Chapter 23 Birthplace of "Virgin"

Paris by night. The beautiful water of the Seine makes a soft splash after nightfall.Ba Jin couldn't sleep peacefully in the hotel. Ba Jin's schedule was very tight when he visited France this time.During his visit of just over ten days, he participated in the symposium of students of the Chinese Department of Paris III, VII and VIII Universities.What moved the old man was that those foreign students were not only very familiar with his writing and writing, but also read hundreds of articles he wrote in China after liberation, especially the novels and essays he wrote on the Korean battlefield, as well as the "Cultural Revolution" "Later, most of the essays he published in Hong Kong's "Ta Kung Pao" are familiar to everyone.In order to get in touch with French readers more, Ba Jin and his delegation also came to Queen Street near Montmartre, where there is a Chinese bookstore named Fnak, where he met French readers face to face for the first time. dialogue.What pleased Ba Jin was that when a French reader asked him what was his most satisfying novel, the old man answered without hesitation: "My favorite novel is "Comrade Yang Lin"!" Immediately, the French students They all gave him warm applause.No one thought that Ba Jin, who is well-known overseas, would take a short story that is very common in the eyes of foreigners as his own glory.Ba Jin knew in his heart that he really liked "Comrade Yang Lin" very much.This is because when he thinks of this novel, which is short in number but condensed with a lot of hard work, and is closely connected with those unsung heroes who died in the Korean battlefield, he feels an inexplicable excitement in his heart.

Late at night, Ba Jin suddenly opened the "Ba Jin's Autobiography" that he brought to Paris with him.From the book he found the chapter "On "The New Life" and Others, which reminded him of the side street he had been in that afternoon.He decided to find the starting point of his writing in France. Brownville Street is just the starting point, and he will continue to search for it. Only by reviewing his youthful experience can the old man's enthusiasm for writing be aroused.Ba Jin put on his glasses, and the sentences in the book appeared clearly in front of his eyes:

"In early August 1928, after I sent the original manuscript of "Destruction" at the post office in Chateau-Girly, France, for a short period of time I completely forgot about writing novels. At that time, I was in a local middle school with two Chinese friends. Summer vacation. I have lived here for a year. The Anhui friend who studies philosophy came earlier than me. The other friend is from Shanxi. He studied French in this school before, and later worked as a drawing in a glass lampshade factory in Paris. Work, because of neurasthenia, came here to recuperate for a few weeks. The whole school was deserted, everyone left, only the janitor and his wife were left. The old couple had already passed sixty, but they were in good health. The janitor during the holiday His wife also prepares three meals a day for us. We had a good time in the reception room. The couple who work all day are very kind people. They treat us very kindly, just like relatives. Came from Paris My friend from Shanxi has never seen my novel. My friend who studies philosophy is the first reader of "Death". I originally used an inappropriate word 'tryst' in the story, but I changed it to 'Dating'. He has been reading ancient Chinese poems aloud in the room next to me for a year, and Lu You's "Jiannan Poetry Draft" is often at his hand.

He and I both lived above the large dining room, and I had a larger room.Friends from Shanxi live in the attic next to the supervisor's dormitory.There is a big yard in front of the school.There is also a large open space at the back, where a lot of chestnut trees are planted, and there is a path leading to the river outside the fence.There were probably only five of us in the whole school.The principal's family has gone elsewhere.The Chief Superintendent lives in this small town and visits the school every seven or eight days.We don't like him.He is the chief proctor in my short story "The Lion".That middle school was Shacheng Middle School where I lived for a year.Several of my early short stories such as "Mr. Lobel" and so on are all set in this cute, quiet and simple French town.The people here and the life here, when I think back many years after returning to China, I still have the feeling that I am right in front of my eyes. ..."

When Ba Jin read this, his dim eyes suddenly brightened again.He knew that his long-cherished wish to come to France to find old traces might come true.Because from this "Autobiography", which records his experience of studying in France, he saw the beautiful small town of Shaduogiri again.It is very close to Paris, and he settled there after he left Paris.The unfinished novel was also completed in a middle school there. The next morning, it was still raining like spring. On the highway leading to the suburbs in Paris, a long convoy of cars came.Ba Jin was sitting in the middle car.This trip is also an inherent arrangement in advance. He will go to Jiri City, which is more than 50 miles away from Paris, and continue to search for the place where he lived in France.

