Chapter 23 wanderer's heart

gottingen I arrived in Göttingen from Berlin on October 31, 1935.Originally, I only planned to live there for two years, but I didn’t know that I would live here for ten years. The length of time I lived here made it my second hometown, second only to Jinan and Beijing in my life. Göttingen is a small city with a population of only 100,000, and the number of college students who migrate sometimes reaches 20,000 to 30,000. It is a typical university town.The university has a history of hundreds of years, and many prominent names in German academic history and literary history are related to this university.There are streets named after them.As soon as you enter the city, you will feel the cultural and academic atmosphere of the whole city, as if it is an academic paradise and a pure cultural land.

Göttingen is famous for its beautiful scenery throughout Germany.The mountains and forests in the east are densely covered with green grass all year round.Even if it snows in winter, the green grass is still green as spring under the snow.Here, it is not cold in winter, not hot in summer, and has never encountered strong winds.There are neither fans nor mosquito nets. Flies and mosquitoes are rare animals, and fleas and bedbugs are even more unheard of.The streets are so clean that if you lie and roll on the road, you will never get any dust.It has become commonplace for old women to scrub sidewalks with soap.In the center of the city, the houses are all medieval buildings, at least four or five floors.People are in it, as if they have returned to the Middle Ages.The ancient city walls are still preserved, covered with towering oak trees.When I was a student at Tsinghua, I liked to read the poems of Hlderlin, the short-lived German lyric poet. He seemed to like oak trees very much, and he often mentioned it in his poems.But I still don't know what an oak tree looks like.I was overjoyed to meet him by accident today.After that, I often went for a walk on the ancient city wall. In the shade of the oak trees, surrounded by silence, I sat alone and meditated.

When I first arrived in Göttingen, people and places were unfamiliar.The old senior, Mr. Le Sen, picked me up at the station and arranged a house for me.The landlord's surname is Oppe1, an old couple with only one son.When my son grew up and went to the outer city to go to college, he rented out his room to me.The male landlord was an engineer from the municipal government, a typical German, too honest to even say a word.The landlady is about fifty years old, she is a typical German housewife, she has a secondary education, can appreciate German literature, likes German classical music, her taste is conservative, and when jazz is mentioned, she has a look of contempt and sneers. .She had all the virtues of a German woman: kindness, integrity, thoughtfulness, compassion.But there are also some small shortcomings, for example, she has a best friend, a widow, and the two often see each other.Once, her girlfriend saw a new hat she bought and liked it very much. She wanted to buy another hat, but she was very dissatisfied and told me many things about her dissatisfaction with this girlfriend.It turns out that Western women—and in some respects, men too—absolutely do not allow others to wear the same hats and the same clothes.It is difficult for us Chinese to understand anyway.It can be seen from this that my landlady, a petty bourgeois, has a lot of habits.However, she was one of the nicest women I've ever met, as kind as a mother.

I just lived in such a German family with only an old couple. I got together with the two old people in the morning and evening, and became a member of the family. I lived in it for ten years without moving once.I will first explain the general situation of this family here, and I will talk about the details later. How did I feel when I first arrived in Göttingen? For the sake of authenticity, I copied a diary from the second day after I arrived in Göttingen: Finally came to Göttingen again.After that, there will be a longer period of stable life in the restless wandering life.I usually like to dream, and I also paint my dreams with various colors.At first I realized my dream of coming to Germany. Germany is my paradise and my ideal country.I imagine that Germany has golden sunshine, Wahrheit (true) and Schnheit (beautiful).I finally caught my dream and I arrived in Germany.What I got instead was disappointment and emptiness.All my hopes vanished like nothing.However, a new dream immediately surfaced.I dream that I am in Göttingen, and in this relatively long and stable life, I can read some books and read some words that have had glory in ancient times, and this glory will never disappear.Now we are finally in Göttingen again.I don't know if I can catch this dream.In fact, who can know?

