Full text of "The Man Who Wandered into the Worker's Paradise"

[India] Rabindranath Tagore's "The Man Who Wandered into the Worker's Paradise" Full Text | Appreciation | After Reading

[India] Rabindranath Tagore

He never talks about Practical.

He couldn't find any practical work to do, so he fancied all day long. He fashioned tchotchkes—men, women, castles, clay sculptures studded with seashells. He also paints. In this way, he wasted his time on useless things. Everyone laughed at him, and he himself vowed many times to get rid of these strange thoughts, but they lingered in his heart and refused to leave.

Some boys rarely read but pass the exam successfully. Now, he encountered a similar opportunity. He did nothing in this world, but the door to heaven was open for him after death.

However, in heaven, there is also an angel who records the merits and demerits of mortals while they are alive. Because the messenger in charge of him sent the wrong message, he was assigned to the workers' paradise.

In this paradise, there is everything except laziness.

Here, the men are shouting: "Oh my god, we don't have a minute to spare!" The women are murmuring: "Time flies, we have to work hard!" Everyone agreed. "Time is as precious as gold." Our hands never rest. "They complained and sighed, but at the same time, these words also made them happy and energetic.

This new guest has never done anything useful in his life. Of course, in this workers' paradise, Here, he was out of tune with the way of life here. He wandered absentmindedly on the street, occasionally bumping into hurried pedestrians, and the busy farmers scolded him as he lay on the green grass and by the rushing stream. He always gets in the way.

A girl who walks like the wind goes to the quiet river to fetch water every day. You know, in the workers' paradise, even the river does not sing - because of fear. A waste of energy.

The girl's smart movements are reminiscent of the agile fingers of a skilled guitarist. Her hair is disheveled, and strands of hair often fall on her forehead, as if she wants to peek into the dark secrets in her eyes.

But the idler stood by the river, looking at him, the busy girl in the laborer's paradise felt infinite pity - just like a prince seeing a lonely beggar and feeling pity. Her heart arose.

"Hey," she asked him with concern, "Why don't you have a job?"

"Work? I don't have time to work!" Sighing.

The girl didn’t understand what he meant and said, “If you want, I can do some work for you. "

The man replied: "Girl, I have been hoping that you can give *** some work. "

"What are you going to do?"

"Can you give me a big water bottle for you to draw water from?"

"Big. Water bottle? Do you want to use it to draw water?" the girl asked.

"I, I want to paint on the bottle. "

The girl was angry.

"Yeah, painting! I don't want to waste my time with people like you! I'm leaving. "After that, she really left.

However, how can a busy person have as much free time as an idle person! Every day, as long as he meets her, he will always pester her: "Girl, Give me a water bottle, I want to paint on it!"

Finally she gave in and handed him a water bottle. The man began to paint. He painted one stroke after another, Applying color one after another.

When he finished painting, the girl picked up the water bottle and looked at it carefully.

Her eyes were confused and her brows were furrowed. Asking: "What do these lines and colors mean? What use can they be used for?"

"Nothing - a painting sometimes has no meaning and no practical use. "

The girl took the water bottle home. She avoided the inquiring eyes of her family, turned the water bottle under the lamp, and admired the paintings from different angles. In the middle of the night, she got up from the bed, lit I quietly began to appreciate the lights again.

It was the first time in her life that she appreciated such useless things!

She went to the river again the next day, but her steps were not as hasty as before. There seemed to be a new consciousness arising in my heart, a consciousness that was neither meaningful nor useful.

Seeing the man standing by the river again, she couldn't help but ask: "What do you want?"

"Just asking for one more favor."

"What?"

"Let me braid a ribbon in your hair."

"Why?"

"No reason."

The colorful ribbons are braided. This busy girl in a laborer's paradise now spends a lot of time decorating her hair with ribbons every day. Time flies by in vain, and a lot of work is not done yet.

Recently, production in Workers' Paradise has begun to slow down. Many formerly industrious people became lazy—they wasted a lot of time on useless things like painting and sculpture. The elders were worried. It was decided to call a meeting. Everyone at the meeting unanimously pointed out that this situation is unprecedented in the history of Workers’ Paradise.

The messenger hurried in, bowed to the elders, and then apologized.

"I assigned a person to your paradise by mistake." He said, "The current situation is entirely caused by his own hands."

The man was called Coming. The elders looked at his fancy clothes, his magical brushes and paints. They immediately concluded: This person is not suitable to stay in the workers' paradise!

Mr. Chairman announced to the person in a stiff tone: "There is no place for people like you here. You have to leave!"

