1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 567 "Going Home"

"Is this really just a children's book?" Xu Yang was deeply shocked after reading this part of the story.

Jiang Xian uses a very "cartoonish" and fantastical children's story to tell two different kinds of love.

Undoubtedly, both the little prince's rose and the fiery red fox loved him.

They just express their love in different ways.

The love of roses is proud:

The Little Prince: "You're so beautiful!"

Rose: "I just woke up, please forgive me for not being dressed and made up yet."

The Little Prince: "You are perfect."

Rose: "Of course, I was born at the same time as the sun."
The rose, immersed in the Little Prince's love, was proud. She was a bit like a pretentious little woman, always deliberately trying to get the Little Prince to praise her. But the Little Prince's love for the rose was not diminished by the rose's pride.

The love of a fox exudes a mature charm.

She taught the Little Prince how to be loved, and she also taught him how to love others.

The little prince said sadly and even resentfully, "My rose is just an ordinary rose, but she told me she is the only rose in the whole universe."

The fox finally told him, "It is the time you have spent on your rose that makes your rose so important."

You are always responsible for what you tame, you are responsible for your rose.

The love of a fox is about tolerance and giving.

However, because of the fox's maturity and rationality, the fox's love is destined to be empty.

In Xu Yang's view, the rose tamed the Little Prince, and the fox was tamed by the Little Prince, which symbolizes their positions in each other's love.

Between the rose and the Little Prince, the rose is the one who is loved.

Between the fox and the little prince, the little prince is the one who is loved.

"If you allow yourself to be tamed, you're bound to shed tears," Xu Yang couldn't help but sigh.

What Xu Yang admired most was that Jiang Xian did not ruin the image of the fox because of the adult world's ways. He wrote the fox as a facilitator. She fell in love with the Little Prince, but was unwilling to possess him against his wishes, so she preferred to let the Little Prince and the rose be together.

This love transcends romantic love, and the fox's image goes beyond that of a lover; she is more like a wise woman, guiding the Little Prince to understand the essence of life.

Likes and tames.

Happiness and ritual.

Departure and tears.

Effort and emotion.

Domestication and responsibility.

In Xu Yang's view, Jiang Xian's Little Prince is already a masterpiece of extremely high quality, and the appearance of the fox elevates the novel's meaning to another level.

After leaving the fox, the little prince met a switchman, and together they watched the train carrying hurried adults to and fro.

"Are they unhappy with where they are?" the little prince asked.

"People are never satisfied with where they are," the switchman said.

Only children know what they need.

The Little Prince said, "They spend so much time on their dolls that they think they are very important. If someone takes their dolls away, they cry."
"That's really sharp." Xu Yang couldn't help but exclaim. Jiang Xian wrote "The Little Prince" so well. Every detail in the whole story uses a child's perspective to satirize the adult world.

Later, the Little Prince met a merchant selling thirst-quenching pills. The merchant said that taking the pills would save him 53 minutes of drinking time each week. The Little Prince asked, "What can I do with those 53 minutes?" The merchant told him, "Do whatever you want." The Little Prince shook his head.

"If I had fifty-three minutes, I would rather slowly walk toward a spring of sweet water."

This metaphor! Xu Yang couldn't help but applaud Jiang Xian.

At the end of the novel, on the eighth day that "I," the pilot, was repairing the plane in the desert, "I" drank the last drop of water while listening to the businessman's story.

So "I" and the Little Prince searched for a well under the moonlight for several hours.

Just when I was in despair, the Little Prince suddenly said, "The stars in the sky are so beautiful, because there is a flower that we cannot see."

I nodded, and then I heard him say:

"The desert is so beautiful because it hides a well somewhere."

It was his words that inspired and empowered me, allowing me to find a well before I was dying of thirst.

Having obtained the water, the story came to an end. Jiang Xian stopped telling the Little Prince's experiences and stories, because the remaining experiences were all about the Little Prince and "me".

In Xu Yang's opinion, Jiang Xian's writing was skillful and well-written, with a very comfortable pace, slowly narrating the last memory the Little Prince left for "me".

他 说:

“The people here can plant five thousand roses in their garden but still not find what they want.”

However, what they are looking for may be hidden in a rose or a drop of water. But the eyes cannot see it; one must search with the heart.

他 说:

You must keep your promise.

You know, I should draw a muzzle on my sheep. I'm responsible for my flowers!

他 说:

"Do you know? Tomorrow will mark the one-year anniversary of my arrival on Earth."

He paused for a moment, then said:

"I landed near this spot."

Upon seeing this, Xu Yang felt a sudden pang in his heart, and his eyes began to well up with tears.

Because both Xu Yang and the "I" in the book understood why the pilot encountered the Little Prince walking alone in the desert.
He wants to return to the place where he landed!

He's leaving!
Xu Yang felt a strong sense of reluctance to part with it.

He couldn't quite explain his feelings. Although it was only a few tens of thousands of words long, he really loved the character of the Little Prince.

He liked the little guy who blushed when he didn't know how to answer a question.

Thinking deeper, perhaps he saw his childhood self in the Little Prince.

In Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince," Xu Yang finally reconnected with "himself," so how could he accept the separation at this moment?
On the last day the Little Prince spent with "me", he asked the pilot to repair the plane and told him to come back to find him the next evening.

When "I" arrived here the next day, I saw the Little Prince on the sand where he had landed, where a snake had bitten him, and then his body fell down silently.

I held him in my arms; he looked like a wounded bird struggling for its last breath. He said:
"You've finally fixed your machine, you can go home now. I'm going home today too."

Then he smiled sadly.

"I have the sheep you gave me. I have a box to hold the sheep. I have a muzzle."

"In the future, you can look up at the stars at night."

"My planet is too small to show you."

