Chapter 37 Part One (3)

Christophe was particularly disgusted by the vulgarities of the music world because of their formalism.Only one item of form was discussed among them.Sentiment, character, life, never mention it!No one thinks that a real musician lives in the universe of sound, and his years are equal to the tide of music.Music is the air he breathes, the world he lives in.His soul is music itself; there is nothing he loves, hates, suffers, dreads, or hopes that is not music.A musical soul that loves a beautiful body regards that body as music.The beloved's eyes that fascinated him were not blue, nor gray, nor brown, but music, and the mind saw them, like a perfect chord.And this kind of inner music is thousands of times richer than the music expressed, and the keyboard is really far behind the heartstrings.Genius is measured by the intensity of vitality, and art, an incomplete tool, only wants to call life.But how many people in France think of this?To this chemist-like nation, music seems to be only the art of matching sounds.It treats the alphabet as a book.Christophe shrugged his shoulders when he heard that in order to understand art one must first put aside human problems.But they are very proud of this strange theory: they think that this is not enough to prove that they have musical talent.The same is true for fools like Guye.He never understood how a man could recite a page of music,—(he once asked Christophe to explain the mystery),—and now explained to Christophe that Beethoven's great spirit and Wagner stimulated the senses The state of life is no more important to music than a painter's model is to his portrait!

"That proves," replied Christophe impatiently, "that a beautiful body has no artistic value in your eyes! Neither does a great passion! Alas, poor creatures! . . . Have you not imagined the beauty that a charming face adds to a portrait, and the beauty that a great heart adds to a piece of music?... Poor worms!... You only care about technique, don't you? Just one work Well written, you don’t have to ask what the work expresses, do you?...Poor thing!...You seem to listen to the orator’s words instead of his voice, and just look at his gestures inexplicably, and think that He said it very well... Poor man! Poor man! . . . You fools!"

Christophe is not only concerned with a certain theory, but with all theories.He was tired of hearing this chatter, this nonsense, the talk of musicians who couldn't do without music but only talked about music.That would teach the best musicians to hate it.Christophe, like Mussorgsky, believed that musicians had better leave their counterpoint and harmony now and then to read some wonderful books or to gain some life experience.Music alone is not enough for the musician: this way must not enable him to control the times without being swallowed up by nothingness... He needs to experience life!All of life!You have to see everything, you have to know everything.Love the truth, seek the truth, hold on to the truth—truth is the beautiful daughter of Mars, queen of Amazona, who bites all who kisses her!

-------- ① Mussorgsky (1839-1881), one of the five great masters who founded the modern Russian school of music. ②Amazona is said to be a female tribe living in Asia Minor in the ancient Greek era, known for its warlike nature. There are already too many discussion rooms for music, and too many tunes for making chords!All these harmonies produced like a cook's cooking can only make him see some ghosts and ghosts, but never hear a living new harmony. So, Christophe bid farewell to the doctors who wanted to use the distiller to hatch little demons, jumped out of the French music circle, and wanted to visit the literary world and society in Paris.

Like most people in France, Christophe first got to know French literature at that time in the daily newspapers.Since he was eager to get acquainted with the thoughts of the Parisians and at the same time learn the language, he carefully read what they said were the most authentic Parisian things.On the first day, among the appalling social news—several lines of narrative and features—he read a story about a father sleeping with his fifteen-year-old biological daughter: Things are perfectly natural, and even quite touching.The next day, in the same paper, he read about a father-son dispute in which a twelve-year-old son and his father slept with a girl.On the third day, he read a story about a brother-sister rape.On the fourth day, he read news about sorority.On the fifth day... On the fifth day, he threw away the newspaper and said to Gowan:

"Hey! What kind of school is this? Are you all crazy?" "It's art," Gowan replied with a smile. Christophe shrugged: "You are kidding me." Gao En laughed and said, "Absolutely not. Go and see for yourself." He showed Christophe a recent special issue of "Art and Morality", which concluded that "love makes everything holy", "sensuality is the leaven of art", "art is not immoral", "moral It is a stereotype promoted by Jesuit education", "the most important thing is strong desire", etc. —and several articles in the newspapers proving the innocence of a certain genre novel about a brothel-keeper.Among those who wrote the testimony were quite a few well-known writers and serious critics.A poet who believed in the old religion and advocated ethics praised a work depicting Greek prostitution.The novels that are highly praised by those extremely lyrical articles try their best to lay out the obscene styles of various eras: Rome, Alexandria, Constantinople, Italian and French Renaissance, Louis XIV era, ... simply It is a complete lecture.There is another group of works dealing with the problem of sexuality all over the planet: serious writers, with the patience of a Bendist priest, study the pornographic caves of the five continents.Among this group of experts on the history of sexual desire, there are quite a few outstanding poets and excellent writers.If they were not so knowledgeable, others would not be able to tell the difference between them and other authors.They describe the ancient immorality in precise terms.

-------- ①The Jesuits are a sect of the Old Christian Church, founded by the Spaniard Leyula in the sixteenth century, with the purpose of rejecting heresy and fighting against the religious revolution.In the seventeenth century, he was once extremely powerful in French politics. The sad thing is that ordinary honest people and real artists, veritable authorities in French literature, are also trying to do this kind of work that is not their specialty.Some people also tried their best to write obscene things, and sent bits and pieces to the morning paper.They give birth regularly in this way, like laying eggs, twice a week, and continue for years and months.They produce, produce, and when there is nothing left to write, they rack their brains and devise obscene and grotesque new tricks: for the masses are already stuffed, tired of delicacies, and hungry for the most sensual imaginations. Quickly finds it unremarkable: the author must always increase the stimulus, must compete with the stimulus of others, and the stimulus of his own creation before;—so they vomited all their efforts, making people look pitiful and ridiculous.