November 1, 1935 It can be seen from the previous paragraph of the diary that I was still in a state of confusion at the time, and had not yet found the path I wanted to take. And in Göttingen I finally found the path I wanted to take, I mean the study of Sanskrit.I have walked this path for nearly sixty years, and I will continue to walk until I can no longer walk. This path is inseparable from the University of Göttingen.So I'm here to talk about universities. I have already introduced a few words about the university above, because if you want to introduce Göttingen, you must introduce the university.We can even say that the reason why Göttingen became Göttingen is because of this university.Founded in the Middle Ages, the university has a history of hundreds of years and is one of the oldest universities in Europe.It has five faculties: Faculty of Philosophy, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Divinity, and Faculty of Medicine.There has been no unified building, no unified building.The various colleges are distributed in every corner of the city, and the research institutes are even more scattered. There are university research institutes in many streets and alleys.Student dormitories are not large-scale.A small number of students live in their respective student unions, and most of them live in ordinary people's homes.The administrative center is called Aula, with the teaching and administrative departments downstairs and the Göttingen Academy of Sciences upstairs.There are two places where grammar subjects are taught: one is called the Auditorium, and the other is called the Seminargebude.During the day, most of the people walking on the street are male and female college students who go to various places to attend classes.Bustling and bustling, it is really lively.

In history, the university has produced many celebrities.Gauss, Germany's greatest mathematician, is a professor at this university.After Gauss, there have been many great mathematicians here.From the end of the 19th century until the time I visited, it was recognized as the center of mathematics in the world.The greatest mathematician of our time, David Hilbert, is retired but still alive.He is very friendly to Chinese students.I met him once in a bookstore and he came up to me and said hello.In addition to mathematics, the lineup of professors in science subjects such as physics, chemistry, astronomy, meteorology, and geology is extremely strong.There are several Nobel laureates who teach here.The world-renowned chemist A.Windaus is one of them.

The lineup of liberal arts professors is also strong.The Brothers Grimm, who played an important role in the history of German literature and academics, all stayed at the University of Göttingen.Their fairy tales are popular all over the world, and they are also well-known in China.Their big dictionary was compiled by many German experts more than a hundred years later, and became a major event in German language research. This is generally the case for the arts and sciences at the University of Göttingen. In such a small but labyrinthine university town for a foreign youth like me, it is actually not easy to find relevant institutions and places to attend classes.If there is no one to help and guide the way, you will lose your way.I was lucky in my three lives to find such a guide, and this is Zhang Yong.Zhang Yong's father is the famous "Chief Tiger" Zhang Shizhao.My maternal grandfather was Wu Changqing who led the anti-Japanese troops in North Korea.His mother was Wu Qiangnan, who had been Sun Yat-sen's secretary, and her name was found in Qian Jibo's "History of Modern Chinese Literature".In short, he was born in a wealthy and well-known scholarly family.But it is completely different from the "yamen" I saw in Berlin, and there is no dandyism.He is rather arrogant and bookish.His family has a long history, and he has a profound knowledge of Chinese classical literature, and can write ancient prose and make old poems.But I love mathematics, so I came to Göttingen, the world mathematics center, to study for a doctorate.When I arrived, he had lived here for five or six years, and his mother Wu Ruonan lived here with her son.There were only three or four Chinese students studying in Göttingen.Zhang Yong's temper is lonely and arrogant, and he doesn't want to associate with them.Since I was fond of miscellaneous learning since I was a child, I have read a lot of Chinese classical poetry, and I have my own set of views on literature, art, religion, etc.Mr. Le Sen introduced me to Zhang Yong. After a few short conversations, it can be said that we hit it off and hit it off.He may think that I am very different from those Chinese students who have boring words and hideous faces, so he immediately fell in love with me and has a heart-to-heart bond.He gave a poem:

Kong Gu Foot Sound Yishijun Xiangqi Shibo Ku Xiangxun Genre old and new try Fetal breath Chinese and Western Mu knowledge Chest endowment and talent Hush big pen hair Qingfen How important is a rich broom Posterity by Guess Essay You can see his mood.I also think that people like Zhang Yong will never be found in Chinese restaurants in Berlin.So happy to be close to him.Aunt Zhang once said to me: "After you came, Zhang Yong seemed to be a different person. He usually never visits people. Now when he comes to your house, he always doesn't come back." Tingen, accompany me all over the city, to the academic affairs office of the university, to the research institute, to the city hall, to the doctor's house, etc., to register for courses and go through the formalities, it is Zhang Yong.He was wearing that old black overcoat, shaking his thin and not tall body, and walking around with me.This situation is still in front of my eyes.

