- to young and old.

 “now)

AN ILLITERATE TURNED WRITER

Chinese soldier tells his

life story in

MILLIONS OF readers in
China are eagerly reading a first
novel by a new writer which jis
at present being serialized in
newspapers and magazines
throughout the country, The
novel, entitled simple Kao Yu-
pao, which is the author’s name,
has been recommended by the
authoritative Peking Pedople’s
Daily and the magazine PLA
Literature,

Autobiographical in form, this
“remarkable novel is at once a
record of blood and tears, relat
ing the writer’s sufferings and
privations in the old society and
a chronicle of the happy life that
he is now leading in the army.
The writer is an ordinary, 26-
year-old soldier in the People’s
Liberation Army. Only four
years ago he was illiterate, but
today his name has become a
household word.

Kao Yu-pao was a farmhand
in the employ of a landlord. He
tended pigs as a small child ever
since he can remember. His
family worked for the landlord
all the year round, but often
had to worry about their next
meal.

Once, when his aged father
was ill, they had but a few
pieces of wood to make a fire.
Kao Yu-pao cut some twigs from
the landlord’s trees. He was
caught and was compelled to do

a year’s labor for the landlord |

without pay. Life was hard,

and became harder still. His.

grandfather, mother, uncle and
younger brother all died from
hunger and cold,

x ee *

IN NOVEMBER, 1947, Fu
County was liberated. Kao Yu-
pao saw for the first time the
People’s Liberation Army. It
was a fateful encounter. To him
this was a strange army because
upon their arrival the soldiers
made friends with all the pov:

ON THE SCREEN

first novel

erty - stricken villagers and
quickly put an end to all forms
of oppression by the landlords.
He decided, then and there, to
join up,

In August, 1949, when the
stroops, were stationed in newly-
libarated Changsha, Kao Yu-'
pao came across a small illus:
trated booklet entitled Mao Tse- .
tung’s Boyhood, The story of
Mao’s hard study in his youth
deeply impressed him. The fol-
lowing words particularly at-
tracted his attention and he pon-
dered over them for quite a few
days: :

“One day Mao Tse-tung asked °
himself why in all the novels
which he had’ read the chief
characters were always minis-
ters, generals, scholars and

- beauties rather than peasants.”

Kao Yu-pao made a _ bonfire
of all his old novels which were
concerned only about ministers
and generals and the like. ‘‘Can’t

.the poor be-recorded in books

too?’’ he asked himself. ‘Why
not write a book about my own
past sufferings and-of others in
distress so that the poor my
redd it?”

He was then able to write
less than 200 Chinese characters,
hardly 20 percent of what was
needed to express himself, but
he persisted. He substituted
drawings for characters which
he did not know. For the char-
acter yen meaning “eye” he
drew an eye, and for the char-
acter mang meaning “busy” he
drew a human head bathed in
sweat.

Kai Yu-pao’s novel is the sub-
ject of talk amongst a wide
reading public. The remaining
parts which are yet to appear
in print are being revised by
the author, who is expected to
return to the army after revi-
Sion of the entire povel is fin-
ished.—YANG YU LAN,

Hungarian, Soviet pictures

THE STATE THEATRE must
be commended for the exception-
al merit or its holiday bill, both
in the stature of the films pre-

~ sented and in their wide appeal
Contrary to
the usual double-bills which pass
eff shoddy merchandise as “‘sec-
ond”’ features: or simply ‘with
quantity, this is a ‘dream’’

, double: the prize-winning Hun-

garian film It Happened In
Europe, with a feature length
‘Soviet cartoon The Magic Horse.
It Happened In Europe is the
almost legendary film
‘about war orphans—the most
‘pathetic victims. It was written,
‘directed, and produced in 44
days during 1947 by Geza Rad-
vanyi after discussions with over
3,000 children, 30 of whom
(with no previous dramatic ex-
perience) play the lead roles in

ta plot drawn entirely from typi-

eal, real-life events. Everything
in the film, is true.
Produced with a budget of

$25,000, without a studio (the

war destroyed all of Hungary’s

film studios), with virtually no
‘spare film for re-takes, It Hap-
pened In Europe has won four
important international film
awards and acclaim from every
side. Seven year old Laci Hor-

on ‘dream’ double bill

vath, who plays the lead role,
has been acclaimed the best child.
actor ever, while the film has
won an undisputed place among
the all-time “greats.” It Hap-
pened In Europe with its mod-
est budget and resources, has
everything. which Hollywood
with its astronomical budgets
and unlimited technical equip-
ment has not: reality and hum-
anity. Don’t miss it.

The other feature, The Magic
Horse, is a 55-minute animated
cartoon in natural Soviet Magi-
color. It is a fable with histori-
cal parallels, recently released

by Mosfilm Studios in the USSR. ©

By implication, the mature re-
strain of The Magic Horse is a
damning indictment of the ban-
ality of Hollywood-type cartoons,

The film is written with par-
ticular regard to its appeal for
children, but the subject matter
is so carefully developed that it
has an equal charm for adults:
It contains some original humor
and is notable for its lusty joie
de vivre.

Tt Happened In Europe and
The Magic Horse, both with En-
glish titles,'open a one-week run
at the State on Labor Day.

