{"id":9,"date":"2010-03-08T17:41:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-08T09:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=9"},"modified":"2025-09-09T19:49:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:49:25","slug":"leo_lionni_life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2010\/03\/08\/leo_lionni_life\/","title":{"rendered":"Talk\u00ading about Leo Lion\u00adni\u2019s life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The orig\u00adi\u00adnal text was writ\u00adten in Chi\u00adnese on March 8, 2010, as a post\u00adscript to Leo Lion\u00adni\u2019s series of trans\u00adla\u00adtions, and was also pub\u00adlished on Sina Blog.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the past year or so, Leo Lion\u00adni has occu\u00adpied a very impor\u00adtant posi\u00adtion in my life. I often repeat what he said, put one or two of his books in my bag wher\u00adev\u00ader I go, and search for all the infor\u00adma\u00adtion about him when\u00adev\u00ader I think of him\u2026 But more often, I will stare at the pages where he wrote and drew for a long time, think\u00ading absent\u00admind\u00aded\u00adly: What on earth is this guy try\u00ading to say here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel very lucky to have trans\u00adlat\u00aded nine of Lion\u00adni\u2019s pic\u00adture books in more than a year. It is very sat\u00adis\u00adfy\u00ading to have in-depth exchanges with this mas\u00adter in this way. As the trans\u00adla\u00adtion work is com\u00ading to an end, the edi\u00adtor asked me to write a lit\u00adtle about Lion\u00adni, but for a long time I did\u00adn\u2019t know where to start. Every\u00adthing about Leo Lion\u00adni is there, in his books: the lit\u00adtle black fish, Alfred, Cor\u00adnelius, Matthew, Alexan\u00adder\u2026 They are all him, what else is there to say? I will talk about some anec\u00addotes in Lion\u00adni\u2019s life \u2014 main\u00adly those that have had some influ\u00adence on my under\u00adstand\u00ading in trans\u00adla\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a warm day about thir\u00adty years ago, in a farm\u00adhouse in Tus\u00adcany, Italy, an old man in his sev\u00aden\u00adties was chat\u00adting with some\u00adone on the phone, but his mind grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly wan\u00addered, and he was seen scrib\u00adbling on a notepad. The draw\u00ading looked like the graf\u00adfi\u00adti of naughty chil\u00addren. It was rough\u00adly a lizard, and it looked like a croc\u00ado\u00addile when you looked left and right, but from the per\u00adspec\u00adtive of nat\u00adur\u00adal sci\u00adence, it was nei\u00adther, because it was a rep\u00adtile that walked upright! It is said that this is how Lion\u00adni\u2019s \u201cCor\u00adnelius\u201d the Croc\u00ado\u00addile was first cre\u00adat\u00aded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When I first came across this book, I want\u00aded to trans\u00adlate Cor\u00adnelius as \u201c\u9cc4\u9c7c\u5c0f\u514b Croc\u00ado\u00addile Lit\u00adtle K\u201d, per\u00adhaps chil\u00addren would like it more. But as I learned more about Lion\u00adni, this name seemed to have a deep\u00ader mean\u00ading. On the sur\u00adface, it is just sim\u00adi\u00adlar to croc\u00ado\u00addile, but if you think about it care\u00adful\u00adly, it is a com\u00admon name in Italy, and the most famous one is usu\u00adal\u00adly trans\u00adlat\u00aded as Cor\u00adnelius, a cen\u00adtu\u00adri\u00adon in the New Tes\u00adta\u00adment of the Bible, and the first non-Jew to con\u00advert to Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty. Is this just a coin\u00adci\u00addence? To be hon\u00adest, I don\u2019t know, but I think it\u2019s bet\u00adter to keep the name Cor\u00adnelius for this unique croc\u00ado\u00addile, and leave the judg\u00adment of whether it is a coin\u00adci\u00addence to the read\u00aders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Italy is Lion\u00adni\u2019s sec\u00adond home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He set foot on this land when he was 15 years