Chapter 11 Part 1: Cambridge New and Old Cambridge Have Bridges

Many people who love Cambridge may be tempted by Xu Zhimo's poems: "I leave lightly, just as I came lightly; I waved softly, as the clouds in the western sky..." So lightly How many Chinese people's hearts are affected by the spiritual and refined poems!Xu Zhimo created a distant and romantic dream through his words, casting Cambridge and himself into the hearts of Chinese people.As the Zen poem says: "As usual, there is a moon in front of the window, and plum blossoms are different." Cambridge, because of Xu Zhimo, has achieved its spiritual impression in the hearts of Chinese people.

In fact, Xu Zhimo was just a passing visitor in Cambridge.At that time, he was studying economics at Columbia University in the United States, and he came to Cambridge to pursue his idol Russell with a strong political idea of ​​changing society.But when he arrived in England, he found out that Russell had been expelled from Cambridge and went to China to give lectures because of his peace claims and the turmoil of divorce during the war.Later, the famous writer Dickenson won the qualification of a "special student" of King's College for Xu Zhimo, who can attend lectures at will, but does not need to take exams.Xu Zhimo was overjoyed and cheered, "From now on, the days of black scarves and black-capped gowns have been taken over by me."Xu Zhimo has not been in Cambridge for a long time, as he himself said frankly: "I am still not qualified, just like a baked half-cooked sweet potato, which is still far away from being burnt and fragrant." The water of the Kang River opened up the soul of the poet and awakened the destiny of the poet who had been stinging in his heart for a long time.In the article "Cambridge I Know", Xu Zhimo wrote: "The spirituality of Cambridge is all on the Kanghe River - listening to the sound of water under the stars, listening to the evening bells near the village, listening to the weary cows and grass by the river. Sound is the most mysterious kind in my experience in Cambridge, the beauty, tranquility and harmony of nature, in the tacit understanding of starlight and waves, submerged your spirit unexpectedly." Xu Zhimo also compared his After two years of study in Britain and the United States, he said, "In the United States, I am busy with classes, listening to lectures, writing test papers, chewing gum, watching movies, and swearing; in Cambridge, I am busy with walking, rowing, cycling, smoking, and chatting." , five o'clock tea, butter scones, and casual reading." However, he asserted unequivocally, "Rather than I arrived in America as an unambiguous idiot, I will leave the Statue of Liberty the same But rather than being unaware when I was in the United States, my time in Cambridge at least made me understand that I was just full of stomach..." That's why he later said with affection: "My eyes were taught by Cambridge. , my thirst for knowledge was stimulated by Cambridge, and my self-awareness was given to me by Cambridge.”

During the day, this romantic poet "takes a book, walks ten miles, chooses a clean place, watches the sky, listens to the birds, reads books, and when tired, goes to seek dreams in the grassy place"; An affectionate poet then leans on the bridge railing and gazes towards the western sky in ecstasy, immersed in his sweet leisure: Look at the quiet bridge shadow and count the ripples: I lean on the moss on the stone fence to warm it, and the moss cools my heart; It was during the romantic study tour in England that Xu Zhimo met a special woman in his life—Lin Huiyin.This woman, whom he later nicknamed "Hui Hui", was not only talented and intelligent, but also "like a plum blossom deer in the mountains, as beautiful and as lively".At the age of sixteen, she was traveling in Europe with her father, Lin Changmin, and was temporarily staying in the UK.Lin Huiyin loves painting, and her favorite place to go is the Cambridge area, because there are various buildings and scenery that can't be painted there.For Xu Zhimo, what made his heart sway the most was walking in Cambridge with Lin Huiyin in late spring. "At dusk, I would stand by the bridge with Huiyin and listen to the church bells crashing into my heart." According to Xu Zhimo at that time Zhimo's classmate, Sir Robertson, an Englishman who later served as an academician at King's College, recalled that Lin Huiyin especially loved a bridge on the Jianhe River. Whether it's walking or standing still, talking freely.Lin Huiyin's ethereal artistic sense and her unique insights and conversations often inspire Xu Zhimo's thinking.Occasionally, as long as the students passing by saw them on the bridge, they would rather detour than walk over, for fear of disturbing them.How lucky it is to meet someone who understands you and is understood by you in your life!No wonder the poet has to sigh "I only have that one spring in my life".

