Antelope woodcarving

Woodcarving of Antelope is an intensive reading course in Unit 5, the first volume of Chinese in Grade 7, a standard experimental textbook for compulsory education (People's Education Edition). This is a mini-novel by Zhang Zhilu. It was originally named "go back on our word". When the textbook was compiled, the editor made great changes to the author's original text. Apart from the title, the first change is the gender of the protagonist. Wan Fang, the author's friend, was originally a boy in the author's original text, but now she is called "her". Therefore, "I" is also understood as a girl in the text. The antelope wood in the article refers to the handicraft carved by African artists with antelope as the body and a black wood carving. It's snowing. I walked alone on the way to Wanfang's house. Snowflakes are flying in front of the street lamp, and the street lamp emits dim light in the snow. Wanfang's house and I are only separated by 100 meters, but I have been walking for a long time. We also held a 100-meter race here during the day. At that time, the road looked flat and straight, and now it's snowing. I walked alone for a long time, my feet crunched ... After dinner, I lay on my desk and recited the lever principle I just talked about in class today. Mother is sitting on the sofa knitting a sweater. I often look up at the snowflakes flying outside the window-we seldom have such heavy snow here. How exciting! We can have a snowball fight tomorrow! Mother came over and gently closed the curtain. In the other room, Dad and Grandma are watching TV. The sound of gongs and drums came, and it was Beijing Opera again! I put my hand in my ear. Mother is out, and the sound of the TV is reduced. My mother came to me again and lovingly took my hand away from my ear. "Where is the antelope?" My mother suddenly asked me. The antelope she said is a work of art carved from black hardwood. It's always in the corner of my desk. My heart is pounding because I have given it to my good friend Wan Fang. "Didn't you say to me?" I whispered. "Of course I gave it to you, but where is it now?" My mother seems to have found something secret and stared at me closely. This is serious. "I put it away." I don't know how I lied. "Where is it? Show me. " Mom is not relaxed at all. I just sat there, motionless. Keep your head down and dare not look into her eyes. "Honestly ... did you sell it?" Mother became very strict. "I will never allow it!" ""no ... mom ... I gave it to someone else. "I almost cried, so I quickly explained." To whom? Tell me! "Mother shook my shoulder with her hand." Give it to Wanfang. ""You go and get it back now! " Mother said firmly, "why don't I go with you?" "no!" I cried and cried. Dad came in, and he sat there listening to his mother finish the story, not angry. He lit a cigarette and said slowly to me, "How can a child give something at home to others by himself?" This is not right. If you don't believe me, ask the teacher tomorrow ... If you give away such a precious thing, he will object ...? ""But ... this is my business! " "Yes, mom and dad gave it to you, but you are not allowed to give it to others!" I have no reason. What dad says always makes people find nothing wrong. I know that the black antelope is a souvenir my father brought back from Africa, and it is something my father likes very much. However, I feel very sad at the thought of going to ask my good friend for it. They don't know what a good friend Wanfang is! Wanfang has been with me since I was in primary school. He studies very well and especially likes helping people. He has the strength to do ten pull-ups in a row on the horizontal bar. But he never bullies others. That day in physical education class, all our classmates put on new sweatpants and cut a long hole in the branch. I sat on the ground and cried hard. Because I am particularly afraid that my mother will scold me. Wanfang stopped playing, and he sat next to me and sighed. Suddenly, he took off his trousers and said to me, "Let's change. My mother is a tailor. She can mend her pants, so there is no flaw. " I actually believed him at that time, so I changed my pants with him. Later, I learned that his mother made him stand against the wall for half an hour for those pants. I want to change my pants. He said, "Anyway, I've finished my penalty stop. If I change it back, you will be scolded. That's it! " That day, Wanfang came to my house to play. I saw that he liked the antelope on my desk so much that I gave it to him without thinking: "We will always be good friends … forever!" " "He was also very excited and gave me a beloved knife ... I cried when I thought of it. I don't know when grandma stood at the door. She whispered, "forget it, just remember it next time. Children should keep their word ... how can we get back what we gave to others!" " "Mom couldn't help shouting," You always spoil him. You know what a precious thing this is! " "Dad doesn't talk, just silently sitting on the sofa smoking. In this way, my heart is even sadder. I'm not a child anymore. I'm going to middle school. I silently took out the knife that Wanfang gave me from the drawer and ran out of the door quickly ... Wanfang's home arrived, I went up to the third floor and knocked on the door gently. As soon as the door opened, Wanfang reached out and saw it was me, pulling me into the room. " Wanfang ... "I stood in the aisle and refused to go in." What's the matter with you? "Wan Fang asked me anxiously. I slowly took a knife