Isaac bashevis singer (1904-) is the most famous Jewish writer in contemporary America. He was born in Poland and moved to the United States in 1935. He wrote many novels, many short stories and more than a dozen children's stories. He won many awards in China and won the Nobel Prize in Literature with 1978. His children's stories have a wide range of themes and various forms of expression, including children's life stories, animal stories, fairy tales, satirical and humorous stories and so on.
The story of three wishes is a famous fairy tale. Through the story of three children following the guidance of the night patron saint at Mao Festival and finally realizing their beautiful wishes when they grow up, the work expounds the profound theme full of philosophical implications: "Without luck, as long as they are willing to work hard, they will certainly create miracles and get happiness." The author said through the mouth of the night patron saint: "No matter who doesn't do things by himself, it is impossible to become smart;" No matter who doesn't study hard, it is impossible to be studied. Young readers have received positive suggestions. And this kind of elder's exhortation, completely contained in the beautiful story, has no preaching flavor, and has successfully reached the perfect state of entertaining. The greatest artistic features of the works are: the combination of fiction and reality, the blending of truth and fantasy, and the entanglement between man and god, forming a wonderful fairy tale artistic conception of fiction and reality and fantasy in reality; The plot arrangement spans a long time and space, but the internal thinking is cohesive and the structure is rigorous, which still gives people a sense of mastery.
Lou Fu Fei
The story of three wishes
This story takes place in the town of Bohr in Fromm. Fromm Bohr has everything an ordinary town should have: a synagogue, a Bible study room, a workhouse, a rabbi and hundreds of residents. On Thursday, there is a market in Bohr, Fromm. Farmers from four townships came to the market to sell grain, potatoes, chickens, calves and honey, and then bought back salt, kerosene, boots and other necessities.
Bohr has three children, Flam. They often play together. One is a seven-year-old boy named Sloma, also known as Solomon; One is his sister, six-year-old Esther; There is also a boy named Moxi. Three of them are good friends. Moses and Sloma are about the same age.
Sloma and Moses went to the same Jewish school. They heard at school that one night before and after the Mao Jie Festival, Tianmen will suddenly open, and anyone who can see this miracle with his own eyes will get his wish within one minute.
Sloma, Mohi and Esther often talk about it together. Sloma said that he wanted to be as smart and rich as King Moses Solomon, because he happened to have the same name as the king. Mohi hopes he can be as knowledgeable as the ancient scholar Mohi Maimonide. Esther wants to be as beautiful as the ancient queen Esther. After a long discussion, the three children decided to keep vigil on the last day of Maojie Festival, and when the door opened that day, they expressed their wishes separately.
Children usually go to bed early, but at night, they can't sleep. After their parents fell asleep, they sneaked out of the house and gathered in the church yard to wait for a miracle.
It was an extraordinary experience. There was no moon that night, and it was very cold. They have heard that goblins often hang out at night and sometimes hurt people who go out rashly. Others say that after midnight, walkers go to church to pray and read the Bible. If someone passes by the church in the dead of night, they may be dragged in by walkers to read the Bible together. It's really scary However, Sloma and Mohi are both wearing fringed coats, and Esther is surrounded by two aprons, which can ward off evil spirits. Still, the three children were a little scared. Listen! An owl barked several times. Esther also heard that bats fly around at night. If they get into a girl's hair, the girl will die within a year. Therefore, she has wrapped her hair in a headscarf.
An hour has passed. Two hours, three hours have passed. But Tianmen has never been opened. The three children are tired and a little hungry. Suddenly, the lightning flashed and the Tianmen was opened. The three children saw the ladder Jacob saw in his dream and the winged angel who climbed up and down. They also saw other angels-the angel of knowledge Seraph and the chariot of fire, and so on. All this is exactly the same as what the Bible says. It happened so suddenly that the three children forgot all their wishes.
Or Esther said, "I'm hungry. I wish I could have a burrito. "
As soon as her voice fell, a burrito appeared in front of the children
Sloma was very angry to see her sister so ignorant that she only bought a worthless burrito. He shouted to his sister, "Silly girl, I wish you were a burrito!" " "
In the blink of an eye, Esther really turned into a burrito, with only a bloodless face exposed in the middle of the dough and looking out in horror.
Moxi has loved Esther for as long as he can remember. When he saw his beloved Esther turned into a burrito, he was almost furious. It's now or never, and a minute passed, so he quickly shouted, "I wish I could give Esther the way she was!" " "
Sure enough, Esther returned to her original appearance.
While speaking, Tianmen was closed.
