If you are a cow?
Have you ever thought, if one day, you become a cow, how will you spend your short life as a cow? Is it the docile, kind-hearted ones who sit still, waiting to be sent to the slaughterhouse? Or do you bury your head in your work, let others be beaten with whips, and be executed until you are dazed and old? Or become a brave and sturdy bull, bravely rushing to the person who teased you with the red cloth?
A cartoon I watched recently, "The Adventures of the Bull", caused me to think like this. It is not so much a hilarious animation as it is a fable for adults: people are like cows. Bulls are forced to be sent to the bullring, and they will die regardless of whether they win or lose; and people, in the duel arena where the bayonet cannot be seen, should choose kindness or fight? The former often means weak and easy to bully, and the latter must be a sturdy winner?
Based on Manro Reeve's 1936 classic children's book "The Cow Who Loves Flowers", the film tells the adventure story of a bull named "Ferninand" in Spain.
Ferdinand was kind and docile since childhood. He grew up in the "House of Bulls", which is different from other calves. The Bull House is a place dedicated to raising bulls and sending them to be top bullfighting. When other calves liked to fight and were bigger than their size, Ferdinand only liked to wander around the little flowers in the yard. It took good care of its own flowers, watered her, and would rather sit in front of the flowers and be beaten than fight back for fear of being trampled by other cattle. For some reason, this reminds me of the classic scene in "The Little Prince": rose, rose, you are different from the roses in the rose garden, because of my irrigation and care, you are my unique rose.
Ferdinand's father was chosen for bullfighting and left the Bull House proud. The scene before parting was very warm. Little Ferdinand rode on his father's back and listened to his father's talk about a bright future. Their father and son put their heads against their heads, and the scene only reminds one of the word "deep love".
The other calf, because his father lost the election, deliberately trampled Ferdinand's beloved Xiaohua to death. Seeing this, I feel extremely cruel and real: naked human nature, jealousy makes people hate, makes people lose their senses, and even drives people crazy to destroy the happiness of others.
However, the heroic father never came back - little Ferdinand did not know at that time that even if the bullfight was won, cruel humans would kill the bullfight and cut off its horns as trophies. He finally escaped from the Bull House late at night when he saw the empty truck drive back without bringing back his dad.
Fortunately, he escaped to a place full of flowers - the manor of the little girl Nina's house. Nina, Papa and their puppy, eagerly took in Ferdinand. There, he grew up happily, playing with chicks, playing with cats, dancing with bees and butterflies, and being a true "flower-loving cow". And Nina's family brings Ferdinand to the town's "Flower Festival" every year. This is his happiest day. You can see colorful flowers and residents who are full of joy.
Gradually, he grew into a sturdy and huge bull, but he was kind-hearted and mild-mannered. For his safety, Nina's father decided not to take him to the Flower Festival, but he, who likes flowers, went to town without authorization. He's too big, and his clumsy size has caused a lot of trouble: smashing the china shop, scaring pedestrians to tears, messing up the flowers...it's been mistaken for danger beasts, and thus be hunted. As a result, he was sent back to the Bull House and forced to be a "fighting bull".
But he didn't want to hurt everyone at all, and when he saw the baby carriage slipping down, he ran quickly to rescue him, making the baby laugh. This section is very exciting and humorous. The way of cartoons vividly portrays everyone's panicked demeanor. Especially the old lady in the china shop, with her old eyes dimmed, cleaning the china with the ox tail as a duster, it was so funny.
He saw those little friends in his childhood. At that time, those who were competitive at that time were still competitive, and those with poor psychological quality were still vomiting when they were nervous at that time. Is it not the epitome of human beings, the so-called "three-year-old sees old". Kindness is the background color from childhood.
The boss assigned Ferdinand, who was reluctant to fight, with a coach, the Lady of the Goat. No matter how the goats were trained, Ferdinand could not integrate into the bull herd, and instead encountered jealousy and challenges because of his sturdy physique. At the same time, because of his willingness to help others, he spared the little hedgehog who stole things, and instead became good friends with them.
Finally, a proud and conceited "bullfighting master" came to the house of bulls, who came to choose the most courageous fighting bulls to highlight his heroic fighting skills.
Some friends are still immersed in the fantasy of being selected by the bullfighting master, but they do not know that some people have been dragged to the slaughterhouse because they are not good at fighting, and some people have also been sent to the slaughterhouse because of broken horns. Ferdinand, who could have escaped for his life, returned to the bullpen to tell everyone the truth in order to save everyone. He was in the bullfight master's room and saw a cruel bull's horn, placed as a trophy of human stupidity-including his father's, someone else's father.