out of my pocket and said, "can you change the antelope back?" "My voice is so low that I can hardly hear it. Wanfang didn't speak. He bit his lip and stared at me closely. I looked down at him. We just stood in silence. After a while, Wan Fang said, "How could you do that? Didn't we have a good talk during the day? Aren't we good friends? " I can't help crying. Wan Fang's mother came out of it and asked me what was going on. I can't say, I just keep crying. She turned to ask Wan Fang. Wan Fang said, "He wants what he gave me back! "Wan Fang's mother gave Wan Fang a slap in the face:" How can a child change things? Get their stuff! "Wan Fang stood there motionless, and his mother gave him another push before he reluctantly left. After a while, Wan Fang came out of the room with an antelope in his hand. He also made a small glass frame for the antelope and took it out together. His mother took it and said, "Oh, dear! How can you ask others for such a valuable thing? ! "She handed the antelope to me." Take it. I'll talk about it later! ""I put the knife and glasses frame in his mother's hand. I was about to talk to Wan Fang, but he was gone. I walked slowly down the stairs. It is snowing heavily outside. The snow fell on the antelope and slipped down again. Suddenly I feel that the antelope has become so heavy that I have to hold it with both hands. I walked slowly in the snow. Suddenly, I heard ten thousand voices behind me. I looked back in surprise. Wan Fang panted before me. He didn't wear a hat or cotton-padded clothes. He put the glass cover in his hand on my antelope, put a knife into my hand and said, "here, there is no gift, we are good friends!" " ""Your mother will talk about you! "I looked him in the eye." Don't worry, my parents didn't say anything about what they gave me and who I gave it to ... "He smiled brightly and showed his snow-like teeth to have a snowball fight tomorrow. Come early! "Wan Fang ran away, stretched out his arm to say hello to me from time to time. Gradually, he disappeared into the world of snowflakes flying. I cried. I really cried. Snowflakes and tears fell on the glass cover together. I have never been so sad. ......

Zhang Zhilu: Wood carving about antelope.

My short story "Woodcarving of Antelope" was written on 1984 and published in the first issue of Oriental Boys in the same year. When the work was published, it was named "Repentance Book", and it was renamed "Antelope Wood Carving" when it was selected and compiled into the first-grade junior high school textbook published by People's Education Publishing House. One day, a friend who teaches Chinese in a middle school called me and said that she was teaching students "my text". I am surprised! She said that the text was signed by me and she told me a story. I'm sure that's my article Confession. I made it clear that this text was selected from the first volume of junior one language and came to the publishing house. I told an editor that I heard that my article was included in the textbook of senior one, and I wanted to read it! He said he didn't have this textbook here. I looked at the bookcase behind him with some disappointment. Through the glass, I saw the words "the first volume of nine-year education Chinese textbook" clearly written on the spine of a book! I asked him to show it to me. I opened the textbook and saw my article "Wood Carving of Antelope" and my signature. I asked the editor if I could send this book as a souvenir, and he said there was no book! Then I wrote my contact number in pencil on the desk calendar and said that I would contact me later ... so I had to go to the textbook store in Dongdan, Beijing and buy a copy of My Textbook. Later, a friend of mine who was a middle school teacher gave me a textbook she used. Therefore, I put this new and old two Chinese textbooks for Grade One in senior high school on my bookshelf as a souvenir. For more than 20 years, antelope woodcarving has been selected and compiled into middle school textbooks. Think of the students who saw this work for the first time. Now they are in their thirties. Think about how many students read this article, more than a few thousand! I feel very happy and gratified. When I wrote this novel, I was already working as an editor in a film studio. However, the friendship with classmates and colleagues is still vivid in my teaching career for more than ten years. On my bookshelf, there is an antelope-shaped wood carving slightly larger than my palm. Dark wood gives off a soft luster. This kind of antelope wood carving has simple and vivid lines, long legs and short body, and looks vigorous and powerful. The two corners are not realistic circles, but freehand and angular, standing high above the head and shining. This is a gift from a teacher surnamed Li who teaches English. One day I went to her house and saw this woodcarving. I said yes! The next day at work, she put the woodcarving on my desk and said, Here you are! I said in surprise, how can this be good? She said, what's wrong? I'll give it to you if you like! Say that finish, she turned and left, didn't feel she gave me anything precious. I am very touched. If there is any motivation for my writing, this antelope woodcarving is undoubtedly the inducement and inspiration for my initial creation. Giving gifts to others is a common thing between children and adults, and it is a way for people to express their friendship. There are also some things, people give gifts to others and then ask them to come back, especially