"Intensive Reading of Novels" Wang Anyi: "The White Horse in the Alley"

Editor's Note

The hustle and bustle of the city, the quiet and long alleys, and the reserved one-man and one-horse slowly pass through it, just like the alien objects of heaven, appearing in the wrong place, appearing in the age that should not appear. When there are people, they are almost wooden, and when they are unmanned, they occasionally look like flying kites, and their lively appearance surprises the eyes of children. Where do they come from? And why is it here? Wang Anyi observes this person and horse from the perspective of a child, speculating on their origins, alluding to the similar fate of people and horses - wrapped in the tide of history and unable to control themselves, they face this misfortune in their own unique way, and thus react to the changes and development of Shanghai with small views. Man, horse, and city became one, so it is necessary to pay attention to this when reading.

Text reading

The white horse in the alley

>>> title: it explains the object of writing and the place where the story takes place; at the same time, the white horse appears in the wrong place - in the alley, arousing the reader's interest in reading; the white horse is the clue to the whole text.

Wang Anyi

(1) A white horse is often patronized in the alley. (Straight to the point, echoing the title.) You know, this is in the alley, it's all streets and houses, and there are people and cars, a white horse, after all, there is something magical. (The white horse appears in the alleys of the modern city, and the things that do not fit in arouse everyone's curiosity.) ）

(2) At some point, first came the clanging bell—it was its owner, a stern-faced northerly passerby, and the bell tied to its neck rang, and then it heard the thudding horseshoe knocking on the ground of the water gate, and came very crisply. (Cut in with sound and write about the arrival of the horse.) The white horse came slowly, stopping at each door. Its owner did not bark, but only stood. The white horse also stood. Its mane is cut into bangs on the forehead, and the bell around its neck makes it look very childish, like a little girl. The servant of the Lord stood silently, waiting for the people in the door to decide whether to buy a bowl of horse milk to taste. They waited for a while, but there was no movement, and then they went forward. (One man and one horse, standing silently in front of a certain door, reflects the owner's strong self-esteem and the meekness of the horse.) At the same time, the author uses the words "servant", "childish" and "little girl" to personify the horse, and writes about the surprising reticence of man and horse, so reserved that it should not appear in this noisy and congested place at all. If someone comes out of the door and buys a bowl of mare's milk— the probability is about one in twenty, so the north passerby removes a maza from his shoulder and begins milking. The pale yellow milk, very delicately, squeaked in the buyer's white porcelain bowl, gradually accumulated a layer, and gradually flattened the rim of the bowl. (The detailed description depicts the process of milking the horse from the three angles of color, shape and sound, and the whole picture is delicate and elegant, which is in line with the overall atmosphere of the owner, the horse and the quiet alley.) Then, he got up and collected the maza and continued walking.

>>> the above two paragraphs describe the situation of one person and one horse in the alley, which arouses the reader's strong curiosity and paves the way for inferring the origin of the horse below.

(3) There are various legends about the origin of this white horse, which can be pushed as far back as the Year of Jiajing. At that time, Shanghai was a county rule and was very deserted. One day, thousands of Wokou suddenly appeared under the city, only to see a white horse, far ahead, like a blade cutting into the defensive line, and everywhere it went, blood splashed the road. As soon as a thousand gunshots were fired, the coastal defense soldier Chen Rui swung his sword at the horse's head, the knife rose and fell, and it was a human head that fell, and the white horse had already deflected away and went around Chen Rui. The enemy was horrified, turned around and fled, just the white horse, the dragon saw the head and did not see the end, and there was no trace. (Write about the extraordinary of its ancestors, highlighting the extraordinary origin of the white horse.) People say that the white horse entered the city from the east gate, and since then it has been moving and breeding along the river, and the sun and the moon have changed, and the white horse who sells milk is its descendant, because this alley happens to be near the east gate of the old city. Who is the horse-drawner? It is the descendant of the benefactor who took it in. According to this statement, it should be a local talent, but why is it a foreigner? There are also explanations for such doubts. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there have been tributaries passing by the city in the lower reaches of the Wusong River, countless merchant ships on the river, and the riverbank has become a bustling market, where people and things exchange and distribute, there are past and some stranded, so that the east, west, south, north, and south, five parties live together. In this way, this white horse is the white horse of Japan, perhaps after the famous horse. (Speculate on one of the origins of the horse: during the Jiaqing period, Shanghai in the desolate era.) ）

