安徒生童话的英语读后感（最新20篇）

"Mom always said life is just like a box of chocoles. Youll never know what you gonna get."

Ever find the grind of life getting you down? Is the day-to-day struggle threatening to drag you under? If so, there is a movie out there that can replenish your energy and refresh your outlook. Passionate and magical, Forrest Gump is a tonic for the weary of spirit. For those who feel that being set adrift in a season of action movies is like wandering into a desert, the oasis lies ahead.

Forrest Gump who is unfortunately to be born with a lower IQ and the muscle problem, usually, people always think this kind of person cant be successful in doing anything. But, instead, this unlucky man has achieved lots of incredible success, he is a football star, a war hero, and later a millionaire!

In the contention of the best picture of the 67th Oscar Award in 1995, film Have got six Grand Prixes , such as the best picture , the best actor , the best achievement in directing , adapting drama , the best achievement in film editing and the best visual effect bestly ,etc. at one blow . The film was passed to a intellectual disturbance person the description of life has reflected every aspect of U.S.A.s life, important incident of social political life make and represent to these decades such as U.S.A. from one unique angle. Film adapt Winston novel of the same name of Groom since.

Forrest Gump mould incarnation of virtue is honest keeping ones word , conscientiously , brave paying attention to emotioning among film. In the film, Forrest Gump is a very pure image, but Jenny has become the degenerate symbol. And write the great discrepancy originally in this. To all that narrated, since beginning all behave with a kind of tender feeling and well-meaning attitude after all for the film, having even joined poesy composition, this makes the film seem soft and have no injury. The film advocates to traditional moral concept and embodiment. Make film apt to accept by people, director superb lay out skill and film application of language make the film very attractive too. Success with commercial for film content of the film has given security, and the treatment on directors art makes the film more excellent, this is reason that the film succeeds. It was the box-office hits the most in that year to become U.S.A. in

Little Women

Before I read this book, I had watched a cartoon movie made by Japan. So I have a strong interest on it.

It all begins in the dead of winter; The Christmas Season. The coldest one of all, were the war has made fuel for heating very scarce. While her husband is off at war, Marmee is left alone to raise their four daughters: Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy.

On Christmas Eve, Marmee has just arrived home from passing out food to the less fortunate with a letter from her husband, the girls father. The all gather together around the fire to read the letter. Afterwards, the girls are teary eyed. Marmee kisses them and they are off to bed.

Jo is longing to become a writer. So, every night she stays up late writing the script for soap operas. As morning comes she is the last one awake. The table is set, and food prepared for their Christmas feast.

As dusk falls, the girls are all up in the attic acting out Jos play, which she reads from the local (fake) newspaper. As they are performing, their rich, next-door neighbors grandson watches from the window.

The 2 oldest girls: Jo and Meg, get ready to attend the Christmas Ball. While Jo is curling Megs hair, there is a strange smell to the air. Amy screams, Megs hair is being singed. They continue digging through the old clothes bin for a pair of white gloves.

One of the prominent themes in Little Women is the coming of age or maturation of the girls. During the course of the novel we see them grow in many ways -- physically, intellectually, and especially emotionally. One question which readers must ask themselves is whether the views the characters have on the coming of age process are shared by Alcott. If they arent, what are Alcotts views and how do they differ from those of the women in her story?

It is interesting to examine the last half of Chapter 20, "Confidential." Jo addresses the maturation issue as she speaks with Marmee of the situation between Meg and Mr. Brooke. The possible love between these two represents one of the very important aspects in coming of age for a teenage girl. Jo treats this natural process as if it were some sort of disease, however. Jo cannot understand why Meg would want to stop behaving "like a sensible creature" (p.202)， and refers to love as "such nonsense."

Recently, I read a book, "father and son", which tells the story of urchin, father, and an innocent son.

The book is a work of Russian critical realism. Among them, what impressed me most is the final chapters: father and son later became famous, they just started, very happy, but later, they discovered that others do what they look like and what is not good, so they feel that they are not the one and only the father and son, because this feeling empty son, the father said: "Daddy, I want to go to heaven." Father to son, son of holding hands, non-stop walking, they finally went to heaven, my father became the moon, the son became a star in the end, the author said that if the kids love the father and the son, not every night looking at the sky!

Family, two simple words, but contains the blood and water deep feeling. However, we still have some people around, do not know how to cherish, parents hard to pull you up, and you do not know how to repay, perhaps parents do not seek repayment, but you have a heart of gratitude do not have it? A warm word, a big hug, a deep kiss...... Sometimes the family to erase the happy memories, raised us so many years, whether rich or poor, parents will cherish you, cherish this God given happiness.

Family affection, friendship...... The two indispensable "love", the two contains happiness "love", in this book reflected, also by the author with affectionate ink painting out, let us open the hands, the precious things in our arms!

statue of the legislation in the city center onto a piece of pure gold. His eyes are two bright sapphires, there is a big ruby in his hand holds the hilt on sparkling. Can to help poor people, the Flying Swallow with the help of the pure gold and precious stones film gave people in need of help. Finally, the Flying Swallow has been frozen to death. The Happy Prince is also due to dilapidated and were removed. Later, someone asked The Happy Prince: Do you help others, they destroyed themselves, worth it? The Happy Prince without regret to say: As long as I have made to give others happiness, I have been happier. Is certainly worthwhile.

Yes ah, this is how a simple if it! Others happy, is his happiness. Our happiness based on other people"s happiness above. Britain"s Prince Fan Zhongyan ancients of China"s first and worry about all over the world, after everyone else to enjoy, the famous saying. Which is not that we are advocating the moral life it?

On the initiative of such thinking, in our lives appear as numerous as the Happy Prince, it is respected.

However, I can not do. I am afraid of hardship, fear of pay. In a school clean-up, I only taught me the work, it was unwilling to help the students complete the common task of tired and dirty. Normally, also pick and choose in the labor, the lack of the spirit to endure hardship. In learning too afraid repeatedly practicing the task view. Do not want to study in depth.

Today truly understand: I the usual so-called happiness and the Happy Prince"s happiness is essentially the difference.

小学英语作为近几年新增设的科目，在肩负英语启蒙和为以后进一步学习大基础的重任的同时，又面临着检验匮乏，教学对象年龄小，注意力，接受，分辨能力相对较低等重多困难。那么，怎么才能克服困难，有效良好地进行小学英语教学呢？我认为应在分析学生的年龄特征、心理、注意力等特征的前提下，精心设计组织教学。而其中，游戏的运用尤其重要。现行小学英语教材就充分认识到了这一点，在整册教学内容中，几乎在每课都穿插有游戏。

游戏在小学英语教学中有着多方面的重要的作用。

一、 激发兴趣，活跃气氛，吸引注意力

一节好课不是老师一味的讲，学生一味的听，而应是有静有动，动静相结合的，小学设管内的天性是好动的，要让他们端端正正的坐着听四十分钟，是很难办到的。即使做到了也收不到良好的教学效果。同时还可能压抑了他们的个性，影响了他们的学习兴趣，此外，心理研究表明，小学生的注意力稳定性较差。最好的也只能保持30分钟，况且长时的有意注意容易使人感到枯燥乏味，投入程度也不会高，如果在教学中结合教师的讲解，适当地安排一些游戏，为孩子们提供一个动的舞台，把他们的思维和身体从疲劳、紧张中解放出来，使他们涣散的注意被吸引过来，在轻松愉快的气氛中完成学习任务。例如，在学习人身体部位名称时，刚开始学生们觉得新鲜，兴趣很浓，热情还很高，但随着单词加多，听讲和读的时间加长，他们感到很疲乏，觉得没意思了，注意力也不能很好地集中了。这时，我适时地加入了“听口令，做动作”的游戏，一听说要做游戏，孩子们立刻变得活跃起来，注意力又集中了，在随后“touch your head” “stamp your feet” “wave your arm”的口令中，他们一会摸头，一会跺脚，一会挥胳膊，忙得不亦乐乎，最终在笑声中记住了个部位的名称。

二、 创设情景，加深记忆

一种语言习惯的习得，必须是在一定的语言背景和情景中完成，这些仅靠课文中提供的情景对话是远远不够的。那些对话是别人的，学生只是一个扮演者和朗读者，因为没有心灵的感受和理解，许多人不能很好地融入其中。游戏就弥补了之不足。它不仅为学生提供了情境，语境，还让学生们真正地成为“主人公”亲身经历资：料；来/源，于ＧＺＵ５２１学：习；网 http：//Ｇzｕ５２1。COm，这对他们的记忆又是一大帮助，如果为了记忆只是一味地重复练习，他们就只能是机械地记忆，而这种记忆是很难保持的，但如果将所学的内容安排在他们积极从事着的活动中去，成为活动的直接对象，这样，因为是他们亲自感受体验，直接参与了的，记忆效果受识记时的情绪状态的影响。情绪状态较佳时对记忆作用明显。这一研究结果提示我们，在教学时，应该重视情境，愉快地教学，这又如何做到呢？游戏便为我们提供了一条捷径。在教学中开展多种多样轻松幽默的游戏，使他们在笑声中学会英语。

三、 训练口语，发展思维

英语的学习不仅仅是记忆、理解、书写，还要能够说出来，能够正确流利地说出来。这是重点也难点。对于初学英语的人来说，更是难上加难。他们往往心理紧张，没有自信，不敢开口。更别说在课后生活中运用了。要攻破这个拦路虎，首先必须给学生一个没有压力的轻松环境，消除内心的紧张与害怕，同时，鼓励他们进行语言交流，在运用语言与其他人互相讲话时，学习的内容会丰富起来，游戏就恰恰能够做到这些。游戏给了学生接近生活，轻松愉快的环境，带给他们描述、表达、说明的欲望，在不知不觉中训练了口语，这些都比学生自己读教材重复教师的话有价值得多。