Christophe did not know all the details of this miserable profession; but even if he knew, he would not be more tolerant: because he believed that no reason could be forgiven for an artist who sold his art for thirty coppers... "Can't he forgive even for the sake of maintaining the lives of those he loves?" "cannot." "You are unreasonable." "It's not a matter of human feelings or not, the main thing is to be a human being! ... Human feelings! ... Drink! God knows your boneless humanitarianism! ... A person cannot love dozens of things at the same time, and cannot serve at the same time. Gods! . . . "

Christophe has always lived a life of burying his head in work, and he can't see his small German town. He didn't expect that corruption like the Parisian art world is inevitable in almost all metropolises.Germans often think of themselves as "chaste" and Latin people as "immoral": this inherited prejudice slowly awakened in Christophe's heart.Gohn brought up the scandalous history of Berlin, the corruption of the upper class in the German Empire, and the brutal and violent style made the scandal even worse, etc., and argued with Christophe.But Gowan had no intention of taking sides with the French; he regarded the German atmosphere as banal as that of Paris.He just thought cynically: "Every nation has the habits of every nation"; so he was not surprised by the habits in his own society.Christophe can only think of their nationality.Then he, like all Germans, could not help seeing the sores gnawing at the intellectuals of all countries as a peculiar vice of French art and a vice of the Latin race.

This first contact with Parisian literature made Christophe very painful, and it took a considerable time to forget it.It's not like there aren't any books that are devoted to what some people call "basic entertainment" when they're funny.But the most beautiful and best work, he can't see it at all.Because they don't seek the support of Gowan's first-class people; they don't care about such readers, and such readers don't care about this kind of reading: they are all that you don't know me, and I don't know you.Gowan never mentioned these works to Christophe.He really thought that he and his friends were the representatives of French art; there was no genius, no art in France except what they recognized as great writers.Christophe didn't even know any of the poets who brought glory to the literary world and fought for the glory of France.As far as novels were concerned, he saw only a few works by Pales and France, standing above countless vulgarities.However, his level of language is too shallow, and it is difficult to appreciate the ideological analysis of the former and the humorous and profound wit of the latter.He looked curiously at the orange trees cultivated in France's greenhouse, and the delicate narcissus developed in Balais's heart.He also stood for a while in front of the genius Maeterlinck, who had lofty and unavoidable emptiness, and felt that there was a monotonous, flashy and mysterious atmosphere.He shook himself up, but unexpectedly got sucked into the muddy current again, and was dazzled by the muddy romanticism of Zola, whom he had long been familiar with; drowned.

-------- ①General readers only know Zola as the leader of naturalistic literature, but his so-called naturalism is only a plausible scientific theory; and Zola's romantic fantasy element is far more than his self-proclaimed "observer and experimenter" character. And this flooded plain evaporates a strong femininity.The literary world at that time was crowded with women and effeminate men.It turns out that women's writing is very interesting, as long as they can sincerely describe any aspect that men cannot fully understand-the hidden psychology of women.But few teenage writers dare to do this; most of them write only to seduce men: lying, posing, and flirting with the reader in the book as in the living room.Since they had no confessor to tell about their scandals, they made them public.In this way, there are as many novels as raindrops, which are always wild and pretentious, and the words are as vague as children learning to speak, which makes people feel like powder after reading, and smell an unbearably vulgar fragrance. with sweetness.All such works have this breath.So Christophe thought like Goethe: "Women can write poems and articles in any way they want. But men must not imitate women! That's what I hate the most." Showing off coquettishly, deliberately playing hypocritical emotions for the most boring people in general, coquettish and rough style, vulgar psychological analysis, taught Christophe to feel evil in his heart. However, Christophe knew that he