Since childhood, we have been asked, "What is happiness?" ”
When I was a child, happiness was eating a piece of sugar.
During the student years, happiness is that there is no need to take exams.
When you grow up, happiness is the peace and security of your family.
Different stages of life have different understandings of happiness.
But one thing is common, happiness needs to be found and perceived by oneself. Only when you have endured endless pain and experienced many blows can you learn to easily feel simple and beautiful happiness with your heart, and can you get happiness.
The classic fairy tale "Blue Bird" shared with you today tells the story of a protagonist who asks for happiness, finds happiness, and discovers happiness.
The author, Maurice Maitrinck, is a Belgian poet, playwright and essayist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work "poetic fantasy".
This is a book full of childlike fun and philosophy of life, and it is on a par with the world famous book "The Little Prince". With the help of a pair of little brothers and sisters to find the fantasy journey of the blue bird, tell people: give happiness to others, they can be happier, happiness is all around us.
Now, please come with me to learn about this book.
01. Ask happiness: Is it happiness to receive gifts on Christmas Eve?
Thiel, a poor lumberjack, has a lovely pair of children, a ten-year-old boy Titi and a six-year-old sister, Mitty. The family lived in a cottage on the edge of a large forest, opposite the large villa where the rich lived.
On Christmas Eve, Titi and Mitty's mother came to them and told them that because the snow had closed the mountains, their father could not go to the forest to cut down trees, and he could not afford to prepare Christmas gifts for them.
Hearing this, the brothers and sisters did not cry or make trouble, and returned to their rooms and quickly fell asleep. Suddenly, they were awakened by a beam of light coming in from the room. It turned out that it was the children in the big villa opposite who were partying.
The little brother and sister relied on the light, lying on the window, watching everything that happened in the big villa. They saw a huge Christmas tree, golden in the tree, with swords, guns and other toys, and on the table next to it were cakes, fruits and cream pies, and children were dancing happily.
When the little brother and sister saw this, they fantasized that they had also eaten a delicious cake, and they couldn't help but dance. They are immersed in the happiness of other children, completely forgetting their own poverty and inadequacy.
The sudden visit of the fairy Belle Lune surprised the brothers and sisters. It was just that the fairy had transformed into the form of an old lady, wearing a green dress, and only the hood was bright red. She was hunched over, limping, blind in one eye, with a nose that grew fast enough to reach her chin, and a crutch in her hand. She looked like Mrs. Belingotte," Titi's neighbor, Mrs. Fruit Candy.
The fairy wanted her sick little girl to get better quickly, so she asked the little brother and sister to find the blue bird that symbolized happiness, and only when she saw the blue bird would the little girl's illness be better. The fairy also gave Titi a hat studded with diamonds: press the top to reveal the essence of things; turn right to see the past; turn left and the future will be revealed in front of you.
When Titi put on her hat, the old fairy became a beautiful princess, the hut became magnificent, and all living animals and inanimate things came alive, able to speak and act like people.
Thus, Mr. Bread, Mr. Fire, Water Girl, Miss Milk, Little Brother Sugar, Tillot (a dog), Tillette (a cat), and the Daughter of Light all appear. After the revelry, they and the little brothers and sisters embarked on the road to find the blue bird.
At that time, Titi and Mitty did not know what happiness meant to them. They see that the children of the rich family have gifts, cakes to eat, no jealousy, and they think that is happiness. They have not yet seen that their home has the same beauty as the home of the rich.
Before embarking on the journey to find the blue bird, the brave Titi did not hesitate for a moment, and little Miti followed her brother without hesitation, and they were going to find true happiness.
02. Finding Happiness: Suffering and frustration are more revealing of the beauty of everyday things
The group came to the Fairy Palace and each changed into clothes from the human world. Especially Titi and Mitty, they had never worn such beautiful clothes before, and for a moment they couldn't believe it was themselves.
The first stage of the journey is the land of memories. At this level, only Titi and Miti go alone. Here, they met their long-dead grandparents and younger siblings.
