1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 566 Rose and Fox

"This manuscript can be published directly."

Li Mingshuo bluntly told Xu Yang, "It's not suitable for serialization in any publication because it can't be connected with any main storyline."

"You think too much."

Xu Yang smiled when he heard Li Mingshuo's words, "With the name Jiang Xian, it's enough to get this novel published in full in any publication in China."

"Yep."

Li Mingshuo suddenly realized that he could not apply the way he judged ordinary writers to Jiang Xian.

"In short, this 'Little Prince' will definitely create a huge wave in the field of children's literature!" Li Mingshuo said with great conviction.

"Well, that's a story for another time."

Xu Yang rubbed his hands together, moved closer to Li Mingshuo, and glanced at the manuscript on the table. "The only thing we need to worry about is the graduation project evaluation. We don't need to think too much about anything else, and it's not something we need to worry about. What kind of grade do you think this work will get?"

“The best!”

Li Mingshuo immediately concluded, "I think this is the best graduation project ever!"

"what?"

Xu Yang was taken aback. "But this is just a children's literature work."

"You don't understand, Teacher Xu. You'll understand how good this novel is after you read it!"

Li Mingshuo was afraid that Xu Yang wouldn't understand the brilliance of this novel, "An absolute masterpiece! Teacher Xu, you must believe that the imagination, wisdom, and emotions expressed in this novel are more than just a novel; it is a spiritual treasure that Jiang Xian has bestowed upon us!"

"."

Xu Yang frowned.

To him, Li Mingshuo's praise was actually a bit exaggerated.

Xu Yang has his own judgment. It's not that he hasn't been recommended novels before. Generally, it's because the work perfectly matches the recommender's personal taste, or because a certain part of it touched the recommender, that it's praised so highly. Most of the time, these works aren't as amazing as these people say.

Moreover, a children's literature work, due to the limitations of its subject matter, is destined to lack intellectual depth because it is intended for children, and therefore naturally lacks appeal to adults.

For this reason, Xu Yang only read the inscription and did not accompany Li Mingshuo to read the rest of the content.

But now, listening to Li Mingshuo's words, it seems that this novel really does have its merits.

Moreover, Xu Yang had to be concerned that the author of this novel was Jiang Xian, whose works had never disappointed readers. Even his children's literature, such as "The Grass House," had given the literary world a tremendous shock.

"Let me see."

Xu Yang took the novel from Li Mingshuo and was quickly captivated by the words and dozens of illustrations on the page, becoming engrossed in it.

This happened six years ago. I've never told this story before. My friends were so happy to see I was still alive. I seemed very sad, but I told them, "It's from exhaustion."

My grief has subsided somewhat. That is to say, it hasn't completely subsided. I know he returned to his planet because I didn't find his body when dawn broke. Actually, his body wasn't very heavy. I love listening to the laughter of the stars at night. They're like five hundred million tiny bells.

There's something very important. When I drew the muzzle for the Little Prince, I forgot to add the belt! It can't be put over a sheep's mouth. So I was thinking, "What will happen to his planet? Maybe the sheep have already eaten the flower?"

Sometimes I tell myself, "Absolutely not! The Little Prince puts the flowers in the glass dome every night, and he takes good care of his sheep," and then I feel very happy. All the stars seem to be smiling warmly.

Sometimes I tell myself, "People get distracted all the time, once is enough! Maybe one night he forgot to put the glass dome back on, or maybe a sheep sneaked out in the middle of the night." And then all the little bells turn into tears.
This is truly a great mystery. Because somewhere we don't know, there's a sheep we've never met. Whether it ate a rose or not will affect how you and I, who also love the Little Prince, view the entire universe.
Look up at the night sky. Ask yourself: Has the sheep eaten that flower? You'll find that everything will be different.
No adult will understand how important this is!
In my opinion, this is the most beautiful and saddest scene in the world. It's the same scene as on the previous page, but I've drawn it again to leave a lasting impression on you. This is the place where the Little Prince appeared and disappeared on Earth.

Look carefully, and remember this place, for you may travel to that desert someday. If you happen to pass by here, I beg you, don't walk too fast, please linger for a moment under that star!

If a child walks towards you, if he's smiling, if he has blond curls, and if he never answers your questions, you should easily guess who he is. Please help me then! Don't make me so sad: please write to me quickly and tell me he's back.
When Xu Yang looked up again, it was already evening.

The light of dusk streamed through the office's glass windows, veiling the world before us as if in a thin gauze. Outlines melted into the dim light, leaving only hazy, swaying shadows.

The world seemed to have lost its edges, sinking into a chaotic warm color.

Xu Yang rubbed his eyes habitually, his vision becoming increasingly blurry. Feeling the cool mist on the back of his hand, he realized that his eyes had been filled with tears without him noticing.

The Little Prince came to Earth on the advice of a geographer. He landed in the desert, couldn't see anyone, and felt lonely. Then he met a snake.

He said to the snake, "The stars are so bright, is it so that everyone can one day return to their own planet? Look at my planet. It's right above us, but it's too far away!"

“It’s beautiful,” said the snake. “Why did you come here?”

“I don’t get along with a flower,” said the little prince.

"what!"

The two remained silent for a moment.

"Where are the people?" the little prince asked the snake again. "They're a little lonely in the desert."

The snake said, "Even among a crowd, one can feel lonely."

The little prince looked at it carefully for a long time.

"You're a strange creature," said the little prince. "You're about the size of a finger."