(4) In the Daoguang years, this time, it was the British who came, and the north gate came in a mighty way. When they reached the door, there was no movement, they pushed the door, the door did not move, calling people, people should not, ordering a small soldier to climb the city wall and open the city gate. Horses carrying cannons, carrying people, running over the pebble road, the horse's head almost flush with the black tile eaves, what arrogance! (Highlight the tall, handsome horse.) At this time, Shanghai was still a barbaric place, thieves were everywhere, and I don't know how many horse thieves were staring at it! I don't believe that they are all going back to their hometowns. So, will this mare have any relatives with them? (Speculate on the second origin of the horse: during the Daoguang years, there were already city gates and walls, which became a city of Shanghai.) ）

(5) It is said that Zhang Jian founded the Tonghai Reclamation and Animal Husbandry Company in northern Jiangsu, which had a horse farm. It is a Mongolian horse imported from the north, with a strong physique and developed tendons. Later, the reclamation company collapsed, and the cattle and horses scattered. Presumably, there will be Mongols who migrate with horses, leaving behind a few familiar stallions, holding the secret books of generations of horse breeding, and opening a small stallion. However, this small ambition is nothing more than a repetition of Zhang Xiao's failure. Mongolian horses are difficult to adapt to the warm and humid climate in the south, the horse grass is not appetizing, sick, running, and finally a white horse, with the owner along the way to sell milk, and finally came to Shanghai. After several matings, they have long been blood-related, changed their spleen, and taken water and soil. This white horse is actually a bastard horse. (The third origin of the horse: the Tonghai Reclamation and Animal Husbandry Company founded by Zhang Xiao in northern Jiangsu.) ）

(6) It is not excluded that it comes from the Jockey Club. This came to the mid-nineteenth century. The horses of the Jockey Club are pedigree, have names and surnames, and are educated. This is so beautiful that the word "horse" in the sound dog Mali refers to it. Almost overnight, the sea rises and the moon rises, and the city becomes the Paris of the Far East. Just like a dream, the people in the dream have forgotten time, a hundred years is like a moment, suddenly waking up from a dream, but changing the world. The nascent regime completely banned horse racing and reclaimed the land of the racecourse, and what did these horses rely on for their livelihood in the ensuing chaimi career? Think of it this way, this white horse is downcast. About being in a part of history, I don't know it, so as if I don't have any complaints, I serenely walk from house to house, selling its milk. (In the course of historical change, the fate of a horse is like this, not to mention the people who are wrapped up in it, by horses and people, so as to express man's indifference and indifference to the indifference and numbness of his own fate that is difficult to control.) (The fourth origin of horses: the Jockey Club, at this time Shanghai became the Paris of the Far East, sound and color dogs and horses, extremely beautiful.) ）

>>> these four origins all indicate that the white horse has an extraordinary origin, and its ancestors or its ancestors have enjoyed the exhilaration of the world. In contrast to today's downfall, it highlights today's suffering.

(7) Under the superior horses, there have been many hard-working horses in this city, pulling people, pulling goods, and eating the whips of their masters... Which one is the ancestor of the White Horse? (The fifth origin of the horse: the horse that works as a coolie.) ）

>>> the above seven paragraphs are inferences about the origin of the white horse. Such a long, complex, and unrelated speculation about the life of the white horse is intended to find or create a root for Shanghai and its characteristics, and from this root in turn, these characteristics are bolded and blackened, because the horse is nothing more than a person, or a city. The history of a city sunk out of a city by the hook of a horse's life, the Shanghai represented by the white horse has the following characteristics: First, far away: We take it for granted that Shanghai was born out of nowhere, there is no foundation, but its root system was originally so deep and so dense, and it also has a dream-like predecessor; second, miscellaneous: Wokou, Flag Man, British soldiers, Zhang Xiao's reclamation company, the Horse Racing Association, they are all one of Shanghai's genes, and it is precisely because of miscellaneous that Shanghai can "one" and achieve itself, and countless kinds of "phases" with different origins. It has achieved the appearance of all sentient beings in Shanghai.