It turns out that they are not "dead", as long as they miss them, they will wake up and see themselves. Titi and Mitty threw themselves into the arms of their grandparents, and the parents talked for a short time. At Grandma's mercy, the grandchildren sat together and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner.
Titi was still as naughty as ever, accidentally overturning the soup pot and being slapped hard by grandpa. Instead of crying, Titi was very happy because Grandpa's slap was exactly the same as before. The corners of Grandpa's eyes burst into tears.
When it was time to leave, Titi took the blackbird from her grandfather's house with her, because it suddenly turned into the blue bird of her dreams. Grandma clings to it and repeatedly advises: "Think of us every day." Your thoughts are our comfort! ”
When Titi and Mitty return from their memories, the blue bird that has been holding them in their arms has become a blackbird. Titi's hopes of finding the Blue Bird were dashed.
The Daughter of Light comforted Titi, "Don't be sad, you should be happy to see your grandparents, and Blackbird has come back to life, which is also something to be happy about." Before you find the blue bird, learn the black bird you got during your journey. ”
The Daughter of Light obviously knew where the Bluebirds were, but she couldn't tell Titi about them, or they would never find them. At this time, Titi was still in a fog, and he did not know what the purpose of the Daughter of Light's words was.
At the second level of the journey, the group came to the terrible Night Palace. The Night Lady was seduced by Tillett and wanted to scare Titi and force them to retreat. But Titi was surprisingly brave, and instead of being intimidated by the ghosts, diseases, wars, shadows, and horrors behind the four doors in the Night Lady's palace, he became more and more frustrated and courageous, and opened the last door, which contained countless blue birds flying.
There is no doubt that the blue birds they caught died in the sunlight, and this is not really a blue bird that can live in the sun.
At the third level of the journey, they came to the country of the future. The Daughter of Light comforted Titi: "You are kind and brave, and you will soon find the purpose you want in your heart." But Titi still didn't understand the deep meaning of the Words of the Daughter of Light.
In the land of the future, Titi saw a group of unborn children, all dressed in cyan clothes, as beautiful as angels. Their lives were carefree, they didn't know what cold was, they didn't even know what tears were, they thought it was pearls. Their mission in the afterlife is to invent the machines for the production of happiness.
Titi also met her unborn brother. He would be born with scarlet fever, whooping cough and measles and leave them. Titi was puzzled and almost quarreled with her brother about it.
The Old Man of Time came to take the child to the birth of the world, at this time Titi inadvertently provoked the Old Man of Time, so he desperately ran away. At the critical moment, the Daughter of Light shoved a blue bird into Titi's arms and escorted Titi and Midi out of the clutches of the Old Man of Time.
But at the moment when he was about to step out of the palace door, the blue bird escaped from Titi's arms and flew into the sky. Once again, their plan to find the Bluebird failed.
At the fourth level of the journey, they came to the Temple of Light. The group indulged in this palace full of birds and flowers. In the garden around the palace, there is a pool that reflects people's souls, and only Tillette dare not go near it.
Later, reminded by the Daughter of Light, Titi and Mitty bravely went to the cemetery to find the footprints of the blue bird.
In the face of the fear of the cemetery, Titi did not flinch, the will and courage multiplied, he gradually learned to control his own ability, nothing can stop him from completing the mission. It wasn't until they saw thousands of flowers rising from the grave that the brothers and sisters suddenly realized.
They had expected ugly skeletons to crawl out of the cemetery, but those terrible descriptions were made up stories, and there was no death here. Everything never dies, it just changes.
Beautiful birds flew around Titi and Mitty, and although there were no bluebirds inside, the new discovery was enough to make the two children very happy, and they once again defeated themselves.
The last level of the journey is the Battle of the Forest. Titi and Mitty are tricked into the ancient forest by the cunning Tillette, and a group of tree spirits talk around the little siblings.