With the help of a group of friends, Ferdinand sneaked into the slaughterhouse alone and rescued the little friends who had looked down on him and wanted to compete with him everywhere. Everyone—a few cows, sheep, three little hedgehogs and a rabbit—started a great escape together.
By the way, the rabbit that appeared in it was so cute, it was as fluffy as a toy. In particular, it often appears in the scene of bullfighting, and it is often frightened to faint on the ground. So the big brother Niu used the hoof to give it CPR, and even had the "cow breathing" with the cow's mouth facing it. Did it blow up?
The escape scene appears in many cartoons, especially animal cartoons. This section is very funny. The mighty group of cattle came to the big city - Madrid, and even took a bus in order to get rid of the pursuit behind them. Look, make a train of passengers tremble with fear.
They managed to escape to the train station and wanted to take the train away. In order to block the pursuit of humans, Ferdinand asked his companions to jump on the train first, leaving the chaser to use a solid horn to resist the attacking truck to protect his companions, and he was also caught in the bullring.
That scene was so heartbreaking: on one side was the innocent Ferdinand, even though he had a huge body, his eyes were filled with innocence. He was dragged by a rope and pulled into the dark cubicle, waiting to be sent to the duel; He is an arrogant bullfighting master who proudly wears a good battle uniform and looks like an aristocrat, brandishes his sword and fantasizes about being honored again... Human ignorance and shallowness, love of vanity and self-esteem. In front of the naive nature of animals, it seems more and more ridiculous and absurd.
This is how it is shown in the picture book. Ferdinand has no intention of fighting at all. He sat quietly on the ground and let the bullfight master jump up and down to tease him, knowing that he felt ashamed and angry.
In the cartoon, the bullfighting master entered the arena with arrogant steps, and a lady excitedly threw flowers at him. After pretending to smile politely, he dismissed a small flower. After entering the field, Ferdinand saw the little flower that was discarded on the ground and looked at her with pity.
The angry bullfighting master used a sharp weapon to cut Ferdinand. Ferdinand, who was in great pain, broke out, and finally lifted the bullfight master high with his horns. At that moment, the bullfight master was disgraced and his eyes were full of fear. Man, in front of the huge nature, do you always know your insignificance only when you are dying?
The kind Ferdinand put down the bullfight master, but the bullfight master raised his sword again, facing Ferdinand's face. At that moment, I didn't even dare to look at the screen. Is the cruelty of human beings really so bottomless? Do you still have a conscience, to kill the calf who just spared him? Until the audience shouted in unison: Let it go! Don't kill it! Nina, dad, puppy, and the little friends who were rescued by Ferdinand also arrived in time. They ran to the arena together and rescued Ferdinand.
The ending of the story is happy, as all the protagonists will survive at the last moment. But what about reality? Does everyone (cow) who try to rebel against fate have such good luck? Some say the story is about "the struggle against fate". How many people, in their comfort zone, gradually became frogs in warm water until they were killed. I think, in addition to fighting against fate, can every adult see some compassion?
Born to be human, with the help of high technology, it can be said that it has stood at the top of the food chain: the depiction of the modern slaughterhouse in the animation is very realistic, and a bullfight sent in can be cut, minced, and frozen. Can human beings still have a little bit of kindness and justice, freedom and warmth in their hearts? Not every animal and plant comes to this world with the mission of being killed and eaten. And apart from the roaring big machine, how can a small animal like a man fight against the huge creatures of nature? And no matter their size, they should not be the target of slaughter.
Finally, let me say that picture books are becoming more and more popular now, and it is popular to show children foreign picture books. I have to say that many picture books in Europe are indeed compiled with conscience: there is no rigid preaching, and the truth, goodness and beauty are integrated into simple fairy tales. The translation of children's picture books is relatively simple, and many people around me often do translations in this area when they sign and publish their translations for the first time, so I usually see a lot of sample manuscripts.
In the original work of "Cow Who Loves Flowers", there is actually an invisible protagonist-"Mom". Ferdinand's mother did not force him to become a warrior, but he encouraged him to be a quiet, flower-loving good cow when he loved flowers. This may be what the original book most wants to wear to children and adults: don't obliterate the kindness of children, and don't distort children's true hearts.
Every flower has her moment of blooming; every child has his favorite field. Be brave to be yourself - to be a bull who sniffs roses, is also happy - unique happiness.
Strongly recommend this animation suitable for children and more suitable for adults :)
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