among children. Mostly because they disagree with each other. Asking for gifts seems to express the attitude of "breaking up", which is not surprising for children who are "fragrant and smelly". Of course, this is also a very shameful and childish thing! Sometimes I write in my articles that parents think the "value" of gifts is too high. If the child is not sensible, let the child take it back. I came up with an idea that the gift can be written as a novel, and the gift is the precious antelope woodcarving in front of me. As for whether to tell the child to keep his word? Does it mean that parents don't understand their children? So it's not criticizing parents for valuing money over righteousness? To be honest, I haven't had time to think about it when I wrote it. What I want to think about is to write about the relationships and contradictions between characters and their ambivalence! It seems reasonable to strive for everyone's behavior and language from his point of view. The article is interesting, and the meaning may be in it. But one thing is certain, that is, the author's position is on the side of sympathy for children! When compiling the textbook, the editor made great changes to the article. Apart from the title, the first change is the gender of the protagonist. My friend Wan Fang used to be a boy, but now she is called Wan Fang, so "I" is also understood as a girl in the book. Because of this change, Wan Fang and I are not so accurate and fluent in writing. For example, when Wan Fang and I exchanged gifts, we took a machete out of her pocket and gave it to me. Girls are a little embarrassed when they play. Another detail in the text is that Wan Fang and I changed our pants on the physical education class. Although the sentence "Suddenly, he took off his pants" has been deleted from the text, the place moved to the tree and he patted his ass and smiled. It still gives people a hard feeling to read! Some teaching plans of "The Carving of Antelope" I saw on the Internet called me a female writer. Is it implied by the girl in the textbook? Second, the first five small natural paragraphs have been deleted. The ending has also been greatly changed. The original end of the article is: I slowly walked down the stairs. It is snowing heavily outside. The snow fell on the antelope and slipped down again. Suddenly I feel that the antelope has become so heavy that I have to hold it with both hands. I walked slowly in the snow. Suddenly, I heard Wan Fang's voice behind me. I looked back in surprise. Wan Fang panted before me. He didn't wear a hat or cotton-padded clothes. He put the glass cover in his hand on my antelope, put a knife into my hand and said, "here, there is no gift, we are good friends!" " ""Your mother will talk about you! "I looked him in the eye." Don't worry, my parents didn't say anything about what they gave me and who I gave it to ... "He smiled brightly and showed his snow-like teeth to have a snowball fight tomorrow. Come early! "Wan Fang ran away, stretched out his arm to say hello to me from time to time. Gradually, he disappeared into the world of snowflakes flying. I cried. I really cried. Snowflakes and tears fell on the glass cover together. I've never been so sad. And the end result of the change is: I am walking slowly on the road alone. The moon came out, so cold that I couldn't help shivering. There is not a sound on the road. Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw Wan Fang running. She put the knife into my hand and said, "Take it, we are still good friends ..." I looked at her blankly and couldn't stop crying. I think I am the saddest person in the world! Because I broke my word to my friend. What a disgraceful thing I have done! However, can this be all my fault? I think the last sentence is a bit straightforward. The "lines" of several unimportant people in the article have also been changed, such as my grandmother and Wan Fang's mother, who only have one or two lines in the article. It is these two lines that have been shortened and changed their personalities. For example, when "I" went to Wan Fang's house to ask for antelope wood carving, Wan Fang's mother found it-the original text said, "How can you ask for such a valuable thing?" "Take it well, I'll talk about him later! "After the exchange, I said," How can you take something so valuable from others? ！” "Take it well, I'll hit him later!" For example, in the original text, grandma whispered, "Forget it, just remember it next time, and the children should keep their promises ... how can I get back what I gave to others!" " "In the text, it is simplified to," Forget it, it's not delicious. " For these changes, I understand the painstaking efforts of textbook editors, and understand that textbooks as models must reflect the intention of teaching purposes. However, these changes are successful and controversial. During this period, many magazine editors wanted me to talk about the background and motivation of writing this work. I didn't start writing. I always think that writing is a very "accidental" thing. I don't have any definite ideas. There seems to be nothing to say. Writing lies in the author, and understanding lies in the reader! So it has been shelved until now. Until I saw many teaching plans about this article on the Internet. Some teachers still regard me as a female writer, which makes me feel lively and strange! So I want to write out the situation, hoping to provide some little help to the teachers and classmates who teach this text.

