Dear Kingfisher: A letter from a fan
Ni Putu Wulan Purnama Sari
Faculty of Nursing, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, East Java, Indonesia
May 16, 2024
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“Owl is respectful of Kingfisher and also wants to take the occasion to repay him for all the support during his earlier poor and hungry days.
Owl cooperates with great enthusiasm.”
—In ‘The Most Beautiful Bird’; The Kingfisher Story Collection [1].
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I was enlightened by your deep charm and honorary image the first time I knew you. The more I knew you, the more I could sense your wisdom. I noticed that you are a deep thinker, much like a philosopher pondering the mysteries of existence. You are a character with advantages that can be applied in human life. You are intelligent and use your senses and experiences to cultivate the knowledge and skills to survive. You carefully plan and calculate actions, never give up when facing challenges and threats, and find solutions that make you happy. Although there is no perfect character, and you are not an exception, I still can learn a lot from how you deal with others in your surroundings and maintain your position in the social environment. You are surely taking pride in upholding your dignity and aspiring to nobility like a King should be.
I believe that every nation has a variety of popular stories that describe the complexity of human life. Behind your stories, I can sense the hidden depth of the culture of the Vietnamese in seeing and responding to various life problems, both in their personal and collective lives. From your stories, I learned about life lessons, such as hard work, cooperation, leading, discussing, honesty, wisdom, sacrifice, bravery, cheating, mischief, ingenuity, sadness, pride, prejudice, jealousy, etc., both positive and negative life lessons you can tell. Although I realize that doing a good deed doesn’t guarantee a good result in the end, and I felt pity on you every time the reality went far beyond what you expected, your positive attitude towards life makes me want to salute you more.
I see that you are not always a good character; sometimes, I thought you were naive, cunning, and deceitful, but you are not a solitary individualist figure. You live in the dynamics with other birds in the Bird Village, living to the fullest in your community. Your interaction with others confirms certain principles and values internalized in your attitudes and actions. This way, I adore you so much, dear Kingfisher.
Illustration. Generated by Windows Copilot
Reading your stories, I was invited to reflect on the social phenomena around me that often occur in everyday life situations. You are so critical to frequently leave me on a cliffhanger, making my wild imagination wander everywhere, but one thing, I reflect on my life again and again. I did not realize that I was already captivated deeply.
Finally, I will encourage others to learn from you and your stories, too. Let me share your stories with others around me. One day, if you get the chance, please show up in our community here, in our great archipelagos of Indonesia. We are keen to be your disciples and confident we can host you.
I wish you a long, meaningful, and cheerful life!
Sincerely yours,
(The translator of your story collection)
References
[1] Vuong QH. (2022). The Kingfisher Story Collection. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG2NNHY6