Feb 19, 2005

Fadu and her mother at the 2004 NGO meeting of the United Nations when Fadu was four years old.

Fadu and her mother at the 2004 NGO meeting of the United Nations when Fadu was four years old.

In the summer of 2003, a young mother and her three-year-old daughter came to visit my home. On this particular afternoon, the mother was busy preparing a speech she was giving the next day on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., so the little girl and I sat on the sofa to read a picture book. The book was called Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney.

The book is about a baby rabbit who uses different imaginary stories to tell his father how much he loves him. The baby rabbit's father would always respond by saying that he loves him twice as much, until finally the little bunny fell into a comfortable sleep, secure in his father's love. My nieces all enjoy this warm and reassuring children's story.

Since my friend's little girl hadn't started to learn English yet, I translated the story into Chinese for her. As I came to the part of the story that read, "The baby rabbit said, 'I love you as far as my arms can reach!' And the Father rabbit told the baby rabbit, 'I love you as far as my arms can reach,'" my friend's little girl, smiling, corrected me and said, "No, it's a mother rabbit! There is no father rabbit!"

I was seized by a feeling of terrible sadness, for I understood immediately what she was talking about. She didn't remember what having a father meant. Her own father had been killed when she was only fifteen months old.

This little girl is Fadu. Her mother, Jane Dai, read about the death of her husband on a report on the internet. Her husband had been killed in China after being taken into custody by Chinese police because he refused to renounce his belief in Falun Gong. Many days after he was murdered, his abandoned body was found in a hut by the side of the road.

I looked up at Jane and saw her wiping away tears. Obviously, she had heard her daughter's innocent words as well.

Who would have thought that such a warm children's book could cause people to feel so broken-hearted? It had reminded Jane that her adorable Fadu had no father. How many more children's books, meant for children with both parents, would Jane have to avoid in order to prevent more sorrow and tears?

And how can Jane Dai forget her husband Chen Chengyong's tragic death? Fadu looks just like her father. A baby's first words are usually "Daddy," but Fadu's father Chen Chengyong passed away before she could even talk. When Jane sees her daughter, who looks so much like Chen Chengyong, saying the word "Daddy," her sadness is unimaginable.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-2-19/26437.html