Chapter 2 first subordinate

At dawn, Jonathan the Seagull was practicing again.From a height of 5,000 feet, the fishing boats became dots on the calm blue sea.The flock of gulls eating breakfast is slowly floating like a cloud of thin dust. He's alive! He trembles a little with joy and pride in his ability to suppress his fears.Then, without hesitation, he tightened his front wings and spread out his short wings.The angled wingtips flew straight towards the sea.When he crossed the height of 4,000 feet, he had already reached extreme speed, and the howling sea wind was like a solid wall, blocking him in front of him, preventing him from moving forward at a faster speed.He was flying straight down now, at two hundred and fourteen miles an hour.He swallowed, knowing that if he spread his wings at this speed, he would be smashed to pieces.But speed is power, speed is joy, speed is pure beauty.

He changes his flying position at a thousand feet.The wingtips crackled in the strong wind, and the outlines were blurred; the seagulls passed by him obliquely, shooting like meteors. He couldn't stop; he didn't know how to turn at that speed. Hit something and die immediately. He broke his eyes. So, on that morning, shortly after sunrise, Jonathan the Seagull, eyes closed, recorded a speed of 212 miles per hour, flashing through the flock of gulls eating breakfast, hearing only The whistling wind and the screeching of gulls. The god of fate was smiling at him, and at last no one died unexpectedly.

When he raised his mouth to the sky, he was still going at a speed of one hundred and sixty miles an hour.Later, he slowed down to twenty miles, and finally spread his wings, and the fishing boat four thousand feet below had become a crumb of bread floating on the sea. He thought about winning.Top speed reached!A seagull hits 214 mph!What a breakthrough, the greatest moment in the Seagulls annals, a moment that ushered in a new era for Jonathan.Fly him to the area where he is alone for training, fold his wings, and dive down from a height of 8,000 feet, trying to figure out how to turn. He found that by turning one of Yixiao's feathers just a little bit, he could make a sharp turn smoothly at high speed.Before he learned this, he also discovered that at that speed, it only needed to turn a feather or two to spin like a top... So Jonathan became the first seagull in the world to do acrobatics.

On this day, he had no time to chat with other seagulls, but kept flying until dusk.He learned various flying stunts such as somersaults, rolls, fixed-point rolls, inversions, and fixed-point gyrations. It was late at night when Jonathan returned to the gulls on the beach.He felt dizzy and tired.But he was elated. A bucket fell down, and when it was about to land, there was a quick roll.He thought that the seagulls would be overjoyed to learn that he broke the flight record.How life makes sense now!Life has purpose other than circling monotonously around fishing boats!We can get rid of ignorance, we can make ourselves talented, intelligent, skilled beings.We can be free!We can learn to fly!

The years ahead are full of hope. When Jonathan landed, the gulls were gathering for a meeting.It seems that they have been assembled for a long time.Actually they were waiting for him. "Jonathan Livingston! Stand in the middle!" said the elder, in a very serious voice.It was either a great shame or a great honor to stand in the middle.The top leaders of Seagull enjoy the honor of standing in the center.Of course, he thought, they all saw me breaking the flying record at breakfast this morning!But I don't need honor, I don't want to be a leader.I just want you to share what I have learned and show you the bright future.He stepped forward.

"Jonathan Livingston," said the elder, "for your disgrace, stand in the middle, and let us all see!" What a hit!His knees were weak, his feathers were drooping, and there was a ringing in his ears.Stand in the middle and be humiliated?Impossible! Break the record!They don't understand!They were wrong; wrong! "...he was too reckless and irresponsible," continued the solemn voice, "offending the dignity and tradition of the Seagull family...," Standing in the middle and being humiliated means that he will be kicked out of the seagull world and exiled to the "far cliff" to live a lonely life.

"... Jonathan Livingston Seagull, one day you will learn that irresponsibility is not okay. Life is unpredictable and unknowable. We are here to eat, to live, and to live as long as possible. live longer." Seagull never rebutted to the plenary meeting, but Jonathan protested loudly. "Irresponsible? My countrymen!" he cried. "A seagull who can find meaning in life, a higher purpose in life, can you call him irresponsible? For a thousand years, our eyes have always been Staring at the rotten fish head, but now we have a purpose in life - to learn, to invent, to be free! Give me one last chance and let me tell you what I've learned..."

The whole flock is like a stone. "Fire him," cried the gulls in chorus, and all turned solemnly away from him. Jonathan flew to the far end of the cliff and spent the next few days alone.It was not loneliness that afflicted him, but the refusal of the other seagulls to believe that the glory of flight awaited them.They refuse to listen and look carefully. He learns more every day.He found that streamlined sprints at high speeds could find schools of rare, tasty fish swimming ten feet below the surface.That way he wouldn't need to live off fishing boats and stale bread.He learned to sleep in the air, to fly a hundred miles at night from sunrise to sunset, on the wind that blew from the coast.With the same inner control, he traveled through the fog at sea.Soaring into the sky, into the blazing clear sky while all the other seagulls are standing on the ground, seeing nothing but fog and rain.He learns to ride the winds far inland to feed on delicious insects.

What he had hoped for the gulls to share, now he had to enjoy alone.He learned to fly without any regrets at the great price he paid.Jonathan discovered that restlessness, fear and anger were what made the gulls short-lived, and that once these were removed from their minds, they could actually live long and well. They came at dusk and saw Jonathan gliding quietly and alone through the sky he loved.They appeared on both sides of Jonathan, two seagulls with wings as bright as stars, and the light from them seemed very soft and kind in the high night sky.But the loveliest of all was their flying technique, their wingtips kept exactly an inch from Jonathan's at all times.

Jonathan quizzed them calmly.No seagull has ever passed a test.He flexed his wings and slowed down to a mile an hour, barely missing his balance.The two crystal-clear birds slowed down with him, flew very smoothly, and always maintained their original positions.They know how to fly slowly. He tightened his wings, rolled, and descended at a speed of one hundred and ninety miles per hour.They descended after him without changing formation a bit. Finally he changes speed and does a long vertical slow roll.They rolled after him with smiles on their faces. He returned to level flight, and spoke after a moment of silence. "Very well," he said, "who are you?"

"We are from your flock, Jonathan. We are your fellow-brains" were the words calm and powerful. "We're going to take you to a higher place and take you home." "Family, I don't have a home. I don't have a flock either. I'm an outcast. We're flying on the top of the mountain. I can only fly a few hundred feet with my old bones, but I can't fly higher..." "Jonathan, you can fly higher, you have learned. One stage is over, now it's time to start another stage." The light of Jonathan's wisdom that had shone throughout his life was now shining brightly.They were right, he was able to fly higher and it was time to go home. He took one last look at the sky, and how much he had learned in this magnificent silver world. "I'm ready," he said finally. And so Jonathan Livingston rose with the two crystal gulls, and disappeared into another dark sky.