In the story of the classic picture book The Cat Who Lived a Million Times, it tells us such a story about life, freedom and love, which is a touching life.
And I also like to bring this story to my students again and again, and lead them to experience the life and death of this cat again and again, and realize the true meaning of life.
The original-a cat that has lived a million times
Title: Cats that have lived 654.38+00000 times.
Translator: Tang
Publishing House: Relay Publishing House
A cat lived a million times. In fact, the cat died 6,543.8+0,000 times and lived 6,543.8+0,000 times. This is a beautiful tabby cat. 1 10,000 people loved cats, and 1 10,000 people cried for them when they died. However, this cat has never shed a tear. Life goes on and on again, but every time I live in a daze, until finally, I don't even know why I live, and my heart is tired. Until one day, it became a beautiful wild cat that only belonged to itself. ...
Repetition structure is often used in children's literature, and it is also a very prominent writing technique in this story.
Yoko Sasano, a writer, uses repetition in the language and plot of the book, and the repetition of words and the magical plot of life cycle take care of each other. Repetitive structure and language help children to be familiar with the structure and words of the story, which can not only stimulate children's curiosity, but also make them quickly become the protagonists of the story, dress up as tabby cats and experience changeable life and gloomy death with tabby cats again and again.
The following words are repeated six times according to the needs of the plot:
"On one occasion, this cat was ()' s cat. What do cats hate? )。 "
"But the cat didn't cry. What does the cat dislike? ) 。 "
Repetitive language is consistent with the central idea it expresses-a million times of life and death, so dull, boring and lonely.
Behind the story, the tabby cat, who has gone through millions of cycles, finally became her own cat this time. It likes itself too much, because it is finally no longer someone else's cat, but a free wildcat, which is completely different from the previous plot and creates a clever story turning point and climax. It is precisely the fate of tabby cats that is strikingly similar to that of human beings. This story deeply touches every reader.
This tabby cat not only found the freedom that she had never found in the past one million lives, but also found the love of her life-a noble and independent white cat. From the moment it met the white cat, its life was awakened, and being with the white cat became its pursuit and destination.
Finally, the picture book ends like this:
The language here and the previous language express "What does a cat hate if it doesn't cry?", which deeply touches the hearts of every reader.
Yes, this time, the cat cried for the first time, a million times. This is a tear of eternal love, and it is also the deepest pain and disappointment.
Picture is a painting language, which uses colors and shapes to describe things and express emotions. The picture language in picture books often echoes the written language just right, subtly conveying the spirit that words can't convey, which can not only meet the author's expression needs, but also stimulate readers' interest in reading, enlighten readers' observation and thinking, and attract readers to the wonderful story.
The picture of The Cat Who Lived a Million Times is very vivid. The author is good at capturing the expressions of cats in different living conditions and vividly reappearing their emotions through pictures, which is quite similar to the traditional freehand brushwork in China.
The style of The Cat Who Lived a Million Times is simple and simple. Due to the limitation of space, some ideas cannot be expressed in words, so the author uses vivid pictures to describe them. The two complement each other and complement each other. The biggest feeling left by the pictures of tabby cats in the book is that every picture of tabby cats tells its secret heart.
At the beginning of the story, "654.38+00,000 people loved the cat, and 654.38+00,000 people cried for it when it died. However, this cat has never shed a tear. " The cat in the picture seems to be full of melancholy and looks lonely and helpless.
With the development of the story, the tabby cat became a king, a sailor, a magician, a thief, an old lady, a little girl's cat, and also became someone else's toy or tool. Every picture corresponds to a magical plot. The center of the picture is occupied by the owner of the tabby cat and the environment at that time, but the tabby cat has only a small position, and even we can't see it clearly. This painting language also implies to readers that tabby cat is just a tool or everything used by its owner in his life. In A Million Life and Death, the tabby cat traveled all over the world, but the world belongs to its owner. It galloped all over the world, but the tabby cat was trapped in a corner and lost its freedom.
