Read Calvino's "Collection of Short Stories", the opening chapter is "Big Fish, Little Fish".

"Big Fish, Little Fish" is not long, about four to five thousand words, and it just tells a very simple story. But it is such a simple story that makes people feel warmth spreading in their hearts after reading it; just like the fragrance slowly coming from all directions, the whole body and mind are filled with indescribable comfort.

A father and son were playing their own things in the bay. My father's hobby is limpets. He is picking limpets on the rocks and sometimes eats the limpets he just picked. "He sucked the moist, sour flesh of the limpet as if from a spoon." But it wasn't the limpets that attracted his son Zeffelino's attention, but crabs, octopus, jellyfish, and a variety of other species. Such fish.

In the eyes of others, the young man Zeferino is just a child, a careful and considerate child. For Zeffelino, the sea was beautiful and clear. His hunting performance in the water is very good, and almost no other young man can catch up with him.

While Zeffelino was hunting fish in the water, he found a woman crying on the edge of the reef. Zeffelino was not very good at talking, and he was not even good at comforting people, but it was very distressing for him to watch a young lady cry. Therefore, he ran out of words to talk to; he lent her his mask to go swimming; and he also guided her to touch the glistening scales of the wolf bass he had hunted. He hoped to draw her attention and make her happy. When he saw that her interest in wolf bass was gradually spreading, he safely jumped into the water again, preparing to hunt another one for her.

Women cry because they are lovelorn. No matter what, she couldn't resolve the sadness of her broken love, and she always felt like there were endless tears in her eyes. However, when she faced the wolf bass, she temporarily put aside her sorrow. Because she found no fish more unfortunate than this wolf bass.

Facing this wolf bass, she almost forgot her feelings. "She ran her fingers over its ring-shaped mouth, gills, and tail; then she saw that thousands of small holes were opened on its beautiful silver body. The water fleas and microscopic fish on the wolf bass The parasite has been ruling above it for a long time and is still gnawing at its flesh to make way for itself.” She also found that "there was a thin and deep wound between the fins, which was older than the hole made by the harpoon. It must have been a hole made by the seagull on the back of the fish with great force." , What makes people wonder is how that bite didn't kill it. Who knows how long that small shadow has been carrying this pain."

Zeferino said every time. Before going into the water to hunt fish, always check to see if the woman has "stopped crying." If she has not stopped crying, "then what else can comfort her?" Fortunately, the woman is paying attention to the wolf bass.

Zeffelino kept going in and out of the water. He showed the woman his rare victory, explained the scene to her, and stammered his excitement. "He hoped that she would "Finally able to participate in his joy."

The woman looked at the fish that Zeffelino had hunted back and thought to herself: the small fish were eaten by the big fish, and the big fish endured all kinds of things. kind of damage, and was eventually killed by a harpoon. Such is the life of the whole ocean.

Zeferino keeps getting new results. The woman kept finding "harpoon wounds" on the fish, and "bite marks from water fleas on the fish, stains from an unknown parasite, or a long-term thorn in the throat." "The fishhook." She thought, "The bay discovered by the water guy, the place where all kinds of fish meet for a date, may be an animal sanctuary that has been convicted of long-term near-death conditions, and a marine infectious disease hospital. An arena of desperate duel”

In the end, Zeffelino hunted an octopus. The woman also observed the octopus carefully, "looking at its slippery body, its mouth with suckers, and its reddish, almost liquid eyes." The octopus was "the only thing caught. A creature that left her with no scars or pain. "It evokes thoughts of health and life." It made twitching movements, getting closer and closer to it, almost touching it. At this time, the octopus's tentacles "trembled in the wind, like a whip, and suddenly used all its strength" to grab the woman's hand. arm, while also extending another tentacle toward her throat. The woman let out a tearless wail and fainted.

When the woman woke up, the octopus had been cut into several pieces. It was Zeferino's father who saved her.

Next, there were several times when Zeffelino thought she was going to cry again, but she "didn't shed a single tear." At this point, the woman had overcome the sadness of broken love.

Zeferino’s kindness warmed the woman’s heart; the woman’s own kindness drew her attention to the suffering of the wolf bass and other fish. When a healthy and domineering octopus appeared in front of her, her inner desire for health and life was finally awakened. Especially when Zeffelino's father rescued her from the evil tentacles of the octopus, she completely got rid of the sadness of lovelorn.

I think "Big Fish, Little Fish" probably wants to tell us that kindness can save others, and it can also save ourselves.