Suddenly the old oak tree appeared, and he was the tree king of the forest. Old Oak hates Titi because his dad Till killed many of Old Oak's family. The old oak tree wants to put the account on Titi's head and ask Titi to pay for his life. But the tree spirits were afraid of humans and did not dare to come forward. The old oak tree had no choice but to instruct the animals to come forward and attack.
Titi didn't know where she was in danger until the wolf and the bear launched a surprise attack from behind, and Titi woke up. He took out his knife and fought with the animals. Outnumbered and in a critical moment, Titi frantically shouted for help, and the dog Tilo stepped forward and heroically blocked in front of the little master.
Just when Titi was about to hold on, the Daughter of Light appeared in time, and dawn rose above the forest, and the forest was bright. Titi then remembered to turn the diamond, and in the blink of an eye, all the tree spirits and animals disappeared. After this incident, Titi learned a lesson and never dared to fight alone again.
The year-old covenant has arrived, and it is time to part. Titi and Thiel tearfully kissed and said goodbye to all the friends, Titi was still worried that she had not found the blue bird, but the daughter of light told him that although the blue bird was not found, the kindness, courage and spirit of not accepting defeat shown by Titi were fully worthy of the blue bird.
The Daughter of Light can't tell Titi yet that a man worthy of the Blue Bird is equivalent to finding it. It's a beautiful secret that Titi needs to discover for herself.
In the search for the blue bird, Titi and Mitty become more and more courageous, they do not find the real blue bird, but do not know that they are the "blue bird" they have been looking for.
03. Discover happiness: It turns out that the pigeon is a blue bird, and happiness is close at hand
Titi and Mitty woke up to find their mother standing by the bed looking at them for a long time.
Titi couldn't wait to tell mom and dad what they had just experienced, but mom and dad just thought he hadn't woken up and was talking about dreams.
Titi thought she had been out for a year, but had only slept one night.
At this time the neighbor Mrs. Bellingert Fruit Candy really came, and she came to ask for some firewood. Titi, on the other hand, treats Mrs. Bellingert Fruit Candy as the Belle Lune Fairy, and he regrets that he has not found the Bluebird.
The neighbor's wife understood Titi's behavior because her little girl was also often lying in bed saying strange things. The little girl kept saying that as long as Titi was willing to give her her pigeons, her illness would be better. But before, this pigeon was Titi's heart and liver baby, and he didn't want to give it to someone else.
At this time, Titi said without hesitation: "I am willing to give her, I am willing!" Titi brought her own pigeon, and at this time the pigeon turned into a beautiful blue bird, and Titi was so surprised. It turned out that the blue bird he had been looking for was beside him.
Titi looked at everything about the cottage and thought it looked a lot nicer, as clean as if it had been repainted. The forest outside the window also seemed to become new, and Titi felt happier than ever.
After getting the blue bird, the little girl's illness quickly improved, and she and the neighbor's wife came to Titi's house to thank her. They danced happily together.
Through this wonderful journey, Titi learned to discover the beauty of everyday things, he withstood the test, grew his courage, in the process of finding the bird of happiness for the little girl of the fairy, he became generous and kind, and learned that as long as he brought happiness to others, his heart would be full of happiness.
On his journey through the endless wonders of dreams, he learned to open his heart and embrace life. Titi felt that everything had become beautiful, because his ability to feel had become richer and purer.
Titi inadvertently discovers the secret of light: to give happiness to others, the closer she is to happiness herself.
If the Daughter of Light tells Titi at the beginning of the story: Hurry home, the blue bird is in your house, in that wicker bird cage, with your father and mother who love you deeply.
Kids will never believe it. If they are not allowed to try it for themselves, no amount of good advice will help. It only takes a moment to tell the child the truth of the whole world, but it cannot be truly understood in a lifetime, because only our own experience is the light that guides us.
Metlingke once said: "Understanding life is much more important than transforming life, because once life is understood, it changes voluntarily." "When we find that true happiness is all around us, we cherish everything in the moment.
Happiness is everywhere, as long as you have the ability to discover and perceive happiness. Everyone should find happiness on their own.