He took me the way of Göttingen; but I haven't been able to find my own way. I mentioned above that when I first arrived in Göttingen I was interested in studying ancient scripts.But this is just a hazy idea. I don't know which ancient script to learn.When I was in Berlin, Wang Dianhua persuaded me to learn Greek and Latin, thinking that this was what the motherland needed at that time.After I arrived in Göttingen, the same chapter talked about this issue. He advised me to study only Greek. If I also read Latin, two years would be too late.In German secondary schools, eight years of Latin and six years of Greek are required.Wen followed his advice.In the first semester, Greek is the main course of study.German universities are absolutely free.As long as you graduate from middle school, you can enter any university you want, and you can enter whichever you want. You don't know what an entrance examination is.After enrolling, you can enter whichever department you want to enter; you can change your department at any time if you want to; you can choose as many courses as you like and which courses you choose; those who study liberal arts can choose courses in medicine and theology; One course, or ten or eight courses.In class, you can attend class if you want to, and leave if you don’t want to; come late and leave early, you are completely free.There are never classroom exams.Some courses require the professor’s signature at the beginning of the class, which is called registration (Anmeldung) before the start of the class, and students take the course registration book (Studienbuch) to ask the professor to sign; some also need the professor’s signature at the end, which is called the professor’s signature at the end of the course (Abmeldung).At this time, students and professors can be said to have little relationship.Some students, when they first enter university, change universities for one academic year, or even one semester.After changing schools several times, after two or three years, I chose a university and department I was satisfied with. Only then did I settle down, contact the professor, and ask to join his research class. After one or two research classes, the teachers and students got to know each other better. , the professor thinks that children can be taught, so he gave the title of the doctoral dissertation.After a few more years of hard work, and the professor is satisfied, he will hold a dissertation oral defense. After passing, he will be able to get a doctorate.In Germany, it is the professor who has the final say, and no dean, principal, or minister has the right to interfere with the professor's decision.If a student does not want to do a thesis, no one forces him.As long as he has money, he can study for ten or eight years.This is called "eternal student" (EwigerStudent), and it is a rare animal that does not exist in the whole world.

It was in such an atmosphere of absolute freedom that I chose Greek in the first semester.In addition, I chose a lot of classes in a miscellaneous manner, and I attended classes for six hours a day.My intention was to practice listening to German, not to learn anything. Although my course selection is mainly Greek, my mood fluctuates from time to time, and I am still not firm.The first class impression was not good. On December 5, 1935, he wrote in his diary: During the class, Rabbow's voice was so low that I couldn't understand it.He didn't ask me either, he was on pins and needles, very sad.As I walked home from class, pain gnawed at my heart—the only beautiful dream I had in Göttingen was to learn Greek.However, judging from the way it is today, learning Greek has become a great pain.Am I not going to be nothing?