—N, E. STOREY

/

Korean artists perform in Moscow

Korean artists captured the hearts of Muscovites on a recent visit to the Soviet Union.

Kim Wan U (left), soloist of the Pyongyang Art Theatre sings the air of the commander from
the opera Guerillas by composer Kim Sun Nam,

dance, Mother of Korea;

SHORT STORY

lacies fostered by women is the
contention that cooking is dif
ficult. and requires skill. Ags a
matter of fact there is practical-
ly nothing to it. .

Take breakfast. What is
there to fixing breakfast? Sup-
pose you find yourself alone in
the house on a Sunday morning
and wander out in the kitchen
in robe and slippers? You want
breakfast. All right, here’s all
you have to do.

Open the cooler and take two
eggs out of the cardboard box.
Set them on the sink temporar-
ily. Now, what. next? Poke
around in the cupboards under
the sink and you will find a fry=
ing pan.
much for that.

Now go back to the cooler and ©

find some bacon, ‘Take it out,

‘ lay it next to the eggs on the :

sink and rub your hands’ to-
gether. Everything is going fine,
Go back to the stove and look at
the frying pan, which is still sit-
ting there. Light a fire under
it, then return to the sink and
get the eggs, carrying one in

each hand, and bring them over i

to the stove. No, bring them
back again and put them down,
You forgot the butter.

Open the cooler, find a dish
of butter, put it on the stove,
return; to the drawer in-~ the
sink, get a knife, cut a piece of
butter. No. Wait’ a minute.
Come to think‘of it, if you fry
the bacon first, you can use the
bacon grease. \

Scrape the piece of butter
back on to the dish, return to
the sink, pick up the bacon and
go back to the stove. Here hesit-
ate a minute. If you almost
made a mistake on the butter
you might be making a mistake
on the bacon, ‘Think carefully,
If you can’t think of anything
wrong, put the bacon in the pan
and watch it curl up. .Try to
straighten it out with your fin-

Put it on the stove. So

‘é '

A simple iiss cadet

f
ONE .OF THE greatest fal- °

gers. Then rush back to the
sink, open the drawer and look
for the turner. It
there. The turner is in another
drawer under the dish cupboard.
Get your hands on it and return
to the stove as soon as possible,

By this time the bacon is
cooked to a crisp: Drop the
turner and rush, for a dish, then
back to the stove. Shovel the
bacon onto the dish. It’s a lit-
tle burned, but some people like
it that way. :

Now go back to the sink and
get the eggs, one in each hand.

Crack them on the edge of the

pan and put them-on the shelf
Over the stove and wipe your
hands on your robe, Everything
is going fine,

Run to the bread box, take
out the loaf, slice off a few
pieces and stick them in the
oven for toasting. To light the
oven, get down on your hands
and knees and peek in the little
hole in the tin.
anything,

Light a match, stick it in the
hole, and turn the gas valve.
Then wait, Just wait. Sudden-
ly the match will burn to your
finger and you will realize you
turned the wrong valve, thus im-
periiing yourself with the» dan-
ger of explosion. Turn off the

valve in a hurry, Find the right

valve. Two or three matches
should be enough to get the
oven lit. Meanwhile the eggs
are cooking furiously,

Dash for the sink and find a
saucepan, Fill it with water and
try to bring it back to the stove
without spilling. If you will put
your tongue between your teeth
and balance yourself like a tight-
rope walker your chances are

good. Get it on the stove and
light a fire under it. That’s for
tae coffee. “

Grab the eggs quickly because —

they are getting brown at the
edges. Dump them onto the
plate and you will smell the

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — AUGUST 29, 1952 — PAGE 8

won’t be

You won’t see’

,

Tsoi Syn Hi (right) is shown rendering the

\

MIKE QUIN |

toast burning, Flop open the
oven and burn your fingers ttY
ing to pull it out.

Just then the phone rings —
Turn off the oven and go answet
it. You have wasted too much
time and the party on the other
end has hung up; : ;

Return quickly, for the baco?
is now cold and the eggs cool-
ing. ‘The water for the coffee
is boiling. Find the coffee pot”
Grab a pot holder and lift be
pan. Wait a minute, You haven't
put the coffee in yet. DroP
everything and go get the cof.
fee. Put the coffee in the pot
pour in the water and clamP
down the lid,

Now rush the bacon and eggs
to the table and sit down. You've —
forgotten knives and_ forks:
Rush for the knives and forks _
go back: for a cup and saucel
where’s the salt and pepper?
Get up and find them. Go back
and sit down. Where’s the
sugar? You forgot to turn off
the gas under the pan. Get
some cream from the coole?:
The phone rings again. The
kitchen whirls round and round.
You grab onto the edge of the
table trying to steady yourself,
The doorbell rings. The ceilimS
falls in. The earth shakes. Th@
fiery ball of the sun comes gal-
loping at the earth in a hot.
blaze of destruction, And the
world collapses in a mad co”
fusion of cold eggs, burned bac —
on, knives, sugar, cups, saucers
and ringing bells. :
® f

The short stories, satirical
sketches and poetry of mike
Quin, who wrote this piece, are
known and loved by working '
people in the United States a”
Canada, His untimely death,
several years ago, robbed the
‘labor movement of one of the -
outstanding people’s writers 9 —
our time, ee