old. Before that, he went to high school in Philadel\u00adphia, USA for one or two years, and even ear\u00adli\u00ader in Ams\u00adter\u00addam, his home\u00adtown in the Nether\u00adlands. He com\u00adplet\u00aded his stud\u00adies in Italy and obtained a doc\u00adtor\u00adate in eco\u00adnom\u00adics from the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Genoa with a the\u00adsis on the jew\u00adel\u00adry trade. Although he was bet\u00adter at paint\u00ading and design\u00ading, it was not dif\u00adfi\u00adcult for him to com\u00adplete such a the\u00adsis because his father was a jew\u00adel\u00adry design\u00ader and a Sephardic Jew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the age of 16, he met his oth\u00ader half, Nora Maf\u00adfei, there. Five years lat\u00ader, they got mar\u00adried and stayed togeth\u00ader for life. His father-in-law was one of the founders of the Ital\u00adian Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty. When Leo met Nora, Mr. Maf\u00adfei had been under house arrest and impris\u00adoned because the Ital\u00adian Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty was being per\u00adse\u00adcut\u00aded by Mus\u00adsolin\u00adi\u2019s dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship. This polit\u00adi\u00adcal sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion had a strong impact on Leo, because not long ago he was still play\u00ading bas\u00adket\u00adball freely in a mid\u00addle school in Philadel\u00adphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still in Italy, Leo began his career as an artist and design\u00ader. His slight\u00adly man\u00adic paint\u00adings in his youth were high\u00adly regard\u00aded by the lead\u00ading futur\u00adist poet Marinet\u00adti, and were rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded to tour around Italy. He was even hailed as \u201cthe direct descen\u00addant of the aero\u00addy\u00adnam\u00adic paint\u00ading school\u201d and \u201ca great futur\u00adist.\u201d Although he nev\u00ader thought so, he believed that he was clos\u00ader to the Dutch De Sti\u00adjl and was a gen\u00aduine Bauhau\u00adsist in terms of design con\u00adcepts. This style was vivid\u00adly dis\u00adplayed in Lion\u00adi\u2019s first pic\u00adture book, Lit\u00adtle Blue and Lit\u00adtle Yel\u00adlow, and his late work, The Dream of Matthew, may be a more direct inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion of his artis\u00adtic pur\u00adsuit. In that sto\u00adry, the sweet\u00adheart (lat\u00ader wife) of the mouse artist Matthew was named Nico\u00adlet\u00adta, who was also full of Ital\u00adian fla\u00advor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the Nazis took con\u00adtrol of Italy, Leo, who was half Jew\u00adish, had to leave with his wife and chil\u00addren and go to the Unit\u00aded States across the ocean, where he achieved amaz\u00ading suc\u00adcess. But about 20 years lat\u00ader, he still decid\u00aded to come back and set\u00adtle down again, as if this was the land he had been dream\u00ading of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Leo Lion\u00adni was near\u00adly 50 years old, he was already suc\u00adcess\u00adful. He had been famous in the adver\u00adtis\u00ading design indus\u00adtry for a long time. Lat\u00ader, he served as an Art direc\u00adtor in the print\u00ading and mag\u00ada\u00adzine indus\u00adtries. The most famous one was that he served as the design direc\u00adtor of For\u00adtune mag\u00ada\u00adzine for ten years. Dur\u00ading this peri\u00adod, he also held his own per\u00adson\u00adal exhi\u00adbi\u00adtions and design exhi\u00adbi\u00adtions in Europe, Japan and the Unit\u00aded States many times. He once served as the pres\u00adi\u00addent of the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Soci\u00adety of Graph\u00adic Arts and served as the chair\u00adman of the 1953 Inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal Design Con\u00adfer\u00adence. In addi\u00adtion, he had a bunch of titles that were too numer\u00adous to count. But at this time, he decid\u00aded to resign, take a break for a while, and then move to Italy. It is said that he has signed a con\u00adtract to do design for a small mag\u00ada\u00adzine there, who knows what the name is! At least com\u00adpared with his sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion in the Unit\u00aded States, the salary of the new posi\u00adtion will be reduced to a neg\u00adli\u00adgi\u00adble amount. Peo\u00adple around Lion\u00adni were shocked: Is this guy men\u00adtal\u00adly ill?