Looking at the small river that was rippling under the drizzle outside the car.Ba Jin's thoughts are still running in his mind. "Mr. Ba Jin, you came to France to study, but why did you suddenly want to write novels?" Bergeron and the accompanying French writers still wanted to know Ba Jin better.They feel that Ba Jin himself is like a thick book, and it still takes time to truly understand this writer from the ancient oriental country.From this point of view, it is not enough to just read several works of Ba Jin. Ba Jin also hopes to tell his French counterparts all the past events: "I came to France at that time, of course I wanted to learn something in class and books, but I was disappointed. Europe is not a paradise! At night, when no friends come, The loneliness was unbearable, and I wandered the streets like a blind man. My loneliness increased every night, and my heart ached more and more. I saw only the sad face destroyed by work in my eyes, and only I heard mournful cries. In short, the darkness in front of my eyes increased day by day. From the newspapers, I knew that in a certain place, many people were crying for hunger, and in a certain place, many people were slaughtered like pigs and sheep. Sad news is brought from even the remotest places. It is a mass of man-made disasters. Added to this are personal misfortunes, murders, disputes, lawsuits, unemployment... almost every piece of news tells a sad story. The papers There seemed to be a smell of blood. Tears, moans, cries, there was no end. It seemed that the whole western world was sinking into a dark sea of ​​misery, and there was no ray of light anywhere. Because of this, my life was completely I lost my goal. I stood in front of the Rousseau statue every night and told the giant about my despair, but he could never give me an answer. This is my situation and mentality at that time..."

Ba Jin's words added a bit of mystery to the car speeding in the rain.Previously, all French writers, including Bergeron, only knew about Ba Jin from books, but now they really have insight into the spiritual world of the old man. The car was still driving in the rain. Ba Jin said: "I didn't go to the university often, and there was no trace of me in the library. I just wandered around, ready to step into the irreparable abyss. I watched Suddenly, one day, in a bookstore, I came across an English novel written by an Italian fishmonger. There was a passage in it: "I hope that every family has a house, every mouth has bread, every The soul is educated, and everyone's wisdom has the opportunity to develop.' After reading this sentence, my heart suddenly opened up like the sky after the heavy rain. I bought this little book back, and I finished reading Italian Fishmonger His autobiography "Story of a Proletarian Life". At this time, a person suddenly appeared in front of me, and he began to tell me his story. So I decided to write the novel "Destruction"!... "

At noon, it rained and the sky cleared. Jili City, which appeared in front of Ba Jin, was lush with green trees.Someone had already been waiting for them in front of that gray building, and Ba Jin knew that this was his second school after leaving Paris that year.La Fontaine School is located on the bank of the green Maron River. The campus is covered with greenery and green halls.The female headmistress and many students were waiting on the green brick road leading to Dalijiao.The old man Ba ​​Jin shook hands with those alumni who were younger. He did not have the airs of a great foreign writer, and he always had a pleasant smile on his face.The headmistress and French alumni flocked to this white-haired Chinese writer in a black suit, and people introduced Ba Jin into the depths of the campus.

"I spent the summer of 1928 here. At that time I lived a relatively comfortable life at La Fontaine School. There were two young Chinese besides me. Every morning and after lunch I have to cross a small bridge alone and go for a walk in the small woods by the Lama River. In the evening, the three of us get together and walk further along the woods. We talk about our ideals, because talking there is very free. Yes." Accompanied by everyone, Ba Jin came to the quiet school building, and he looked at the lush forest behind the school building with mixed feelings in his heart.He had infinite emotion for the trees that had already grown into towering trees.He and everyone walked into the school building where they lived in the past, pointed out the window and said to the female principal: "At that time, there seemed to be a hardwood tree outside the window! Why is it gone now?..."

The headmistress and the young alumni all looked at each other in blank dismay, because they were also latecomers.Of course, I didn’t know that there would be a hard training tree under the window of this school building more than 50 years ago, which is still haunting the Chinese writer Ba Jin today. "Mr. Ba Jin continued to write your debut novel "Destroyed" after he arrived in Jiri?" Ba Jin walked into his dormitory and found that the room was very dilapidated and there were new posters on the walls. This was novel to Ba Jin.Chairman Bergeron still hoped that Ba Jin would tell the stories in his memory so that they could learn more about the historical relationship between a famous foreign writer and this ordinary middle school.

