Chapter 38 Write more works like this for children - Introducing "The Little Servant" and "The Traveling Companion"

It's a sunny morning.The leaves of Zhutian Yang are shining with dew and swaying in the breeze.Balls of Sophora japonica flowers on the tree, the fragrance seeps in from the window.A bottle of freshly picked roses on the desk stands out against the greenery of the window, which is particularly vivid.The small footsteps and lively laughter of the children going to school constantly pass by the front of the building. The questions that I have been thinking about in my mind these days have also led to far, far away places with their laughter and footsteps. Our children are so happy!Do they know that there are sorrows in the world?Do they know that the peaceful and happy environment they are in now was obtained with the blood of thousands of revolutionary martyrs?Do they know that in this bright spring, there are thousands of children of their age in other corners of the world who are being bullied and oppressed?These questions have been lingering in my mind.If we let our more than 100 million teenagers live in ignorance, what will happen in the end?They will become people who only care about their own happiness, disregard the suffering of others, are greedy for life and afraid of death, and short-sighted.And we are in danger of losing the fruits of victory gained by many martyrs and revolutionaries who have fought one after another and shed blood and sweat for more than a hundred years!

Therefore, as elders, our responsibilities are extraordinarily aggravated.Children are the successors of the revolution; but the successors must be educated.If the education is good, the class will be taken over well; if the education is not good, the class will not be taken over.Children are in the period of exuberant thirst for knowledge and the period of moral growth, and it is most necessary to instill in them some stories that they need to know the most: one is the story of our predecessors' revolutionary struggles, so that they know the stories of our revolutionary martyrs , In order to break the shackles that have been placed on the people from generation to generation, they have suffered all kinds of hardships and hardships.Let them know that the freedom and happiness they now enjoy did not just fall from the sky without effort.Let them remember that there are still imperialists and reactionaries in the world. If they do not continue to work hard and continue to revolutionize, the sufferings suffered by the predecessors will come to them again.The other is the stories of children living under colonialism and capitalism in two-thirds of the world, so that they know that when they are learning, singing, and playing, they are Under the same sun, how many suffering foreign children are sighing, crying, and struggling. These children need their sympathy and support.Let them know that we can only be truly and completely liberated when all the suffering people in the world are liberated.Let them remember that by supporting those around the world who are fighting for freedom and independence, we are supporting ourselves.Imperialism and reactionaries can be wiped out from the world only if people all over the world work together and wage constant struggles from all corners.

Here, I would like to introduce two collections of short stories: and , which are written by Comrade Ye Junjian for children and reflect the lives of foreign children.The author has a lot of travel experience, he wrote about many overseas children he has seen, some of them are children living under the socialist system, such as the "little painter" and "future architect" in the book; but more They are the children of the working people living under the capitalist system.The author said in the postscript: People living in different social conditions will have different fates.

We can also see this from several stories in this little book. Some children are very lucky. With the help and training from the society, they are steadily advancing towards a better career and life. Some children are very miserable, they are hit and devastated by the society, they don't have a good career and life, but they are fighting for this goal.I think that we who live in a superior social system should understand and care about those children who live in an extremely harsh social environment while creating our beautiful life. It is with this sincere wish that the author writes for Chinese children.Foreign children in his works, such as "Paradise"

The Italian child Abelto in "Outside Things"; the Nepalese child Singh in "Singer the Boy"; the Arab child Abdullah in "The New Classmates"; Mino and others are children full of justice and sympathy. They will never endure or surrender in a dark environment and under the force of violence. In their young hearts, they have sprouted against imperialism, Seeds against colonialism.Reading these stories will draw the sympathy and care of our young readers to all over the world. These hundreds of millions of fiery hearts with wings of class friendship will play a great role in opposing imperialism and defending world peace.

It is not easy for literary works to reflect the lives of foreign children, especially children's literature.You must be familiar not only with the child, but with everything in the life of the child you describe.The author said in the postscript: Of course, literary works cannot all be based on real people and real events.But real people can sometimes inspire a person to make many associations. Even for this "association", if there is not a lot of knowledge about history, geography, culture, customs, etc. related to this real person, it is impossible to "associate" any moving and convincing stories. of.This is where the value of these two books lies.

I think that today, as friendly exchanges between our country and other countries in the world are becoming more and more frequent, our workers, cadres, youths, women, actors, athletes... have traveled all over the five continents.Each of them must have their own observations, their own feelings.Among us there are returned expatriates and sailors, and they all have endless stories about their overseas life. These stories are exactly what our children love and need most.They will be inspired not only by stories like "Things Beyond Paradise," but also stories like "A New Classmate" and "The Parting."Let those of us who have overseas experience follow the example of Comrade Ye Junjian and write more stories for children to guide them to care more about the lives of overseas children.

This is of great benefit to strengthening the international education of the next generation, enriching children's knowledge, expanding their horizons, and even promoting the prosperity of children's literature. May 18, 1963. (This article was originally published in People's Daily on May 26, 1963.)