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It was Miss Beatrix Potter who created Pete Rabbit.
Miss Potter is a hero in my mind.
Although Miss Porter was born in the mid-Victorian era in England and died during the Second World War, her life has been quite a long time ago. But because of her many great contributions to the world, many people miss her and collected many related materials. There are at least three types of rigorous biography alone. Her diary, letters, and creations are all well preserved. Her farm, old house and furnishings in the English Lake District are also very well preserved, so we can basically get a clear overview of her life, if we feel necessary, we can also go there to take a look.
The opening chapter of "Miss Porter and Pete Rabbit" mentioned that Miss Porter was born in a wealthy family, but the parents did not spend much time taking care of the children by themselves, but gave it to the nanny and tutor. Indeed, when Miss Potter later reviewed the mansion where she and her brother were born at No. 2 Bolton Gardens, London, she even described it as "the birthplace lacking love". In fact, their parents still love them and give them very good material conditions, but the lack of parental company still makes them feel the lack of love.
Both of Miss Porter's grandfather and grandfather grew up in peasant families in the north of England. After unremitting efforts, they made a fortune and became the emerging industrial rich in Manchester. Her grandfather was an oligarch in Manchester's textile industry, and later went to London to become a parliamentarian and actively participated in politics; and her grandfather also had an international influence through successful overseas trade. They all attach great importance to the education of their children. They also have a good artistic taste and are keen on art collection. Many of their grandfather's collections are landscape paintings by the impressionist master Turner. Miss Porter’s father Rupert was engaged in the legal profession in London and was very good at investing. He was quite wealthy with his personal accumulation and inherited property; his mother, Helen, owned quite a wealth of property mainly through inheritance. When Miss Potter was born, the family had a butler, a housekeeper, a cook, a groom, and a servant. They seemed to be first-class people, but there was no title and the social circle was limited, so Miss Potter could only be placed on the top of the hill. The former residence of the farm belongs to the middle and upper class.
Children living in such a family should feel very happy, but in Miss Potter's review, her childhood is more rigid and lonely. Every day, my father goes out on errands (and often travels), and is also active in clubs of various celebrities; my mother is busy commanding servants, receiving visiting guests, or going out to other homes to socialize. The child was taken by a Scottish nanny with a bad temper, and stayed mainly in the children's room on the third floor, away from the world of adults downstairs. Miss Potter usually plays alone, and occasionally sees the children of visiting relatives. This situation did not get better until the birth of her brother Bertram when she was almost 6 years old. This is indeed a pretty lonely childhood! Miss Porter's first biographer was very touched, and even imagined that the windows of the children's room were sealed with iron railings. In fact, there is no railing at all, and the scenery from there is beautiful.
Fortunately, Miss Porter has been particularly fond of painting since she was a child. Such an activity that can be done by herself must help her relieve a lot of loneliness. The nourishment she received in the field of art mainly came from her family. When she was very young, she often went to her grandparents' house and grandma's house to play, but it was a pity that her grandfather passed away five years before she was born. The furnishings and furniture of these two rooms are antique, and there are many famous paintings in their collection. Miss Potter later became a collector in this regard. But for Miss Potter, who is still a little girl, what excites her most is the natural environment of the country manor. Grandpa's Camfield Manor occupies more than 300 acres, and there is a cave in the manor! Grandpa invited the top landscape architects at the time to plan and design, turning it into a famous scenic spot. Miss Potter learned to be close to nature in such an environment and fell in love with the observation of beautiful things.
Her parents also passed on to her the feelings of beauty and the ability to express. Rupert and Helen had a deep artistic accomplishment: Rupert also loved painting in his early years, even when he was studying in law school, he often drew on sketchbooks. Later, he became obsessed with photography and became a skilled amateur. Photographer; Helen was good at watercolor landscape painting when she was young. Her works are still being auctioned and collected. Some critics think that her paintings are beautiful in composition, but "too subjective". The two of them always carry their sketchbooks with them when they go out, and they write and draw on them at any time. Rupert often talks and draws when he talks about fun things to his daughter. Miss Porter naturally developed such a habit. It is said that once someone gave them a rare pineapple at the time, and she rushed to draw it before the servant cut the pineapple.
The book "Miss Porter and Pete Rabbit" talks about Helen giving her own watercolor paint box to her daughter. This is one of the happiest moments in Miss Porter's childhood. She has kept this paint box for her entire life. From various sources, the relationship between Ms. Porter and her mother is quite tense, and it can even be said to be a bit alienated. However, the mother's encouragement and affirmation of her daughter's painting is of great significance to her daughter's future success in this field.
