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"It's cruel to live, to be angry, to laugh, to be frank and sad! Although life is very troublesome and hard, as long as you eat and sleep enough, you can live happily. ”
"I don't know when I'll die, but I'm alive now. As long as you are alive, you can only live... It doesn't matter when you die, but it doesn't hurt if it's not today. "Such open-minded and dashing in the face of life and death. Reading her text, you will sincerely feel that it is good to be alive and to live well. If you don't drink it all in the clouds, how can you walk the rivers and lakes? How could you write such a moving text?
Yoko Sano, a famous Japanese picture book writer, his masterpiece "The Cat Who Lived 1 Million Times". Born in Beijing, China, he graduated from the Department of Design, Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan. Divorced twice. She died of breast cancer at the age of 72 at Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital on November 5, 2010.
"Happy Days" is like a diary record of the old lady's lonely and ill life in her later years. Knowing that she may not live for more than a year with cancer, but facing death with a very open-minded and true attitude, humor and brain-opening, is really a very cute old lady.
01 Excerpts
Fall 2003 (1)
At 6:30 in the morning, I woke up.
I heard that some people can jump out of bed as soon as they open their eyes. It's unbelievable. But why get up so early? I fumbled around my pillow for a while, caught the "Another Last Emperor from Vietnam" by Samori Tatsuya, and read it in a daze. I know almost nothing about Vietnam, only from American movies about the Vietnam War and news about Vietnam on TV. Then again, white people are excessive. Unprecedented excess.
What do you think you are?
There was no bread at home, so today breakfast decided to settle in the café. Just walk for two or three minutes, shell out money and have breakfast, in the big city, it's great. I walked slowly to the wall with my buffet plate. One of the six tables against the wall was empty, so I sat down at this small table, lit a cigarette, and looked around. The remaining five tables of guests turned out to be old ladies. Four of them, like me, were swallowing clouds.
Everyone seems to be up late and waits until this time to come for breakfast. Everyone looked like they were alone.
Once, in a restaurant in a remote corner of Paris, every time I saw the old woman who had dinner at the same seat every night, my heart would be sour. The old woman looked nearly ninety, wearing a green hat, and exuded an aura of concentration and smiling. She leaned her neck forward, used all the strength of her body to cut the flesh, and then swallowed the meat with a strange force. Even if she suddenly threw herself forward and swallowed, I wouldn't be surprised. My nerves became tense as well.
But when I came to my senses, I was surprised to find only a clean plate on the table. The old woman had already staggered out of the restaurant on crutches. The back of the coat disappeared into the lights outside the store. That back is like a symbol of stubbornness and loneliness, as if she is walking on the road to death.
Worthy of being a carnivorous race, worthy of Europeans. In Japan at that time, I had never seen such a meat eater.
02 Excerpts
Fall 2003 (2)
Mimiko called and invited me to take a bath in "uto-yu" ...
I woke up at half-past seven, in a very bad mood, and had a hunch that today was going to be an extremely depressing day. There is no discomfort in the body, there is no fever, it is simply irritability.
Alas, it's really impossible to imagine how those who can jump out of bed alive as soon as they open their eyes do it. But thinking of this, I immediately jumped up and rushed downstairs with a rolling belt. Fortunately, the big red pajamas worth 1,980 yen on my body are designed to resemble sportswear.
garbage, take out the garbage. Today is the day to recycle non-combustible garbage. The garbage collector will come at eight o'clock sharp, every second. There's only one chance a week. I have an incredible amount of non-combustible waste in my house.
Mimiko called and invited me to take a bath in "utoyu". "Utoyu" is a bathhouse in front of the station, located in a messy street crowded with game centers, restaurants, cheap drugstores.
The whole building is the place of this bathhouse, which also houses a cinema and restaurant. The building as a whole looks a bit dirty.
After entering the building, you have to change into the washed and faded top like Mu Mu robe and loose shorts, pink for women and green for men, and everyone walks around barefoot.
I heard that there is a "Korean-style bath" here, and I have always wanted to try it. Duo Duozi said that she once tried, and the dirt that came out was the size of a tennis ball, and after rubbing, the whole person seemed to turn white. The scrubbing room is in the corner of the many baths with two beds. There are two women in tank tops and shorts. "Come, come, everyone line up and come one by one. Which one comes first? Before rubbing, remember to go to the pool for a dip, and then soak your body softly. Let's soak for about 10 minutes. Don't forget to soak and come back. ”
I planned to go to the shower first, so I went for ten minutes and then lay naked on the plastic bed.
The aunt in the vest straddled me and rubbed me vigorously with a glove-like bath towel. After a while, I felt the dirt on my body begin to fall down, and I was in a good mood.
I lay there comfortably enjoying it, but my aunt was using her strength to scrub me in the bath. It feels like "someone in a sedan chair, someone carrying a pole". I felt a little guilty for no reason, probably because I grew up also poor lives. The aunt's sweat was also ticking down.
Although the dirt is indeed falling to the side little by little, it is not as exaggerated as Duo Duozi said that there is a tennis ball-sized size.
"Okay, now turn over, yes, face up."
So I just lay naked on my back. To pass the time, I looked to the side, and although I couldn't see the face, I could see a fair, three-man female naked. Yes, women's bodies are indeed beautiful, no wonder from ancient times to the present, painters have always had a soft spot for women's bodies and constantly carried out various challenges. This plump woman resembles the woman in Renoir's note. The naked body has a hair in the middle.
Seeing this, I suddenly wanted to see the snow-capped mountains of Kita-Karuizawa. I rolled over again and started doing an oil massage. It's so comfortable.
Next, I went to the mugwort sauna. There was a young woman inside. Sure enough, the young woman's body is the most beautiful and flawless. I looked at the young woman's body in the mist, and paid special attention to the place where the hair came from. It is really impressive, the young woman's hillock is simply the height of summer, a raging lush jungle, the outline of the hill is completely hidden, and all you can see is a black one.
I ate with Mimiko at the restaurant. I ordered fried udon. Mimiko ordered beer, squid sashimi, and French fries. After eating, we agreed to come here again next time.
The fried udon noodles are so unpalatable.
This is the story of grandma's daily life when she lives alone, when she is optimistic and open-minded.
What coke does she have?
She was divorced twice; Her own children once didn't say a word to her for ten years; The body began to decline, and the hair loss was severe after breast cancer surgery; memory loss, which has begun to have symptoms of mild Alzheimer's disease; Some friends, neighbors, and still not angry with her ...
If it were me, I probably wouldn't be as open-minded and optimistic as this Japanese grandmother. However, after reading this book, I can learn from her and strive to be such a happy grandmother in the future. Not only to learn from her to think openly and not be more truthful, but also her self-reflection spirit from time to time. A person who knows how to constantly correct and correct mistakes can become a better version of himself
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