语言与思维之间存在密切的关系，游戏在联系课本词汇的同时，促使学生准确地表达思想感情，把他们所学的语言词汇合理地组织，适当地安排，准确地表达，这个过程，丰富了他们的词汇，丰富了他们的的感性经验，推动了思维的灵活性、逻辑性的发展。

此外，游戏给了学生想象和思考的空间，激发了他们的想象力和思考能力。如在教学“friendship”时，为了让他们深刻理解记忆这个单词的含义，我采用了画图的游戏，就是把这个单词的意思用画图表示出来。因为“friendship”的概念是抽象的，没有实物可以比拟，这样就不能照猫画虎了。只能凭借自己的脑子去思考去想象。有的学生想象了一个有关友谊的故事，画了一幅漫画，有的想到了恩格斯和马克思的友谊，画了两幅肖像；有的想到了一句古诗“桃花潭水深千尺，不及汪伦送我情”，并且惟妙惟肖地画了出来，以次来体现“friendship”的含义这样，学生们充分发挥了他们的想象和思考的能力，深刻地理解了单词的意义，思维能力也得到了进一步发展。

四、 培养情感，发展能力

在教学中，有趣的游戏活动，可以养成学生热爱生活，开朗乐观的生活态度，能够让学生有机会感受生活的多姿多彩，有机会展现自己的生命活力和丰富想象力，创造力，从而树立自信心和自豪感。在游戏活动中，学生与他人合作交流，使其体验到团结、友爱、互助、荣誉感、责任感，进取心等积极的情感。比如，在角色扮演的游戏中，使其学习表达各种社会角色的情感，在画画游戏中进一步发展了他们的美感，此外，游戏中还存在一个如何协调的问题，如何制定游戏规则和如何违反规则进行处罚的问题，学生们需要自主地讨论和解决这个问题。这个过程中他们的组织能力、协调能力等都得以锻炼，同时这队学生的独立性、正义感都有潜移默化的作用。

以上是游戏在小学英语教学中四方面的作用，除此之外，还有其他作用，这根据游戏形式、内容的不同而异，当然，并不是所有游戏都能起到了这些作用。这就要求我们在教学中精心选择、组织，恰当安排，以使其取得最佳效果。

前几天，我们做了一篇《夏洛的网》梗概的阅读短文，里面主人公夏洛和威尔伯的友情深深打动了我，周末便去书店买回了一本《夏洛的网》

故事是这样的：一只落脚小猪威尔伯，在谷仓里过着平静而又寂寞的生活，直到有一天，他结识了朋友——夏洛。展开了对威尔伯的补救——她吐丝在网上织字“王牌猪”、“了不起”、“光彩照人”、“谦卑”。当她织完最后的字时，生命也随之结束了，只留下了她的网和五百四十个卵。从此，威尔伯不再为性命担忧，也不再寂寞——因为有夏洛的子孙在他身边。

看完这本书，我深深地被感动了。书中的夏洛让我最为感动。夏洛虽为蜘蛛，但她善良，甘愿为友谊付出一切，这点让她拯救了朋友威尔伯的性命，也使她活出了自己生命的意义，让有限的生命体现出无限的价值。

夏洛就像她在在临死前编织的网一样——“谦卑”。夏洛她谦虚，不自高自大。夏洛默默为威尔伯付出了这么多，却一句怨言也没有。她不求回报，因为，真正的友谊是不需要任何回报的。也正是友谊这神奇的力量，让夏洛为了威尔伯，织出了这一件又一件爱的作品。这难道不是世界上最真挚的友谊吗？也正如文中写到：“威尔伯永远忘不了夏洛。它虽然热爱它的子女，孙子女，曾孙子女，可是这些新蜘蛛没有一只能取代夏洛在它心中的位置。夏洛是无可比拟的。”夏洛为威尔伯付出了太多太多，甚至献出了自己的生命，这样跨越生死的友谊，怎能不让人敬佩呢？

读了这本书，我真切地感受到了什么是真正的友谊，也明白了真正的友谊至死不变。我想，我们应该向夏洛学习。她虽然只是一只又小又卑微的蜘蛛，却能做出如此多令我们人类为之感叹的事。我也要珍惜小学这最后的时光，珍惜这最后的友情。

今年暑假我看了张秋生写的《小巴掌童话》，看了很多遍还想看，真是百看不厌。《小巴掌童话》顾名思义，就是像巴掌一样大小的童话，每篇都是简短的几句话。可虽然是简短的几句话却蕴含着大道理!

《快乐的青蛙和阴郁的老鼠》就是一个不错的例子：一只青蛙和一只老鼠相遇了，青蛙很乐观，老鼠却总是很阴郁。因为命运相反，所以一只很快乐，一只很阴郁。但凡事都要乐观一点。不要老低着头，抬起头，就能看见阳光。

还有《河马先生的魔术帽》也不错。河马先生表演魔术，狐狸见兔子摸出一只鸽子，就流着口水让河马先生给他摸。结果摸出一只刺猬，还把他的手扎了，扎肿了。不要贪心，否则等着你的不是奖励，而是惩罚。所以，做人要学会知足。

希望张秋生的《小巴掌童话》能带给你们许多快乐，并让你们学会许多道理，给你们更多的启迪。

Life such as the siege.Republishes from 1980 to now, scholars qianzhongshu unique novel fortress besieged has remained constant: sell like hot cakes in November 1980 after the first run of 130000 copies, total sales of 3.98 million copies to date.More was adapted into a novel flow, TV series and other art forms, research works and papers are also countless.Or impact from sales, fortress besieged is a unique scenery, in the history of 30 years of reading as a model of intellectuals novels, fortress besieged has affected the generations of readers.

The author in "besieged city" title, perhaps is to want to tell us: marriage is like siege, not only life, life, career, etc. More like the siege.In fact, we have been going round in circles, repeat do the same thing;Find a cage shut yourself up and soon found that the scenery there than here as well, and out of the cage into the cage.So repeated and enthusiasm.

I watched Hachiko: A Dog’s Story days ago, eyes filling with tear. It’s really a fantasticly moving film.

The plot went as: A college professor (Richard Gere) took in an abandoned dog and they formed an unbreakable bond. The dog arrived daily at the correct time at the station, to meet his owner. After the professor died while away from home, the dog kept vigil waiting for his master for nearly a decade.

To wait for your love for a decade, which contains almost the whole life-time of Hachi, it’s an incredible dedication that we human beings never has. This is why the film strikes us a lot.

No one has the ability to show his love to only one person during his whole life, let alone make friends with only one people; have the food that never changes year by year; do the same damn thing without complaining and conciousness of exhaustion. We can’t! However, what we could learn from Hachi is that we should never forget the one we once loved.

A detail in the movie catches my eyes. One day when professor was on his way to school, Hachi fetched the tennis ball as he was taught years ago. But during the last several years, he never did like that, because to fetch a ball in this way is not his instinct. Why Hachi did so? He wants to entertain his master for more palatable food, for a hug? I’m afraid not.

Research and statistics prove that pets are more sensitive in human’s potantial deseases than us do. Hachi fetched that ball because he knew that his master is going to die because of his heart desease. It’s his only way to hold him back.

Hachi has been waiting in the weeds, waiting for his only fellow to walk him home. His hope has been floating in the breeze, carrying his loneliness and misery all above the ground. Maybe professor knows, but he could never come back.

the novel describes is nearly 60 year, when the fisherman fishing, senior alone in a big fish, actually not pull. senior fisherman socialization, after a fish that this is a big marlin, beyond your fishing several folding, though clearly hard to win, but dont give up. later in the big marlin wound bring some of the fish suspicious of sharks smell groups, but the old man still snatch food hope not give up, and finally emphasizes surround close, returned to the big fish, let the other fisherman fishing is admired.

when i read the "senior fisherman thought: heres coast is really too close, maybe there will be a bigger fish in further..." i appreciate this senior fishermen, because now he has cast in some fish, but he still was not solved, the present situation, but very close to goals. look, we often encounter a slightly is difficult, we are complaining nonstop. in the future, we will be the motherland, so it should be the old ideas, will be more lofty aspiration, for a better, more goals.

when i read "the big marlin began to rapidly around the young fishing boats, cable suspension of mast twisting, old man exalted to the right hand of gangcha, leapt high flash, and the maximum throw it to heart, wail over fish, it is the life of the static static float on water......" i also like the stone falls in together. i appreciate the old man do not fear, unremitting spirit power, although know this game is very strong, but he isnt popular flinches slightly, but more intractable. just because of this spirit, to finish the senior fishermen life and death of the competition. we must also learn advanced fishermans spiritual life, do not fear the difficulty, the only thing that can succeed.

reading the big fish smells blood is the crowd, sharks swam grab food, the old man left, he can just twitching, with a stick with your right hand, mouth are permitted use of weapons to attack and defend the expelled the sharks. but the big fish eat meat has a most, but also his left hand charmingly criticized the work time is actually "time, i also subject to old optimism. in our life, some losses are inevitable, we should take an optimistic attitude toward to compute.

finally, through a youth novel looked for 18 feet of senior fishermen, describe the marlins up the fish hugeness, explained the senior fisherman is not difficult, more common.

the novel extol spirit senior fisherman fear hard and dangerous to fight, we will not like him, who cant satisfy the present situation, should actively, do anything is relentless, difficulty, may be welcome difficult never stop halfway. only in this way can we achieve greater success and victory.