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dur\u00ading this peri\u00adod, a sto\u00adry that is well known to many read\u00aders who love Lionni\u2019s pic\u00adture books hap\u00adpened. Dur\u00ading a short train trip, Lion\u00adni told sto\u00adries to his 5\u2011year-old grand\u00adson and 3\u2011year-old grand\u00addaugh\u00adter using blocks of col\u00ador torn from mag\u00ada\u00adzines. The won\u00adder\u00adful sto\u00adry won the hearts of the chil\u00addren, and after some sort\u00ading and pro\u00adduc\u00adtion, it became the clas\u00adsic \u201cLit\u00adtle Blue and Lit\u00adtle Yel\u00adlow\u201d. From then on, Lion\u00adni had anoth\u00ader iden\u00adti\u00adty: a mas\u00adter of chil\u00addren\u2019s pic\u00adture books. This seems to be a pure\u00adly acci\u00adden\u00adtal event, but it is a nat\u00adur\u00adal out\u00adcome for this artist who is slow\u00ading down and re-exam\u00adin\u00ading his life. He closed a win\u00addow, and anoth\u00ader door opened to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lion\u00adni\u2019s pic\u00adture book edi\u00adtor described his life and cre\u00adation in this way: Lion\u00adni divides his life into two worlds. He usu\u00adal\u00adly stays in a farm in Tus\u00adcany, Italy in spring and sum\u00admer, and comes to New York in autumn and win\u00adter. Most of his pic\u00adture books are com\u00adplet\u00aded in a farm\u00adhouse very close to nature, and he gets inspi\u00adra\u00adtion from this nat\u00adur\u00adal world. It is said that the inspi\u00adra\u00adtion for \u201cSwim\u00admy\u201d came from a pool of min\u00adnows there, and the pro\u00adto\u00adtype of the field mouse Fred\u00ader\u00adick orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly appeared in his gar\u00adden. The lit\u00adtle field mouse poet always med\u00adi\u00adtates on his own, col\u00adlect\u00ading sun\u00adlight, col\u00adors and words, and when it is spe\u00adcial, it gives peo\u00adple warmth and mag\u00adic in a spe\u00adcial way. That is anoth\u00ader state of exis\u00adtence, per\u00adhaps one that is clos\u00ader to the essence. Is this what Lion\u00adni col\u00adlect\u00aded in spring and sum\u00admer and brought to New York in win\u00adter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His edi\u00adtor was very impressed that Leo seemed to have not been influ\u00adenced by the tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal chil\u00addren\u2019s book indus\u00adtry in his pic\u00adture book cre\u00adation, and the rela\u00adtion\u00adship between him and the edi\u00adtor was also unique. Leo was nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly will\u00ading to tell the edi\u00adtor what ideas his next book might be based on, but no one knew the spe\u00adcif\u00adic con\u00adtent of the book until he took the fin\u00adished book to the pub\u00adlish\u00ader. Leo was very con\u00adfi\u00addent that his near\u00adly per\u00adfect cre\u00adations could sur\u00adprise every\u00adone, and in fact, it was true every time. The artist and design mas\u00adter even designed the fonts. He always chose a very old-fash\u00adioned font (Cen\u00adtu\u00adry School\u00adbook) because he felt that this print\u00aded font was most eas\u00adi\u00adly rec\u00adog\u00adniz\u00adable to chil\u00addren. As for what font size to choose and where to put it on the page, the design\u00ader had already care\u00adful\u00adly arranged it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peo\u00adple often talk more about Lion\u00adni\u2019s paint\u00adings, but he is also very par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar about words. Edi\u00adtors praised him as the \u201cAesop of the 20th cen\u00adtu\u00adry\u201d. In addi\u00adtion to prais\u00ading the pro\u00adfound mean\u00ading of his sto\u00adries, they also praised his con\u00adcise, clear and poet\u00adic words. Although the words in his pic\u00adture books can be read or under\u00adstood by chil\u00addren direct\u00adly, they are not the kind of tone that is specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly spo\u00adken to chil\u00addren, because his sto\u00adries are told to every\u00adone. When I repeat\u00aded\u00adly pon\u00adder the seem\u00ading\u00adly sim\u00adple words writ\u00adten by Lion\u00adni, some\u00adtimes I feel that they are quite old-fash\u00adioned, more like Euro\u00adpean Eng\u00adlish than Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Eng\u00adlish. Its strict gram\u00admar is a mod\u00adel, but its choice of words is very per\u00adson\u00adal. He does not seem to choose some com\u00admon words as a mat\u00adter of course, but prefers to choose some more orig\u00adi\u00adnal and inter\u00adest\u00ading words with more sym\u00adbol\u00adic mean\u00adings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once, in a con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion with the Japan\u00adese pub\u00adlish\u00ader Mr. Tadashi Mat\u00adsui about Leo Lionni\u2019s pic\u00adture books, he offered two fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading insights. First, he believed that all of Lionni\u2019s books revolve around a sin\u00adgle fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal ques\u00adtion: \u201cWho am I?\u201d Sec\u00adond, Lion\u00adni had stud\u00adied a branch of Hin\u00adduism in depth, which had a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant influ\u00adence on his cre\u00adative work. The first insight, in par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar, great\u00adly helps us under\u00adstand Lionni\u2019s body of work as a whole. For exam\u00adple, Lit\u00adtle Blue and Lit\u00adtle Yel\u00adlow can be seen as a sto\u00adry of the dis\u00adso\u00adlu\u00adtion and ref\u00ador\u00adma\u00adtion of the self; Swim\u00admy is about a leader with\u00adin a col\u00adlec\u00adtive; Cor\u00adnelius is a pio\u00adneer ahead of his time; Fred\u00ader\u00adick is a poet with mag\u00adi\u00adcal pow\u00aders; Matthew\u2019s Dream tells of an artist dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00ading both the world and him\u00adself. And sto\u00adries like Alexan\u00adder and the Wind-Up Mouse, A Col\u00ador of His Own, and Fish Is Fish all depict a jour\u00adney toward self-recog\u00adni\u00adtion. When you think about it care\u00adful\u00adly, each of these char\u00adac\u00adters is, in one way or anoth\u00ader, a reflec\u00adtion of Lion\u00adni him\u00adself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As for the sec\u00adond insight, I have yet to find any in-depth mate\u00adri\u00adals about it. How\u00adev\u00ader, from a dif\u00adfer\u00adent per\u00adspec\u00adtive, some who prac\u00adtice yoga have come to regard Lionni\u2019s works as spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal read\u00adings. Books like \u201cFred\u00ader\u00adick\u201d and \u201cA Col\u00ador of His Own\u201d are even includ\u00aded on rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded lists of \u201cyoga books.\u201d Re-read\u00ading \u201cFred\u00ader\u00adick\u201d from this new angle, the mes\u00adsage does seem to resonate\u2014it encour\u00adages read\u00aders to seek peace and hap\u00adpi\u00adness with\u00adin them\u00adselves, rather than rely\u00ading entire\u00adly on the mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal world around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No mat\u00adter how the adult world ele\u00advates Leo Lion\u00adni, chil\u00addren have their own opin\u00adions about him. They are fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00aded by Leo Lion\u00adni\u2019s works and deeply love the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnists in those