{"id":12184,"date":"2022-10-11T20:53:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T12:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=12184"},"modified":"2026-10-14T20:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T12:57:22","slug":"worm_little_history_2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2022\/10\/11\/worm_little_history_2022\/","title":{"rendered":"A rev\u00ade\u00adla\u00adtion about hum\u00adble yet great beings."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Before read\u00ading *The Poor Wor\u00adm\u2019s Life*, no book had ever sparked such a strong inter\u00adest in earth\u00adworms, such insignif\u00adi\u00adcant crea\u00adtures. And when we con\u00adsid\u00ader earth\u00adworms as life forms equal to our\u00adselves, we might be com\u00adpelled to re-exam\u00adine our own ordi\u00adnary lives.<\/p>\n

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I once read \u201cDiary of a Worm,\u201d a humor\u00adous pic\u00adture book that seemed to use the earth\u00adworm to depict the lives of ele\u00admen\u00adtary school stu\u00addents. The pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist was def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly a mis\u00adchie\u00advous lit\u00adtle boy, because he would tease his vain old\u00ader sis\u00adter.\u201cI told her that no mat\u00adter how much time she spends look\u00ading in the mir\u00adror, her face will always look the same as her ass.\u201d<\/strong>This state\u00adment is fun\u00adny, but it makes full use of the bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtics of earth\u00adworms, because for ordi\u00adnary peo\u00adple, it is indeed not easy to dis\u00adtin\u00adguish the head and tail of an earth\u00adworm!<\/p>\n

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Inside pages of \u201cThe Diary of an Earth\u00adworm\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u201cThe Poor Earth\u00adwor\u00adm\u2019s Life\u201d also attempts to anthro\u00adpo\u00admor\u00adphize earth\u00adworms to some extent, but focus\u00ades more on explor\u00ading and reflect\u00ading on sur\u00advival from a knowl\u00adedge-based per\u00adspec\u00adtive. For exam\u00adple, when dis\u00adcussing the earth\u00adwor\u00adm\u2019s tail, it first ded\u00adi\u00adcates two dou\u00adble-page spreads (4 pages) to explor\u00ading \u201cwhy earth\u00adworms have tails,\u201d and then a whole chap\u00adter (a whop\u00adping 48 pages!) to \u201cthe earth\u00adworm and its tail.\u201d In this chap\u00adter, the earth\u00adwor\u00adm\u2019s head and tail become twins; the artist adds hair to the head and a hat to the tail! The growth process of these twins is full of humor, pre\u00adsent\u00ading the growth process of humans on top of the earth\u00adwor\u00adm\u2019s bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtics. The emo\u00adtions and con\u00adflicts are human, but when the earth\u00adwor\u00adm\u2019s head and tail get tan\u00adgled due to a dis\u00adpute, the sto\u00adry returns to the strug\u00adgle between the earth\u00adworm and its bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal preda\u00adtor, seem\u00ading\u00adly turn\u00ading the book into a pop\u00adu\u00adlar sci\u00adence book, in line with the sub\u00adti\u00adtle\u2019s claim of \u201ca very inter\u00adest\u00ading brief his\u00adto\u00adry of earth\u00adworms,\u201d although the orig\u00adi\u00adnal sub\u00adti\u00adtle lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly trans\u00adlates to \u201ca rather short nat\u00adur\u00adal his\u00adto\u00adry paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Table of con\u00adtents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Noe\u00admi Vora<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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This book breaks down con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal bound\u00adaries with its anthro\u00adpo\u00admor\u00adphic and fairy\u00adtale-like approach. The author (and illus\u00adtra\u00adtor), Noe\u00admi Vol\u00adla, is a rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly young artist (born in 1993). To cre\u00adate this book about earth\u00adworms, she spent four years col\u00adlect\u00ading and orga\u00adniz\u00ading sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic research data on earth\u00adworms, and under\u00adstand\u00ading chil\u00addren\u2019s per\u00adspec\u00adtives on earth\u00adworms through art activ\u00adi\u00adties, guid\u00ading them to think fur\u00adther. Almost every\u00adone has seen earth\u00adworms, knows they exist, and knows that more are usu\u00adal\u00adly seen after rain, but most peo\u00adple haven\u2019t real\u00adly cared about their exis\u00adtence, or even both\u00adered to fig\u00adure out how to dis\u00adtin\u00adguish an earth\u00adwor\u00adm\u2019s head from its tail. The \u201ccom\u00admon sense\u201d about earth\u00adworms we learn from child\u00adhood is usu\u00adal\u00adly:If you cut an earth\u00adworm in half and put it back in the soil, the two halves will con\u00adtin\u00adue to grow sep\u00ada\u00adrate\u00adly and become two earth\u00adworms.<\/strong>In oth\u00ader words, this may not be a bad thing for earth\u00adworms, and we don\u2019t need to wor\u00adry about whether they are in pain or injured.<\/p>\n