在今年暑假里，老师给我们推荐了好几本阅读书目，其中一本叫《小巴掌童话》。这本书是由张秋生爷爷写的，由于其中的童话情节非常引人，所以我对张爷爷也特别感兴趣。于是我查阅了他的相关资料，知道了张爷爷是上海人，如果他活着的话，现在应该快80岁了。他曾担任了许多与写作有关的职务，写了很多书，获了很多文学奖。

在《小巴掌童话》里，有令我们想象不到的许多有趣的故事。读完每一个故事，我总能从中领悟到一些道理，如读完《建筑糊涂蛋》的故事，我感受到了做任何事都不要粗心大意才可能做好的道理;读完《小精灵念错了咒语》的故事，我知道了一个人要幸福和快乐，不是看拥有多少财富，而是要努力帮助别人的道理;读完《躲在树上的雨》的故事，我明白了别人不开心的时候，我们要主动给予帮助。

在这些故事里，我最喜欢的是《会咬人的被子》。它讲的是一只小熊早上起来从不折被子，床上常常显得乱七八糟的样子。有一天中午，他上床去睡觉，刚把脚伸进被窝里，却被藏在其中的一只小老鼠狠狠地咬了一口，就在小熊痛得哇哇大叫的时候，小老鼠趁机溜之大吉了。从此小老鼠改掉了起床不折被子的坏习惯，由此看来，我们一些好习惯的养成还得靠强迫才行啊!

同学们，如果你要读课外书，就先从读《小巴掌童话》开始吧，因为它会让你爱上读书的。

the Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingways most enduring works and may very well become one of the true classics of this generation. It played a GREat part in his winning the Pulizer Prize in 1953 and the 1954 Novel Prize for Literature and confirmed his power and presence in the literary world. Hemingway is also one of my favorite writers. Besides The Old Man And the Sea, I have read some of his other works, such as The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and The Snow of Kilimanijaro. But The Old Man and the Sea is the one that left the deepest impression on me.

I first read this book when I was in my fifteens. And now I remember it just as well as if I had read it yesterday.

Pride and Prejudice is a chefdoeuvre.

My first impression of this story was from screen.

Its long long ago, maybe before I can read english books. I dont remember which movie edition I had seen. But I was impressed by the music, the scenery and the costume. I was very favor of a section of music in its balls. Its pretty brisk, liked a wonderful song of a bird. Regarding to the characters, I liked Elizabeth, the heroine,though I didnt think shes beautiful. But shes smart. However, I didnt pay much attention to the plot. I thought its so long that it made me impatient and bored. By now, I havent read the whole story in English or its Chinese version, either. I owe it to my prejudice.

In fact, I didnt understand the story at that time. I didnt know why it called Pride and Prejudice. Of course someone was pride, but I didnt find where s the prejudice. I thought its normal, the way people treated each other in that. I considered prejudice would be very disgusting. But to the movie everthing was OK in my minds, except its length. Now, I think I have understood more about it. Im a prejudiced person so I cant find wheres wrong. I merely like to do the things I like. Everytime I meet somebody or something,my thinking about he or it all depends on my foregone experience and my mood of the time.

"The great gatsby is a harbor of" American dream "in the literature writer Fitzgeralds works, Fitzgerald said his own extraordinary, with his parents is different also, dont even think of themselves as the son of parents, he has come from the self Platonic idea.

In this article, the hero that gatsby is a unique thought of the people, he also have Platonic love. He put himself as the son of god, he thought he should be gods career service, his pursuit of a "vast, secular, ostentation of beauty", obviously he imagine himself become Christs character. Seventeen, he decided to change name, from the original James gates to jay gatsby, jay gatsby is said to be English Jesus, God ` s boy pronunciation variation. But the irony is that, from the moment he changed his name, he began to pursue the so-called beauty and kindness, also began his tragic life. He saw Daisy buchanan as he pursues the incarnation of beauty. When he saw her, he knew that she had put his ideal and his life together. He knew his heart to heart with god, must be single-minded, never heart side wu chi. When he kissed her for the first time, "she is just like a flower bloom for him, and the embodiment of this ideal is done." On Daisy, gatsbys dream became flesh and blood. He desire and Daisy together to realize their dreams.

However, Daisy cannot act as the role. She is a just a miss the bourgeoisie for the highest goal in life, no thoughts, there is no sentiment, shallow false, bored, nothing to do. She never to realize gates than his dream to sacrifice their own vested interests. While gatsby himself could not achieve their dreams, of course, his idea is too unreal. He and Daisys husband Tom buchanan possess wealth, the difference between two people is at least he used his wealth to pursue a kind of "beauty", and try my best to get it. However, he didnt win it, finally, George Wilson, is Toms mistresss husband in Daisy couple killed gatsby conspired and egged. His dream completely shattered. Gatsbys failure is the fundamental reason is that he did the "American dream" has been out of date, his opportunity had little s dream come true.

I felt sorry for gatsby, he is so single-minded, but in the end was hurt by their favorite woman. Of course he is praiseworthy in some places. He can read the love is beautiful, and not like most people associate love and interests. But he really misled by his ideal, he did not see time and occasion, he shouldnt be on the right people also is reluctant to part with the past memories after married. And Daisy this person too vain, too greedy. To some extent, gates than the final fate has a lot to do with her.

《了不起的盖茨比》是一本在上文学上怀有“美国梦”的作家菲茨杰拉德的作品，菲茨杰拉德认为他自己与众不同，与他的父母也不同，甚至不认为自己是父母的儿子，他拥有来自于柏拉图式的自我观念。

在这篇文章中，主人公即盖茨比就是一种自认为与众不同的人，他同样拥有柏拉图式的爱情观。他把自己看成是上帝之子，他认为自己应为上帝的事业效劳，他追求一种“博大的，世俗的，虚饰的美”，显然他把自己想象成为基督一样的人物。十七岁的他决定改名，由原来的詹姆斯·盖茨改为杰伊·盖茨比，据说杰伊·盖茨比是英语Jesus, God`s boy 发音的变体。但是具有讽刺意味的是，从他改名那一刻起，他开始追求所谓的美和善，也就开始了他的人生悲剧。他把黛西·布坎南视为他追求的那种美的化身。当他见到她时，他知道她已经把他的理想与他的生命气息结合在一起了。他知道他的心要与上帝的心一样，必须专一，绝不可驰心旁骛。当他第一次亲吻她时，“她就像一朵鲜花一样为他绽放，于是这个理想的化身就完成了。”在黛西身上，盖茨比的梦想变得有血有肉。他企求与黛西联袂来实现自己的梦想。

但是，黛西根本无力担任这个角色。她不过是一个一项了为人生最高目标的资产阶级小姐，没有思想，没有情操，浅薄虚假，百无聊赖，无所事事。她绝不可能为实现盖茨比自己的梦想去牺牲自己的既得利益。而盖茨比自己当然不可能实现自己的梦想，他的想法太过虚幻。他和黛西的丈夫汤姆·布坎南都拥有财富，两人的不同之处是他至少用他的财富去追求一种“美”，并竭尽全力去得到它。然而，他没有赢得它，最后，乔治·威尔逊，也就是汤姆的情妇的丈夫在黛西夫妇的合谋和挑唆下杀死了盖茨比。他的梦想彻底破灭了。盖茨比的失败就其根本原因是他做的那个“美国梦”已过时了，他所处的年代梦想成真的机会已经微乎其微。

我自己为盖茨比感到惋惜，他如此专一，但最终被自己喜欢的女子所害。当然他有些地方是值得称赞的。他能够把爱情看得很美，而没有像大多数人一样把爱情和利益联系起来。不过他确实被自己的理想所误导，他没有看清时间与场合，他不该在心仪人已婚后还对过去美好回忆恋恋不舍。而黛西这个人太爱慕虚荣，太过于贪心。从某种程度上讲，盖茨比最终的下场跟她有很大的关系。

从前有一位国王的儿子，谁也没有他那么多美丽的书：世界上所发生的事情，在这些书本里他都读得到，而且也可以在一些美丽的插图中看得见。他可以知道每个民族和每个国家。不过天国花园在什么地方，书上却一字也没有提到。而他最想知道的正是这件事情。

当他还是一个小孩、但已经可以上学的时候，他的祖母曾经告诉他，说：天国花园里每朵花都是最甜的点心，每颗花蕊都是最美的酒;这朵花上写的是历史，那朵花上写的是地理和乘法表。一个人只须吃一块点心就可以学一课书;他越吃得多，就越能学到更多的历史、地理和乘法表。

那时他相信这话。不过他年纪越大，学到的东西越多，就变得越聪明。他知道，天国花园的美景一定是很特殊的。

“啊，为什么夏娃①要摘下知识之树的果子呢?为什么亚当要吃掉禁果呢?如果我是他的话，这件事就决不会发生，世界上也就永远不会有罪孽存在了。”

这是他那时说的一句话。等他到了17岁，他仍然说着这句话。“天国花园”占据了他整个的思想。

有一天他在森林里散步。他是单独地在散步，因为这是他生活中最愉快的事情。

黄昏到来了，云块在密集着，雨在倾盆地下着，好像天空就是一个专门泻水的水闸似的。天很黑，黑得像在深井中的黑夜一样。他一会儿在潮湿的草上滑一脚，一会儿在崎岖的地上冒出的光石头上绊一跤。一切都浸在水里。这位可怜的王子身上没有一丝是干的。他不得不爬到一大堆石头上去，因为这儿的水都从厚青苔里沁出来了。他几乎要倒下来了。这时他听到一个奇怪的嘘嘘声。于是他看到面前有一个发光的大地洞。洞里烧着一堆火;这堆火几乎可以烤熟一只牡鹿。事实上也是这样。有一只长着高大的犄角的美丽的牡鹿，被穿在一根叉子上，在两根杉树干之间慢慢地转动。火边坐着一个身材高大的老女人，样子很像一位伪装的男人。她不断地添些木块到火里去。

“请进来吧!”她说。“请在火旁边坐下，把你的衣服烤干吧。”

“这儿有一股阴风吹进来!”王子说，同时他在地上坐下来。

“我的孩子们回来以后，那还要糟呢!”女人回答说。“你现在来到了风之洞。我的儿子们就是世界上的四种风。你懂得吗?”