The three of them realized how stupid they were and missed a good opportunity to express their wishes in vain. Thought of here, they began to cry. As the night deepened, the three children went the wrong way, got lost and went to a strange place. Flam Bohr used to be a plain, but now three children feel like climbing a mountain. They want to go down the mountain, but their feet can't help climbing up. Suddenly, an old man with a white beard appeared in front of three children, with a cane in one hand and a lantern in the other, with candles lit inside. The old man wore a white belt outside his robe. Although the wind is whistling, there is no flickering candlelight.
The old man asked three children, "Where are you going? Why are you crying? "
Sloma told the old man what happened: they stayed up all night, but they ruined the opportunity to express their wishes in vain.
The old man shook his head and said, "Good wishes can never be destroyed."
"Maybe because ghosts get carried away, we forget to say what we want," Mohi said.
"The night of Mao Festival is sacred, and no ghost can make trouble," said the old man.
"So, why does God play tricks on us?" Esther asked.
"God never plays tricks on people," the old man replied. "You three want to play tricks on God. No matter who doesn't do things himself, it is impossible to become smart; No matter who doesn't study hard, he can't learn. Speaking of you, little girl, you are already beautiful, but it is not enough to be beautiful on the outside. You must be beautiful on the inside. A child can't get the kindness and loyalty that Queen Esther is willing to give her life for the people out of thin air. Because you three only think about yourselves, you get nothing. "
"What shall we do now?" Three children asked.
"Go home. Only through your own efforts can you easily get what you want. "
"Who are you?" The three children asked in unison.
"In the sky, they call me the patron saint of the night," the old man replied.
As soon as the old man's voice fell, the three children found themselves back in the church yard. They were so tired that night that they went home and fell asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillow. Since then, the children have never mentioned to anyone what happened that night. The experience of that night became their secret.
Many years have passed. Sloma was hungry for knowledge and read many books about history, trade and financial management. In addition, he was talented and later became an adviser to the Polish king. People say he is a king without a crown. He is Solomon of Poland. He later married a noble daughter, and his wife was famous for her intelligence, wisdom and charity.
Mohi has always been interested in religion, and he can almost recite the full text of the Bible and the Jewish Talmud. He wrote many books about religion, and people called him "the contemporary Maimonide".
Esther not only grew up to be a beautiful girl, but also learned books, being polite and virtuous. Many rich boys have sent matchmakers, but she only loves Moxi, just as Moxi only loves her.
After Flam, an elderly rabbi in Bohr, died, people elected Moxi as a rabbi in the town. Rabbis must have a wife, so Mohi married Esther.
Everyone in Frompole came to their wedding. The bride's brother Sloma also came. He sat in a car supported by six horses, and his entourage surrounded him. Weddings are full of joy and dancing. The bride dances with the groom, and all the guests dance with the bride. According to the canon, when dancing, the bride and groom and her partner must pull the ends of the handkerchief respectively. When someone asked if all the guests had danced with the bride, the master of ceremonies replied humorously, "They all danced except the night patron saint." As soon as his voice fell, an old man came in from nowhere, with a cane in one hand and a lantern in the other, and a white belt around his waist. The groom, bride and Sloma recognized the old man at once, but none of them said anything. The old man walked up to the bride, put crutches and lanterns on nearby stools and danced with the bride. All the people present stared at them in surprise and awe because no one had seen the old man. The music stopped, the room was silent, and people could even hear the explosion of candles inside and the cricket outside. The old man then picked up the lantern and handed it to Mohyla Dan, saying, "May this lamp guide you to learn the Talmud." The old man handed Sloma the crutch again and said, "May this crutch protect you from the enemy." The old man finally turned to Esther, who still held one end of his white belt in her hand and said to her, "May this belt always connect you with the people, and you should always remember the wishes and needs of the people."
With these words, the old man suddenly disappeared.
After that, Jews often went to Esther and asked her to express her wishes to the monarch. Esther wears a white belt and always agrees to others' demands one by one. Therefore, the Jews called her Queen Esther.
Whenever Mohyla had doubts about some details of the Talmud, he opened the ark and took out the lamp that would never go out, and all doubts were immediately dispelled. Every time Sloma is in danger, he just grabs the crutch and his opponent is at a loss.
All three of them did their best later. It was not until Mohyla died that he revealed to people in Bohr and Fromm what happened on the last night of the nodule. Mohyla Dan said: "Anyone who is willing to work hard without luck will surely work miracles and get happiness. Tianmen is always open to them. "
(translated by Zhang Xingan and Zhang Jing)