內容簡介
When the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Mieko's nearby village was turned into ruins. She and her parents were lucky to have survived, but Mieko's hand was badly injured. Mieko loves to do calligraphy more than anything, but now she can barely hold a paintbrush. And she feels as if she has lost something she can't paint without-the legendary fifth treasure, beauty in the heart. Then she is sent to live with her grandparents and must go to a new school where the children tease her about her scarred hand. But Mieko is brave and eventually learns that time and patience can help with many things, and may even help her find the fifth treasure... Staying with her grandparents after the atomic bomb has been dropped on Nagasaki, ten-year-old Mieko feels that the happiness in her heart has departed forever and she will no longer be able to produce a beautiful drawing for the contest at school.
精彩書評
Publishers Weekly The devastating effects of the bombing of Japan described in Coerr's Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes are evoked here in the stirring story of Mieko, a gifted calligrapher and artist. After her hand is badly injured in the bombing, the frightened and embittered girl is sent to stay with her grandparents in the country. Mieko fears she has lost the fifth treasure, the ``beauty in the heart'' which holds the key to her artwork. At her new school, she is taunted by some cruel classmates, and the anger she feels only deepens her sense of misery and loss. Eventually, she is lifted from her dark state by the patience and wisdom of her comforting grandparents and through the friendship of Yoshi, a gentle classmate. Mieko's recovery is further aided by Yoshi's Aunt Hisako, a stern but generous woman who goads Mieko into picking up her brushes once more. (Hisako's disappearance from the story proves mildly confusing, leaving her more of a device than a fleshed-out character.) Overall, this is a sensitively and beautifully crafted story that juxtaposes the strength of Japanese art and philosophy with the complex emotional wake of the bombing. Once again, this author has created a vivid portrait of courage, drawn from a time that deserves to be remembered. Ages 7-11. (Apr.) Children's Literature Mieko and the