Chapter 15 Section VI

Most people who are familiar with Zhang Ailing's works should be the same as me. They saw "Contrast Notes" first, and then found out about it after many years, and they bothered for a long time because of its authenticity; However, judging from Zhang Ailing's letters to Song Qi and his wife, the writing order of these books is exactly the opposite. As early as February 1961, she had decided on the title of the book to be used, and by September she had already typed it, but there were still many places to be changed.In the second year, I was already thinking about translating it into Chinese.

In the letter dated June 20, 1963, she wrote: "Decided to translate, at least the first half of "Leifeng Pagoda Falls" is long enough, perhaps 100,000 characters... the second half is called... It throws things here and there, and the unanimous answer is that there is no market." The last mention was a letter dated May 6, 1964: "I'm very discouraged because I can't sell it." But it has been decided to translate it into Chinese, why has it not been translated or finished?From the completion of the English version of the two manuscripts in 1964 to the death of Zhang Ailing in 1995, 30 years have passed. During this period, Zhang Ailing has once again become popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Can't sell."

But it may be because there was "Whispering" before, and I wrote it later (from the letter, it was written between 1975 and 1976), and the subject matter is similar, so I don't make a mistake in translating it again.She herself said that it is actually a small part of the movie plus a love story. However, I always think that it is better than comparison. Although it is written in English, the gentle and honest old Chinese taste is very strong. All the way, Qi Qi chasingly bit their ears, with the cold fragrance of opium. In contrast, the beginning of the chapter is about Hong Kong University, about the war, and lists many exotic names and characters. It is simply a list, but there is no more content. It seems that there is a feeling of "separation" from a foreign land. .The images of those students are even thinner and more abrupt, and the characters no longer appear before they can remember their names, which is completely inconsistent with the basic principles of novel writing.

There are also many harmonious characters, but after being divided into upper and lower parts, each has its own emphasis, and the atmosphere is harmonious, so there is no conflict.Moreover, the characters appear along with the plot, not just a list, so they have a kind of vitality in them, even if they can't remember who is who, but they stand together, speak softly, and form a collective structure An atmosphere, a sense of a big family, looks harmonious and beautiful, like watching a movie. It is about Eileen Chang's story before she went to study in Hong Kong. The background is Tianjin and Shanghai. She is always trapped in a certain house, and there are always similar faces whispering.Parents, younger brothers, aunts, uncles, many cousins, Qin Qian, He Gan, Wang Fa, Zhiyuan, father's concubine, even stepmother, stepmother's mother and companion...all the characters are trivial and familiar And kind.Even the cold and selfish father, she said "I want revenge" through the mouth of the protagonist, and at the same time couldn't help but find an excuse for him: "There are three or four hundred girls in the school, and almost everyone is like their father." If you quarrel, it's about opium, or about your concubine, or about opium and your concubine."

The protagonist's name is Pipa, which is obviously Zhang Ailing's own shadow.Write about her experience from the age of four to eighteen.Eighteen-year-old Eileen Chang has not met Hu Lancheng yet, so the book contains only human affairs and no love, so it is conceivable that it will not be very attractive. The article narrates that the servants He Gan and Qin Gan took the children to tell the legend of the White Snake on a moonlit night, the male servants played mahjong in the room, and the father’s newly married concubine took her to the restaurant for dinner, and the cake was covered with cream. The nose is high. Also, during the Chinese New Year, I went to the second uncle's house to pay New Year's greetings. Every time I recited "Business women don't know the hatred of subjugation", the second uncle wiped away tears...

To put it bluntly, the whole story is an extended version of "Whispers", with many characters and detailed plots, without too much storytelling, it just records the truth of life, or the truth of memories.The entire first seven chapters are about the story in Tianjin.After seven chapters, the family set off for Shanghai, and after that is the beginning of my "Legend of Eileen Chang". Readers who are familiar with Zhang Ailing's works have already read these characters and stories in her early prose and novels, and they will feel familiar when they reread them, just like reading the notes of an old friend.However, for new readers, especially foreign readers, I'm afraid they don't have much appeal. No wonder Zhang Ailing has been complaining that "it can't be sold".

But the text is fine.Seemingly random dialogues are also very interesting, such as when He Gan took Pipa and Ling to pay New Year's greetings to relatives and old ladies: 〖Every time Pipa sees the old lady, she always sees her sitting on the edge of the bed, with the bed curtains parted to both sides, just like her black brocade headband parted in the middle.She was hunched over in the carved rosewood shrine, her face was heavy, her eyes were heavy, and her voice was drawn out. "Come here and let me see. Oh, old He, these two children are more delightful than my own. How old are they? What do they eat?"

"No big changes, old lady, steamed eggs, tofu, duck tongue soup." "Ducks are out of date now." "Yes, old lady. This time I only eat steamed eggs, tofu, and winter melon soup." "Ask the kitchen to cook these dishes for them." The old lady told an old woman. 〗 At first glance, it seems to be nothing, but when you think about it carefully, you can't help laughing—the old lady asked about the child's food list, and He Ganben answered it directly.However, the old lady's family was already poor, and she couldn't afford duck tongue soup, so she said grandly, "The duck is out of date."It’s rare that He Gan also knew the trick quickly, and immediately changed his words to eat winter melon soup with wit and humor, and the old lady gained confidence, and ordered the old lady to prepare the dishes with style——It’s really a portrait of a declining noble old lady who is embarrassed and embarrassed The subtle psychology of putting on a show.It didn't pass, and it couldn't be made up.

Every character in the book, even if he only appeared once or twice, or left early, still has a vivid image.For example, Qin Gan, the younger brother's nanny, only appeared in the story of Tianjin, but he has already branded the whole book, especially the younger brother. Qin Gan is the accompanying room brought by the hostess from her natal family. Because he is serving the young master, he always feels superior to others. He has been giving orders to Pipa on behalf of the son-in-law. The reason is always "he is younger than you", which made Pipa give birth to a lot Less sulking.However, when she quit her job and left, after giving Master Ling a lot of advice, she turned to Pipa and said, "I'm leaving, miss. You have to take care of your younger brother, who is younger than you."

This was the last sentence she said to Pipa, after which there was silence.However, this sentence undoubtedly illuminated her image to a very bright place, like fireworks rising, illuminating the night.It is written in the book: "Tears stung Pipa's eyes, and they rolled down like a flood, because I found that no matter what happens, there will be an end." At that time, the pipa, Aileen, was only seven or eight years old, but she already knew the word "end".After this chapter was "finished", their family boarded a boat, passed through the black ocean and the green ocean, and arrived in Shanghai all the way, and my "Legend of Eileen Chang" has just begun.

Later, in Shanghai, there were different relatives, aunts and wives of relatives, a house full of children, new characters and new stories, but it just happened again and again.In the last chapter of the story, her younger brother died, and she bid farewell to the nanny who accompanied her throughout her childhood and girlhood.