(8) You may have seen the tears of a white horse, falling to the ground one by one, crackling. Sometimes the rough hands of the north passers-by squeezed the nipples, sometimes they shed horseshoes, and the flesh was pierced with broken bricks and nails. It was quite sinful, but it endured. (White Horse bears the pain of this world one by one.) A kind woman touched the neck of the white horse and said: Reincarnate in the next life! But what about being a person, I haven't seen the north passers-by laugh. Between this man and the horse, it seems cold, but perhaps it is deep and uncertain, because they are all the same loneliness, the same fate. (From the misfortune of the horse to the misfortune of man.) They endure pain, do not laugh, are cold, and embody a kind of reticence, which is to accept fate, to be indifferent to their own destiny. ）

(9) Occasionally, it is rare for a thousand years, (reflecting extremely rare.) The north passerby made a "oh sigh", and the white horse suddenly took a step and trotted up, and the bells and horses' hooves sped up and sounded coldly in the alley. The pony's tail was fluffy, and it rose and fell down. Waist and hips convex and concave, a little feminine, and a little windy. (Through the description of the movements and appearance of the horse when trotting, he writes a rare side of the horse and the person: a moment of joy and unrestrainedness outside the bitter reality, reflecting the root bud of the "iris flying fish leap" in the hearts of the white horse and the north passerby.) They are noble in their bones, they can be saints who "eat and drink, bend and sleep, and enjoy it", they are Zhou Maoshu who "does not remove the window grass", no matter how poor and lowly they are, they can live with dignity and peace - from this point of view, their reticence is noble, noble enough not to be impressed by fate, which is in stark contrast to the sluggishness mentioned above. With another "Oh sigh", the white horse stopped and returned to its original gait, and the surrounding area was silent again. (Moving and static, fleeting flying and agility, implying that the agility is short-lived, and sluggish pain is the norm, and this person faces pain and pain as usual, not sad or happy.) At this time, there was no one in the alley, and the North Road people and the white horse were also because there was no one, thinking that it was their world, so they indulged a little, in fact, in a back door, there was a pair of eyes watching! (At this point, the perspective of this article is revealed: the perspective of children.) Only children will be interested and curious about such people and horses, and will infer their origins without any connection. ）

(10) This little boy has always been ashamed that he cannot get the permission of an adult to buy a bowl of mare's milk. (The child's sympathy for the horses and people makes him feel guilty for not being able to do anything for them.) He hid behind the door alone, the west-sloping sun shone in the alley, huang Chengcheng's light, unexpectedly, glimpsed this scene, the north road people and the white horse were actually lively. This scene, fleeting, is simply stunning. They quieted down the bells and horseshoes and returned to their original rhythms. The child quietly came out of the door, the man in front, the horse in the back, and the child at the end. The child waited for the white horse to turn back, but no, the white horse and the north passerby kept moving forward, walking through a tattered wooden door, for a moment, embedded in a piece of light, and then, without turning their heads, walked out. (This picture travels through hundreds of years of heavy wind and rain, through the short and long flight of the alley, through the fine and cold life, all the way to the door of utopia.) You don't have to push the door in, you already know that this is the most peaceful place. In this way, Wang Anyi used white horses, North Road people and children to depict a chaotic and sad world, and at the same time brought light and hope to this world. ）

>>> return to reality and write an unusual scene between the white horse and the person again, so that the horse and the person have spirituality.

Knowledge construction

Narrative perspective in fiction //

Narrative perspective, also known as narrative focus, refers to a specific perspective on the content of the story in the narrative language. The same event may take on different faces from different angles and have different meanings in the eyes of different people.

The perspective in the novel is generally divided into: omniscient perspective, limited perspective, special perspective, such as children's perspective, animal perspective, etc.

Omniscient perspective: that is, the narrator is in an omniscient and all-perceptive perspective, describing the experiences and feelings of each character in the event from a third-person perspective. The characters, stories, scenes, etc. in the works are all under their control and scheduled.

Limited perspective: Finite perspective is the perspective of limited perception and limited perception, using the first-person "I" perspective to narrate the process of events, the narrative vision is often more subjective, with prejudice and emotional color, can only be limited to "I" see and hear what they feel.

Children's perspective is a meaningful narrative strategy such as "the novel tells the story with the help of children's vision or tone, the presentation process of the story has distinct characteristics of children's thinking, and the narrative tone, posture, structure and psychological consciousness factors of the novel are subject to the narrative angle of the child selected by the author". Through the role replacement from children to adults to children, it observes and looks at the unfamiliar adult living space with another vision of children, thus creating a very unique world, showing the original ecological life situation and other faces of the living world that are not easily perceived by adults.

This article uses the perspective of children, from the child's eyes to observe the behavior of this person, can see the place that adults can not see, the text is full of childlike fun, innocence. In particular, the children watch the horses and people walk out of the alley together, and the horses and people are embedded in the light, reflecting the unique observation perspective of children.