In contrast, her father Rupert's influence on her may be more direct and far-reaching. Although Rupert often goes out and is not at home, he is very kind and patient when he is with his daughter and son. He also has a great habit of writing down what he finds interesting at the request of his children. Rupert and his daughter often leave notes with each other. When the daughter asks him if he sees anything interesting outside, he will take the trouble to write down a long paragraph. Rupert needed a model for photography. At that time, the camera needed to wait for a while, sitting facing the camera for a few minutes before taking a picture, and then repeatedly adjusting. Most people don't want to suffer this crime, but Miss Potter likes to be a model for her father because she can stay with her father for a while. A better opportunity is to go fishing with my father or to take pictures outdoors. They will have more time to communicate freely. This is how Miss Potter learned photography from her father, and she is also learning how to observe like a photographer.
Rupert was well-known in the art circle at the time and had contacts with many artists, the most famous of which was Millais, one of the three pre-Raphaelite masters. Miss Potter liked his painting "Ophelia Asia". Millais visited the Potter's farm in Scotland many times, and asked Rupert to use photography to help him save the material. When he returned to London, he invited them to his studio many times. When Miss Potter was a child, she was afraid of the painter who used to tease her, but gradually learned a lot from him, and received praise and encouragement from the master many times. Once, Millais said to Miss Potter: "Many people can paint, but you and my son know how to observe."
Although Miss Potter's parents failed to make a pair of children feel full of love, they did a lot of things right, intentionally or unintentionally, within their abilities. One of the most wonderful things is to take the children to the countryside in the north of England every summer, which often lasts four or five months.
Originally, the Porters wanted to squeeze into the upper class of London, but they were "Yanks" with a strong accent. Believe in the Trinity), so it is not easy in this regard. Nevertheless, every time the warm summer breeze in England blows, they can't help but miss the fragrance of the soil in the north, and hurriedly pack up their bags, take their children and servants, and pounce on the farms in northern England or Scotland. At this time, London's upper class society can be left behind for the time being. The blood of the advanced farmers surging in the veins of the Porters and his wife flowed irresistibly into the veins of their daughter and son. Both of their children chose to stay away from London as adults and took root in the countryside of northern England. Miss Potter also made extraordinary efforts to turn herself into an out-and-out redneck. This is something.
Before the age of 16, Miss Porter spent most of the summer in the Scottish countryside. In her "Dictionary of Aesthetics", beauty is equal to the rural scenery of Scotland. When she was 16 years old, her family spent the first summer in the Lake District in northern England. She fell in love with the Lake District incorrigibly, especially in the village of Sorley on the west side of Lake Windermere. Many years later, she was there. Completed the school reform before the publication of "The Story of Pete Rabbit", and later bought the Hilltop Farm there, and gradually took root there ever since.
During the summer in the countryside, Miss Potter and her brother Bertram enjoyed a lot of freedom that they did not have when they were in London. They could run out and play by themselves, and when they were older, they could row a boat or drive a pony cart on their own. In the pleasant natural environment, the parents are also very relaxed. They often play and communicate with the children, and the visiting guests (including elites from all walks of life) often communicate with the children naturally. It opened their eyes. Miss Porter has a very broad vision in literature, art, and science, and she has benefited from the contacts in this area to some extent. For example, the visiting Millais gave her a lot of guidance in art. Another example is that the postman I met in Scotland is actually a folk naturalist. Miss Potter's interest in fungi and her outstanding achievements in this area Thanks to his help, he also became the prototype of the Mr. McGonagall in "The Tale of Pete Rabbit"; and Mr. Ronsley, the pastor and writer who met in the Lake District, encouraged her to publish "The Rabbit's Story" can be said to spare no effort, and his scientific rigorous attitude and almost fanatical piety to the protection of the lake environment also affected Miss Potter's entire life.
Miss Porter was often ill when she was in London. She had a few serious illnesses between the ages of 16 and 19. She did not write a word in her secret diary for eight months. This little book also mentions this experience. But what is interesting is that as long as Miss Potter goes to the country, everything is gone, she is strong and energetic. In the healthy and free air, she hiked and painted everywhere, enjoying and observing with great interest. In the Victorian era she lived in was the most glorious era in Britain, the scientific literacy of the whole people was generally very high. Even the ladies and wives like to read science magazines, collect fossils and make specimens in their free time. Miss Potter, who was happily in the natural environment, developed a keen interest in natural history. For a while, Rupert discovered that his daughter was particularly interested in bird watching, and gave her a very beautiful "Bird Sketch" on her 10th birthday. Miss Potter liked it very much. She also liked this book. Treasure it for a lifetime.
