Snow Leopard Elegy

Chapter 22 Breaking into the Animal World
My first animal novel was written in 1979, when I was working as a news officer in the Xishuangbanna Military Division.One day, a classmate who used to jump in the same village came to visit and told me the news that the old elephant slave in the village who had raised elephants for the chieftain for half his life died.When I was an educated youth in the countryside, I knew the old elephant slave very well. It is said that he could understand the language of elephants and could talk to elephants. home elephant.I also heard him say that he once let an elephant run away because he couldn't bear to let the chieftain saw its tusks.

After the classmate who reported the news left, I couldn't sleep at night, thinking about the old elephant slave.He raised elephants all his life, and he should still have some relationship with elephants after his death, so that his life can be considered a successful conclusion.I think the elephant he let go should run back to the stockade from the depths of the forest and howl three times in front of the old elephant slave's grave as a memorial service.After thinking about it, I came up with a novel called "When Elephants Migrate".After the manuscript was finished, I sent it to Beijing Children's Literature, and within half a month there was a reply. The editor wrote a letter of great praise and encouraged me to continue writing this kind of animal novels with distinctive regional characteristics.

The one that really brought me a reputation among readers was Yellow Fox, a Retired Military Dog.

In the spring of 1983, I went to the Guanlei Border Defense Company for an interview.One day, the superior ordered the company to immediately dispatch a small unit to intercept an armed drug gang in the virgin forest on the Sino-Vietnamese border.I was lucky enough to be part of this operation.

When we were about to set off, a military dog ​​that had been raised at the outpost for ten years and had already retired insisted on following us to carry out the mission.This is an old dog that is so old that it is about to meet the dog god. The hair on its neck and tail has fallen off, and there is a three-inch scar on its face. A small piece of its left front leg was cut off by a shrapnel. Come on a little lame.Everyone was afraid that it would cause trouble due to old age and frailty, so they didn't want to take it, so they locked it in the dog shed.Unexpectedly, when we set off for three hours, just arrived at the ambush site, the old dog got out of the locked dog shed somehow, and appeared in front of us!No choice but to let it stay.

In the middle of the night, the group of armed drug dealers appeared on the border.After the battle broke out, several other drug dealers were killed or captured alive, but one drug dealer took advantage of the dark and rolled into the Qinggou, which was tens of feet deep.The old dog barked and jumped into Qinggou.There were three gunshots and the screams of drug dealers in Qinggou.We hurried down to Qinggou, turned on the flashlight, and saw that the military dog ​​was shot once in the neck and twice in the body, and fell into a pool of blood, but the dog still clung to the drug dealer.

The soldiers surrounded the military dog ​​and sighed endlessly. The breeder of the military dog ​​kept nagging: "Don't look at it as an animal that can't talk, but it is smarter than humans and understands emotions better than humans!" The soldiers told me, This military dog ​​has made two military exploits, and the dog's face and front leg were injured by landmines.It has been retired for three years. According to the regulations, it can return to the military dog ​​school to take care of it and enjoy food subsidies for life.But it ran back to the outpost from the military dog ​​school twice, and finally died on the combat post without hesitation.

The next day, the border defense company held a grand funeral for the military dog, and many people shed tears.At the funeral, a mysterious impulse suddenly surged in my heart, and I felt that this military dog ​​itself was a very good novel, so I wrote "Retired Military Dog Yellow Fox".After this work was published in Shanghai "Youth Literature and Art", I received thousands of letters from readers, and it became my most popular animal novel.The editor also praised it greatly, saying that the idea of ​​this work is novel and unique.

I finally realized something. The novelty of literature is not a novelty in the sense of journalism that follows the fashion and waves, but the special life experience of the writer, which is something that others do not have.The literary world is a hundred gardens. If you grow roses and I grow roses, a hundred gardens will become a garden; although roses are very precious, they will become monotonous due to repetition.Others grow roses, and I grow cornflowers. Although cornflowers are not as delicate and fragrant as roses, they will be favored by people because of their new varieties.In the crowded small road of literature, the important thing is to find yourself.