Before coming to Cambridge, there was a popular TV series in China - "April on Earth", which described the touching love affair between Xu Zhimo and Lin Huiyin.At that time, I was applying to study abroad. In addition to the offer from Cambridge, I also received offers from more than a dozen American universities. I was a little hesitant in choosing.At that time, my mother happened to be watching this TV series. She watched Xu Zhimo and Lin Huiyin who were rafting on the Jian River and strolling on the Cambridge Bridge, and couldn't help being fascinated by this ancient British town.She said to me very seriously: "You should go there! What a beautiful place!" I didn't point out at the time: the scenery is beautiful because of a pair of beautiful men and women.If her daughter is put in, it will definitely not be very attractive, if not spoiling the scenery.

Anyway, I'm still here.When I first arrived, I also searched everywhere for the "Kangqiao" written by Xu Zhimo.Shuttle among the bridges full of spirituality on the Jianhe River, see which bridges have "golden willows hanging by the river", and which waters have "green dragonflies on soft mud, swaying gracefully at the bottom of the water".There are indeed many bridges on the Cam River. There are 14 existing bridges, of which 6 are private (college) owned and 8 are public.It's just that among all these bridges, none of them are specially called "Cambridge" or "Cambridge".I was still puzzled by this for a while: How could Cambridge not have a bridge called Cambridge?My friends here laughed at me stupidly: Could it be that Oxford also has to have a cattle farm?

If you think about it carefully, in fact, where is Xu Zhimo's "Cambridge" so important?Perhaps every bridge on the Jianhe River once made him fall in love with the scenery, and every bridge can entrust his persistent and lingering love for Lin Huiyin back then.Among all the bridges on the Cam River, the Mathematical Bridge, the Clare Bridge and the Bridge of Sighs are the three that I like the most. The Mathematical Bridge, also known as Newton Bridge, is a wooden bridge located in Queens' College.According to legend, this bridge was designed and built by Newton using the principles of mathematics and mechanics. It is a miracle that no nails were used on the entire bridge.Newton's students believe that there is no reason why students cannot do what the teacher can do.So these curious students took down the whole bridge to see what happened.Unexpectedly, it is easy to remove, but difficult to restore.No matter what method they use, they can't restore it to its original state, and even the school can't do anything about it.In the end, the wooden bridge had to be fixed with nails before it could be erected again.This story is of course not true, but I like it very, very much.The vandalism of children is a willful act of infinite curiosity, which is naturally cute.When I was a child, I also disassembled and reassembled the electric fan of the watch radio at home. Of course, the result was that the watch stopped moving, the radio stopped ringing, and the electric fan stopped turning. My parents were upset and my ass was spanked.Therefore, the story of Newton Bridge always makes me feel sympathetic.In fact, the bridge was not designed by Newton, it was designed by William Etheridge in 1749 according to mathematical principles and built by James Essex.Rivets (coach screws) were used in construction.The bridge that sits over the river today was built in 1905 and is just a replica of the original bridge, fastened with bolts.Although the story is fictitious, it conveys a cultural tradition of Cambridge to the listeners, that is, fearless of authority, courageous in practice, and personal experience.

If the exquisite "mathematical bridge" shows the greatness of science and promotes a style of study in Cambridge, then the Clare Bridge (Clare Bridge) at the back of Clare College shows the charming style of Cambridge.This is a three-hole stone bridge with guardrails. It was built in 1639 and is the oldest existing bridge on the Cam River.Xu Zhimo called it "a cowardly bridge with three ring holes" in his article.The words "cowardly and pity" are really well used, and immediately injected blood and energy into an ordinary small bridge.This Clare Bridge does have some exquisite charm, which is the kind of purity and tenderness of Xiaojiabiyu who was "raised in a boudoir and unknown".At the first glance, it is not eye-catching, you need to "look at it attentively, and look at it more attentively" in order to taste her refined beauty.The bridge has seven stone balls on each side of the parapet, symmetrical to each other, except that the rear of the penultimate ball on the left parapet has been neatly cut off at a 15-degree angle.The origin of this 15-degree angle is disgraceful. It is said that after the architect designed and built the bridge, the college only paid him a design fee of 15 pence.In a fit of rage, he cut off the stone ball at a 15-degree angle corresponding to 15 pence, leaving the gap forever.When I first heard this story, I thought it was too cheesy, not for my liking and not funny.I believe that whether architectural works or works of art, they all reflect the temperament and temperament of the artist. The designer of the Clare Bridge will definitely not be such a narrow-minded and petty person.His personality may be a little delicate, but it is also clear and bright, and he can't do such things.Thinking about it later, even if this is the case, I’m afraid it’s just for a little joke, or to create a special kind of incomplete beauty. After thinking about it like this, I feel relieved.