Ba Jin seems to be looking for the small desk where he used to write in this slightly cramped dormitory space.He said to his French friend: "I came back from a walk in the woods on a clear morning, and suddenly received a letter from Siberia, which was sent by my elder brother from Chengdu. The letter was full of sentimental words, so I read it. Unconsciously, I thought back to the time I was with him. I thought about it painfully for a long time, and finally made up my mind. I dug out the unfinished draft of the novel from the box, and wrote the seventh, ninth and thirteenth chapters in one go. Because at that time I had finished translating the first volume of "Ethics" and sent away those ancient Greek philosophers and Roman saints. I had time to write novels again. Of course, writing sometimes produces words because of emotional impulses of." Bergeron said: "So, it is in this room that Mr. Bajin finally wrote your first novel?" "Yes." Ba Jin couldn't help being excited when he remembered what happened more than fifty years ago.He told Bergeron and his French friends: "Later, based on a letter from a friend who lived in the south, I wrote the eighth chapter of "Destroyed", "A Love Story". This friend is my beloved, and his love is tragic. Huan has also resonated with me. I am sorry to give his beautiful story to someone like Yuan Runshen in "Destroyed". So after returning to China, I rewrote that story into a new work called "Short Story Dedicated to killed him." Everyone listened in silence. Ba Jin lingered in the hut where he lived for a long time, and then suddenly came out again.He felt that the quiet campus was very attractive on a spring afternoon. Paris was not far away, and the experience of studying in France was like a sweet dream. Now he finally revisited the old place and got a chance to relive the old dream. "Mr. Ba Jin, are many vivid scenes in "Death" related to the campus you are seeing now?" Some accompanying reporters also came to ask him questions. Ba Jin was silent, as if he had returned to the past.After a long while he nodded: "The writing of this novel has never stopped since then. Every morning I walk in the woods in front of me, and I start to conceive the plot. In the evening, I am walking and talking with my friends, and I often revise these plots. In the dead of night, I just I went back to my room and wrote them down in one breath. In less than half a month, I finished the five chapters of "Destruction", the nineteenth, twentyth, fifteenth, fourteenth and twenty-first chapters. In this way, my novel It's almost done. In finishing the copy, I added Chapter 16, and finally added an Epilogue. I filled them in five large cardboard exercise books. One of my two friends who studies philosophy , I am very happy to be my first reader. He gave me some encouragement, but I have not yet had the courage to send this novel to domestic publishing. I just want to raise some money to print them, give them to my two brothers to read, and I gave it to some friends. At this time, a friend in China wrote a letter saying that he would do this for me, so I added a preface to the manuscript, sealed it carefully and sent it to a friend. I returned to Shanghai the next year, and I saw I saw the notice on the "Novel Monthly" and knew that my first novel had been adopted..." In this school, Ba Jin actually found his signature left on the school register when he was studying here.Of course, what makes him even more excited is that there is also the Chinese student library where he used to practice French at night.Seeing these relics of the old site fifty years ago, Ba Jin felt that the trip was worthwhile. To Ba Jin's surprise, many French media interviewed and reported the news of his visit to France.Nie Hualing, a Chinese female writer far away in the United States, and her husband, the famous poet Ingres, also flew to Paris on a special trip.They visited Ba Jin in Shanghai not long ago.Now Ba Jin did not expect to meet Nie Hualing and his wife again in France.Nie Hualing felt that Ba Jin seemed to be healthier and younger than the old man they saw last time. The famous Chinese female writer Han Shuyin also rushed to hear the news.Ba Jin and his entourage did not expect to be surrounded by so many internationally renowned literary figures around Ba Jin.Both Nie Hualing and Han Zhuyin regarded Ba Jin's arrival as a grand event in the international literary world.They and Ba Jin could talk about today's France and interesting events in the literary world.Attending various banquets with various names, Ba Jin seemed to have returned to his youth overnight.He felt that Paris was even more beautiful than before. In spring, the Seine River rolled with snow-white waves and flowed thousands of miles into the distance.The melodious bells from the direction of Notre Dame sometimes awaken Ba Jin from his sweet dreams.