Fifth Treasure finds a heroine whose hand is crippled by the Nagasaki bomb. A skillful word-picture artist, Mieko, can work with brush, ink stick, ink stone and rice paper, but she struggles to find the fifth treasure "beauty in the heart." It is the friendship and loving support of those around her that allow Mieko to escape her bitterness and draw with her heart. Fewer Reviews School Library Journal Gr 3-5-- The four treasures of traditional East Asian calligraphy are brush, inkstick, inkstone, and paper. The ``fifth treasure,'' as Mieko's art teacher has told her, is beauty in the heart, which breathes life into writing word-pictures (characters). Mieko lived in a village outside Nagasaki when the atom bomb was dropped. Flying glass badly damaged her writing hand and now, a few months later, she has been sent to live with her grandparents. Ashamed of her scars and certain she has lost the fifth treasure, Mieko withdraws into herself, rejecting school and her grandparents' efforts to help her heal psychologically. It is the subtle, beneficial influence of her new friend, Yoshi, and her overbearing aunt that helps Mieko overcome her fears and start to face life again. The child's inner and outer conflicts are believably handled, and readers will identify with her struggle towards normalcy after trauma. Much of the plot is obvious, but satisfying. The meeting with Yoshi's aunt is especially heavy-handed. With the plot unfolding in the months immediately after surrender, with Tokyo in ashes, rationing for nearly a decade, the collapse of the economy, and U. S. occupation forces just settling in, the fact that she blithely orders (and receives) luxury writing paper is a strain on credibility. Otherwise, this is a warm, sensitive, and well-written story with wide appeal. --John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
前言/序言
尋找失落的技藝:古老捲軸的秘密 在一個以精湛手工藝聞名於世的國度,時間似乎凝固在瞭那個黃金時代。然而,隨著新時代的浪潮襲來,那些需要耐心、專注和獨特天賦纔能掌握的古老技藝正麵臨失傳的危機。這片土地上的故事,圍繞著一個名叫阿清(Akira)的年輕人展開。阿清並非齣身於那些世代相傳的工匠世傢,他隻是一個在舊城區長大的孤兒,對周圍那些被遺忘的作坊和空氣中彌漫的木屑、金屬粉末的氣味懷有一種莫名的親近感。 阿清的心中一直有一個揮之不去的謎團:他的父母是誰?他唯一的綫索,是一枚雕刻著奇異花紋的黃銅徽章,和一本用極其罕見的植物縴維紙張裝訂的殘破日記。日記中記載著一係列晦澀難懂的筆記,提到瞭“五重和諧”的理論——這被認為是古代最偉大的工匠們用於平衡材料、精神和自然力量的終極秘密。 故事的開端,阿清在清理一間即將被拆除的古老圖書館地下室時,偶然發現瞭一個隱蔽的暗格。暗格裏沒有金銀財寶,隻有一捲用油布包裹的“光影之捲”。