Of all the bridges on the River Cam, the Bridge of Sigh at St. John's College is the most exquisite.Even Queen Victoria was deeply impressed by this bridge and praised: "So beautiful! So unique!" In fact, the most famous Bridge of Sighs in the world is not in Cambridge, but in Venice, Italy's water city. On the other side of the court is connected to the prison.The prisoners have to pass through the bridge after being judged. When they think of their endless prison years, they can't help but sigh, so it is named the Bridge of Sighs.The Bridge of Sighs in Cambridge was built in 1831 by Henry Hutchinson in the style of Venice.There are different versions of the story about it.Some people say that one end of the bridge is connected to the students’ dormitory and the other end is connected to the examination room. Cambridge’s graduation examination is extremely strict, so students who don’t study hard at ordinary times will come here to sigh and cry when they fail to pass the examination and fail to get a diploma. Beat your chest and stamp your feet, too late to regret.Therefore, the school named it the Bridge of Sighs to warn students to study hard and not to slack off; some people say that the reason why it is called the Bridge of Sighs is because the school always allows students who have made mistakes to come here and face the difficulties. The gurgling water, stand upright and reflect, as a punishment.As for the students, they reflected and sighed at the same time, regretting their mistakes.Obviously, these two legends are detrimental to the reputation of the college, so in a catalog of Cambridge University published in 2002, the college specially emphasized in the text below the picture of the Bridge of Sighs: St. John's College The Bridge of Sighs definitely did not bring any torture or physical punishment to her students!After reading this, I couldn't help laughing, thinking that it was just a legend, but this statement seemed to mean "there is no silver three hundred taels here".

The Bridge of Sighs looks like a pale yellow castle from a distance, with the gurgling Jian River flowing under the semicircular arches.I especially like the design of the bridge body: the floor-to-ceiling long windows are simple and beautiful, and through the mirror-like glass panes, you can see the Cambridge students in a hurry.Every evening, the afterglow of the setting sun shines on the bridge through the exquisite window lattice, which makes people feel a classical touch.The name of this bridge reminds me of a sentence in an ancient poem - "Those who know me say that I am worried, and those who don't know me say that I ask for it." The faint sadness contains the helplessness after understanding and understanding.I thought back then that Xu Zhimo and Lin Huiyin must have wandered here, and maybe they had faced the river and uttered a soft lament of "seeing each other late" in the bottom of my heart.Their love affair was almost doomed to be unsatisfactory at the time - not only Xu Zhimo was an envoy with a wife, Lin Huiyin also had a marriage contract - the object was none other than Liang Sicheng, the eldest son of Xu Zhimo's mentor Liang Qichao.It's a bit helpless, because it is impossible to reorder the encounters in fate; love also has to succumb to the arrangement of Timing.The greatest happiness in life is meeting the right person at the right time.If you meet the right person at the wrong time, you can only stare affectionately at this beautiful emotion forever through the distance of time and space. "This feeling can be regarded as a memory, but it was already at a loss at that time." In that faint sigh, there is a full of tenderness with many twists and turns.

On days when homework is not too tight, I often go to the Cam River to write manuscripts and read books alone.The sound of the water is soft, and the water of Jianhe River is clear and bright, with soft ripples. There are really green aquatic plants under the water, but I don’t know which one was changed by Xu Zhimo.Tired of writing and reading, I leaned on the bridge railing and hummed softly, letting the clouds float over me little by little.Occasionally, the wind would blow suddenly and blow my singing to nowhere, and my whole body was so clean that I had no thoughts or thoughts. In the rosy summer evening, I just stood on the bridge of the Kang River, the hem of the light green dress on my body opened up big and round against the evening wind, in a trance, I felt that I was Kang A lotus leaf in the river is comfortable and refreshing.