There are many records of such vacillation in the diary, which shows the weakness of faith.Meanwhile, I also taught myself Latin for a period of time.The most interesting thing is that once I actually wanted to learn ancient Egyptian.The confusion of mood is evident. This all shows that I haven't found the way to go yet. As for Sanskrit, when I was studying in China, I had the idea of ​​learning it.But at that time, no one in China taught Sanskrit, so the wish could not be realized.When I came to Göttingen, I met Long Piyan (Fan Yu), a Chinese student studying metallurgy from Hunan. He majored in science and technology, but for some reason he studied Sanskrit for two semesters.When I arrived, he had stopped studying and gave me the Sanskrit Grammar by Stenzler that he used.My colleague Zhang Yong also talked about learning Sanskrit, and he encouraged me to learn it.And so another layer of confusion was added to the confusion in which I wandered about choosing a path.Fortunately, the chaos was only temporary, and soon the sunshine emerged from the haze of chaos. On December 16, he wrote in his diary: I also thought that I finally had to read Sanskrit (Sanskrit).Chinese culture is greatly influenced by Indian culture.I want to do a thorough study of Sino-Indian cultural relations, maybe I can discover something.If you can learn the few languages ​​you want to learn well in Germany, it will be a worthwhile trip, especially for Sanskrit. If you want to learn it after returning to China, not only will you not have such opportunities, but you will not have such people. The next day's diary wrote: I thought about Sanskrit again, I thought about it, and felt that I had to learn. In his diary on January 2, 1936, he wrote: Still determined to read Sanskrit.The changeability of my own interests surprised me a little.When I decided to read Greek, I vowed and hoped that I would not change it this time, and I firmly believed that it would not change again, but finally changed again.I still swear and hope it doesn't change.If you continue to change, you will achieve nothing.Wonder if Schicksal (Fate) might allow me to strengthen my faith this time? My oath and hope did not fail this time, and fate allowed me to strengthen my belief. I have finally found the path I want to walk all my life. I have walked along this path for more than half a century, until now, and I will continue to walk. Göttingen is actually the most ideal place to learn Sanskrit.In addition to the quiet city and beautiful scenery mentioned above, the University of Göttingen has a long tradition of studying Sanskrit and comparative linguistics. In the first half of the 19th century, T. Benfey, a master who studied a translation of "Five Volumes" "Kalilai and Di Munai" and the founder of the history of comparative literature, once taught here. At the end of the 19th century, Franz Kielhom was a professor of Sanskrit here.He was replaced by Professor Hermann Oldenberg.Professor Oldenburg's successor is Professor Sik, a master who reads Tocharian fragments. In 1935, Sigg retired and Waldschmidt took over the Sanskrit lectures.This is exactly when I arrived in Göttingen.Jakob Wackernagel, hailed by Indian scholars as the greatest living Sanskrit writer, once taught in the Department of Comparative Linguistics.It can be said that the sky of Buddhism is full of stars.In addition, the university library has a long history, a large scale, a rich collection of books, and a high reputation. The Sanskrit collection is the best in Germany, and it is said that Kirhorn collected it from India.Such conditions were unmatched in Germany at the time. I made up my mind, and for the semester beginning in the spring of 1936, I took Sanskrit. On April 2, I went to the Gauss-Weber Building Oriental Institute to attend the first class.This is a very old building. The great mathematician Gauss and the great physicist Weber (Weber) experimented with the telegraph they invented. It was in this house that it became famous all over the world.Downstairs is the Egyptology research room, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Arabic research rooms.Upstairs is the Slavic language research room, Persian, Turkish language research room and Sanskrit research room.The Sanskrit class is held in the research room.This was Professor Waldschmidt's first class and also my first meeting with him.He looks very young.He was a student of Heinrich Lüders, a master of Buddhism at the University of Berlin, and an expert in the study of fragments of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures unearthed in Xinjiang. Although he was young, he was already well-known in the world of Sanskrit literature.But I was the only student who took the Sanskrit class, and I was also a foreigner.Although there was only one student, he still gave lectures seriously and did not finish class until 4 o'clock.This was the beginning of my Sanskrit study.The Institute has a small library with less than 10,000 volumes, but it has everything for a beginner.The most precious thing is Oldenburg's collection of hundreds of volumes of papers sent to him by Sanskrit scholars from Germany and all over the world, classified into categories, bound into volumes, in different sizes and in different languages.If you collect it by yourself, it will not be so complete anyway, because some magazines are so remote that you may not be able to find them in a large library.On a wall facing the street, there are pictures of German Sanskrit writers in frames, and there are as many as thirty or forty people.From this we can see the prosperity of German Buddhism.This is something that German academia is very proud of. I have been coming to this institute every day since then. I have since found the path I really want to follow.