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Through this 250-page book about earth\u00adworms, Noe\u00admi forces read\u00aders to con\u00adfront this issue:Earth\u00adworms, which seem like extreme\u00adly hum\u00adble crea\u00adtures, are actu\u00adal\u00adly a rich and mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent exis\u00adtence on Earth, with more than 7,000 known species!<\/strong>\u201c\u201cIf we could gath\u00ader all the earth\u00adworms in a patch of soil togeth\u00ader, these lit\u00adtle insects would be enough to form a rain\u00adbow.\u201d In every\u00adday life, almost no one is inter\u00adest\u00aded in earth\u00adworms; peo\u00adple are even unaware that Dar\u00adwin, who stud\u00adied evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, wrote a trea\u00adtise on earth\u00adworms, *The Pro\u00adduc\u00adtion of Humus and the Role of Earth\u00adworms*, in which he remarked:\u201dWe can hard\u00adly find oth\u00ader crea\u00adtures that, though seem\u00ading\u00adly hum\u00adble, have played such an impor\u00adtant role in the course of world his\u00adto\u00adry.<\/strong>\u201d\u201cBut Noe\u00admi was sur\u00adprised to find that most peo\u00adple (includ\u00ading chil\u00addren) inex\u00adplic\u00ada\u00adbly dis\u00adliked this \u2018lit\u00adtle bug\u2019, even though they nev\u00ader thought about why they dis\u00adliked it! Noe\u00admi said she does\u00adn\u2019t expect peo\u00adple to fall in love with earth\u00adworms after read\u00ading this book, but at least they can ask them\u00adselves \u2018why\u2019 when they feel dis\u00adgust\u00aded by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The idea for this book came from Tove Jansson\u2019s *Sum\u00admer Book*, a book by Finnish author Noe\u00admi (win\u00adner of the Hans Chris\u00adt\u00adian Ander\u00adsen Award and cre\u00adator of the Moomin series). It was dur\u00ading a uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty class in Bologna that Noemi\u2019s favorite art pro\u00adfes\u00adsor read aloud the chap\u00adter about earth\u00adworms from *Sum\u00admer Book*. In the book, a girl named Sofia is ter\u00adri\u00adfied of all kinds of small ani\u00admals and insects, and her grand\u00admoth\u00ader does\u00adn\u2019t know how to help her over\u00adcome this irra\u00adtional fear. One day, while dig\u00adging with a shov\u00adel, Sofia acci\u00adden\u00adtal\u00adly cuts an earth\u00adworm in half, and she drops the shov\u00adel and screams in ter\u00adror\u2026 Tak\u00ading this as an oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty, the grand\u00admoth\u00ader invites Sofia to write a hypo\u00adthet\u00adi\u00adcal book about earth\u00adworms. Togeth\u00ader, they try to record their obser\u00adva\u00adtions of earth\u00adworms and imag\u00adine what they might feel. The first chap\u00adter of this hypo\u00adthet\u00adi\u00adcal book ends with the very words Noe\u00admi quotes at the begin\u00adning of the book: \u201c\u2026In any case, we must ask every\u00adone a favor: please stop putting this poor lit\u00adtle life on a hook as bait.\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n

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Sofi\u00ada\u2019s imag\u00adi\u00adnary book great\u00adly inspired Noe\u00admi, who decid\u00aded to cre\u00adate a real book. The most inge\u00adnious struc\u00adtur\u00adal design of this book is that, pre\u00adcise\u00adly in the mid\u00addle, the pink earth\u00adworm is sev\u00adered in two by light\u00adning! Here, Noe\u00admi con\u00adtin\u00adues Sofi\u00ada\u2019s (and Jansson\u2019s) line of thought. Sofia said, \u201cThe earth\u00adworm prob\u00ada\u00adbly knows that if it is cut, the two halves will begin to grow sep\u00ada\u00adrate\u00adly. But we don\u2019t know how much pain it expe\u00adri\u00adences, and we don\u2019t know if the earth\u00adworm is afraid of being hurt. But in any case, it will feel some\u00adthing sharp get\u00adting clos\u00ader. It\u2019s an instinct.\u201d In the book, Noe\u00admi con\u00adtin\u00adues, \u201cHow much pain does an earth\u00adworm with a sev\u00adered tail feel? We can\u00adnot know. Per\u00adhaps, it\u2019s like a human break\u00ading a bone or hav\u00ading a tooth pulled.\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n