could not make a judgment yet.The noise of the festival ground deafened his ears.The beautiful sound of the flute was also covered by the noise of the city and could not be heard.Just as the harmonious lines of the Greek hills unfold under the clear sky, there is indeed a lot of talent and charm in these sensual works, expressing a sweet and delicate style of life, like Ben Luqi and Raphael. In the painting, the sleepy teenager smiles at the dream of love with half-closed eyes.All this, Christophe did not see it at all.There was no clue that he could feel this spiritual undercurrent.It is extremely difficult for even a Frenchman to figure it out.All he could see clearly before his eyes was a flood of publications, almost a public disaster.Everyone seemed to be writing: men, women, children, officers, actors, people in society, plagiarists, all were writers.It was simply an infectious disease. For the time being, Christophe did not want to decide on any opinion.He felt that a guide like Gowan would only make him more and more lost.His former contacts with literary groups in Germany made him wary, and he was skeptical about books and miscellaneous articles: who knew that these publications were not the opinions of a few leisure people, and even had no other readers besides the author?Drama can give you a more accurate conception of society.It occupies such an important place in the daily life of Parisians: it is like a giant restaurant that has too little time to feed two million people.Even if you don’t count the more than 100 places that are full every night, such as small theaters, music cafes, and juggling classes in various districts, there are more than 30 large theaters in Paris alone.The cast and crew are too numerous to count.There are more than 3,000 employees in the four national theaters, which require an annual expenditure of 10 million francs.All of Paris is packed with at least one corner.Their photos, sketches, and caricatures are everywhere, which makes people think of their pretentious faces; their babbling songs are heard on the phonograph, and their wonderful comments on art and politics are disclosed in the daily newspapers.They have their special newspapers, which publish their eloquent or daily obscene memories.Among ordinary Parisians, these big babies who live by imitating each other seem to be the masters, and the playwrights are their squires.So Christophe asked Gowan to take him to see this land that reflects reality. But in this respect, Gowan's guide is not necessarily better than in the publishing world.Christophe's first impression of the Parisian theater, which he had received from his introduction, disgusted him no less than the first books he read.There seems to be an air of spiritual prostitution everywhere. Businessmen who sell entertainment are divided into two factions.One is the old-fashioned national quintessence school, which is full of rough and unscrupulous jokes, using all ugly and deformed bodies as materials for jokes; it is like rotten meat, obscene, and soldier-like jokes.But they euphemistically call it "the frankness of a man" and claim to reconcile the licentious behavior with morality, because after performing four obscene scenes in one play, they then change the plot to make the unfaithful The wife still returns to her husband's bed--as long as the law is maintained, so is morality.To describe marriage as promiscuous and yet still respect it in principle was considered Gallic. ① -------- ①The Gauls called the Celts part of the ancient Romans.The French often call themselves Gauls.In daily language, "Gaulic style" is especially used to describe a happy, excited, and frivolous character. The other school is newer, more subtle and more repulsive.The Parisianized Jews (and Judaized Christians) who filled the theatre, played with sentiment in the theatre, which was one of the hallmarks of decadent cosmopolitanism.Those sons who blushed for their fathers and tried to deny their racial consciousness; in that they were so successful.After they got rid of the souls of thousands of years, the remaining individuality can only be mixed with the knowledge and moral strengths of other peoples to synthesize a mixture, and they are complacent.Those who dominate the theater in Paris are best at mixing obscenity with emotion, making good with some evil, and evil with some kind of good, and turning age, gender, family, and emotional relationships upside down .In this way, their art has a special smell, which is fragrant and stinky, and it is particularly unpleasant: they call it "denialism". One of their favorite characters to adopt is the amorous old man.There are many portraits of this character in