“你的儿子现在在什么地方呢?”王子问。

“嗨，当一个人发出一个糊涂的问题的时候，这是很难回答的，”女人说。“我的儿子各人在做着各人自己的事情。他们正在天宫里和云块一道踢毽子。”

于是她朝天上指了一下。

“啊，真有这样的事情!”王子说。“不过你说话的态度粗鲁，一点也没有我周围的那些女人的温柔气息。”

“是的，大概她们都没有别的事情可做吧!如果我要叫我的儿子们听话，我得要厉害一点才成。这点我倒是做得到，虽然他们都是一些固执的家伙。请你看看墙上挂着的四个袋子吧;他们害怕这些东西，正如你从前害怕挂在镜子后面的那根竹条一样。我告诉你，我可以把这几个孩子叠起来，塞进袋子里去。我们不须讲什么客气!他们在那里面待着，在我认为没有必要把他们放出来以前，他们不能出来到处撒野。不过，现在有一个回来了!”

这是北风。他带着一股冰冷的寒气冲进来。大块的雹子在地上跳动，雪球在四处乱飞。他穿着熊皮做的上衣和裤子。海豹皮做的帽子一直盖到耳朵上。他的胡子上挂着长长的冰柱。雹子不停地从他的上衣领子上滚下来。

“不要马上就到火边来!”王子说，“否则你会把手和面孔冻伤的。”

“冻伤?”北风说，不禁哈哈大笑起来。“冰冻!这正是我最喜欢的东西!不过你是一个什么少爷?你怎么钻进风之洞里来了?”

“他是我的客人!”老女人说。“如果你对于这解释感到不满意的话，那么就请你钻进那个袋子里去——现在你懂得我的用意了吧!”

这话马上发生效力。北风开始叙述他是从什么地方来的，他花了将近一个月的工夫到了些什么地方去过。

“我是从北极海来的，”他说。“我和俄国猎海象的人到白令岛②去过。当他们从北望角开出的时候，我坐在他们的船舵上打盹。当我偶尔醒过来的时候，海燕就在我的腿边飞。这是一种很滑稽的鸟儿!它们猛烈地拍几下翅膀，接着就张着翅膀停在空中不动，然后忽然像箭似的向前飞走。”

“不要东扯西拉，”风妈妈说。“你到白令岛去过吗?”

“那儿才美哪!那儿跳舞用的地板，平整得像盘子一样!

那儿有长着青苔的半融的雪、尖峭的岩石、海象和北极熊的残骸。它们像生满了绿霉的巨人的肢体。人们会以为太阳从来没有在那儿出现过。我把迷雾吹了几下，好让人们可以找到小屋。这是用破船的木头砌成的一种房子，上面盖着海象的皮——贴肉的那一面朝外。房子的颜色是红绿相间的;屋顶上坐着一个活的北极熊，在那儿哀叫。我跑到岸上去找雀窠，看到光赤的小鸟张着嘴在尖叫。于是我朝它们无数的小咽喉里吹一口气，教它们把嘴闭住。更下面一点，有许多大海象在拍着水，像一些长着尺把长牙齿和猪脑袋的活肠子或大蛆!”

“我的少爷，你的故事讲得很好!”妈妈说。“听你讲的时候，我连口水都流出来了!”

“于是打猎开始了!长鱼叉插进海象的胸脯里去，血喷出来像喷泉一样洒在冰上。这时我也想起了我的游戏!我吹起来，让我的那些船——山一样高的冰块——向他们的船中间冲过去。嗨，船夫吹着口哨，大喊大嚷!可是我比他们吹得更厉害。他们只好把死的海象、箱子和缆绳扔到冰上去!我在他们身上撒下雪花，让他们乘着破船，带着他们的猎物，漂向南方，去尝尝咸水的滋味。他们永远也不能再到白令岛来了!”

“那么你做了一件坏事了!”风妈妈说。

“至于我做了些什么好事，让别人来讲吧!”他说。“不过现在我的西方兄弟到来了。所有兄弟之中我最喜欢他。他有海的气息和一种愉快的清凉味。”

“那就是小小的西风吗?”王子问。

“是，他就是西风，”老女人说。“不过他并不是那么小，从前他是一个可爱的孩子，不过那已经是过去的事了。”

他的样子像一个野人，不过他戴着一顶宽边帽来保护自己的面孔。他手上拿着一根桃花心木的棒子——这是在美洲一个桃花心木树林里砍下来的。这可不是一件小玩意儿啦。

“你是从什么地方来的?”妈妈问。

“从荒凉的森林里来的!”他说。“那儿多刺的藤蔓在每株树的周围建立起一道篱笆，水蛇在潮湿的草里睡觉，人类在那儿似乎是多余的。”

“你在那儿干吗?”

“我在那儿看一条顶深的河，看它从岩石中冲下来，变成水花，溅到云块中去，托住一条虹。我看到野水牛在河里游泳，不过激流把它冲走了。它跟一群野鸭一起漂流。野鸭漂到河流要变成瀑布的地方就飞起来了。水牛只好随着水滚下去!我觉得这好玩极了，我吹起一股风暴，把许多古树吹到水里去，打成碎片!”

“你没有做过别的事吗?”老女人问。

“我在原野上翻了几个跟头：我摸抚了野马，摇下了可可核。是的，是的，我有很多故事要讲!不过一个人不能把他所有的东西都讲出来。这一点你是知道的，老太太。”

他吻了他的妈妈一下，她几乎要向后倒下去了。他真是一个野蛮的孩子!

现在南风到了。他头上裹着一块头巾，身上披着一件游牧人的宽斗篷。

“这儿真是冷得够呛!”他说，同时加了几块木材到火里去。"人们立刻可以感觉出北风已经先到这儿来了。”

“这儿真太热，人们简直可以在这儿烤一只北极熊。”北风说。

“你本人就是一只北极熊呀!”南风说。

“你想要钻进那个袋子里去吗?”老女人问。“请在那边的石头上坐下来，赶快告诉我你到什么地方去过。”

“到非洲去过，妈妈!”他回答说。“我曾在卡菲尔人③的国土里和霍屯督人④一起去猎过狮子!那儿平原上的草绿得像橄榄树一样!那儿角马⑤在跳舞。有一只鸵鸟跟我赛跑，不过我的腿比它跑得快。我走到那全是黄沙的沙漠里去——这地方的样子很像海底。我遇见一队旅行商，他们把最后一只骆驼杀掉了，为的是想得到一点水喝，不过他们所得到的水很少。太阳在上面烤，沙子在下面炙。沙漠向四面展开，没有边际。于是我在松散的细沙上打了几个滚，搅起一阵像巨大圆柱的灰沙。这场舞才跳得好哪!你应该瞧瞧单峰骆驼呆呆地站在那儿露出一副多么沮丧的神情。商人把长袍拉到头上盖着。他倒在我面前，好像倒在他的阿拉⑥面前一样。他们现在被埋葬了——沙子做成的一个金字塔堆在他们身上。以后我再把它吹散掉的时候，太阳将会把他们的白骨晒枯了。那么旅人们就会知道，这儿以前曾经有人来过。否则谁也不会相信，在沙漠中会有这样的事情。”

“所以你除了坏事以外，什么事情也没有做!”妈妈说。

“钻进那个袋子里去!”

在他还没有发觉以前，她已经把南风拦腰抱住，按进袋子里去。他在地上打着滚，不过她已经坐在袋子上，所以他也只好不作声了。

“你的这群孩子倒是蛮活泼的!”王子说。

“一点也不错，”她回答说，“而且我还知道怎样管他们呢!现在第四个孩子回来了!”

这是东风，他穿一套中国人的衣服。

“哦!你从哪个地区来的?”妈妈说。“我相信你到天国花园里去过。”

“我明天才飞到那儿去，”东风说。“自从我上次去过以后，明天恰恰是100年。我现在是从中国来的——我在瓷塔周围跳了一阵舞，把所有的钟都弄得叮当叮当地响起来!官员们在街上挨打;竹条子在他们肩上打裂了，而他们却都是一品到九品的官啦。他们都说：‘多谢恩主!’不过这不是他们心里的话。于是我摇着铃，唱：‘丁，当，锵!’”

“你太顽皮了!”老女人说。“你明天到天国花园去走走也好;这可以教育你，对你有好处。好好地在智慧泉里喝几口水吧，还请你带一小瓶给我。”

“这个不成问题，”东风说。“不过你为什么把我的弟兄南风关在袋子里呢?把他放出来呀!他可以讲点凤凰的故事给我听，因为天国花园的那位公主，每当我过了一个世纪去拜望她的时候，她总是喜欢听听凤凰的故事。请把袋子打开吧!

这样你才是我最甜蜜的妈妈呀，我将送给你两包茶——两包我从产地摘下的又绿又新鲜的茶!”

“唔，为了这茶的缘故，也因为你是我所喜欢的一个孩子，我就把袋子打开吧!”

她这么做了。南风爬了出来，不过他的神气很颓丧，因为这位陌生的王子看到了他受惩罚。

“你把这张棕榈树叶带给公主吧!”南风说。“这树叶是现在世界上仅有的那只凤凰带给我的。他用尖嘴在叶子上绘出了他这100年的生活经历。现在她可以亲自把这记载读一读。

我亲眼看见凤凰把自己的窠烧掉，他自己坐在里面，像一个印度的寡妇⑦似的把自己烧死。干枝子烧得多么响!烟多么大!气味多么香!最后，一切都变成了火焰，老凤凰也化为灰烬。不过他的蛋在火里发出红光。它轰然一声爆裂开来，于是一只小凤凰就飞出来了。他现在是群鸟之王，也是世界上唯一的一只凤凰。他在我给你的这张棕榈叶上啄开了一个洞口：这就是他送给公主的敬礼!”