In 1984, Mr. Xu Huaizhong founded the Department of Literature at the Art Academy of the People’s Liberation Army, and served as the head of the Department of Literature as the Minister of Culture. The first class recruited 35 students, and I was lucky enough to get in.Many of my classmates later became outstanding figures in the literary world, such as Mo Yan, Wang Hailing, Li Cunbao, Song Xuewu, Zhu Xiangqian, Huang Xianguo, Li Benshen, Cui Jingsheng and so on.

Mr. Huaizhong's school-running method is unique, which may be summed up in three sentences: broaden horizons, make extensive comparisons, and choose carefully.To this end, he invited people from all walks of life with an open mind to hold various lectures for us.From Kafka's absurdism, Camus's pessimistic philosophy, Sartre's existentialism to the supernatural powers of the human body, you can all show your style on our podium.The format of the lectures is also refreshing.Some old gentlemen are sitting upright, while some young teachers are jumping on high tables, dancing and exaggerating their novel ideas with unique body language.Sometimes the two lectures just happened to have opposite views and styles, forcing our thinking to make rapid jumps in all directions.

I felt more relaxed and free than ever before, and felt that I had achieved the greatest spiritual liberation.The two-year advanced study in the Department of Literature is nothing more than a ladder for my creation.

My mind is filled with all kinds of literary and artistic theories, and I naturally regard these theories as a mirror to compare my past creations.I found that the animal novels I wrote before were basically in the circle of grievances and grievances between animals and humans, and they were standing still on the anthropomorphic images of animals.If I continue to write, it will undoubtedly be fried rice.Besides, I have almost written about the types of animals that can be written in Xishuangbanna.I felt a creative crisis, the old road has been completed, and the new road has not been dug, so anxious that I just want to hit the wall.

I am determined to forge a new path in the field of animal novels.

In the Department of Literature, I devoured a lot of books on biology, zoology, animal behavior and so on.Among them, four books have the greatest influence on me, one is "New Synthesis" written by American Wilson; one is "Attack and Human Nature" written by Austrian Lorenz, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology; The two books are "The Naked Ape" and "The Human Zoo" written by Morris of the United Kingdom.After reading these books, I have a pleasant feeling of trekking in the desert and encountering sweet springs.Wilson's startling vision of sociobiology had a deafening effect on me, and Lorenz and Morris, two eminent zoologists, had masterfully studied the animal world for me to observe animals, distill themes, Structural stories open up a whole new angle.

I found that my understanding of animals in the past was superficial.Animals do not only live on this earth for human beings, they also have their own survival circle of the law of the jungle, which can completely shape the image of animals on the colorful stage of the law of the jungle.

In addition, many ills and problems in human society, such as war, racial discrimination, resource plunder, gender differences, power disputes, aggressive behavior, bullying, etc., can be explained and answered in the big culture from a sociological perspective. The original cause can also be deciphered from the biological level with the eyes of zoologists.In this sense, it can be deduced that the cognitive value of animal novels can not only surpass popular science knowledge, but also surpass the mirror-like confession of "human beings are not as good as animals", which can be completely comparable to problem novels and philosophical novels.

Based on these two experiences, I wrote the short animal novel "Elephant Tomb" and the novella "Twilight".I personally feel that this is a new starting point for my creation of animal novels.First of all, these two novels are purely about animals, without the appearance of humans. The stories and plots are derived from the special behaviors of animals themselves, rather than from moral norms.In "Elephant Tomb", when the female elephant Baya faced a sharp conflict between maternal love and love, she destroyed love and perfected maternal love; in "Twilight", jackals sacrificed the old and weak for the benefit of the population.This kind of theme touches on some aspects of human nature that we have been suppressing for a long time, and triggers readers to think about the living conditions of people themselves.Secondly, in terms of writing, I changed the narrative angle, used rigorous logical reasoning and reasonable imagination, simulated the thinking and feeling of animals, and carried out psychological descriptions.

This attempt should be said to be successful.After the novel was published, it aroused widespread attention. Some critics pointed out that both works focus on the structure of the story from the characteristics of animals, observe the natural motivation of animal behavior in detail, contain profound philosophy, and have no trace of humanizing animals. , can be called a pure and authentic animal novel.