their scripts, which give them the opportunity to describe various delicate situations vividly.Sometimes, the sixty-year-old man regards his daughter as a confidant, and talks to her about her mistress; she also talks to him about her lover; Help the father to beg the mistress who is not in love, and ask her to come back and reconnect with his father.Sometimes, the dignified old man became the confidant of his mistress, and talked with her about her lover, and encouraged her to tell the story of her debauchery, listening with gusto.We also see a whole host of lovers, perfectly gentlemen, acting as managers for their former mistresses, overseeing their associations and their mating affairs.Fashionable women go from place to place.Men are slaves, women are talking about homosexuality.And those who do these things are high society, that is to say, bourgeois society—the only society that deserves attention.And that society allows people to use the name of high-end entertainment to buy some bad things to supply customers.Decorated, and bad goods readily sold, amusing young ladies and old gentlemen alike.But there was a smell of dead bodies and homesickness in it. Their dramatic styles are no less mixed than their emotions.They created a mixed vernacular, combining the pedantic and vulgar spoken language of all classes and places, classical, lyrical, obscene, artificial, humorous, nonsense, indecent, and meaningful words. In one place, it seems to have a foreign accent.They are naturally sarcasm and comical, but very little wit; but they can create some wit by imitating the Parisian style with their clever way.Although the luster of the stone is not very beautiful, and the setting is clumsy and cumbersome, it will at least shine under the light: and this is enough.They are very smart, and they observe very closely, but they are a little short-sighted; their eyes, which have been worn out on the counter for hundreds of years, need to use a magnifying glass to examine emotions. The splendor of fake jewels, so nothing will be described but their nouveau riche ideal of elegance.It was just a handful of idlers and adventurers vying for some stolen money and shameless women. From time to time the true nature of these Jewish writers awakens from the depths of their ancient hearts by inexplicable stimuli.That's a strange mixture of centuries and races; a desert wind, from across the ocean, blows the stench of the Turkish grocer to the Parisian's bedside, and brings luminous sand, strange phantasms, Intoxicating sensuality, violent insanity, and the desire to destroy everything—it seems that the Hebrew warrior Samson suddenly woke up like a lion from a long dream of thousands of years, and with mad anger he threw the pillars of the temple Pushed down, upon himself and the enemy. ① -------- ①The Philistines imprisoned Samson and took him to a god-worshiping assembly one day, intending to humiliate him in public.Samson silently prayed to God to give back his divine power (the divine power was lost after his lover Dalila Qian cut her hair), then he toppled the temple and died together with King Philix and the people present. Christophe covered his nose and said to Gowan: "There's power in here; but it stinks. Enough! Let's go and see something else." "what do you want to see?" "France." "Isn't this France?" said Gowan. "No," replied Christophe, "it's not like that in France." "Why not? Isn't it the same as Germany?" "I don't believe it at all. Such a people cannot live for twenty years: it smells musty by now. There must be something else." "There is nothing better." "There must be," Christophe insisted. "Oh! We have noble hearts, too," replied Gowan, "and plays to their taste. Do you want to see this? There are." So he took Christophe to the French Theater ①. -------- ①The French Theater (also known as the French Comedy Theater) is one of the four national theaters in France. That night it was a modern comedy in prose, discussing some legal question. After hearing the first few lines of dialogue, Christophe didn't know which world this plot took place in.The actor's voice is unusually loud, calm, slow, and contrived, with each syllable biting out very clearly, as if teaching reciting lessons, or reciting a poem in twelve syllables forever, with some painful interruptions. .The posture was so dignified, almost priestly.The heroine is dressed in pajamas like an ancient Greek gown, with her arms raised high and her head bowed, like a goddess in mythology, playing with a beautiful bass voice, bursting out the deepest voice, with a wry smile on her face forever.The noble father walked like a swordsmanship teacher, sanctimonious, with a gloomy romantic color.The