Stubborn turtle

Author: Michael Ende (Germany) Shi Luitang He Shan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features:
——This is a set of books that can be read and cherished by people from three to one hundred and three.
——This is a set of books that is especially suitable for reading alone and also for reading with parents.
——This is a set of books that can immerse you in either the text or the illustrations alone.
——This is a set of books that is hard to finish in one go and not willing to finish in one go.
——This is a set of books that can only be understood with a pure heart and will make your heart even purer after understanding. An unforgettable beauty and fantasy—this is the classic picture book of fantasy literature master Michael Ende that will be launched by the 21st Century Publishing House, bringing an unforgettable beauty and fantasy. The beauty of the work is self-evident. It is not necessary to understand all the implied meanings, its simplicity and transparent fantasy world tells stories that enchantly fascinate like fairy tales; the depth of the work is also self-evident. Beneath the superficial simplicity of the text lies a rich philosophy of life and life experience. The work is full of passion, full of praise and adoration for ordinary people and their ordinary lives; therefore, it is most likely to resonate with ordinary people, and reading it at any stage of life will produce different insights. Michael Ende (1929—1995) was a German writer, recognized as one of the greatest fantasy literature masters of the 20th century. Literary critics in German-speaking countries praised him for " for children and adults in the cold, soulless world." Some of his works, such as Momo and The Neverending Story, have become world classics and are well-known to Chinese readers. He was a prolific and versatile writer, with his works translated into nearly 40 languages and a total print run exceeding 30 million copies, having a wide impact worldwide. The picture book set consists of 7 volumes, including The Stubborn Turtle, The Football Match Between a Fly and an Elephant, The Legend of the Full Moon Night, The Nightmare Eating Spirit, The Bare-Assed Rhino, Ophelia's Shadow Theater, and The, all of which are the author's most influential classic short stories. The illustrations in each volume are created by renowned artists, with diverse styles and distinctive features that complement the exquisite text. The Stubborn Turtle even comes with music composed by a famous composer who won the Strauss Prize—the "Turtle March," with each quarter note as a beat and four beats per measure, vividly portraying the slow pace and stubborn character of the protagonist, the turtle Tao Tao, in a fun and lifelike way. Many of the works in the picture book have been widely translated into Chinese and have been reprinted in various publications or included in textbooks, and their texts can be easily found online. The most widely circulated digest magazine, Reader, reprinted the full text of Ophelia's Shadow Theater in its cover story of issue 22 in 2004. Many years ago, some of the picture books in this set were published by the 21st Century Publishing House as children's books, and their profound thoughts, engaging text, and exquisite illustrations attracted a large number of adult readers, becoming a favorite among book hunters. This time, the publisher has expanded the range of new varieties, introducing more artistically moving illustrated versions and launching them again; they have been carefully designed and crafted to be more suitable for preservation and for readers of all ages. Professor Mei Zihan, a renowned children's literature writer, has meticulously crafted introductory texts for each volume.
The Stubborn Turtle
A turtle heard a call under an ancient olive tree. It was brought by a handsome male pigeon. The male pigeon told the beautiful female pigeon that King Lion the 28th was getting married and invited all the animals to attend the celebration. The journey was long, and they feared they wouldn’t make it in time, so they flew away with a sudden "whoosh." This ignited passion in the turtle, who had originally just emerged from her hole to eat some plantain leaves: since King Lion the 28th invited all the animals to the celebration, and she was an animal, she should go too! She set off.
Indeed. She was a female turtle. And she had a name that was both catchy and lovely: Tao Tao. All turtles crawl slowly, and Tao Tao was no exception. As soon as you listen to the "Turtle March," you can see that: the turtle slowly crawls across the grass, wandering makes her happy, and if her stomach is a bit hungry, she’ll find a leaf to eat along the way. As a result, she met Spidery, Snail Teacher, Lizard Ziz, and a large group of crows. They all stared in shock, then tried to persuade her, and inevitably, they laughed at her. Because of a simple reason: the wedding was about to begin, but the turtle crawled too slowly to make it in time. And this was different from the old tortoise and hare race. The hare ran and stopped, while the tortoise never rested, and the slow one ended up winning. But what could she do? Even if she never rested, her speed was still only a little.
Imagine someone getting married, and you go to their wedding. Others go by plane or taxi, but you “walk there, and you walk as slowly as a turtle. By the time you arrive, the wedding banquet would have already ended, the bridal chamber would be in chaos, and the children might even have been born. Not just one child—perhaps three children would have been born by then. And the children who were born might already be adults, ready to get married themselves. This isn’t sensational. But Tao Tao insisted on moving forward. Spidery had to shake his head and laugh. Not only were his legs more agile than the turtle’s, but he had twice as many legs as well. But he couldn’t make it to the wedding in time, so he had to settle for staying here and weaving the web he had woven for his entire life. He didn’t understand why Tao Tao, perhaps knowing that "，" (listening to a spider’s advice leads to immediate loss), was simply weaving his web while dancing the "Spider-Tarantella" to mock her. The meaning was clear: "Don’t crawl too fast, or you’ll arrive too early!"
The snail, who was already a bit muddled, was even more confused now. "My goodness!" he could only exclaim. Snails are naturally the type of people who are a bit lost, and now they were even more bewildered. "My goodness!" he could only say. When a snail is confused, puzzled, or genuinely trying to be sincere, they dance the "Snail-Brussels Waltz." But Tao Tao still moved forward in her "Turtle March." Even on rainy days, the turtle set off. She wasn’t afraid of the rain. Walking in the rain without an umbrella was fine, as her shell was the best raincoat. The turtleled under the scorching sun without needing a hat to cover her. She had her own shell, and she wasn’t afraid of the sun.
Needless to say, it had been many years since Tao Tao the turtle reached the lion king’s cave at the forest’s edge. The cave was decorated with lights and flowers, and almost every kind of animal was there. Tao Tao asked, "Ah, so maybe this is where the animal kingdom’s highest leader—King Lion the 28th—is getting married?" But the cheerful little golden monkey, jumping up and down, told her, "Today, we’re celebrating the wedding of King Lion the 29th." King Lion the 28th had already passed away. But if Tao Tao, once determined, never turned back, how could she have missed the 28th’s wedding but still made it to the 29th’s celebration? The ending is astonishing. This story is called The Stubborn Turtle, and its philosophy is something we can slowly savor as we walk on the road our whole lives.