Parent-child reading | "Shepherd Boy Fantasy Journey"

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Today I share one of my favorite books, The Shepherd Boy's Fantastic Journey.

Since its publication in 1988, the novel has taken the world by storm, bestselling in 160 countries, topping the best-seller lists in more than 20 countries, winning 33 international awards and having been translated into 68 languages. It is the most translated novel among the works of living writers today.

The American Book Association recommended the book as the best book for teenagers and praised it as a book that can revolutionize a person's life. Perhaps only once in a few decades, the arrogant French literary circle combined "The Fantastic Journey of the Shepherd Boy" with "The Little Prince", believing that both of them are classics that will affect the reader's mind for a lifetime.

The author of the book is Brazilian literary hero Paulo Coelho, who was hired by the United Nations as an ambassador for peace in 2007 because of the far-reaching influence of his work. Coelho's life is extremely legendary, he was born in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and when he was young, he was sent to a mental hospital by his family for his debauchery. Later, he dropped out of college and wrote more than 60 lyrics for Brazil's most famous rock star. After making a lot of money, the family was impressed by him. But at this time, he became famous and found that what he really wanted to do was a writer.

In 1986, at the age of 38, Coelho made a three-month trek from southern France across the Pyrenees to Santiago de Galicia, Spain, where he made a pilgrimage. This extraordinary experience led Paul Coelho to realize his spiritual pursuits. So he used this experience as a material to write a book on documentary themes, "Pilgrimage", which was published the following year and was a success.

This turning point enabled him to step into the literary world and realize his dream of becoming a writer since he was a child. Later, Paul Coelho was inspired by a story in One Thousand and One Nights and made a trip to the pyramids of Egypt and the Sahara Desert. After returning to Brazil, he wrote a fable story "The Fantastic Journey of the Shepherd Boy".

Literary critics have commented that Paul Coelho has a broad compassionate heart, a strange and unique perspective, and a clear as water. It combines philosophical contemplation, religious miracles, fairy tale fables. This highly symbolic work has been praised all over the world.

Other literary critics say that a story of searching for preservation has become an allegory about the deep scale of human existence. The book takes a treasure hunting process as a clue, but in fact, from the germination of dreams to the pursuit of the process, and even the unexpected ending, there are many remarkable and thought-provoking points in the book. Why is the protagonist Santiago a shepherd boy, not a horse herding teenager, or a cattle herding teenager?

This is related to the Western patriarchal allusions. The flock is a metaphor for the world. In the Bible, Jesus is likened to the shepherd, which is also a foreshadowing of the miracle that Santiago was finally able to perform miracles and turn himself into the wind, but the author encourages everyone not to be like the sheep, but only water and food. Instead, it is to insist on dreams, and to illustrate the importance of dreams, Coelho introduced a concept of destiny.

In the traditional Chinese context, the Mandate of Heaven is exclusive to the emperor, that is, the Son of Heaven is ordained by Heaven and obeys heaven and obeys people. But in this Western novel, the Mandate of Heaven is something that every ordinary person has. Destiny is what you always expect to do.

Once a person enters his youth, he knows what his destiny is. At this stage of life, everything is so clear, there is nothing that cannot be done, people dare to dream, and look forward to completing everything they like to do in their lives. Destiny is more like the inner voice of people, the call of dreams. Life actually wants us to fulfill our destiny. The evidence is "the luck of a novice".

According to the author's explanation, when everyone is about to give up their dreams, the heavens will always give you signs in various ways to fulfill your destiny, but many people are unaware, can detect the signs, believe the signs, and decide to act according to the signs, will be extremely lucky in the beginning. This is called the luck of a novice.

Not just novices, when you want something, the whole universe will work together to help you achieve it. But dreams, or destinies, are also easy to be abandoned by oneself.

The book says that as the years go by, a mysterious force will convince people that they simply cannot fulfill their destiny. In the end, what others think becomes more important than their own destiny.

That's why, at the beginning of the book, give the example of the man who sold popcorn. The person who sold popcorn always wanted to travel around when he was a child, but he chose to buy a machine to make popcorn, saving money year after year, the person who sold popcorn had a status than the shepherd, the person who sold popcorn had a house to live, and the shepherd could only sleep in the wild, and people would rather marry their daughters to those who sold popcorn than to marry the shepherd. So the people who sell popcorn give up their dreams.

All in all, those who sell popcorn give up their dreams. The shepherd boy who did not give up his dreams fulfilled his destiny. Therefore, older friends can also educate their children, and they can also tell themselves that destiny encourages us to chase our dreams.

At some point in life, we lose control of our lives, and fate dominates our lives. This is the biggest lie in the world. In the process of realizing his destiny, the shepherd boy Santiago, the biggest challenge he faces comes from ease. Originally at the port where he had left his hometown, he realized that nothing but himself could stop him. The sheep, the merchant's daughter, and the wilderness of his hometown are just a step towards his realization of the Mandate of Heaven and his path towards the Mandate of Heaven.

Santiago initially disobeyed his father's wishes and stayed in his hometown to be a respected priest and a shepherd who could see the outside world, and he chose the latter. Having already owned the flock and seen the world, he found his destiny to go to the pyramids and find treasure. So he sold his flock and embarked on an unknown adventure.