young male lead pretended to be angry with a high-pitched voice calmly.The style of the play is that of a supplementary tragedy: abstract words, businesslike rhetoric, academic roundaboutness throughout.Not a single movement, not a single unexpected cry.From beginning to end, it was as dull as clockwork, only a serious question, a rudimentary script, a hollow skeleton with no flesh and blood on the outside, just a few sentences in a book.Those discussions that try to appear bold, in fact, only show the thoughts of the gills, and the spirit of the reserved petty bourgeoisie. The play narrates that a woman married a despicable husband and gave birth to a child; she divorced and married an honest man she loved.The author wants to show by this that in such cases divorce is not only forbidden by common prejudices, but also by human nature.It couldn't be more convenient to prove it: the author managed to reunite his ex-husband with his divorced wife in an unexpected circumstance.After this, the woman did not follow with regret or shame.In terms of nature, this is a normal reaction.But no, she loved that honest step-husband even more.It is said that this is a heroic consciousness, an expression beyond human feelings!French writers are indeed too ignorant of morality: the mere mention of it goes too far beyond belief.What everyone sees seems to be the hero of Corneille, the emperor in tragedy. —And these millionaire heroines, who have at least one house and two or three castles in Paris, are not really emperors?In the eyes of such writers, wealth is actually a kind of beauty, almost a kind of virtue. But Christophe felt that the audience was more strange than the play itself.No matter how unreasonable the plot was, they watched it as if nothing had happened.When encountering booing, the dialogue should teach people to laugh, and the actors hinted at the place that everyone was preparing in advance, and they laughed for a while.When the tragic puppet hiccups, roars, or faints according to certain rules, everyone blows their noses, coughs, and is moved to tears. "Hmph! Some say the French are frivolous!" Christophe said as he left the room. "Frivolity and dignity have their seasons," said Sylvain Gowan, with a sneer. "Don't you want morality? You can see that France has morality now." "It's not morality but eloquence!" cried Christophe. "Here," said Gowan, "morality always speaks well on the stage." "It's morality in court," said Christophe, "whoever is talkative wins. I don't know I hate lawyers. Are there no poets in France?" So Silva Gohn took him to see poetic drama. France is not without poets, nor is it without great poets.But the theater is not for them but for the rhymer of nonsense.The relationship between the theater and poetry is like the relationship between the opera house and music. As Berlioz said, it has become a kind of outlet for "sluts laughing". Christophe sees holy whores who pride themselves on their prostitution, who are said to be as great as Christ who died on Mount Gavat;--those who seduce their friends' wives to protect their friends;-- There are couples in a triangle who respect each other as guests; there are heroic green turban husbands who have become a European specialty. ——Christopher also saw that ordinary amorous girls hover between lust and responsibility: according to lust, they should have a new lover; cheating old man.In the end, they chose the path of responsibility very noblely. —Christophe felt that this duty was no different from a base idea of ​​interest; but the crowd was very satisfied.They only need to hear the word responsibility, and they don't care about the reality at all; as the saying goes: fly a flag, and the cargo on board is protected. The acme of this art consists in reconciling sexual immorality with Corneille heroism in the strangest way.In this way, the licentious tendencies of the Parisian masses and the morality of the mouth can be satisfied at the same time. —But let's be fair: they're not as interested in licentiousness as they are in gossip.Eloquence is their supreme joy.As long as they hear a good speech, they are happy to give people a meal.Whether it is evil or good, earth-shattering heroic spirit, or licentious obscenity, as long as some sonorous rhymes and harmonious words are added like gilding, they will swallow them all.Everything is material for poetry.Everything is a chapter and a sentence.Everything is a game.When Hugo roared like a thunderstorm, they immediately added a mute so that the children would not be frightened! —In this kind of art, you never feel the power of nature.They turn love, pain, and death into superficiality.As in music—and all the more so, because