“现在我们来吃点东西吧!”风妈妈说。

他们都坐下来吃那只烤好了的牡鹿。王子坐在东风旁边，他们马上就成了很要好的朋友。

“请告诉我，”王子说，“你们刚才谈的那位公主究竟是怎样的一个人呢?天国花园在什么地方呢?”

“哈，哈，”东风说。“你想到那儿去吗?嗯，那么你明天跟我一起飞去吧!不过，我得告诉你，自从亚当和夏娃以后，什么人也没有到那儿去过。你在《圣经》故事中已经读到过关于他们的故事了吧?”

“读到过!”王子说。

“当他们被赶出去以后，天国花园就坠到地里去了;不过它还保留着温暖的阳光、温和的空气以及它一切的美观。群仙之后就住在里面，幸福之岛也在那儿——死神从来不到这岛上来，住在这儿真是美极了!明天你可以坐在我的背上，我把你带去：我想这办法很好。但是现在我们不要再闲聊吧，因为我想睡了。”

于是大家都去睡了。

大清早，王子醒来时，他可是吃惊不小，他已经高高地在云块上飞行。他骑在东风的背上，而东风也老老实实地背着他：他们飞得非常高，下边的森林、田野、河流和湖泊简直像是映在一幅大地图上的东西。

“早安!”东风说。“你还可以多睡一会儿，因为下面的平地上并没有什么东西好看。除非你愿意数数那些教堂!它们像在绿板上用粉笔画的小点子。”

他所谓的绿板就是田野和草地。

“我没有跟你妈妈和你的弟兄告别，真是太没有礼貌了!”王子说。

“当一个人在睡觉的时候，他是应该得到原谅的!”东风说。

于是他们加快飞行的速度。人们可以听到他们在树顶上飞行，因为当他们经过的时候，叶子和柔枝都沙沙地响起来了。人们也可以在海上和湖上听到，因为他们飞过的时候，浪就高起来，许多大船也向水点着头，像游泳的天鹅。

将近黄昏的时候，天就暗下来，许多大城市真是美丽极了。有许多灯在点着，一会儿这里一亮，一会儿那里一亮。这景象好比一个人在燃着一张纸，看到火星后就散开来，像小孩子走出学校门一样。王子拍着双手，不过东风请求他不要这样做，他最好坐稳一点，不然就很容易掉下来，挂在教堂的尖顶上。

黑森林里的苍鹰在轻快地飞翔着。但是东风飞得更轻快。

骑着小马的哥萨克人在草原上敏捷地飞驰过去了，但王子更敏捷地在空中飞过去。

“现在你可以看到喜马拉雅山了!”东风说。“这是亚洲最高的山。过一会儿我们就要到天国花园了!”

他们更向南飞，空中立刻有一阵花朵和香料的气味飘来。

处处长着无花果和石榴，野葡萄藤结满了红葡萄和紫葡萄。他们两个人就在这儿降下来，在柔软的草地上伸开肢体。花朵向风儿点头，好像是说：“欢迎你回来!”

“我们现在到了天国花园了吗?”王子问。

“没有，当然没有!”东风回答说。“不过我们马上就要到了。你看到那边石砌的墙吗?你看到那边的大洞口吗?你看到那洞口上悬着的像绿帘子的葡萄藤吗?我们将要走进那洞口!请你紧紧地裹住你的大衣吧。太阳在这儿灼热地烤着，可是再向前一步，你就会感到冰冻般的寒冷。飞过这洞子的雀子总有一只翅膀留在炎热的夏天里，另一只翅膀留在寒冷的冬天里!”

“这就是到天国花园去的道路吗?”王子问。

他们走进洞口里去!噢!里面冷得像冰一样，但是时间没有多久。东风展开他的翅膀;它们亮得像最光耀的火焰。这是多么奇怪的一个洞子啊!悬在他们头上的是一大堆奇形怪状的、滴着水的石块。有些地方是那么狭小，他们不得不伏在地上爬;有些地方又是那么宽广和高阔，好像在高空中一样。这地方很像墓地的教堂，里面有发不出声音的风琴管，和成了化石的旗子。

“我们通过死神的道路来到天国!”王子说。

但是东风一个字也不回答。他指着前面，那儿有一道美丽的蓝色在发出闪光。上面的石块渐渐变成一层烟雾，最后变得像月光中的一块白云。他们现在呼吸到凉爽温和的空气，新鲜得好像站在高山上，香得好像山谷里的玫瑰花。

有一条像空气一样清亮的河在流着，鱼儿简直像金子和银子。紫红色的鳝鱼在水底下嬉戏，它们卷动一下就发出蓝色的光芒。宽大的睡莲叶子射出虹一样的色彩。被水培养着的花朵像油培养着灯花一样，鲜艳得像橘黄色的焰光。一座坚固的大理石桥，刻得非常精致而富有艺术风味，简直像是用缎带和玻璃珠子砌成的。它横在水上，通到幸福之岛——天国花园，在这儿开出一片花朵。

东风用双手抱着王子，把他带到这个岛上。花朵和叶子唱出他儿时最悦耳的歌曲，不过它们唱得那么美，人类的声音是决唱不出来的。

生长在这儿的东西是棕榈树呢，还是庞大的水草?王子从来没有看到过这么青翠和庞大的树木。许多非常美丽的攀援植物垂下无数的花彩，像圣贤著作中书缘上那些用金黄和其他色彩所绘成的图案，或是一章书的头一个字母中的花纹。这可说是花、鸟和花彩所组成的“三绝”。附近的草地上有一群孔雀在展开光亮的长尾。是的，这都是真的!不过当王子摸一下这些东西的时候，他发现它们并不是鸟儿，而是植物。它们是牛蒡，但是光耀得像华丽的孔雀屏。虎和狮子，像敏捷的猫儿一样，在绿色的灌木林中跳来跳去。这些灌木林发出的香气像橄榄树的花朵。而且这些老虎和狮子都是很驯服的。野斑鸠闪亮得像最美丽的珍珠。它们在狮子的鬃毛上拍着翅膀。平时总是很羞怯的羚羊现在站在旁边点着头，好像它也想来玩一阵子似的。

天国的仙女到来了。她的衣服像太阳似的发着亮光，她的面孔是温柔的，正如一个快乐的母亲对于自己的孩子感到幸福的时候一样。她是又年轻，又美丽。她后面跟着一群最美丽的使女，每人头上都戴着一颗亮晶晶的星。

东风把凤凰写的那张叶子交给她，她的眼睛发出快乐的光彩。她挽着王子的手，把他领进王宫里去。那儿墙壁的颜色就像照在太阳光中的郁金香。天花板就是一大朵闪着亮光的花。人们越朝里面望，花萼就越显得深。王子走到窗子那儿去，在一块玻璃后面朝外望。这时他看到知识之树、树旁的蛇和在附近的亚当和夏娃。

“他们没有被赶出去么?”他问。

仙女微笑了一下。她解释着说，时间在每块玻璃上烙下了一幅图画，但这并不是人们惯常所见的那种图画。不，这画里面有生命：树上的叶子在摇动，人就像镜中的影子似的在来来往往。他又在另一块玻璃后面望。他看见雅各梦见通到天上的梯子⑧长着大翅膀的安琪儿在上上下下地飞翔。的确，世界上所发生的事情全都在玻璃里活动着。只有时间才能刻下这样奇异的图画。

仙女微笑了一下，又把他领到一间又高又大的厅堂里去。墙壁像是透明的画像，面孔一个比一个好看。这儿有无数幸福的人们，他们微笑着，歌唱着;这些歌声和笑声交融成为一种和谐的音乐。最上面的是那么小，小得比绘在纸上作为最小的玫瑰花苞的一个小点还要小。大厅中央有一株绿叶茂密、枝丫低垂的大树;大大小小的金黄苹果，像橘子似的在叶子之间悬着。这就是知识之树。亚当和夏娃曾吃过这树上的果子。每一片叶子滴下一滴亮晶晶的红色露珠;这好像树哭出来的血眼泪。

“我们现在到船上去吧!”仙女说，“我们可以在波涛上呼吸一点空气。船会摇摆，可是它并不离开原来的地点。但是世界上所有的国家将会在我们眼前经过。”

整个的河岸在移动，这真是一种奇观。积雪的阿尔卑斯山，带着云块和松林，现在出现了;号角吹出忧郁的调子;牧羊人在山谷里高声歌唱。香蕉树在船上垂下长枝;乌黑的天鹅在水上游泳，奇异的动物和花卉在岸上显耀着自己。这是新荷兰⑨——世界五大洲之一。它被一系列的青山衬托着，在眼前浮过去了。人们听到牧师的歌声，看到原始人踏着鼓声和骨头做的喇叭声在跳舞。深入云霄的埃及金字塔，倒下的圆柱和一半埋在沙里的斯芬克斯⑩，也都在眼前浮过去了。北极光照在北方的冰河上——这是谁也仿造不出来的焰火。王子感到非常幸福。的确，他所看到的东西，比我们现在所讲的要多100倍以上。

“我能不能永远住在这儿?”他问。

“这要由你自己决定!”仙女回答说。“如果你能不像亚当那样去作违禁的事，你就可以永远住在这儿!”

