Correspondence from Germany - A Life Dialogue Between a Native Writer and His PhD Son in Germany

Author: Yu Tianbai, Yu Ke / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: It is a habit. To record one's observations, experiences, feelings, and thoughts in writing. This habit was cultivated by Yu Ke from a young age in the family environment. His main way was keeping a diary. This began even before his primary school teacher taught him how to write essays. In 1982, when Yu Ke was in fifth grade, his father discovered a sincere love in his diary and suggested he write a short essay based on the material. The article was submitted to Children's Times. Soon after, the magazine published it as a contribution under the column "Little Seedbed" and awarded it the first prize! The title of the article was Inseparable Companion. The full text is as follows:
I often think of my "companion" who has long passed away—a one-eyed goldfish. Originally, my family had three adorable goldfish—red, black, and red-white. These three goldfish were given to me by Li Uncle, the neighbor of my grandmother. However, I had no experience in raising fish, and two of them died after three days, leaving only one black one. I thought: This goldfish is too lonely; I need to find it some companions. I wanted to ask Li Uncle for more, but I felt too shy. So, I asked my little uncle to buy two more goldfish. When the goldfish arrived, I carefully placed them in the fish tank. Haha, the black goldfish became lively again, swimming around the other two, looking very happy. I was also very happy. These three goldfish became my "companions," and I fed them every day myself. One morning, I sprinkled some dried fish food into the tank. The two goldfish greedily gobbled it up, but the smaller red goldfish reacted slowly and only ate a little. What was the reason? I stared at the small goldfish closely and realized that only one of its eyes was bright, while the other left eye was blind. This was known to my aunts, who couldn't help but talk about it. Some said, "Just throw it away." Others said, "Don't bother with it; let it starve to death!" In short, none of them liked this goldfish. I disagreed with their opinions. Although small, this goldfish was also a living creature! It had lost one eye, how pitiful! It suffered like a disabled person, and we should sympathize with and care for it. How could we abandon it and let it starve to death? So, every time I fed them, I always used a net to separate the other two goldfish, allowing the one-eyed goldfish to eat first, and then let them eat together. In this way, it could eat as well and play as happily as the others. It spent every day playing with its companions in the water, swimming around, living in harmony. I felt happy seeing this.
Summer vacation arrived, and I was going to stay with my uncle for a week. Who would take care of these goldfish? I wanted to take them to my uncle's house, but I was afraid they might die on the way. So, I asked my aunts to take care of them, especially the one-eyed goldfish. The older aunt smiled and said, "What precious treasure! Don't worry, it won't die!"
After a week, I returned from my uncle's house. As soon as I got home, I rushed to the balcony to check on my goldfish. To my shock, there were only two goldfish left in the tank, and the one-eyed goldfish was gone. I cried out of distress. The older aunt walked in and said, "Don't cry. It was only one-eyed anyway; if it died, so be it." But I cried even harder, demanding, "It's your fault for not taking care of it! You have to compensate me!" Seeing how heartbroken I was, she was moved. She said, "Alright, I'll compensate you with one!" With that, she turned and left. After a while, she returned with a small bowl. I wiped away my tears and stared intently at the fish in the bowl. I thought she was joking, hiding the one-eyed goldfish and then bringing it back. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't the same one-eyed goldfish, yet I was very familiar with it. Dark scales, a thin body, and a tail with three long and two short fins, uneven and very ugly. The aunt looked ashamed and said, "I asked Li Uncle for this one. He doesn't like it and wanted to throw it away. Let's take care of this little goldfish together!"
After a few weeks, the goldfish was fattened up by me and the older aunt, and even its tail seemed to become more even. Sometimes, it would leap playfully out of the water, as if saying, "Little master, thank you for saving me!" Today, whenever I see this goldfish, I think of my "companion" from my childhood—a one-eyed goldfish.
The article is natural and naive. However, it strengthened his habit of keeping a diary and marked the beginning of his lifelong connection with words. P1-2