music is still a young art in France, still relatively naive—they are most afraid of the word "already used."The most talented people quietly work on being different.The trick is quite simple: just take a legend or myth and reverse its content.The result was Bluebeard, who was beaten by his sons, or Bripham, who for the sake of kindness gouged out his own eyes and sacrificed himself for the happiness of Ashes and Galad.And all of this, ① focuses on the form.But Christophe (he is not yet an expert critic) feels that these authors who value form are not necessarily brilliant, they are just craftsmen who copy and imitate in general, rather than writers who create original styles and draw ink from the big. -------- ① Bluebeard was originally a figure in the legend of Breton, who killed six wives.Pripham, a character in Greek mythology, was jealous of Ashes and Galad, and was finally gouged out by Uris.Here it is said that French poets and dramatists only use legends and myths to reverse the verdict. The lies of this kind of poetry are simply absurd in tragic drama.It has this comic conception of the hero of the play: "The main thing is to have a wonderful soul, a pair of eagle eyes, a forehead as broad and high as a doorway, a serious and strong look, radiant and touching, plus a heart that is good at trembling, and a pair of eyes full of dreams. " Such verses are actually believed to be true.Beneath the pompous rhetoric, the long feathers, the tin swords and the paper helmets, we always see the hopeless frivolity of the Schadoo school, the daring haiku who treats history like a puppet show. actor.What does an absurd heroism like Cyrano's represent in the real world?This kind of author stirs up from the sky to the earth, and pulls out the emperor and his retinues, the apologists and the adventurers of the Renaissance, and all the villainous robbers who have harassed the world:——in order to show everyone a A boring guy, a thug who kills without batting an eyelid, surrounded by a cruel and brutal army, and the harem is full of captive beauties, suddenly turned upside down for a woman whom he met more than ten years ago;——or for you to see A Henry IV stabbed for his lost mistress! ③ -------- ① Chadoux (1831-1908) was a French comedy and historical playwright, who wrote about legendary heroes, symbols of enthusiasm rather than real enthusiasm, neither historical truth nor human truth.But at the end of the nineteenth century, Shadu dominated the theater world for thirty years. ② "Cyrano" is a comedy in verse written by Rosedown (1868-1918).The work was a smash hit, but its artistic value remained unchanged.The story is based on Cyrano, a poet in the seventeenth century, who tells the story of Cyrano’s love for a woman named Roxana, who later learned that Roxana loved Christian de Newweiland, and Cyrano helped this rival , Write a love letter.Later, Newveld died in battle, and Cyrano kept the secret until his deathbed before revealing it.The so-called absurd heroism here refers to this. ③According to the French King Henry IV was indeed assassinated in 1610, but it was definitely not for his lost mistress.The author satirizes the writer to deliberately distort the historical facts. This is how Mr. Soo plays with the kings and heroes of the room.The so-called poets eulogize the hypocritical, impossible, and incompatible heroism in this way... Christophe is very strange to find that the French who claim to be ingenious do not know what is ridiculous. But the best of all is that religion has the luck of fashion!During Lent, comedians read Bauschuet's Eulogy at the Gay Theater to the accompaniment of the organ.Jewish writers wrote tragedies about St. Damaz for Jewish actresses."The Way of Martyrdom" at the Baldini, "The Infant Jesus" at the Miracle Theater, "The Passion" at the St. Songs about the Passion of Christ.A certain noted gossiper, poet of sensual love, gave a lecture on "Atonement" at the Chadelet.Of course, throughout the Gospels it is none other than Bilard and Matrana that these fashionable friends have in mind. ——And their Malu Christ, who was infected with the habits of the time, was especially talkative. Christophe could not help exclaiming: "It's worse than anything! Lies like this! I can't breathe. Go away!" But in this batch of modern industrial and commercial products, the great classical art has always been supported, just like today's Rome, although it is full of vulgar buildings, there are still some ruins of ancient temples.But apart from Molière, Christophe was incapable of appreciating those classical luxury.He is still elusive about the subtleties of language, and he certainly has no way of grasping the peculiarities of