“我决不会去动知识树上的果子!”王子说。“这儿有无数的果子跟那个果子同样美丽。”

“请你问问你自己吧。假如你的意志不够坚强，你可以跟送你来的东风一道回去。他快要飞回去了。他只有过了100年以后才再到这儿来;在这儿，这段时间只不过像100个钟头;但就罪恶和诱惑说来，这段时间却非常漫长。每天晚上，当我离开你的时候，我会对你喊：‘跟我一块儿来吧!’我也会向你招手，不过你不能动。你不要跟我一道来，因为你向前走一步，你的欲望就会增大。那么你就会来到长着那棵知识之树的大厅。我就睡在它芬芳的垂枝下面;你会在我的身上弯下腰来，而我必然会向你微笑。不过如果你吻了我的嘴唇，天国就会坠到地底下去，那么你也就失掉它了。沙漠的厉风将会在你的周围吹，冰凉的雨点将会从你的头发上滴下来。忧愁和苦恼将会是你的命运。”

“我要在这儿住下来!”王子说。

于是东风就在他的前额上吻了一下，同时说：“请放坚强些吧。100年以后我们再在这儿会见。再会吧!再会吧!”

东风展开他的大翅膀。它们发出的闪光像秋天的麦田或寒冷冬天的北极光。

“再会吧!再会吧!”这是花丛和树林中发出的声音。鹳鸟和鹈鹕成行地飞起，像飘荡着的缎带，一直陪送东风飞到花园的边境。

“现在我们开始跳舞吧!”仙女说。“当我和你跳完了，当太阳落下去了的时候，我将向你招手。你将会听到我对你喊：‘跟我一道来吧。’不过请你不要听这话，因为在这100年间我每晚必定说一次这样的话。你每次经过这样一个考验，你就会获得更多的力量;最后你就会一点也不想这话了。今晚是头一次。我得提醒你!”

仙女把他领到一个摆满了透明的百合花的大厅里。每朵花的黄色花蕊是一个小小的金色竖琴——它发出弦乐器和芦笛的声音。许多苗条的美丽女子，穿着雾似的薄纱衣服，露出她们可爱的肢体，在轻盈地跳舞。她们歌唱着生存的快乐，歌唱她们永不灭亡，天国花园永远开着花朵。

太阳落下来了。整个天空变成一片金黄，把百合花染上一层最美丽的玫瑰色。王子喝着这些姑娘所倒出的、泛着泡沫的美酒，感到从来没有过的幸福。他看到大厅的背景在他面前展开;知识之树在射出光芒，使他的眼睛发花。歌声是柔和的，美丽的，像他母亲的声音，也像母亲在唱：“我的孩子!我亲爱的孩子!”

于是仙女向他招手，向他亲热地说：“跟我来吧!跟我来吧!”

于是他就向她走去。他忘记了自己的诺言，忘记了那头一个晚上。她在招手，在微笑。环绕在他周围的芬芳的气息越变越浓，竖琴也奏得更好听。在这长着知识之树的大厅里，现在似乎有好几个面孔在向他点头和歌唱，“大家应该知道，人类是世界的主人!”从知识树的叶子上滴下来的不再是血的眼泪;在他的眼中，这似乎是放亮的红星。

“跟我来吧!跟我来吧!”一个颤抖的声音说。王子每走一步，就感到自己的面孔更灼热，血流得更快。

“我一定来!”他说。“这不是罪过，这不可能是罪过!为什么不追求美和快乐呢?我要看看她的睡态!只要我不吻她，我就不会有什么损失。我决不做这事，我是坚强的，我有果断的意志!”

仙女脱下耀眼的外衣，分开垂枝，不一会儿就藏进树枝里去了。

“我还没有犯罪，”王子说，“而且我也决不会。”

于是他把树枝向两边分开。她已经睡着了，只有天国花园里的仙女才能有她那样美丽。她在梦中发出微笑，他对她弯下腰来，他看见她的睫毛下有泪珠在颤抖。

“你是在为我哭吗?”他柔声地说。“不要哭吧，你——美丽的女人!现在我可懂得天国的幸福了!这幸福现在在我的血液里流，在我的思想里流。在我这个凡人的身体里，我现在感到了安琪儿的力量，感到了永恒的生命。让这永恒的夜属于我吧，有这样的一分钟已经就够丰富了。”

于是他吻了她眼睛里的眼泪，他的嘴唇贴上了她的嘴唇——

这时一个沉重可怕的雷声响起来了，任何人从来都没有听见过。一切东西都沉陷了;那位美丽的仙女，那开满了花的乐园——这一切都沉陷了，沉陷得非常深。王子看到这一切沉进黑夜中去，像远处亮着的一颗小小的明星。他全身感到一种死的寒冷。他闭起眼睛，像死去了似的躺了很久。

冷雨落到他的面上，厉风在他的头上吹，于是他恢复了知觉。

“我做了些什么呢?”他叹了一口气。“我像亚当一样犯了罪!所以天国就沉陷下去了!”

于是他睁开眼睛。远处的那颗明星，那颗亮得像是已经沉陷了的天国的星——是天上的一颗晨星。

他站起来，发现自己在大森林里风之洞的近旁，风妈妈正坐在他的身边：她有些儿生气，把手举在空中。

“在第一天晚上，”她说，“我料想到结果必定是如此!是的，假如你是我的孩子，你就得钻进袋子里去!”

“是的，你应该钻进去才成!”死神说。这是一位强壮的老人，手中握着一把镰刀，身上长着两只大黑翅膀。“他应该躺进棺材里去，不过他的时间还没有到;我只是把他记下来，让他在人世间再旅行一些时候，叫他能赎罪，变得好一点!总有一天我会来的。在他意料不到的时候，我将把他关进一个黑棺材里去，我把他顶在我的头上，向那一颗星飞去。那儿也有一个开满了花的天国花园。如果他是善良和虔诚的，他就可以走进去。不过如果他有恶毒的思想，如果他的心里还充满了罪过，他将和他的棺材一起坠落，比天国坠落得还要深。只有在隔了一千年以后我才再来找他，使他能有机会再坠落得更深一点，或是升向那颗星——那颗高高地亮着的星!”

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①根据古代希伯来人的神话，上帝用泥土创造世界上第一个男人亚当;然后从亚当的身上抽出一条肋骨，创造出第一个女人夏娃。上帝让他们在天国花园里幸福地生活着，但是不准他们吃知识之树上的果子。夏娃受了一条蛇的愚弄，劝亚当吃了禁果。结果上帝发现了，把他们赶出天国花园。基督教徒认为：因为人类的始祖不听上帝的话，所以人一生下来就有“罪孽”。

②白令岛(Beeren-Eiland)是太平洋北端的白令海上堪察加半岛东部的一个海岛。过去是一个猎取海豹的场所。到1911年差不多所有的动物都被猎取光了。

③卡菲尔人(Kaffer)是南非的一个黑人种族，以勇敢著名，曾和英国的殖民主义者作过长期的斗争。

④霍屯督人(Hottentot)是西南非洲的一个黑人种族。

⑤这是非洲的一种类似羚羊的动物。

⑥阿拉(Allah)是伊斯兰教中的真主。

⑦在古时封建的印度，一个女人在丈夫死后，就用火把自己烧死，以表示她的“贞节”。

⑧这个故事见《圣经·旧约全书·创世记》第二十八章第十一节至第十二节：雅各“到了一个地方，因为太阳落了，就在那里住宿，便拾起那地方的一块石头，枕在头下，在那里躺卧睡了。梦见一个梯子立在地上，梯子的头顶着天，有神的使者在梯子上，上去下来。”

⑨这是澳洲的旧称。

⑩这里指埃及金字塔附近的狮身人面像。

the Little Prince – A Tale of Love and Life Title: the Little Prince Author: Antoine de St-Exupery Main Characters: the little prince, the pilot, the rose, the fox, the snake, etc. Despite I’ve not in my childhood yet, I still prefer reading fairy-tale stories. the tales, which accompany with me in my old days, often make me think of some precious experience and sensation which only belong to children. This summer I’ve review this kind of tale, which was published in 1940. It’s the world-famous fairy-tale by the French author, Antoine de St-Exupery, The Little Prince. As many other fairy-tales, the outline of The Little Prince is not very complex. “I”， the narrator of the story, is a pilot whose plane has something wrong and lands in the Sahara. In this occasion, the pilot makes the acquaintance of the little prince, a little boy from another planet, the Asteroid B612. The little prince has escaped from his tiny planet, because he has some quarrel with a rose, which grows on his planet. In that case he left his own planet and took an exploration at some neighbor asteroids. On his all-alone journey, the little prince meets different kinds of people, which includes a king, a conceited man, a tippler, a businessman, a lamplighter and a geographer. From these people he gets a conclusion that the grown-ups are very odd. Following the instruction of the geographer, he descends in the Sahara, on the earth. Traveling on the earth, the little prince, who sees a garden of five-thousand roses, is overcome with astonishment and sadness, as he considers his rose is unique in the universe before. At that time a fox appears. The fox, who tell the little prince about the meaning of the word “tame”， becomes his new friend. At the time to say farewell, the fox makes him know that his rose is unique because she is his rose and tamed by him. From that the little prince begins to treasure friendship and be responsible to his rose. At the anniversary day of his descent of the earth, rejecting the pilot’s advice, he goes back to his own planet by bite of a snake. “It’s too far. I can not carry this body with me. It’s too heavy.” he said. He tells his friend, the pilot, he must be responsible for his rose, so he has to go back. At the end the author doesn’t tell us the ending directly.

寒假期间，我和妈妈一起读了好多童话故事，我最喜欢的是安徒生童话里的《丑小鸭》。故事讲的是一只生下来就长得特别丑陋的小鸭子，没有人喜欢它，连它的兄弟、姐妹都嘲笑它，欺负它。可怜的丑小鸭被迫离家流浪，受尽折磨，还差点冻死在寒冷的冬天里。冬去春来，勇敢坚强的丑小鸭历经磨难，变成一只美丽高贵的白天鹅。

读完这个故事，我觉得应该以丑小鸭为榜样，生活和学习中不要怕挫折，坚强自信，努力拼搏，也一定会和丑小鸭一 样，慢慢变成能展翅高飞的白天鹅!

