Rethinking the Story of A Little Horse Crossing a River
Do you still remember the story of the little horse who manages to cross a river told by your primary school teacher? It is no doubt that any child who is bid to listen to this story is supposed to be the protagonist, the hero or heroine of the story, that is to say, the child is seen as and encouraged to act as the little horse. Maybe this is the first metaphor we learned from those superior to us. You are the little horse and thus ought to do what the little horse does. Can you remind what you felt when you heard this story for the first time? As to me, it is a sweet recollection. I was as brisk and vigorous as a little horse and jumped and galloped to do anything what my teacher and my parent told me to do.
But what does the story mean? What is its significance? Do you ever think twice about it?
In a retrospective way, it reveals to me that there are important characters in the story that have been long neglected. They are the old ox, the squirrel, and the mother horse. It is interesting to think about why they are ignored. I doubt that even the storytellers, the teacher, the mother, had deliberately ignored these characters. The focus is on the little horse, that is, the child. When reread this story, I would like to pay more attention to the miserable squirrel one of whose companions has drowned in the river, the warmhearted and a little bit simple-minded old ox, and, maybe the most important, the mother who seems to be a good educator who not only teaches the little horse but also so many children wisely and patiently. As growing up, we may try to observe the world from a broader perspective, not to be too much egoist. When he crossed the river successfully at last, the little horse may be grateful to those who helped him. It is a pity that the mother didn’t tell the little horse to thank the ox and the squirrel. A good person shall bear in mind that it is important to know thanksgiving.
Another detail is also interesting. Do you remember that you were told this story usually because you just faced some difficulty? The little horse should find by himself how deep the river is. The river is not as deep as the squirrel warned, and it is not as shallow as the ox said. In this sense, this is a story of initialization. It is not easy for a little horse to tip his hooves into a flowing river. But once he makes it, he begins to grow up. That is the same for a child. There are so many things which we do for the first time. The experience of overcoming difficulties is the real catalyst for growth. Once you make it, you will not forget it. The first time of swimming, of riding a bicycle, of raising hand and answering a question in the class, of standing before all the classmates to read an article, so on and so forth, all these mark the progress a child makes. This simple story of the little horse is an allegory, or a parable of encouragement. Maybe it is the original source of encouragement.
Do you still take it as a simple story just for drooling children? The great educator Cai Yuanpei had committed to educate the young to be people with free spirit and independent personality. This aim of education seems to be difficult to reach even today, if not more difficult. If we think more intensively, we will find the story of the little horse tells the same thing as Cai Yuanpei did or wanted to do, although at a simple and initial level. The essence is the same, is to encourage independent thinking and doing. But we find that it is difficult to follow this principle. We are used to follow what the most people say and do. We are blind people without awareness of the blindness. For example, when everybody says that the educational certificate is the higher the better, almost no one can resist the temptation of it. We just fail to remember what we learned from a seemingly simple story when we were little children.
[I just realize that I have taken for granted that the one who lives with the little horse in the stable is a mother. What is your impression? It is just an old horse, so not necessarily a mother. Maybe you have made the same mistakeJ Do not take anything for granted. That is the last thing I learn from rethinking the story of the little horse.]
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