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In fact, even regard\u00ading the ques\u00adtion of whether earth\u00adworms cut in two can regen\u00ader\u00adate, the answer is not cer\u00adtain. On the Bili\u00adbili video web\u00adsite, some\u00adone filmed an exper\u00adi\u00adment observ\u00ading whether earth\u00adworms cut into three pieces can sur\u00advive. He placed the remains of two earth\u00adworms, acci\u00adden\u00adtal\u00adly cut into three pieces while plant\u00adi\u00adng flow\u00aders, along with the soil, in three box\u00ades and observed their sur\u00advival sta\u00adtus at inter\u00advals. His exper\u00adi\u00adment found that one tail seg\u00adment sur\u00advived for two months, but the oth\u00ader parts grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly died. This may not have been an exper\u00adi\u00adment con\u00adduct\u00aded under ide\u00adal envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal con\u00addi\u00adtions. Rel\u00ade\u00advant sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture states that the regen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtive abil\u00adi\u00adty of earth\u00adworms is actu\u00adal\u00adly \u201caffect\u00aded by many fac\u00adtors, includ\u00ading species, the loca\u00adtion and num\u00adber of bro\u00adken seg\u00adments, envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal tem\u00adper\u00ada\u00adture, humid\u00adi\u00adty, and oxy\u00adgen con\u00adtent.\u201d There\u00adfore, we should not assume that cut\u00adting an earth\u00adworm in two is doing it a favor.<\/p>\n

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The fol\u00adlow\u00ading con\u00adtent is only vis\u00adi\u00adble to true fans.<\/p>\n

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For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, illus\u00adtra\u00adtor Noe\u00admi did\u00adn\u2019t cre\u00adate this book as a seri\u00adous sci\u00adence man\u00adu\u00adal. That would like\u00adly have attract\u00aded few read\u00aders, even few\u00ader chil\u00addren, and would have offered lit\u00adtle help in improv\u00ading earth\u00adworm sur\u00advival. At first glance, *The Poor Earth\u00adwor\u00adm\u2019s Life* seems more like a trendy pho\u00adto\u00adbook. First, it\u2019s extreme\u00adly pink\u2014pink from begin\u00adning to end, even the spine. Sec\u00adond, it\u2019s filled with pop\u00adu\u00adlar ele\u00adments, includ\u00ading pho\u00adtos of var\u00adi\u00adous celebri\u00adties (of course, earth\u00adworm celebri\u00adties), and a show\u00adcase of dif\u00adfer\u00adent hair\u00adstyles and looks. Addi\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly, there are can\u00addid glimpses into the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist\u2019s (earth\u00adworm head, tail, and half an earth\u00adworm) life, accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by numer\u00adous per\u00adson\u00adal reflec\u00adtions, such as, \u201cIf I\u2019m dif\u00adfer\u00adent from before, am I still me?\u201d and \u201cHas such a thing ever hap\u00adpened in the world? Some\u00adone who has always been them\u00adselves, and then sud\u00adden\u00adly becomes some\u00adone else?\u201d This is a book brim\u00adming with youth\u00adful ener\u00adgy, brim\u00adming with imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtive artis\u00adtic ideas. Earth\u00adworms, as seg\u00adment\u00aded worms, always wear styl\u00adish red striped sweaters. Their soft, elas\u00adtic, long bod\u00adies are per\u00adfect\u00adly suit\u00aded to form\u00ading var\u00adi\u00adous beau\u00adti\u00adful pat\u00adterns. The book\u2019s visu\u00adal effect is nov\u00adel and ele\u00adgant, cap\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading read\u00aders and offer\u00ading new dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00adies at every turn. But all of this con\u00adtributes to enhanc\u00ading the book\u2019s soul-search\u00ading and philo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly insight\u00adful ques\u00adtions:Who am I? Why am I alive in this world?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I think chil\u00addren and young peo\u00adple will love this beau\u00adti\u00adful\u00adly illus\u00adtrat\u00aded book that defies easy cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adriza\u00adtion. It is far thick\u00ader than a typ\u00adi\u00adcal pic\u00adture book, yet as a sci\u00adence book it incor\u00adpo\u00adrates too many humor\u00adous fairy tales. Com\u00adpared to typ\u00adi\u00adcal fairy tales, its sto\u00adry\u00adtelling is weak\u00ader, and its struc\u00adture is more like a sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic paper or ani\u00admal obser\u00adva\u00adtion report. In short, the fact that this work can\u00adnot be cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adrized is prob\u00ada\u00adbly one of the impor\u00adtant rea\u00adsons why it is loved by young peo\u00adple today, because life does not need stan\u00addard answers.<\/p>\n

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How\u00adev\u00ader, lik\u00ading this beau\u00adti\u00adful and wit\u00adty book does indeed help to enhance one\u2019s love for life. If even hum\u00adble crea\u00adtures like earth\u00adworms can be appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded, then it will be eas\u00adi\u00ader to savor the won\u00adders of ordi\u00adnary life.<\/p>\n

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Writ\u00adten by A\u2011Jia on Novem\u00adber 10, 2022 in Bei\u00adjing<\/p>\n

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Appre\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion of orig\u00adi\u00adnal illus\u00adtra\u00adtions<\/figcaption><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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