天气冷得可怕。正在下雪，黑暗的夜幕开始垂下来了。这是这年最后的一夜——新年的前夕。在这样的寒冷和黑暗中，有一个光头赤脚的小女孩正在街上走着。是的，她离开家的时候还穿着一双拖鞋，但那又有什么用呢?那是一双非常大的拖鞋——那么大，最近她妈妈一直在穿着。当她匆忙地越过街道的时候，两辆马车飞奔着闯过来，弄得小姑娘把鞋跑落了。有一只她怎样也寻不到，另一只又被一个男孩子捡起来，拿着逃走了。男孩子还说，等他将来有孩子的时候，可以把它当做一个摇篮来使用。

现在小姑娘只好赤着一双小脚走。小脚已经冻得发红发青了。她有许多火柴包在一个旧围裙里;她手中还拿着一扎。这一整天谁也没有向她买过一根;谁也没有给她一个铜板。

可怜的小姑娘!她又饿又冻得向前走，简直是一幅愁苦的画面。雪花落到她金黄的长头发上——它卷曲地散落在她的肩上，看上去非常美丽。不过她并没有想到自己漂亮。所有的窗子都射出光来，街上飘着一股烤鹅肉①的香味。的确，这是除夕。她在想这件事情。

那儿有两座房子，其中一座房子比另一座更向街心伸出一点，她便在这个墙角里坐下来，缩作一团。她把一双小脚也缩进来，不过她感到更冷。她不敢回家里去，因为她没有卖掉一根火柴，没有赚到一个铜板。她的父亲一定会打她，而且家里也是很冷的，因为他们头上只有一个可以灌进风来的屋顶，虽然最大的裂口已经用草和破布堵住了。

她的一双小手几乎冻僵了。唉!哪怕一根小火柴对她也是有好处的。只要她敢抽出一根来，在墙上擦着了，就可以暖暖手!最后她抽出一根来了。哧!它燃起来了，冒出火光来了!当她把手覆在上面的时候，它便变成了一朵温暖、光明的火焰，像是一根小小的蜡烛。这是一道美丽的小光!小姑娘觉得真像坐在一个铁火炉旁边一样：它有光亮的黄铜圆捏手和黄铜炉身，火烧得那么欢，那么暖，那么美!唉，这是怎么一回事儿?当小姑娘刚刚伸出一双脚，打算暖一暖脚的时候，火焰就忽然熄灭了!火炉也不见了。她坐在那儿，手中只有烧过了的火柴。

她又擦了一根。它燃起来了，发出光来了。墙上有亮光照着的那块地方，现在变得透明，像一片薄纱;她可以看到房间里的东西：桌上铺着雪白的台布，上面有精致的碗盘，填满了梅子和苹果的、冒着香气的烤鹅。更美妙的事情是：这只鹅从盘子里跳出来了，背上插着刀叉，蹒跚地在地上走着，一直向这个穷苦的小姑娘面前走来。这时火柴就熄灭了;她面前只有一堵又厚又冷的墙。

她点了另一根火柴。现在她是坐在美丽的圣诞树下面。上次圣诞节时，她透过玻璃门，看到一个富有商人家里的一株圣诞树;可是现在这一株比那株还要大，还要美。它的绿枝上燃着几千支蜡烛;彩色的图画，跟橱窗里挂着的那些一样美丽，在向她眨眼。这个小姑娘把两只手伸过去。于是火柴就熄灭了。圣诞节的烛光越升越高。她看到它们现在变成了明亮的星星。这些星星有一颗落下来了，在天上划出一条长长的光线。

“现在又有一个什么人死去了②，”小姑娘说，因为她的老祖母曾经说过：天上落下一颗星，地上就有一个灵魂升到了上帝那儿去。老祖母是唯一对她好的人，但是现在已经死了。

她在墙上又擦了一根火柴。它把四周都照亮了;在这光亮中老祖母出现了。她显得那么光明，那么温柔，那么和蔼。

“祖母!”小姑娘叫起来。“啊!请把我带走吧!我知道，这火柴一灭掉，你就会不见了，你就会像那个温暖的火炉、那只美丽的烤鹅、那棵幸福的圣诞树一样地不见了!”

于是她急忙把整束火柴中剩下的火柴都擦亮了，因为她非常想把祖母留住。这些火柴发出强烈的光芒，照得比大白天还要明朗。祖母从来没有像现在这样显得美丽和高大。她把小姑娘抱起来，搂到怀里。她们两人在光明和快乐中飞走了，越飞越高，飞到既没有寒冷，也没有饥饿，也没有忧愁的那块地方——她们是跟上帝在一起。

不过在一个寒冷的早晨，这个小姑娘却坐在一个墙角里;她的双颊通红，嘴唇发出微笑，她已经死了——在旧年的除夕冻死了。新年的太阳升起来了，照着她小小的尸体!她坐在那儿，手中还捏着火柴——其中有一扎差不多都烧光了。

“她想把自己暖和一下，”人们说。谁也不知道：她曾经看到过多么美丽的东西，她曾经是多么光荣地跟祖母一起，走到新年的幸福中去。

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①烤鹅肉是丹麦圣诞节和除夕晚餐中的一个主菜。

②北欧人的迷信：世界上有一个人，天上便有一颗星。一颗星的陨落象征一个人的死亡。

Every card was born in a poor family, more unfortunately, he had no parents, only to grandpa lived alone with grandpa age gradually grow old, life has become more and more difficult, had to 9 years old who do apprentice card to the rich.

Eat a little bread slag in the morning, noon to drink gruel, night is a bit of bread crumbs, as for food, tea, not at all. In the evening sleep, he had no bed, but sleeping in the corridor. Its not too, every time when the boss of small zai son cry, every card has to shake the cradle, if asleep, you will get the boss.

But we are happy, not revenge wear, drink and eat. Can also be in the beautiful school, learn knowledge. In the morning I just woke up from my dream, my mother gave me a good breakfast; After school, 3 dish one soup appeared in front of my eyes. We wear high-end clothing, playing electronic toys, bath grew up in parents caress all day.

Is 9 years old is the time to accept education. At this time we already sitting in the classroom. But every card? Day to toil is not in the bosss house, to make matters worse, every night to go to the bosss son cradles, sometimes a wave is a night, a night ah, small any card can support?

Every card lost too much. No family care, no people care about, no... Hes more than enough fate away, but cruel boss, wife of shop-owner also repeat abuse him, how cruel it is for his life and fate!

I also know the evil of Russian ruling classs killing dont blink!

Our socialist China is a new generation of young, at the same time of enjoying happiness childhood childhood, more study hard, a better construction of the motherland in the future.

凡卡出生在一个贫困的人家，更加不幸的是他没有父母，只能跟爷爷相依为命随着爷爷年纪逐渐变老，生活越来越艰难，只好将9岁凡卡送到富人家去做学徒。

早晨吃一点儿面包渣，中午喝稀粥，晚上又是一点儿面包渣，至于菜阿茶啊，根本没有。到了晚上睡觉时，他没有床，而是睡在过道里。这还不算，每次当老板的小崽子一哭，凡卡就得去摇那个摇篮，如果睡着了，还会挨老板的打。

但我们是多幸福，不仇穿，喝，吃。还可以在美丽的学校里，学知识。早上我刚从梦中醒来，妈妈便给我端来了美味的早点;放学后，3菜1汤便出现在我的眼前。我们穿着高档服装，玩着电子玩具，整天沐浴在父母抚爱中长大。

9岁正 是接受教育的时候。我们在这个时候早已坐在教室里了。而凡卡呢?在老板家白天做苦力也不算，更糟的是，每天晚上还要去给老板的儿子去摇摇篮，有时一摇就是一夜，一夜啊，小凡卡能支持住吗?

凡卡失去的太多了。没有亲人的照顾，没有人们的关心，没有……命运夺走他的够多了，可狠心的老板、老板娘还百般虐待他，生活和命运对他来说是多么残酷呀!

我也懂得万恶的沙俄统治阶级真是杀人不眨眼!

我们是社会主义中国的新一代的少年，在享受幸福童年的童年的同时，更要努力学习，将来把祖国建设得更加美好。

Abstract: This film Shawshank Redemption describes a man called Andy Dufresne was sent to the prison for he murdered his wife but in fact he was innocent. Then he started fighting against with the wicked prison life. Though he suffered many unfair treatments and ordeals, he never gives up himself. Due to his intelligence and perseverance, he spend 20 years successfully escape from the prison as a redemption. He teaches me that never lose hope.

Keywords: hope; redemption; freedom; dream

The story took place in 1940. A man who is a banker called Andy Dufresne, was sent into the Shawshank prison, for he murderer his wife and her lover in bed. However, he was innocent as he said. The new days in the prison were hard to live. It’s violent, heartless and cruel. Nevertheless, A month later, Andy began to make friends with other prisoners. And one of them called Red, who could get anything what he wanted. Andy bought a mallet from him and started his plan to escape. During this time, he did many things: expanding the library, caving stones, helping the corrupt warden to get money or bribe, etc. Then a young prisoner’s coming break his quiet life in jail. But the warden killed the young prisoner the only man that knew Andy was innocent. Then he knew the prison he could not stay any more. It took him 20 years to tunnel secretly and he successfully escaped from the prison. When he got free, Andy sent the evident which could prove the warden corruption, briber and murdering to the policy agency. Before that, Andy had told his best friend Red that his dream---Zihuatanejo, a warm place without memory. After escaping, Andy lived a free life in another identity and made the prison governor arrested. Several years later, Red was approved to leave. for the promise to Andy. Finally, in Zihuyatanejo, they met.