sto\u00adries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An Amer\u00adi\u00adcan writer and edu\u00adca\u00adtor named Vivian Paley wrote a book called \u201cThe Girl with the Brown Cray\u00adon\u201d (the Chi\u00adnese edi\u00adtion is titled \u201cA Year of Read\u00ading Pic\u00adture Books Togeth\u00ader\u201d \u2014 \u300a\u5171\u8bfb\u7ed8\u672c\u7684\u4e00\u5e74\u300b), in which she recounts how she, as a kinder\u00adgarten teacher, spent over a year shar\u00ading Leo Lionni\u2019s works with her stu\u00addents. It all began with a lit\u00adtle girl named Ree\u00adny, who was utter\u00adly cap\u00adti\u00advat\u00aded by \u201cFred\u00ader\u00adick\u201d. To her, noth\u00ading else mattered\u2014not beyond Fred\u00ader\u00adick and his cre\u00adator, Leo Lion\u00adni. Vivian and the entire class read all 14 Lion\u00adni books avail\u00adable in the kinder\u00adgarten library, and even that wasn\u2019t enough. So they read them again, act\u00aded them out, drew pic\u00adtures, and talked\u2014every day\u2014about Lion\u00adni, about Fred\u00ader\u00adick, Cor\u00adnelius, Swim\u00admy, Tico the bird\u2026 And just like that, a whole year passed. Look\u00ading back, it felt like a dream\u2014a very sweet dream. When Leo Lion\u00adni passed away in 1999, Ree\u00adny, who was by then in fifth grade, called Vivian. She said she missed Lion\u00adni ter\u00adri\u00adbly, and she missed those days when it felt like every\u00adone was togeth\u00ader with him. As she spoke, sad\u00adness crept into her voice. Vivian want\u00aded to com\u00adfort her, and sud\u00adden\u00adly remem\u00adbered a ques\u00adtion they had once dis\u00adcussed in class: among all of Lionni\u2019s char\u00adac\u00adters, which one \u201cwas\u201d Leo Lion\u00adni him\u00adself? The chil\u00addren had debat\u00aded the ques\u00adtion for a long time. Fred\u00ader\u00adick received the most votes, fol\u00adlowed by Cor\u00adnelius, but no one was entire\u00adly sure. Vivian had promised them she would ask Lion\u00adni in per\u00adson one day. And lat\u00ader, she actu\u00adal\u00adly did\u2014but by then, those chil\u00addren had already moved on from kinder\u00adgarten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vivian brought up the mat\u00adter again, and Ree\u00adny imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly became excit\u00aded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid he tell you?\u201d She held her breath and dared not say anoth\u00ader word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was vis\u00adit\u00ading him in New York at the time. He walked over to a stack of his own books, picked up Swim\u00admy, and with a brown cray\u00adon, he drew a big cir\u00adcle around Swim\u00admy. Then he drew a hor\u00adi\u00adzon\u00adtal line beneath it. Final\u00adly, on that line, he wrote a sin\u00adgle large word: Me. That was Leo Lion\u00adni him\u00adself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody thought of the black fish,\u201d Renee yelled. \u201cBut we should have, right? I mean, because we were just like those oth\u00ader lit\u00adtle fish, we were always around him. He could take us any\u00adwhere. He made us feel like a big, big fish\u2014stronger togeth\u00ader.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She laughed with a tri\u00adumphant smile. \u201cOf course\u2014he was Swim\u00admy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Record\u00aded by Ajia \nMarch 8, 2010, Bei\u00adjing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The orig\u00adi\u00adnal text was writ\u00adten in Chi\u00adnese on March 8, 2010, as a post\u00adscript to Leo Lion\u00adni\u2019s series of trans\u00adla\u00adtions, and was also pub\u00adlished on Sina Blog.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8,5,7,10,6,9],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story-of-story-tellers","tag-8","tag-5","tag-7","tag-10","tag-6","tag-9"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/\u674e\u5965\u5c3c\u81ea\u4f20\u5c01\u9762.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions\/178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}