nations.The tragedy of the seventeenth century seemed to him the most incomprehensible;—in French art, this is the most difficult one for foreigners to learn, because it is the heart of the French nation.He only felt that the script was cold, dull, and dry, and its pedantry and artificiality were enough to make people sick. ① Bilard was the Jewish governor of the Roman Empire who sentenced Jesus to death.Matrana, a prostitute who was influenced by Jesus, cried Jesus under the cross and was the first person to find that the tomb of Jesus was empty.The movements are tired or overdone, the abstraction of the characters is like a rhetorical argument, and the emptiness is like the conversation of a fashionable lady.The whole play is just a caricature of ancient characters and ancient heroes: a plethora of extravagances filled with nothing but reason, reason, wit, psychoanalysis, outdated archaeology.Talk, talk, talk, always the chatter of the French.Christophe was reluctant to decide whether it was beautiful or not, sarcastically, he just found it boring. Christophe didn't care what the reasoning of the orator in "Sina" was, and which chatty guy won in the end. -------- ① "Cina" is a famous tragedy of Corneille.The term "reasons held by the orator" here refers to the second act. The Roman Emperor Augustus was tired of politics and wanted to retire. He consulted Cina and Maxine for their opinions, and the two argued with each other in front of the emperor. However, he found that the French people did not share his views, and they applauded very enthusiastically.This does not remove his misunderstanding, because he sees this kind of drama from the audience; and he feels that the modern French have some characters inherited from the classical French, but they are only deformed.As the piercing eye finds in a coquettish old woman the delicate lines of her daughter's face: that certainly does not make you love an old woman! ... The French are like family members who meet every day, and never notice the resemblance to each other.Christophe was stunned when he saw it, and exaggerated it so much that he saw only this in the end.Contemporary art is nothing more than a caricature of those great ancestors, and the great ancestors appear to him like characters in the caricature.Christophe could no longer tell the difference between Corneille and ordinary imitators.Racine, too, was misled by the offspring of lowly Parisian psychologists who groped in their hearts. All these naive people never get out of their circle of classical writers.Critics never get tired of talking about "The Hypocrite" and "Phaedel" incessantly.When they are old, they are still enjoying the things they loved in their childhood.This situation can drag on to the end of the nation.In terms of the tradition of worshiping distant ancestors, there is no country in the world that can compare with France.The rest of the universe is not worth their while.How many people have read nothing but the French classics of the time of Louis XIV and are unwilling to read them!他们的戏院不演歌德，不演席勒，不演克莱斯特，不演格里尔帕策尔，不演赫贝尔，不演史特林堡，不演洛普，不演嘉台龙，不演②任何别的国家的任何巨人的名作，只有古希腊的是例外，因为他们（如欧洲所有的民族一样）自命为希腊文化的承继人。他们偶然觉得需要演一下莎士比亚，那才是他们的试金石了。表演莎士比亚的也有两派：一是用布尔乔亚的写实手法，把《李尔王》当做奥依哀③的喜剧那么演出的；一是把《哈姆莱特》编成歌剧，加进许多雨果式的卖弄嗓子的唱词。他们完④全没想到现实可以富有诗意，也没想到诗歌对于一般生机蓬勃的心灵就是自然的语言。所以他们听了莎士比亚觉得不入耳，赶紧回头表演洛斯当。 -------- ①《伪君子》为莫里哀的喜剧；《费德尔》为拉辛的悲剧。 ②克莱斯特为十八世纪德国戏剧家，格里尔帕策尔（奥），赫贝尔（德），史特林堡（瑞典），均十九世纪戏剧家。洛普（西班牙），嘉台龙（西班牙），为十七世纪戏剧家。 ③奥依哀（1820—1889）为十九世纪后期以中产阶级为主要观众的戏剧家，当时与小仲马分庭抗礼。 ④《哈姆莱特》由多玛谱成歌剧，由加勒与巴普哀二人编歌词。首次于一八六八年在巴黎公演。 可是二十年来，也有人干着革新戏剧的工作；狭窄的巴黎文坛范围扩大了，它装着大胆的神气向各方面去尝试。甚至有两三次，外界的战斗，群众的生活，居然冲破了传统的幕。但他们赶紧把破洞缝起来。因为他们都是些娇弱的老头儿，生怕看到事实的真面目。随俗的思想，古典的传统，精神上与形式上的墨守成法，缺少深刻的严肃，使他们那个大胆的运动无法完成。最沉痛的问题一变而为巧妙的游戏；临了，一切都归结到女人——渺小的女人——问题上去。易卜生的英雄式的无政府主义，托尔斯泰的《福音书》，尼采的超人哲学，到了他们江湖派的舞台上只剩下那些巨人的影子，可笑而可怜！ 巴黎的作家花了不少心血要表示在思索一些新的事情。骨子里他们全是保守派。欧洲没有一派文学象法国文学那样普遍的跳不出过去的樊笼的：大杂志，大日报，国家剧场，学士院，到处都给"不朽的昨日"控制着。巴黎之于文学，仿佛伦敦之于政治，是防止欧洲思想趋于过激的制动机。法兰西学士院等于英国的上议院。君主时代的制度对新社会依旧提出它们从前的规章。革命分子不是被迅速的扑灭，就是被迅速的同化。而那些革命分子也正是求之不得。政府即使在政治上采取社会主义的姿态，在艺术上还是闭着眼睛让学院派摆布。针对学院派的斗争，大家只用文艺社团来做武器；而且那种斗争也可怜得很。因为社团中人一有机会就马上跨入学士院，而变得比学院派的人更学院派。至于当先锋的或是当后备员的，又老是做自己集团的奴隶，跳不出一党一派的思想。有的是囿于学院派的原则，有的是囿于革命的主张：归根结蒂，都是坐井观天。 为了要使克利斯朵夫提提精神，高恩预备带他到一种完全特殊的——就是说妙不可言的——戏院去。在那边可以看到凶杀，强奸，疯狂，酷刑，挖眼，破肚：凡是足以震动一下太文明的人的神经，满足一下他们隐蔽的兽性的景象，无不具备。那对于一般漂亮女子和交际花尤其特具魔①力，——她们平时就有勇气去挤在巴黎法院的闷人的审判庭上消磨整个下午，说说笑笑，嚼着糖果，旁听那些骇人听闻的案子。但克利斯朵夫愤愤的拒绝了。他在这种艺术里进得愈深，觉得那股早就闻到的气息愈浓，先是还淡淡的，继而是持久不散的，猛烈的，完全是死的气息。 The luxurious surface, the hustle and bustle, and the shadow of death underneath.克利斯朵夫这才明白为什么自己一开始就对某些作品感到厌恶。他受不了的倒并非在于作品的不道德。道德，不道德，无道德，——这些名辞都没有什么意义。克利斯朵夫从来没肯定什么道德理论；他所爱的古代的大诗人大音乐家，也并非规行矩步的圣人；要是有机会遇到一个大艺术家，他决不问他要忏悔单②看，而是要问他：“你是不是健全的？” -------- ①指巴黎的大木偶戏院，创立于一八九七年，所演的戏不是专门逗笑的，就是极端恐怖的。 ②旧教惯例，凡教徒向教士忏悔后，教士予以书面证明，称为忏悔单。法国习惯，凡教徒结婚时，须向本堂神甫缴验忏悔单。 关键就在于这"健全"二字。歌德说过：“要是诗人病了，他得想法医治。等病好了再写作。” 可是巴黎的作家都病了；或者即使有一个健全的，也要引以为羞，不让别人知道他健全，而假装害着某种重病。然而他们的疾病所反映于艺术的，并不在于喜欢享乐，也不在于极端放纵的思想，或是富于破坏性的批评。这些特点可能是健全的，可能是不健全的，看情形而定；但绝对没有死的根苗。如果有的话，也不是由于这些力量本身，而是由于使用力量的人，因为死的气息就在他们身上。 ——享乐，克利斯朵夫也一样喜欢。他也爱好自由。他为了直言不讳的说出他的思想，曾经在德国惹起小城里的人的反感；如今看到巴黎人宣传同样的思想，他反倒厌恶了。思想还不是一样的思想？可是听起来大不相同。以前克利斯朵夫很不耐烦的摆脱古代宗师的羁轭，攻击虚伪的美学，虚伪的道德的时候，并不象这些漂亮朋友一般以游戏态度出之；他是严肃的，严肃得可怕；他的反抗是为了追求生命，追求丰富的，藏有未来的种子的生命。但在这批人，一切都归结到贫瘠的享乐。barren, barren.This is the root of the disease.滥用思想，滥用感官，而毫无果实。那是一种光华灿烂的，巧妙的，富有风趣的艺术；——当然是一种美的形式，美的传统，外边冲来的淤沙淹没不了的传统；——一种象戏剧的戏剧，一种象风格的风格，一批熟练的作家，很能写文章的文人；——是当年很有力量的艺术与很有力量的思想的骨骼，相当美丽的骨骼。可是也仅仅限于骨骼。铿锵的字眼，悦耳的句子，空空洞洞的互相摩擦的观念，思想的游戏，肉感的头脑，长于推理的感官；这一切除了自私自利的供自己享乐以外，毫无用处。那简直是望死路上走。而这个现象，和法国人口激减的情形相仿，是全欧洲不声不响的看在眼里而私心窃喜的。多少的聪明才智，多少的细腻的感觉，都浪费于无用之地，虚耗于下流可耻之事。他们自己可不觉得，只嘻嘻哈哈的笑着。但克利斯朵夫认为差堪安慰的也只有这一点：这些家伙还能够痛痛快快的笑，究竟不能算完全没希望。他们装做正经的时候，克利斯朵夫倒更不喜欢他们了；他觉得最难堪的，莫过于那些文人一边把艺术当作寻欢作乐的工具，一边自命为宣扬一种没有利害观念的宗教。 “我们是艺术家，"高恩得意扬扬的说。"我们是为艺术而艺术。艺术永远是纯洁的；它只有贞操，没有别的。我们在人生中探险，象游历家一般对什么都感兴趣。我们是探奇猎艳的使者，是永不厌倦的爱美的唐璜。” 克利斯朵夫忍不住回答说： “你们都是虚伪的家伙，原谅我这样告诉你。我一向以为只有我的国家是如此。我们德国人老把理想主义挂在嘴上，实际永远是追求我们的利益；我们深信不疑的自命为理想主义者，其实是一肚子的自私自利。你们却更糟：你们不是用'真理，科学，知识的责任等等来掩护你们的懦怯（就是说，你们只顾自命不凡的研究，而对于后果完全不负责任），便是用艺术与美来遮饰你们民族的荒淫。为艺术而艺术！……喝！多么堂皇多么庄严的信仰！但信仰只是强者有的。艺术吗？艺术得抓住生命，象老鹰抓住它的俘虏一般，把它带上天空，自己和它一起飞上清明的世界！……那是需要利爪，需要象垂天之云的巨翼，还得一颗强有力的心。可怜你们只是些麻雀，找到什么枯骨便当场撕扯，还要嘁嘁喳喳的你争我夺。……为艺术而艺术！……可怜虫！艺术不是给下贱的人享用的下贱的刍秣。不用说，艺术是一种享受，一切享受中最迷人的享受。但你只能用艰苦的奋斗去换来，等到力高歌胜利的时候才有资格得到艺术的桂冠。艺术是驯服了的生命，是生命的帝王。要做凯撒，先要有凯撒的脾气。你们不过是些粉墨登场的帝王：你们扮着这种角色，可并不相信这种角色。象那些以畸形怪状来博取荣名的戏子一样，你们用你们的畸形怪状来制造文学。你们沾沾自喜的培养你们民族的病，培养他们的好逸恶劳，喜欢享受，喜欢色欲，喜欢虚幻的人道主义，和一切足以麻醉意志，使它萎靡不振的因素。你们简直是把民族带去上鸦片烟馆。结局是死；你们明明知道而不说出来。——那末，我来说了罢：死神所在的地方就没有艺术。艺术是发扬生命的。但你们之中最诚实的作家也懦弱得可怜：即使遮眼布掉下了，他们也装做不看见，居然还有脸孔说：不错，这很危险；里头有毒素；可是多有才气！” 那正象法官在轻罪庭上提到一个无赖的时候说：“不错，他是个坏蛋；可是多么有才气！” 克利斯朵夫心里奇怪法国的批评界怎么不起作用的。批起家并不缺少，他们在艺术界中非常繁殖。人数之多，甚至把他们的作品也给遮得看不见了。 一般的说，克利斯朵夫对于批评这一门是不怀好感的。这么多的艺术家，在现代社会里形成第四等级第五等级似的人物，克利斯朵夫已经不大愿意承认他们有什么用处，只觉得①是表示一个时代的消沉，连观察人生都交给别人代理，把感觉也委托人家代庖了。尤其可耻的是，这个社会连用自己的眼睛去看人生的反影都不能，还得借助于别的媒介，借助于反影之反影，就是说：依赖批评。要是这些反影之反影是忠实的倒也罢了。但批评家所反映的只有周围的群众所表现的犹豫不定的心理。这种批评好比博物院里的镜子，给观众拿着看天顶上的油画，结果镜子所反射出来的除了天顶以外就是观众的面目。 从前有一个时期，批评家在法国有极大的权威。群众恭而敬之的接受他们的裁判，几乎把他们看做高出于艺术家，看做聪明的艺术家——（艺术家与聪明两个字平时仿佛是连不到一处的）。——以后，批评家高速度的繁殖起来：预言家太多了，他们那一行便不免受到影响。等到自称为"真理所在，只此一家"的人太多的时候，人们便不相信他们了；他们自己也不相信自己了。大家都变得灰心：照着法国人的习惯，他们一夜之间就从这一个极端转向另一个极端。从前自称为无所不知的人，现在声明一无所知了。他们还认为一无所知就是他们的荣誉，他们的体面。勒南②曾经告诉这些萎靡不振的种族说：要风雅，必须把你刚才所肯定的立刻加以否定，至少也得表示怀疑。那是如圣·保罗所说的"唯唯否否"的人。法国所有的优秀人物都崇奉这个两平原则。在这种原则之下，精神的懒惰和性格的懦弱都得其所哉了。大家再也不说一件作品是好是坏，是真是假，是智是愚，只说： -------- ①法国君主时代，社会分成贵族、教士、平民三级，平民称为第三等级。作者在此借用此历史名辞，谓艺术家人数之多，几可自成一级，面为第四第五等级。 ②勒南（1823—1892），法国史学家兼哲学家。 “可能如此如此……并非不可能如此如此……我不知道……我不敢担保……” 要是人家演一出猥亵的戏，他们也不说：“这是猥亵的。”而只说：“先生，你别这样说呀。我们的哲学只许你对一切都用犹豫不定的口气；所以你不该说：这是猥亵的；只能说：我觉得……我看来是猥亵的……但也不能一定这么说。也许它是一部杰作。谁知道它不是杰作呢？” 从前有人认为批评家霸占艺术，现在可绝对用不着这么说了。席勒曾经教训他们，把那些舆论界的小霸王老实不客气的叫做"奴仆"，说"奴仆的责任"是： “第一要把屋子收拾清楚，王后快到了。拿出些劲来罢！把各个房间打扫起来。诸位，这是你们的责任。 “可是只要王后一到，你们这批奴才就得赶快出去！老妈子切不可大模大样的坐在夫人的大靠椅上！” 对今日这些奴仆得说句公平话：他们不再僭占夫人的大靠椅了。大家要他们做奴才，他们就真做了奴才，——但是挺要不得的奴才：根本不动手打扫，屋子脏极了。他们抱着手臂，把整理与清除的工作都让主人去做，让当令的神道——群众——去做。 从某些时候以来，已经有了一种反抗这混乱现象的运动。少数比较精神坚强的人正为着公众的健康而奋斗，——虽然力量还很薄弱。但克利斯朵夫为环境所限，绝对看不见这批人。并且人家也不理会他们，反而加以嘲笑。偶尔有一个刚强的艺术家对时行的，病态的，空虚的艺术品而反抗，作家们就高傲的回答说，既然群众表示满意，便证明他们作者是对的。这句话尽够堵塞指摘的人的嘴巴。群众已经表示意见了：这才是艺术上至高无上的法律！谁也没想到，我们可以拒绝一般堕落的民众替诱使他们堕落的人作有利的证人，谁也没想到应当由艺术家来指导民众而非由民众来指导艺术家。数字——台下看客的数字和卖座收入的数字——的宗教，在这商业化的民主国家中控制了全部的艺术思想。批评家跟在作家后面，柔顺的，毫无异议的宣称，艺术品主要的功能是讨人喜欢。社会的欢迎是它的金科玉律；只要卖座不衰，就没有指摘的余地。所以他们努力预测娱乐交易所的市价上落，看群众对作譬如何表示。妙的是群众也留神着批评家的眼睛，看他认为作品怎么样。于是大家你瞪着我，我瞪着你，彼此只看见自己的犹豫不定的神气。 然而时至今日，最迫切的需要就莫过于大无畏的批评。在一个混乱的共和国家，最有威势的是潮流，它不象一个保守派国家里的潮流，难得会往后退的：它永远前进；那种虚伪的思想的自由永远在变本加厉，差不多没有人敢抵抗。群众没有披露意见的能力，心里很厌恶，可没有一个人敢把心中的感觉说出来。假使批评家是一般强者，假使他们敢做强者，那末他们一定可以有极大的威力！一个刚毅的批评家（克利斯朵夫凭着他年轻专断的心思这样想），可能在几年之内，在控制群众的趣味方面成为一个拿破仑，把艺术界的病人一古脑儿赶入疯人院。可是你们已经没有拿破仑了……你们的批评家先就生活在恶浊腐败的空气里，已经辨别不出空气的恶浊腐败。其次，他们不敢说话。他们彼此都是熟人，都变了一个集团，应当互相敷衍：他们绝对不是独立的人。要独立，必须放弃社交，甚至连友谊都得牺牲。但最优秀的人都在怀疑，为了坦白的批评而招来许多不愉快是否值得。在这样一个毫无血气的时代里，谁又有勇气来这样干呢？谁肯为了责任而把自己的生活搅得象地狱一样呢？谁敢抗拒舆论，和公众的愚蠢斗争？谁敢揭穿走红的人的庸俗，为孤立无助，受尽禽兽欺侮的无名艺人作辩护，把帝王般的意志勒令那些奴性的人服从？——克利斯朵夫在某出戏剧初次上演的时候，在戏院走廊里听见一般批评家彼此说着： “嘿，那不糟透了吗？简直一塌糊涂！” 第二天，他们在报上戏剧版内称之为杰作，再世的莎士比亚，说是天才的翅膀在他们头上飞过了。 “你们的艺术缺少的不是才气而是性格，"克利斯朵夫和高恩说。"你们更需要一个大批评家，一个莱辛，一个……” “一个布瓦洛，是不是？"高恩用着讥讽的口气问。 ① -------- ①布瓦洛（1636—1711）为诗人兼批评家，在法国文学史上以态度严正著称。 “是的，也许法国需要一个布瓦洛胜于需要十个天才作家。” “即使我们有了一个布瓦洛，也没有人会听他的。” “要是这样，那末他还不是一个真正的布瓦洛，"克利斯朵夫回答。"我敢向你担保：一朝我要把你们的真相赤裸裸的说给你们听的时候，不管我说得怎样不高明，你们总会听到的，并且你们非听不可。” “哎哟！我的好朋友！"高恩嘻嘻哈哈的说。 他的神气好似对于这种普遍的颓废现象非常满足，所以克利斯朵夫忽然之间觉得，高恩对法国比他这个初来的人更生疏。 “那是不可能的，"这句话是克利斯朵夫有一天从大街上一家戏院里不胜厌恶的走出来时已经说过的。“一定还有别的东西。” “你还要什么呢？"高恩问。 克利斯朵夫固执的又说了一遍：“我要看看法兰西。” “法兰西，不就是我们吗？"高恩哈哈大笑的说。 克利斯朵夫目不转睛的望了他一会，摇摇头，又搬出他的老话来： “还有别的东西。” “那末，朋友，你自己去找罢，"高恩说着，愈加笑开了。 是的，克利斯朵夫大可以花一番心血去找。他们把法兰西藏得严密极了。