本書原文為德文。離開這個世界是什麼樣的感覺?很可怕嗎?這是一個生與死的對話的小故事。
在我們的印象中,死亡是忌諱、不吉利的;死神是來取走生命的。但是,死亡真的是不吉利?死神是否也可能扮演著另一個我們從未想過的角色呢?又,如果死神就站在你面前,你會有什麼反應呢?現在我們就來看看鴨子遇見死神的故事……
鴨子有這樣的感覺已經有一段時間了。「你是誰?為什麼偷偷摸摸的跟在我後面?」
「很好,你終於注意到我了。我是死神。」
一聽到是死神,鴨子嚇了一大跳。「那麼,你是來帶我走的嗎?」
「當然不是。從你一出生,我就在你身邊。」死神回答。
原來「生」和「死」一直是同時存在的,緊緊相隨。在我們活著的同時,死神也隨侍在側,他不是來取走生命,而是扮演著陪伴的角色。原來死神有另一個樣貌。
故事中,死神像個朋友一樣,陪著鴨子一起去池塘覓食、爬樹,也回答鴨子對於死後的問題:死了是不是會成為天使,可以坐在雲端上看著生者的世界?在地底下很深的地方有一個煉獄,如果活著的時候做壞事,就會被抓去烤?……
死神繼續陪伴在鴨子身旁,直到一個下雪天的寒冷夜晚,鴨子被凍僵了,再也沒有呼吸。鴨子離開了這個世界。這時,死神把鴨子的羽毛撫平,小心翼翼的把牠放在河水上,順著河流而去。死神在河邊站了很久,目送著鴨子慢慢漂走。當他再也看不見鴨子,幾乎悲傷起來。
死亡確實是令人悲傷的,不過,生命就是這樣……如果生命是母親,那麼生和死就如同生命的孩子,都是源自生命、是生命的一部分,所有生物都必須經歷「生」與「死」的過程。這個探討生命的小故事,讓我們重新思考、看待「死亡」這件事。
* 中文書介取自《當鴨子遇見死神》,大穎文化出版
From award-winning author and illustrator, Wolf Erlbruch, comes one of the world's best children's books about grief and loss.
In a curiously heart-warming and elegantly illustrated story, a duck strikes up an unlikely friendship with Death. Duck and Death play together and discuss big questions. Death, dressed in a dressing gown and slippers, is sympathetic and kind and will be duck's companion until the end.
"I'm cold," she said one evening. "Will you warm me a little?"
Snowflakes drifted down.
Something had happened. Death looked at the duck.
She'd stopped breathing. She lay quite still.
Explaining the topic of death in a way that is honest, lightly philosophical and with gentle humor, this enchanting book has been translated into multiple languages, adapted into an animated movie and short film and performed on stages worldwide.
Wolf Erlbruch received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2006 and was the winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2017.
- Tender and direct, this is an excellent tool for helping to explain and talk about death, dying and bereavement with children
- Loved by adults and children, parents and grandparents, also suitable for schools, grief centers and counsellors
"The gold standard of picture books about death is Duck, Death and the Tulip...It's hard to describe how this extraordinarily tender book manages to be both heartbreaking and comforting, but it does.--The New York Times
The most extraordinary picture book I've seen in many a year. A duck becomes friends with Death, and it's the most natural thing in the world. Trust me, adults get far more weirded out by this book than children ever do. Amazing.--Patrick Ness, Time Out London
The most moving book I've read this year is the German picture book Duck, Death and The Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch, about the strange, uneasy friendship.--Meg Rosoff, The Financial Times
"The German children's book author and illustrator Wolf Erlbruch offers a wonderfully warm and assuring answer in Duck, Death and the Tulip - a marvelous addition to the handful of intelligent and imaginative children's books about death and loss."--Maria Popova, Brainpickings
"Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch is a superb picture book from Germany, that tells a gentle story of the relationship between Death and a duck. Death is portrayed as a sympathetic figure in a dressing gown who is with us all the time, but who only comes into Duck's consciousness towards the end of his life. It is warm, poignant and witty."--Anthony Browne, The Guardian