Recently read Natalie Babbitt's Fountain of Immortality, a short story, a thin little book of just 135 pages. The book records two days in the long life of a little girl who is about to turn eleven, Winnie Foster, and the story in the book takes place in the sweltering Heat of August, but in just two days, it changes Winnie's life.
The author of this book, Natalie Babbitt, has loved reading fairy tales and myths since childhood, and has been deeply influenced by her mother and loves to paint. He studied fine arts at Smith University. Drawing illustrations for her husband's children's book The Forty-Ninth Magician, he was encouraged by the editor to write his own paintings, and later tried to write novels, and wrote them for forty years.
Much appreciated after its publication in 1975, The New York Times described Natalie as "undoubtedly one of our gifted and ambitious children's literature writers." The classic novel won numerous awards and was adapted into a film in 1981 and 2002.
The novel follows the adventures of a naïve and curious little girl, Winnie Foster. One morning in August, Winnie was bored and decided to run away from home, but she didn't know where to go. After sneaking out of the house, she went straight to a forest in her house, where she met Jesse, the tucker family's youngest son. Seeing Jesse drinking the spring water in her own forest, Winnie also felt very thirsty and wanted to drink the spring water.
But unexpectedly, there is an amazing secret hidden in this spring - that is, after drinking this spring water, you will no longer feel the passage of time, your appearance will not change, you will not even be hurt by anything, and you can live forever.
This may be something that many people can't ask for, but it is a secret that the Tucker family keeps. Just when Jesse didn't know how to stop Winnie from drinking the spring, Mama May and her brother Miles showed up, which was really timely.
The three of them had no choice but to grab Winnie on the horse and take her home. However, on the way, they encountered the "yellow suit" that hovered in front of Winnie's house yesterday, and when Mei told Winnie the secret of the fountain of immortality, the "yellow suit" was heard not far away.
The "Yellow Suit" followed the four of them back to Tucker's house, then stole the horse and went to Winnie's house to negotiate terms with Winnie's grandmother and father, his purpose was the forest, or the fountain of immortality, but he also caused trouble and eventually lost his life.
After reading the story, I can't calm down for a long time, although this is just a fantasy story, a legend full of fairy tales. But people can't help but think, if there really is an immortal spring in the world, will you choose to drink it? Of course, you can also choose to pour the small bottle of spring water that Jesse left for her on the toad, like Winnie. However, how much determination does it take to do so.
Although there is no immortal spring in the world, it is full of temptations like the immortal spring, and many times, we see only the benefits it brings us. For a while, you might be very surprised, and then there's the surprise. Just like what happened to the Tuckers, Jesse fell from a tree... Horses are shot and killed by hunters as deer... Papa Angus was bitten by a snake... Meche got it... Jesse later ate poisonous mushrooms and so on, but all was fine, and the family was unscathed.
But slowly you will find that the people around you will live and die, and you have been living at an age, such as Jesse is actually 104 years old, but the appearance is still seventeen years old. He couldn't get married, couldn't have children, couldn't stay in one place for too long, for fear that others would discover his secrets. Such a life is the same every day, no friends, no neighbors, no fixed residence, no work, and even no death, what is the fun of living.
In fact, the fountain of immortality is our desire, we always think that we can satisfy our desires by getting more, but we don't know that as we have more, the desire is constantly expanded, until we can no longer satisfy it, and eventually be swallowed up by it.
If you were a Tucker family, what would you do, would you keep a tight liar about this secret? Or like the "yellow suit", ready to sell spring water, make a good profit, and have money that cannot be spent in the next life. Maybe we really need to think hard about what we really want.
Finally, A story:
An American businessman sat on the docks of a small fishing village off the coast of Mexico and watched a fisherman row ashore in a small boat with several large yellowfin tuna. American businessman asks fisherman how long it will take to catch so much? The fisherman said that it took only a moment to catch it. The Americans asked, why don't you stay longer and catch more fish? The fisherman was not impressed: these fish are enough for my family!
The Americans went on to ask: So what are you doing for the rest of the day? The fisherman explained: Every day I slept until I woke up naturally, went out to sea to catch a few fish, and when I came back, I played with the children; then I took a nap with my wife, and at dusk I went to the village to drink some wine and play guitar with my brothers.
The Americans didn't think so, and helped him come up with ideas: I am a master of business administration from Harvard University in the United States, and I can help you! You should spend more time every day catching fish so you have the money to buy a bigger boat. You can catch more fish and buy more boats. You can then have a fleet of fishing boats. Then you don't have to sell the fish to the fishmongers, but directly to the processing plant. You can also open your own cannery.
This gives you control over the entire production, processing and marketing process. You can then leave this small fishing village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, and finally New York, where you can run your business. Fifteen to twenty years later, you can declare the company public, sell the company's shares to the investing public, and then you can make a lot of money!
The fisherman asked: And then what? The Americans say: Then you can retire! You can move to a small fishing village by the sea. Every day, I slept until I woke up naturally, went out to sea to catch a few fish, played with the children, took a nap with my wife, and at dusk, went to the village to drink some wine and play guitar with my brothers. The fisherman said doubtfully: Isn't that what I am now?
About the author: Yixin, a Beijinger living in Nanjing, a senior financial practitioner, a person who hopes to read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles, and meet interesting souls. Welcome to @Translate Heart Clear Shadow, talk about interesting things, talk about life.