"Where is the antelope?" My mother suddenly asked me. Mother said that antelope is a handicraft made of black hard wood carving. Dad brought it back to me from Africa. It's always in the corner of my desk. At the moment, my heart is pounding

I jumped up with a plop because I gave it to my good friend Wan Fang yesterday. "Didn't dad tell me?" I whispered. "I know I gave it to you, but where is it now?" My mother's eyes fixed on me. I found that things were not as simple as I thought. "I put it away." "Where is it? Show me. " Mom seems to see that I'm lying. Because I stood there motionless and looked down at her. "Honestly ... is it for sale?" Mother became very strict. "I didn't sell it ... I gave it away." I feel my voice trembling. "To whom? Tell me. " Mother put her hand on my shoulder. "I gave it to Wan Fang. She is my best friend. " "You go and get it back now!" Mother said firmly, "How can you give such a precious thing away?"? Or I'll go with you! " "no!" I cried and cried. My father came in to listen to my mother's story. He lit a cigarette quietly and said to me slowly, "It's not impossible for a child to give something, but it depends on what he sees." Such precious things are not like snacks and a box of sweets. How can you make your own decisions? "Dad's voice has always been calm, but with an irresistible force." You already gave it to me. ""yes, dad gave it to you, but you are not allowed to give it away! "I have no reason. I feel very sad when I think that they will soon force me to go to Wan Fang to get the antelope back. They don't know what kind of good friend Wan Fang is. We have been together since kindergarten. She studies well and is not selfish at all. We are inseparable, and the Chinese teacher calls us "two in one". Last week in physical education class, all our classmates put on the new sportswear we just bought. After jumping over the goat, we caught the young trees and played around them. Accidentally, my pants were cut by branches. I sat under the tree and secretly wiped my tears. I love my pants, and I'm afraid of being told when I go home. Wan Fang stopped playing and sat next to me sighing. Suddenly, she jumped up and patted her ass and said, "Let's change first. My mother is a senior tailor. She can sew up the big hole in her trousers without even noticing it. "At that time, I thought I was saved, so Wan Fang and I changed pants. Later, I heard that her mother made her stand against the wall for an hour. " Why didn't you say the pants were mine? "She smiled." My mother is a mother-in-law. If she knows, she will let your mother know sooner or later. "I want to change a pair of pants. She casually said, "Forget it, I've been standing for an hour anyway. If you change it, you must stand for two hours ... "Until now, I still wear her sweatpants. Every time I go to physical education class, I feel sorry for her when I see that long scar on her pants. Yesterday, Wan Fang came to my house to play. I saw that she especially liked the antelope on my desk, so I picked it up and handed it to her and said, "Here you are, we will always be good friends … forever!" " "She is also very excited. She took a small machete out of her pocket and handed it to me. I don't know when grandma stood at the door. She must have wanted to say something, but she didn't. At this time, my mother took out an iron box of candy from the cupboard and said to me, "My mother doesn't understand. You give this box of candy to your good friend ... that antelope, even mom and dad are reluctant to give it away! " "I saw the preciousness of the antelope in my mother's eyes. She looked at me with her father as if waiting for something. I know that things are irreversible and tears are running down my cheeks. The room is very quiet. Grandma suddenly said, "Forget it, it's not good." Mother handed me the candy box and said, "You don't know what a precious wood carving this is!" " "I can't stand it anymore. I pushed open my mother's candy box and ran out in the rain. I walked all the way with the knife that Wan Fang gave me in my hand. what can I say? Will she be my friend as before? Definitely not. I tapped on the door. The door opened and Wan Fang reached out and pulled me in. "Wan Fang ..." I stood in the aisle and refused to go any further. "What's the matter with you? Did you get hit without an umbrella? " Wan Fang looked at me strangely. "No ..." I slowly took out a knife from my pocket. "Can you give me back the antelope ..." I could hardly hear my voice. Wan Fang paused, didn't pick up the knife, just bit his lip and looked at me. I lowered my eyes and dared not look at her. "I didn't speak well yesterday. How can you do this? " I tried not to cry. At this moment, her mother came out of the house. Seeing the knife in my hand and our appearance, I immediately understood: "Wan Fang, did you take someone else's things?" Wan Fang glanced at me and ran into the house. After a while, she came out with the antelope. Her mother took it and said, "Oh, dear! How can you take such a precious thing from others! " She handed the antelope to me. "Take it well, don't feel bad. Look back at me hitting her! " "I handed the knife to her and said," Aunt! I gave her the antelope, and it was all my fault ... "When I looked up, Wan Fang had already left, and she wouldn't be with me anymore ... I walked slowly on the road alone. The moon came out, so cold that I couldn't help shivering. There is not a sound on the road. Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw Wan Fang running. She put the knife into my hand and said, "Take it, we are still good friends ..." I looked at her blankly and couldn't stop crying. I think I am the saddest person in the world! Because I broke my word to my friend. What a disgraceful thing I have done! However, can this be all my fault?