But when you truly decide to pursue your destiny, you will not only face challenges, but you may also lose everything you have won. Not long after leaving, Santiago was cheated out of the money he earned by selling his flock and had to stay in the crystal shop to work. After working in the store for three years, Santiago, with his ingenuity, saved enough money to buy back 120 sheep.

The owner of the crystal shop thinks he has given up on his dream, but Santiago takes the money he has saved and continues on his way to find the treasures of the pyramids. In the oasis on the road, Santiago fell in love with a girl named Fatima, and Fatima also loved him, and because of this love, Santiago had a moment to give up the dream of ten million pyramids.

We can see that on the road of finding dreams, when he has enough money, when he meets his beloved girl, Santiago has thought about giving up his pursuit, but fortunately, he finally persevered to the end and completed the complete cycle of pursuing his dreams.

Our life is the same, life has a lot of stations, when paying hard work, after achieving a little success, people are often easy to be satisfied with the status quo, delayed in comfort, do not know that there are more challenges and opportunities waiting for us.

This is also a good parent-child education point. Insisting on dreams is not only to face challenges, but also to overcome the obsession with ease, because dreams require more struggle. The general book ends with the treasure often in your heart. But this book designs the end point of the shepherd boy Santiago's dream at the beginning of the departure.

This makes the moral of the whole story take on a strong oriental color. Everything starts at the beginning and returns to one. But the beginning one and the return one are no longer on the same level. Coelho may want to tell us that if we stick to our original intention and pursue it persistently, the dream of life will come to a consummation.

In the process of the shepherd boy's treasure hunt, he not only got the treasure of his dreams, but also met all kinds of people and things during the journey, met his true love, and also gained insight into the mysteries of the universe and the true meaning of life. The treasure that the shepherd boy Santiago was looking for was actually under the church where he set out. But if he hadn't set out to explore a circle, he wouldn't have gotten the treasure. Because treasure is not only material, but also spiritual.

From Santiago, we also see a lot of things worth learning for children. He has the courage to break the routine of life, and he insists on it when he has nothing. He can resist temptation when fame and fortune are both gained. The most important thing is that he has the duty not to forget the original intention.

Of course, this book is not just an adventure story, let's think about the evaluation of literary critics in the beginning, how a fable is related to the survival of human beings.

We might as well take a look at another translation of it called The Alchemist. In fact, the author Coelho himself claimed that he had studied alchemy for 11 years. He said that our daily life is lead, and the more eternal thing is gold, so he hopes that people will think about the most basic problems through the book "The Fantastic Journey of the Shepherd Boy". That's who I am, where I'm coming from, and what I'm going to do.

Alchemy was also the shepherd boy Santiago's mentor in the desert. He taught Santiago and listened to his inner voice. Alchemy, on the surface, is a means of turning lead into gold, but in fact it reveals two true meanings of life, that is, to become better and love.

The book says, "That's how alchemy was born," the boy said. The aim is for everyone to seek and find his treasure and then strive to be better. Surpass yourself. Lead will fulfill its role until the world no longer needs it, when it will have to turn into gold. That's what alchemists do. They want to show that when we seek to be better than we are now, everything around us will also be better.

Becoming better is the meaning of life, and the touchstone of life is actually love, just like the book says. The desert produces prey to feed the falcons; the falcons bring food to people; and the people will one day feed you grains of sand; the prey will be re-derived there. That's how the world works: "This is love. It is love that transforms prey into falcons, falcons into adults, and deserts. It is love that turns the lead block into gold, and the gold hides in the ground again. ”

San Diego, who understood these two points, overcame the most impossible task in the middle of the desert. He transformed himself from a human being into a wind, and he also let himself get through the biggest difficulties. Bravely head towards your dream destination.

In short, this book reveals the importance of dreams to life, and it inspires people to bravely pursue and control their own destiny, so as to obtain true happiness in life.

Of course, the book's famous aphorisms can also be found everywhere. In the process of reading, older friends and children can also excerpt it, enjoy it together, and enjoy reading together to get the joy of reading.

For example, "Destiny is what you always expect to do." Once a person enters his youth, he knows his destiny. As time passed, a mysterious force began to try to prove that it was impossible to fulfill its destiny. This pithy comment is about dreams and about the obstacles to dreams.

Another example is, "What is the biggest lie in the world?" At some point in our lives, we lose control of our lives and fate dominates our lives. This is the biggest lie in the world. Through this passage, we can understand what fate is, and we ourselves are actually our own destiny.

Also, "My heart is very rebellious, it doesn't want me to keep going." "It's understandable to lose everything you've already had for a dream." "So why should I listen to my own voice?" "Because you can never silence it, even if you pretend not to listen to it, it will still be in your chest, repeatedly pouring out its views on life and the world." 」

If the will is the head, then looking ahead is the heart, our heart, sensitive, worried, but nagging.

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Zhao Zijun, an article a day, recording work life, reading and learning. Be a seed that spreads love.

Public number: Zhao Jun. Writing is not just about recording, it is evoking some beautiful hearts that are sleeping.