The cruel prison life terrified me and the friendship moved me. The story goes to a happy ending---redemption. This film impressed me a lot. A sentence was said in the film: ’Some birds aren"t meant to be caged, but most birds will choose to stand it.’

In this film, as we can see, the Shawshank Prison, which enjails lots of people. They have been in the prison form many years ,so they won’t go abroad. Because they won’t and also they can’t. They lived here for years without hope, and they lived just in the small prison, where nobody knows what is their dream and what’s their hope. As I remember, a old man Brooks was released after he had been in the jail for 50 years. But he found that the world became completely different from the world he imagined. For example, he seldom see cars before. He felt very strange and helpless to the outside world He can hardly adapt to the new developed world. He would rather stay in the prison. So unfortunately he chose to commit suicide.

However, on the contrary, Andy said a converse sentence:’ Some birds aren"t meant to be caged, that"s all. Their feathers are just too bright’ He long for the freedom and strive for it! What I remember very clearly is someone said that These walls are kind of funny things like that. First, you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passed, get so you depend on them. That is institutionalizing. But Andy hadn’t been affected. He insisted on his faith of freedom. He dared to pursue his deserved freedom! That’s the first point I appreciate.

What’s more, another thing I think is friendship. Of course, Andy’s perseverance and endeavor is the main reason that he succeed in escaping. But it can’t be denying that friendship is also a important reason. Without the friends’ help in the prison, especially red’s, He can’t break the prison, too. Even in the jail which is the most evil place that Andy could make it a significance place. He had transformed a storage room smelling of turpentine into the best prison library in New England. Then the prisoners read the books and got knowledge from it. Andy also helped them to pass the high school equivalency. The glitters of him lighted others’ life. That helps him built many sincere friendships in the prison. He just too bright that didn’t belong to the prison .Then he escape and gained the freedom.

Furthermore, the patience, courage and b willpower are the keys to escape. 20 years, not a short ordeal time, but he endured. He made his plan day by day, week by week and year by year. He never gives up. he took nearly twenty years to dip a tunnel with a little rock hammer which Red said it would take a man 600 years to tunnel under the wall with one of these to fight for his free .And he did it finally. Please imagine, crossing the tunnel he dup, he still should crawled through five hundred yards of shit-smelling foulness. That is the length of five football fields.

Then is the last but not least, I think. He has the bright brain ,the never fading persistent, and the most important thing----hope. Just as Andy said to Red: Hope is a good thing, may be the best of things. In this film, Andy show us that how good thing the hope is. Yes , hope is a good thing. Whatever it is, it can’t lock the hope. We all have dream. We all have hope. We all have it and please never give up, like Andy.

This film, Shawshank Redemption, teaches me a lot. It deserves to be one of the most overwhelming films in the Hollywood.

从前有一位老诗人——一位非常和善的老诗人。有一天晚上，他坐在家里，外面起了一阵可怕的风暴。雨在倾盆地下着;不过这位老诗人坐在炉旁，又温暖，又舒适。

火在熊熊地燎着，苹果烤得咝咝地发响。

“这样的天气，外面的穷苦人身上恐怕没有一根纱是干的了。”他说，因为他是一位心肠非常好的老诗人。

“啊，请开门!我非常冷，衣服也全湿透了。”外面有一个小孩子在叫。他哭起来，敲着门。这时雨正在倾盆地下着，风把所有的窗扉吹得呼呼地响。

“你这个可怜的小家伙!”老诗人说;他走过去把门开了。门口站着一个小小的孩子。他全身没有穿衣服，雨水从他长长的金发上滚下来。他冻得发抖;如果他没有走进来的话，一定会在这样的暴风雨中冻死的。

“你这个可怜的小家伙!”老诗人说，同时拉着他的手。

“到我这儿来吧，我可以使你温暖起来。我可以给你喝一点酒，吃一个苹果，因为你是一个美丽的孩子。”

他的确是很美丽的。他的眼睛亮得像两颗明亮的星星，他的金发虽然有水滴下来，可是卷卷曲曲的，非常好看。他像一个小小的天使，不过他冻得惨白，全身发抖。他手里拿着一把漂亮的弓，但是雨水已经把它弄坏了。涂在那些美丽箭上的色彩全都被雨淋得模糊不清了。

老诗人坐在炉边，把这小孩子抱到膝上，把雨水从他的卷发里挤出来，把他的手放到自己的手里暖着，同时为他热了一些甜酒。这孩子马上就恢复过来了。他的双颊也变得红润起来了。他跳到地上来，围着这位老诗人跳舞。

“你是一个快乐的孩子!”老诗人说。“你叫什么名字?”

“我叫阿穆尔①，”他回答说;”你不认识我吗?我的弓就在这儿。你知道，我就是用这把弓射箭哪!看啊，外面天晴了，月亮也出来了。”

“不过你的弓已经坏了。”老诗人说。

“这倒是很可惜的，”小孩子回答说，同时把弓拿起来，看了一看。“哎，它还很干呢，并没有受到什么损害。弦还很紧——我倒要试它一试!”于是他把弓一拉，插上一支箭，对准了目标，向这位和善的老诗人的心中射去。“请你现在看看究竟我的弓损坏了没有!”他说，大笑了一声，就跑掉了。这小孩子该是多么顽皮啊!他居然向这位老诗人射了一箭，而这位老诗人还把他请进温暖的房间里来，对他非常和善，给他喝最好的酒，吃最好的苹果呢!

这位和善的老诗人躺在地上，哭起来了;他的心中了一箭，他说：“嗨，这个阿穆尔真是一个顽皮的孩子!我要把这事情告诉所有的好孩子们，叫他们当心，不要跟他一起玩耍，因为他会跟他们捣蛋!”

所有的好孩子们——女孩子和男孩子们——听到了他讲的这个故事，都对这个顽皮的孩子有了戒心;然而他还是骗过了他们，因为他非常地伶俐。当大学生听完了课走出来的时候，他就穿着一件黑上衣，腋下夹着一本书，在他们的旁边走，他们一点也没有看出他。于是他们就挽着他的手，以为他也是一个学生呢。过时他就把一支箭射进他们的心里去。当女孩子们到教堂去受“坚信礼”②的时候，他也在后面跟着她们。是的，他老是在跟着人!他坐在戏院里的蜡烛台上，光耀夺目，弄得人们把他当做一盏明灯。可是不久大家就知道完全不是这么一回事。他在御花园里，在散步场上跑来跑去。是的，他从前有过一次射中了你爸爸和妈妈的心啦。你只需问问他们。你就可以听到一段故事。咳，这个阿穆尔真是一个坏孩子;你们决不能跟他有任何来往!他在跟着每一个人。

你想想看，有一次他居然把一支箭射进老祖母的心里去啦。

——不过这是很久以前的事了。那个创伤早已经治好了，但是老祖母一直忘不了它。呸，那个恶作剧的阿穆尔!不过你现在认识他了!你知道他是一个多么顽皮的孩子。

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①阿穆尔(Amor)即希腊神话中的丘比特，是罗马神话中爱情之神。他是一个顽皮和快乐的孩子，经常带着弓和箭。当他的箭射到一个人的心里去的时候，这支箭就燃起爱情的火焰。

②在基督教里面，小孩子受了洗礼以后，到了青春发育期间、一般地都要再受一次”坚信礼”，以加强和巩固他对宗教的信心。受“坚信礼”是进入成人阶段的标记。

Published in 1847, WUTHERING HEIGHTS was not well received by the reading public, many of whom condemned it as sordid, vulgar, and unnatural--and author Emily Bronte went to her grave in 1848 believing that her only novel was a failure. It was not until 1850, when WUTHERING HEIGHTS received a second printing with an introduction by Emilys sister Charlotte, that it attracted a wide readership. And from that point the reputation of the book has never looked back. Today it is widely recognized as one of the great novels of English literature.

Even so, WUTHERING HEIGHTS continues to divide readers. It is not a pretty love story; rather, it is swirling tale of largely unlikeable people caught up in obsessive love that turns to dark madness. It is cruel, violent, dark and brooding, and many people find it extremely unpleasant. And yet--it possesses a grandeur of language and design, a sense of tremendous pity and great loss that sets it apart from virtually every other novel written.

The novel is told in the form of an extended flashback. After a visit to his strange landlord, a newcomer to the area desires to know the history of the family--which he receives from Nelly Deans, a servant who introduces us to the Earnshaw family who once resided in the house known as Wuthering Heights. It was once a cheerful place, but Old Earnshaw adopted a "Gipsy" child who he named Heathcliff. And Catherine, daughter of the house, found in him the perfect companion: wild, rude, and as proud and cruel as she. But although Catherine loves him, even recognizes him as her soulmate, she cannot lower herself to marry so far below her social station. She instead marries another, and in so doing sets in motion an obsession that will destroy them all.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS is a bit difficult to "get into;" the opening chapters are so dark in their portrait of the end result of this obsessive love that they are somewhat off-putting. But they feed into the flow of the work in a remarkable way, setting the stage for one of the most remarkable structures in all of literature, a story that circles upon itself in a series of repetitions as it plays out across two generations. Catherine and Heathcliff are equally remarkable, both vicious and cruel, and yet never able to shed their impossible love no matter how brutally one may wound the other.

As the novel coils further into alcoholism, seduction, and one of the most elaborately imagined plans of revenge it gathers into a ghostly tone: Heathcliff, driven to madness by a woman who is not there but who seems reflected in every part of his world--dragging her corpse from the grave, hearing her calling to him from the moors, escalating his brutality not for the sake of brutality but so that her memory will never fade, so that she may never leave his mind until death itself. Yes, this is madness, insanity, and there is no peace this side of the grave or even beyond.

It is a stunning novel, frightening, inexorable, unsettling, filled with unbridled passion that makes one cringe. Even if you do not like it, you should read it at least once--and those who do like it will return to it again and again.