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The man sighed with relief and put away his brush and paint. But when he was just about to leave, the girl by the stream hurried over: "Wait a minute, I want to go with you."

The elders gasped in surprise. This kind of thing is unique in the workers' paradise - it is really meaningless and useless!

(Translated by Tang Ruoshui)

Selected from "March" Issue 7, 1984< /p>

Appreciation of this novel does not express life according to actual life, but "deforms" life to "defamiliarize" people, thinking that it is written about something different from real life. Irrelevant things. But after reading it, I turned my head and thought about it, and couldn't help but exclaim: Isn't this a portrayal of the real life we ??have lived for generations? This "deformation" of "defamiliarization" has a clear "counter-evidence" significance, that is, Expressing negative content in a positive form and expressing positive content in a negative form go hand in hand.

The so-called "laborer's paradise" expresses "negative content" in a "positive form". In this "paradise", the men are shouting: "Oh my God, we don't have a minute to spare!" The women are equally busy, and they are murmuring: "Time flies, we have to work hard!" "Hands They never rested", although they also complained and sighed, but at the same time they were "joyful and energetic". It is obvious that although their bodies are busy and hard all year round, their spirits are ignorant and have never asked about their inhuman status and destiny, "For whom do you work hard and for whom?" Lenin once said: "Be aware of your own inhuman status and destiny." The slave who fights against his slave status is a revolutionary. The slave who does not realize his slave status and lives a silent and ignorant slave life is a complete slave who appreciates the wonderful slave life with relish. A slave who is grateful to his kind and kind master is a slave and a traitor." Obviously, the "laborers" in this "paradise" are simply a group of silent and ignorant slaves, and they are clearly slaves. A slave leaning towards the "*** gangster". The novel denies this, showing the author's sympathy for the miserable lives of the lower class people and his condemnation of the exploitative system.

The so-called "person" who "accidentally entered the workers' paradise" is a positive image that expresses "positive" content in a "negative" form. He, "this" person, "wants all day long", showing his suspicion and dissatisfaction with the existing society. He “never cared about practicality,” preferring to “sculpt little things—men, women, castles, clay sculptures inlaid with seashells. He also painted.

In this way, he wasted his time on useless things." Literally speaking, the novel seems to be negative about his "this" image. His labor is "useless things." However, it is these "Useless things" caused an uproar in the "laborer's paradise". A girl who used to "walk like the wind" and worked non-stop was disturbed by his "paintings" and "ribbons". I was restless and had no intention of working. “The girl took the water bottle home. She avoided the inquiring eyes of her family members, turned the water bottle under the lamp, and admired the painting from different angles. In the middle of the night, she got up from the bed, lit the lamp, and quietly began to appreciate it again. This is the first time in her life that she appreciates such a useless thing!" A small "ribbon" also made her love it so much that "this busy girl in a laborer's paradise has to spend a lot of time using ribbons every day. Decorate hair. Time flies by in vain, and a lot of work is not done yet. Although she intellectually believed that "paintings" and "ribbons" were "of no use," she could not resist the attraction and temptation of "paintings" and "ribbons" to her. The changes in her actions also proved that "paintings" and "ribbons" were "useless." "Things" are actually "of great use". And this "use" is so invincible in the "laborer's paradise" that "the production in paradise is sluggish." Many people who used to be diligent have become lazy - they waste a lot of time on useless things such as painting and sculpture", making "the elders worried". It is through "him" that the novel denies "heaven" The meaning shows the power of "him" as a positive meaning.

Since the author gives the novel the characteristics of "defamiliarization", the image connotation of "him" is not single and fixed, but has symbolic characteristics. We know that Tagore was a progressive writer of bourgeois democracy and nationalism. He denied feudalism and the clan system. He sympathized with the suffering of the lower class people and hoped to arouse the lower class people to understand their own suffering. In this sense, "he" is clearly the image of a rebel and an enlightener. The author clearly sees that the people in "heaven" are actually the people in the "iron house" mentioned by Lu Xun. It is not easy for people to wake up, and they will encounter opposition from the powerful. However, the destruction of "Paradise" is inevitable. As the "Chairman" in "Paradise", it can be said bluntly. The tone announced to “him”: “There is no place for people like you here. You have to leave!" But "his" calling was irresistible - "Wait a minute, I want to go with you. "——Although these words only came from the mouth of a girl by the stream, it was by no means just her voice. "The elders gasped in surprise" - "It is really meaningless and useless. !" Its original intention is to deny "him", but it just shows that the elders clearly feel that the "meaning and usefulness" of "him" are overwhelming and cannot be resisted.

(Chang Genrong)