells the story of a pirate's daughter. She has big hands and big feet, and she is happy and strong. When she went ashore, she carried a horse on one shoulder and a big box of gold and silver on the other. I think Pippi can satisfy many children's ideals. She has enough money, lives in a big enough house and has no parents to take care of her. She was so amazing that two thieves came, but she caught them and fined one for blowing a comb and one for dancing with one leg. She has a pair of good friends, a little gentleman and a little lady. Ladies and gentlemen's mothers not only allow Pippi to take them on a trip, but also bake a cake for Pippi at home. When the two brothers and sisters went to school, Pippi complained bitterly. She said that she still had to learn the table of punishment (multiplication table). Pippi also has a tree big enough. There are many holes in the tree, and gifts for friends are hidden in the holes. Her pirate father eventually became a tropical king and took them out to sea.

I think Pippi Longstocking gives me the impression that she is a girl who is not bound by stereotypes. Before I became a lady, Pippi's stockings comforted my quiet and beautiful years. And when I grow up to be a lady, Pippi Longstocking becomes a troublemaker in my heart, helping my soul not to be strangled under the appearance of a lady.

Now I can say that Alice in Wonderland is about a child's difficult process of adapting to this dangerous world through a long childhood, while Pippi Longstocking is about a child's inner innocence, how rough, tenacious, sincere and dazzling it is, and finally the world will change because of her.

What is real life?

The story of Mimi Valley answers everything.

The other two stories I like very much were not included in the World Fairy Tale Gallery. One is Matilda, and the other is the story of Mimi Valley in Tove Jansson.

Matilda, written by roald dahl [Norwegian] and translated by Ren Rongrong, was published by Tomorrow Press in March 2009.

I read Matilda last year. Roald dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was included in the World Fairy Tale Gallery. When I was a child, I peeled a treasure, and suddenly remembered the permanent lollipop and hairy toffee produced by that magical factory. I'm also looking forward to revealing a ticket to the chocolate factory when I tear off a large piece of chocolate tin foil. But if I had to choose now, I would rather choose Matilda to be included in this book. Because this is the story of a little girl who loves reading, it must be my story.

Matilda has a violent father and a cold and violent mother, and a rigid and fierce principal. But there are books. In her completely dull world, Matilda walked into the town library and read all the books on the shelves from A to Z. Five years old, great expectations, pride and prejudice, Tess of the D 'Urbervilles, the old man and the sea … Why not? If I didn't know there was such a thing as a library until I was nine years old, maybe I could try it. In Matilda, which I saw last year, there was an illustration of a little girl with a pointed nose and messy hair, who was trapped in a sofa three times her own size with a huge book on her knee. Under the protection of the sofa and bookcase, she almost got into the world of books, holding her chin in one hand. This is the happiest thing in the world. I always knew.

If one day, I can only keep one children's book on my bookshelf, I will keep the story of Mimi Valley in Tove Jansson. What is real life? I think the story of Mimi Valley answers everything.

A huge comet will burn up the world, where to hide; Every spring, Bud Sniff, who arrives in Mimi Valley, will come one day. Are all dads going to take risks at sea like Ulysses? Do all mothers have a wall that she can't grow roses well in reality? But I think the most profound ones are grotte and Hattie Falkner. Hatifak is an electron that gathers at sea. They are always lonely, always silent, always appear at the night when sailors are almost lost, and rush to the unreachable coast in droves. Grotte is a huge shadow, it loves the light of the world, but whenever it is attracted by a light, its footsteps will bring freezing, all fires will go out, all plants will wither, leaving it in repeated cold.

Friends of Mimi Valley, translated by Tove Jansson and Ren Rongrong, People's Literature Publishing House, March 20 18.

The story of Mimi Valley is gentle and warm, rare in the world, and it is easy to be written as Eden. However, the gorgeous and complete loneliness like aurora is so necessary because it is placed in such a warm background, which is difficult to be confused with the general suffering in the world and difficult to be expected to overcome. In Winter in Mimi Valley, Mimi broke the convention of her own ethnic group and didn't complete hibernation. This became his achievement. "Now, I have everything. It took me a whole year. I also spent the winter. I was the first Mimi who spent a whole year. " I think I will do the same, and spend my life in happiness and loneliness as my achievement.

Children's books are almost as profound as the most profound books I have ever read. It just throws out problems, but it doesn't necessarily solve them. It uses stories and intuition instead of theoretical deduction. At many moments in my life, when I go to a distant place in the world and want to move on, or feel fresh troubles on my face on such a night, I feel that my essence is like a distant yesterday. I think that's because I've been looking for and answering questions all my life, that is, questions that light up my heart in the original story.

Author | Huang Xiaodan

Editor | Shen Chan

Proofreading | Lin Zhao