"That's even better. To you, my star is just one of many. That way, when you see all the stars, you'll like them and they'll become your friends. Also, I've prepared a gift for you."

"To everyone else, the stars are silent. Only your star is different from everyone else's."

"When you look up at the night sky, because I live on a certain star, because I laugh on a certain star, it will seem to you that all the stars are laughing, and then you will have a laughing star!"

Finally he said:
"Do you know, my flower... I'm responsible for her! She's so fragile! She's so innocent. She only has four thorns to protect herself."

In the end, the Little Prince "goes home" in this way—back to his planet and his rose.

It was precisely this last part of the novel, these last three chapters, the abundant emotions conveyed in these words, and the simple words spoken by the Little Prince, that deeply moved Xu Yang.

He closed the book and pondered, recalling the contents of the novel. He couldn't help but look out the window, but unfortunately it wasn't dark yet and he couldn't see the stars. Otherwise, he would have really wanted to guess which star the Little Prince was smiling at him from.

Xu Yang wondered if it was also dusk on the Little Prince's planet at this moment.

He loves watching the sunset.

He said that when he is sad or upset, he likes to watch the sunset.

When he misses "me," he might watch the sunset for a while. This wouldn't be difficult for him; he would just need to move his chair a little.

correct.

It's all my fault, this careless guy!

Xu Yang felt extremely anxious whenever he thought about it.

Because I forgot to add a strap to the muzzle I drew for the Little Prince, the muzzle could not be put on the sheep's mouth at all!

This is a big deal!
What if the sheep is greedy and eats the Little Prince's rose? That rose only has four thorns to protect itself.
There are also foxes.

Now that the Little Prince is gone, all that's left for the fox is a memory. No matter how cool the breeze, how sweet the wheat fields, or how green the meadows, without the Little Prince, all of this scenery will probably lose its beauty.

She could no longer wait for that person who would arrive at four o'clock every day and make her happy from three o'clock onwards.
"Xu Yang, how's it going? How's the manuscript?" Li Mingshuo asked impatiently when he noticed that Xu Yang had finished reading the last line.

Xu Yang wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, composed himself slightly, coughed lightly, and then said, "It's really well written. No wonder it's Jiang Xian's novel."

"Right!" Seeing that "The Little Prince" had gained another loyal "follower," Li Mingshuo's eyes were full of excitement. "This novel really proves the saying, 'Literature is a precious treasure.' This novel is not only readable and thought-provoking, but it also has a predictive quality for society. I think this novel cannot be limited to just a children's literature work. This, this is simply a masterpiece!"

"."

When Xu Yang heard Li Mingshuo call Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince" a masterpiece, he didn't say anything, but he didn't refute it either. Although Li Mingshuo's tone was a bit exaggerated, how much better could those works that could be called masterpieces be than Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince"?
"Hurry up and send the manuscript over. Don't lose it. Jiang Xian's article might be able to be rewritten, but these precious illustrations will be difficult to recreate," Xu Yang said.

“Yes, you’re right.” Li Mingshuo nodded.

What makes this "Little Prince" so precious is not only Jiang Xian's writing, but also the more than sixty illustrations drawn by his daughter. These illustrations may not be exquisite, but they are definitely not something an adult who has lost his childlike heart could have drawn.

You can immediately see the childlike quality in these paintings, that innocent and carefree feeling.

Li Mingshuo felt that Jiang Xian's idea of ​​having his daughter draw the illustrations was also a clever design.

Because in the novel's setting, "I" am someone whose dream of becoming a painter was stifled when I was six years old, so "I" have never drawn anything other than the overall and cross-sectional drawings of "a python swallowing an elephant".

Against this backdrop, "my" drawing skills were still at the level of a six-year-old. Therefore, even the Little Prince complained that "I" had never drawn anything except for boa constrictors with "open bellies" and "closed bellies".

"Your baobab tree looks like a cabbage."

"Your fox... its ears look a bit like ram horns and they're drawn too long."

These texts cleverly complement the illustrations, revealing the noteworthy flaws in Jiang Xian's daughter's illustrations.

Therefore, the illustrations in this novel are definitely not just illustrations drawn by Jiang Xian's daughter based on his designs. These illustrations and text are truly interactive, complementary, and integrated into one!
This also made Li Mingshuo realize another great and precious aspect of Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince".

That means this "Little Prince" is not a far-fetched story of a father and daughter co-authoring a novel!
Because the novel fully realizes the communication between text and illustrations in terms of content.

So this is truly a novel co-authored by a father and daughter in the strictest sense!
Li Mingshuo couldn't help but wonder if Jiang Xian had been influenced or inspired by his daughter during the creative process, or if he had written some of his daughter's casual remarks into the novel.

He was eager to hear Jiang Xian talk about the creative process behind this novel.

Meanwhile, Xu Yang suddenly exclaimed, "What do you think is the point of our writers' class?"

"Huh?" Li Mingshuo didn't understand what Xu Yang meant.

Xu Yang quickly explained, "Our writing class has been running for so long, with so many writers as students and so many experts and professors as lecturers, but in the end, the works written by our students are not as good as those written by someone who has never attended a single class."

"His."

Li Mingshuo was deeply hurt by Xu Yang's words.

Isn't it?

As a teacher in the writing class, he had roughly read through most of the students' graduation projects.

After reading Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince," Li Mingshuo felt a stark contrast to the works of his students when he looked back at them.

These students used the most avant-garde and experimental writing styles, just like peacocks displaying their tail feathers, constantly showcasing their cutting-edge writing techniques.

Let's look at Jiang Xian's novel again.

A pioneer?
An experiment?
Li Mingshuo suddenly remembered what level the most powerful martial arts masters in the popular Jin Yong novels were at.
There is no trick to win without a trick.

(End of this chapter)