When the tabby cat became its true self, the picture changed a lot. What we see is a big tabby cat stretching its limbs and lying freely between heaven and earth. This picture doesn't conform to the written language. "It likes itself too much. How can I put it? The beautiful tabby cat has finally become a beautiful wild cat. " Is your response appropriate?
At the same time, the picture here is in sharp contrast with the previous picture of tabby cats trapped in the corner. Many pictures in the text left an indelible impression on people, such as the picture of a wild cat crying with a white cat. No, that's not crying, that's crying! The wild cat that died a million times without shedding a tear, this time, it shed tears for the first time. It opened its mouth, forgot everything, cried to the sky, and big drops of tears flowed out of its eyes. This picture is also related to the sentence "Cry from night to morning, and cry from morning to night". Crying and crying, the cat cried 6.5438+0 million times. "Echo from afar, let a person look uncomfortable.
How beautiful and rich life should be?
However, in A Million Lives and Deaths, the tabby cat, whether it's a king's cat, a sailor's cat, a magician's cat, a thief's cat, an old lady's cat or a little girl's cat, is a tool, a pet or a plaything they use, and its owner has never ignored the cat's happiness. Therefore, cats don't like being their cats, and cats don't cry for their million deaths. Their life has no pain or happiness, only numbness-they don't care about death! How lonely its life is.
It was not until it became its own cat, a happy wild cat, and found its favorite white cat that it had a real life and became its real self. And this kind of life is real, fresh and comfortable for it. It explained the true meaning of life in a previous life. It has been living freely and happily, and it has really loved it. There is no need to start all over again.
This final life and death, beyond the previous one million times, this time is eternal life and death, happy life and death. Real life, no need to copy, once is enough.
Although the tabby cat has experienced 6.5438+0 million cycles of life and death, it has never been itself. It is just a passer-by after life and an accessory of others. Until one time, it became a free wild cat, and it finally became its own cat, instead of living for others. In this life, it found its true self, and when it was free, it returned to what life should be like.
If there are two choices in life:
Live a million times and be someone else's pet.
② Only live once and be yourself.
Which of these two lifestyles do you prefer? What choices will you make for your life?
Tabby cat doesn't like any female cat that flatters herself, because it has long been tired of this controlled and spoiled life. It has experienced this scene a million times, and it doesn't want to be a prisoner of this "love" any more.
? The appearance of the white cat made it appreciate different scenery and found what it longed for. White cats are noble, free and independent. Don't flatter wild cats like other female cats. The appearance of a white cat is exactly what wild cats like. White cats and wild cats are unified and compatible in spirit, and both have independent and free souls.
When a tabby cat meets a white cat, it first shows off and shows itself to attract the attention of the white cat. However, it found that these were not what the white cat cared about, and the white cat didn't even look at it. Later, the tabby cat suddenly realized that in front of the white cat, there is no need to be so hypocritical and flattering, just be yourself!
The tabby cat threw down the false mask and expressed her heart: "Can I stay with you?" In this way, they lived happily together.
"One day, the white cat lay motionless in the cat's arms ... the cat never came back to life." When the lover died, the cat cried for the first time, a million times. This is crying for love, which is the deepest pain and disappointment.
Finally, the tabby cat lay beside the white cat and died. It never came back to life. For it, owning a white cat is enough for its life.
When White Cat passed away, his life didn't need to come again, so he chose to accompany White Cat to another world. He had no regrets about his choice. At the end of the picture book, a twin flower is drawn, which is the most eternal witness of love.
Yoko Sasano, the author, once said that it took her many years to realize it after writing this story, and writing the book "The Cat Who Lived a Million Times" reflected her real wish at that time.
Are there "white cats" in your life?
Who is the "white cat" who awakened his life-
A spirit, a person, a career?
Have you found your own "white cat"
This question may be worth thinking about all our lives.