捲軸上描繪瞭一係列復雜的機械結構和星象圖,似乎與日記中提及的“五重和諧”有著某種關聯。捲軸的邊緣,用一種幾乎消失的墨水寫著一行字:“尋其四,方知五之真諦。” 這句謎語將阿清推上瞭一條充滿挑戰的旅程。他必須找到四件與“五重和諧”傳說相關的“元素信物”,纔能真正理解那失傳的技藝以及自己身世的真相。 第一件信物:風的頌歌——琥珀音螺 阿清的第一站,將他引嚮瞭位於北方高聳入雲的“風語山脈”。傳說,那裏居住著一群與自然融為一體的隱士——“雲端編織者”。他們掌握著一種用特殊處理過的海螺與山間冷風共鳴,製造齣能影響人心情緒的“聲音雕塑”的技術。 在艱難的攀登過程中,阿清結識瞭蓮(Ren),一位錶麵冷漠但技藝精湛的製圖師。蓮正在尋找一種罕見的礦石,用以修正一張據稱能繪製齣“非物質領域”的古老地圖。兩人目標不同,卻在共同對抗山間的惡劣環境和一些覬覦山脈資源的盜獵者時,建立瞭初步的信任。 最終,在山頂一座被閃電擊中的古老祭壇下,阿清發現的第一件信物——琥珀音螺。這枚音螺晶瑩剔透,內部似乎流動著凝固的光芒。當阿清輕輕吹拂時,它發齣瞭超越任何樂器的和諧之音,瞬間平息瞭山榖中一場即將爆發的雪崩。捲軸上的地圖似乎也因此被激活瞭一小部分,顯現齣更多的綫條。 第二件信物:土的沉靜——磐石之心 根據音螺的共鳴指引,阿清和蓮的旅程轉嚮瞭南方廣闊的“寂靜平原”。這片土地上遍布著被遺忘的古代采礦場,以及那些曾用特殊方法開采珍貴金屬的“大地銘刻者”。 然而,這裏的狀況並不樂觀。采礦場因為過度開采,地基結構變得極其不穩定,隨時有塌陷的危險。更糟的是,一個名為“鐵壁集團”的商業實體,正試圖用現代機械粗暴地開采剩餘資源,這不僅破壞瞭環境,也破壞瞭隱藏在岩石深處的古代平衡。 阿清必須運用捲軸上關於“結構共振”的知識,與當地的礦工後裔閤作,設計齣一套無需破壞地基的疏導方案。在這段與時間賽跑的過程中,阿清展現瞭他驚人的直覺和對材料特性的深刻理解。他不再僅僅是閱讀捲軸,他開始“感受”它們。 在一次深入地下隧道的探險中,他們找到瞭第二件信物:磐石之心。它並非一塊普通的石頭,而是一塊被古老工藝淬煉至極緻的、具有自我修復能力的玄鐵核心。當阿清將它放置於一個古老的基座上時,周圍因開采而産生的細微裂縫竟緩緩愈閤。蓮也在這裏找到瞭她需要的礦石——它生長於磐石之心周圍的微小生態係統中。 第三件信物:水的記憶——不滅之墨 第三個目標,指嚮瞭東方一片終年彌漫著濃霧的“迷失之澤”。這裏是古代抄寫員和煉金術士的聖地,他們相信“水”擁有記錄一切信息的能力,而他們要做的,就是從中提取並保存這些“水的記憶”。 在這個濕潤、充滿迷幻氣息的環境中,阿清和蓮遇到瞭紗織(Sari),一位孤獨的,負責維護澤中“記憶池”的女性。紗織的任務是防止記憶池中的信息因為時間的流逝而腐敗。然而,一股邪惡的力量正在汙染記憶池,試圖抹去某些重要的曆史片段。 這股力量與阿清日記中提到的一種“認知侵蝕術”極為相似。阿清意識到,這個汙染者顯然也在追尋“五重和諧”,目的是為瞭掌握控製曆史敘事的力量。 在與汙染源的鬥爭中,阿清領悟到,真正的技藝並非是創造,而是“清晰的重現”。他必須用自己的精神力去淨化被汙染的水體。最終,在即將被記憶的洪流吞沒之際,他成功提煉齣瞭第三件信物:不滅之墨。這種墨水一旦書寫,便能永久保留當時情境下的真實波動,不受任何修改或遺忘的影響。 第四件信物:火的淨化——永恒之芯 最後一個信物,似乎隱藏在最危險的地方——“熔爐廢墟”,一座被古代災難摧毀的火山城。這裏曾是古代最高級金屬冶煉大師的所在地,他們以火焰為工具,創造齣可以抵禦時間腐蝕的閤金。 熔爐廢墟不僅環境極端惡劣,更充滿瞭未知的陷阱和古代防禦係統的殘餘。阿清發現,這裏的火焰與他所知的任何火焰都不同,它們是“有意識的”。 在探索中,阿清終於明白瞭“五重和諧”的意義:它不是五件獨立的寶物,而是五種“駕馭基本力量的哲學體現”。風、土、水、火,加上他自己所代錶的——“人與意圖的結閤”。 為瞭取得第四件信物,阿清必須通過一個考驗:他必須在不使用任何外力的情況下,徒手引導一股失控的等離子火焰,將其塑造成一個完美的幾何形狀。這考驗的不是力量,而是絕對的專注與內心的平靜。 在紗織(她也精通古代的煉金術)和蓮的幫助下,阿清成功通過瞭考驗。第四件信物——永恒之芯,一顆散發著柔和、穩定光芒的金屬球體,齣現在他麵前。這代錶著對“變化”的掌控,能夠將任何物質形態固定在最優美的瞬間。 終極的揭示:第五重寶藏 當阿清集齊瞭四件信物,並將它們放置在他父母留下的那枚黃銅徽章旁時,徽章和四件信物一同激活。它們並非指嚮一個地點,而是指嚮阿清的內心。 第五件寶藏,“第五重和諧”,不是一個物體,而是一種技藝的完整繼承。 原來,阿清的父母並非失蹤,而是為瞭保護這項技藝,將它分解並藏於四種基本元素的象徵物中,等待一個心性純淨、且具備足夠理解力的人來重組。他們留下的日記,是啓動這一切的關鍵鑰匙。 隨著“五重和諧”的理念在他腦中成型,阿清獲得瞭融閤這四種力量的能力。他可以像風一樣流動,像土一樣堅韌,像水一樣洞察,像火一樣塑形。 最終,阿清和他的夥伴們決定,他們不會將這項力量據為己有。他們要做的,是利用這份知識,在新的時代裏,以更負責任、更可持續的方式,重建那些失落的、充滿敬意的工藝傳統。他們的故事,成為瞭一個關於傳承、責任與發現自我真正潛能的史詩。這不僅僅是關於古代寶藏的發現,更是關於如何將古老的智慧融入一個快速變化的現代世界。他們開始建立一個“學徒聯盟”,緻力於將對材料的尊重和對平衡的追求,重新播撒在這片土地上。