几周前，我和希拉里·科贝特谈论劳拉·英格尔斯·怀尔德的书，我和我10岁的孩子一起重读了这本书。我提到过它们是如何经得起时间考验的，希拉里发现，当你作为成年人阅读它们时，你会在它们身上看到不同的东西。小小的不协调会带来新的问题，一旦你上了一些历史课，一些事件就会有不同的角色。对我来说，我注意到爸爸是一个多么真实的人。显然英格尔斯想纪念他，我能理解。例如，他是一个令人难以置信的木匠，他的技能从能够建造一个小木屋到能够雕刻一个精致的墙支架。其次，他是一位拥有数百首曲目的音乐家。第三，他显然有第六感，知道如何在没有语言的情况下与动物和印第安人交流。但他也有阴暗的一面，他真的很不安分，似乎不能在一个地方呆上几年，甚至以牺牲家庭的舒适和繁荣为代价，他似乎很冲动地到处搬。妈妈显然不喜欢，但她总是附和，这也让我很恼火。 Hillary said she’s curious about Dr. Tan in Little House on the Prairie. He’s the first black man Laura sees, and he is said to be “a doctor with the Indians.” What’s up with that? Were the Osage in the practice of hiring African Americans to provide them with healthcare? Was it a government program? And has anyone researched him as a person? Here’s my burning question: why did Pa go to Osage territory? Who is “a man in Washington” who told him it would be OK to settle there, which it clearly wasn’t. Did he feel guilty when he realized that the government was going to honor its Indian treaty, is that why he was so anxious to leave even before the soldiers came to resettle them? There are a LOT of web sites about the little house books, here are two I found in which the authors appear to know what they’re talking about: http://www.pioneergirl.com (click on “my blog” at the bottom) http://extras.denverpost.com/books/chap141.htm (an excerpt from Miller’s “Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder” ) About Dr. Tan–turns out he’s really Dr. George Tann and is buried in the Mt. Hope Cemetary in Independence. http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Seafarer/travel-in-the-usa/stepping-inside-the-little-house-on-the-prairie.html