“But I am more powerful than the king’s finger,” said the snake. “I can take you to faraway places, farther than you can go by ship.”

As he spoke, the little prince's ankle, which was coiled on the snake, looked like a golden anklet.

"Whoever I touch will be sent back to where they came from, but you are pure, and you came from a star."
I feel sorry for you; you seem so fragile on this harsh earth. If you ever feel homesick in the future, I can help you. I can…

"Okay!"

The little prince said, "I understand what you mean, but why do you always say things like riddles?"

"Because I have all the answers." After the snake, the little prince walked in the desert and encountered a flower, a flower with three petals, a flower that was completely unimportant.

He asked Hua, "Excuse me, is anyone there?"

The flower said, “People? I saw six or seven a few years ago. But you don’t know where to find them. The wind blew them here. They have no roots, which makes them very distressed.”

Then, the Little Prince climbed a high mountain, hoping to see all of humanity, but he could only see cliffs and hear his own echo.

He waved to the cliff, and the echo replied to him.

The Little Prince said "Hello," and the echo said "Hello" too. The Little Prince asked, "Who are you?" and the echo asked, "Who are you?"

Finally, the Little Prince said, "This planet is very strange! It is very dry, the terrain is very rugged, and the air is very salty."

Moreover, the people here lack imagination.

They'll just repeat what you tell them. On my planet, I have a flower, and she always speaks first.

The Little Prince crossed deserts, rocks, and snowfields, and finally found a path leading to a rose garden.

He was astonished to see thousands upon thousands of roses blooming in the rose garden, each one exactly like his own.

He thought, "I used to think I was very rich, possessing a unique flower, but she's just a rose. This flower, plus three volcanoes that are only as tall as my knees, one of which may never erupt again, isn't enough to make me a truly great prince."

Thinking about all this, he lay down on the grass and cried in despair, because his rose was not unique.

Just then, the fox appeared.

This is the longest chapter in the entire novel, and also Xu Yang's favorite part of the whole story.

The little prince wanted to play with the fox, but the fox said no, because he had not been "tamed".

The little prince wondered, "What does 'domestication' mean?"
“This is something that is often forgotten,” the fox explained. “It means ‘creating relationships.’”

For example, to me, you are just a child, no different from thousands of other children.

I don't need you. You don't need me either.

To you, I am nothing more than a fox, no different from thousands of other foxes.

But if you tame me, then we will need each other.

You are unique to me, and I am unique to you.

After listening, the little prince said he understood. He told the fox that there was a flower that had tamed him.

After the little prince finished telling her story, the fox sighed and said that her life was very monotonous. She hunted chickens, and people hunted her. All chickens were the same, and all people were the same. She was getting a little tired of it.

So she wanted the Little Prince to tame her.

"If you tame me, my life will be filled with sunshine. I will be able to distinguish a different kind of footstep. Other people's footsteps will make me hide underground. But your footsteps will be as beautiful as music, and will make me come out of my cave. And look. Do you see that wheat field? I don't eat bread. Wheat is useless to me. Wheat fields won't remind me of anything. That's sad! But your hair is golden. So it's wonderful that you've come to tame me! The wheat is golden too, and then it will remind me of you. I love the sound of the wind blowing through the wheat."

She asked the Little Prince to tame her, so the Little Prince asked her what he should do.

"You need to be very patient."

The fox said, “First, you must sit a little far away from me, like this, on the grass. I will watch you secretly, and you must not speak. Language is the root of misunderstanding. But every day you must sit a little closer to me.”

The Little Prince returned the next day.

"You should be at the same time every day."

The fox said, “For example, if you come at four o’clock in the afternoon, I will start to be very happy at three o’clock. The closer the time gets, the happier I will be. By four o’clock, I will become very anxious and restless; I have discovered the price of happiness. But if you come at a different time every day, I will not know when to start looking forward to your arrival.”

Finally, the fox said, "We need a ritual."

The little prince asked her, "What is a ritual?"

“This is something that is often forgotten,” said the fox.

The last one that is often forgotten is "domestication".

“It makes one day different from other days, one moment different from other moments. For example, the hunters have a ritual. Every Thursday, they dance with the girls in the village. So Thursday is a wonderful day! I can go for a walk in the vineyard. But if the hunters didn’t dance on a fixed day, and all the days were the same, then I wouldn’t have a holiday.”

Finally, the Little Prince successfully tamed the fox, but soon they had to part ways.

The fox said she wanted to cry, and the little prince said it was her fault for insisting that he tame her, and now she hadn't gotten anything in return.

The fox said no, she benefited because of the color of the wheat.

She told the Little Prince to go and look at the roses again, and then come back to her. She said she would give him a gift, and that now the Little Prince would understand that his rose was unique.

So the little prince went to the rose garden. He looked at the roses and realized that no one had tamed these roses, nor had they tamed anyone. No one was willing to die for them, so they were just ordinary roses, unlike his roses, which he had watered, covered with a glass dome, sheltered from the wind, and killed the caterpillars for.
After saying this, the little prince went back to find the fox.

"Goodbye," he said.
"Goodbye."

The fox said, “This is my secret. It’s very simple: one can only see clearly with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would remember this saying.

"It is the time you have spent on your rose that makes your rose so important."

"That is the time I have wasted for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would remember the words.

"Humanity has forgotten this truth."

The fox said, "But you must never forget. You are always responsible for what you tame. You are responsible for your rose."

"I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would remember the phrase.
(End of this chapter)