When she and her younger brother had to return to the children’s room in London (later used as a classroom), they not only brought back many fossils and specimens, but also raised many small animals there. In addition to dogs, rabbits, lizards, In addition to salamanders, tortoises, canaries, parrots, mice, and guinea pigs, there are also some wild animals, such as ring-necked snakes, wild ducks, bats, hedgehogs, kestrels, grouses... this has their curiosity. It can also be seen that the parents have an amazing tolerance for this hobby. Many of these little animals have become characters in the picture books drawn by Miss Potter.
"Miss Potter and Pete Rabbit" also mentioned that Miss Potter was studying painting, thanks to her father's arrangement. When Rupert became more and more amazed at her daughter's talent in this area, he couldn't help but encourage her to learn painting formally. She studied with a Miss Cameron for five years, and then took the exams at the National Art Training School, all exams with honors. But her enthusiasm for receiving this kind of art education is declining, because she gradually has her own perspective and standards for judging art works, but she often finds that she feels different from the teacher. Under the guidance of an expert, Rupert asked his daughter to take a very expensive oil painting class with a famous teacher. Miss Porter barely finished this course. She almost instinctively opposed the skills taught by the teacher. From this "resistance" she found that she had a soft spot for watercolors and gradually figured out her own style. Although such courses did not directly benefit her, it also provided a certain opportunity for the young artist to break out of the cocoon.
The book mentions that her brother Bertram mainly used him as his sister’s growing up partner. In fact, he is also an artist. Ms. Porter confessed that his younger brother is better than herself in landscape painting and portrait painting. She herself prefers to paint animals and plants with watercolors, and she has a certain scientist-like rigorous spirit. She drew dozens of watercolor paintings of fungi, and they are still included in the authoritative encyclopedia. At the same time, she was very fond of several master illustrators in the children's book circle at the time, such as Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway, and Rudolf Cadick, especially Cadick. Rupert was also deeply fascinated by Catic, and collected some of his original illustrations. Miss Porter highly admired Catic and once copied many of his works "in vain". From many of her later creations, we can still see the profound influence of Catic on her.
Although Miss Porter has never been to school, she should be said to be well educated. Even before she was 6 years old, that bad-tempered Scottish nanny had read countless Scottish nursery rhymes to her, and told her many fairy tales and folk tales. The shadow of these nursery rhymes and legends can be seen everywhere in her little book. From the age of 6 until the age of 19, she followed three tutors one after another, during which she also participated in a special assessment test, and she was excellent at all levels. Self-study at home allows her to study according to her own interests. She spends almost half of her time painting and a lot of time doing her own natural history research, studying English literature, and learning French and German. She can write fluently in French and communicate in German quite freely. She was once fanatically fascinated by Shakespeare, arranged tasks and assessments for herself, and learned many feature-length plays in a few months.
In short, when Miss Potter wrote "The Petr Rabbit Story" at the age of 27, she was ready in all aspects.
That famous graphic letter was written on September 4, 1893, when she spent the summer on a farm in Scotland, busy with painting and her fungus research (she later wrote a valuable scientific paper) , I heard that the son of her friend (and the last tutor to teach German) was sick, and couldn't help writing to comfort him. do you remember? Miss Porter’s father used to write interesting insights and comforts to children who were not around, so Miss Porter naturally used this trick, but she said that she had nothing else interesting to say, so she gave him Tell the story of the four little bunnies. She drew while writing, and a beautiful and lovely story was born.
In the summer a few years ago, my family and I went to the English Lake District for vacation. On the ferry on Lake Windermere, the captain heard that we were from China to visit Miss Potter’s footprints. He was very happy and proudly asked: Do you know what three things Miss Potter should remember most? ? I guessed it almost immediately, but I really wanted to hear what he said. He said, first, she is a great writer and artist, and she has created so many beautiful little books; second, she is a great environmentalist, and the beautiful scenery in the Lake District today is mainly due to her years of hard work; Thirdly, this is something that most people don't pay much attention to, that is, she is still a scientist, and her profound knowledge makes her have a deeper love for this land. Yes, I happily shook hands with the captain, and what he said was exactly what I thought.
Beatrix Potter married Mr. Hillis, a local lawyer in the Lake District in 1913, and has since become Mrs. Hillis. The Hillis couple are very affectionate and both are extremely enthusiastic about protecting the environment of the lake area. They lived together for 30 years, until the death of his wife at the end of 1943; Mr. Hillis could not bear the pain of bereavement, and followed two years later. All the farms that the two ran in the Lake District before their lives were donated to charitable organizations dedicated to protecting the environment to avoid being over-exploited by future generations. So to this day, the lake area where they live still maintains the natural look of 140 years ago.
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