Digging ten shallow wells is worse than digging one deep well.I found a path of my own, and I walked on it unswervingly.From then on, I basically gave up the creation of other themes and devoted myself to the creation of animal novels.At that time, I had been transferred to the Literary and Art Creation Office of the Political Department of the Chengdu Military Region. In order to obtain first-hand information about the animal world and fresh life experiences, I took Xishuangbanna Wild Elephant Valley, Ailao Mountain Wildlife Rescue Center, and Kunming Yuantong Mountain Zoo as bases. , stipulated that no matter how busy the work was, he must spend three months every year to experience life in these three bases.

After several years of hard work, I have successively written a batch of animal novels that have brought me a reputation. "The Seventh Hunting Dog", "The Encounter of a Eagle Hunting", "Red Milk Sheep", and "Bird Slave" successively won the Excellent Children's Literature Award organized by the Chinese Writers Association.

Since 1993, my works have been introduced to Taiwan one after another. So far, I have published more than [-] kinds of animal novel collections in Taiwan. The "Good Books for Everyone" Excellent Book Award jointly organized by the library and the Taiwan Children's Literature Society.

This time Zhejiang Juvenile and Children's Publishing House launched my collection of animal novels, and selected the essence of my works with millions of words. This is not only a concentrated display of my animal novel creation, but also a great spur and encouragement for my future creation.

When I was young, I didn't know the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth, and I had set countless ambitions.Now that I am over half a century old and my temples are frosty, I understand such a simple truth: life is short, a person's energy and ability are limited, and it is not bad to be able to do one or two things well in a lifetime.For me, it is the greatest pleasure in my life to write my favorite animal novels well and to write a few more works recognized by readers.

Award record
◎ "The Seventh Hound" (short story) The First National Excellent Children's Literature Award of the Chinese Writers Association

◎"Retired Army Dog Yellow Fox" (short story) The [-]th Chen Bochui Children's Literature Award
◎"The Dream of the Wolf King" (Novel) The [-]th Taiwan Yang Huan Children's Literature Award

◎"The Encounter of a Vulture Hunting" (Novel) The Second National Excellent Children's Literature Award of China Writers Association

◎"The Dream of the Wolf King" (Novel) First Prize of the Second National Children's Excellent Book Award
◎"Destiny" (short story) in 1992, the best essay award for juvenile novels and fairy tales on both sides of the Taiwan Strait
◎"Elephant Mother's Complaint" (Novella) The First Bing Xin Children's Literature New Work Award
◎"The Remnant Wolf" (Novella) The First "Giant" Novel Award

◎"Shen Shixi Animal Novels Selected Collection" (Short and Novella Collection) The [-]rd Bing Xin Children's Book Award

◎"Red Milk Goat" (collection of novellas) The [-]rd National Excellent Children's Literature Award of China Writers Association

◎"The Dream of the Wolf King" and "The Seventh Hunting Dog" (a collection of short stories and novelettes) Taiwan's 1994 "Good Books for Everyone" Best Children's Book Award
◎"The Seventh Hound" (a collection of short stories) Taiwan's "China Times" Top Ten Children's Book Award in 94

◎"Nanny Python" (a collection of short stories) 1996 Taiwan Golden Tripod Award Excellent Children's Book Recommendation Award

◎"Wolf Wife" (a collection of short stories) Taiwan's 1997 "Good Books for Everyone" Best Children's Book Award of the Year
◎"Baby Tooth Mother Elephant" (novella) No.11 China Book Award
◎ "Shepherd and Leopard" (a collection of short stories) Taiwan's 2000 "Good Books for Everyone" Best Children's Book Award of the Year
◎"Scarred Jackal" (Novel) No.13 China Book Award
◎"Tibetan Mastiff Crossing the Soul" (short story) No.19 Chen Bochui Children's Literature Award

◎"Bird Slave" (Novel) The [-]th National Excellent Children's Literature Award of China Writers Association

◎"Tibetan Mastiff Crossing the Soul" (a collection of short and medium stories) 2006 Bing Xin Children's Book Award
◎"Flying Antelope" (a collection of short stories), the State Press and Publication Administration recommended 2007 excellent books to young people in [-]
◎"The Complete Book of Dreams of the Wolf King" and "Wolf World" (a collection of short stories and novelettes), the State Press and Publication Administration recommended 2008 excellent books to young people in [-]
(End of this chapter)