Chapter 35 Learn Tocharian

I talked about chance above, and I think about chance a lot.A person's life cannot be without chance. Chance can bring disasters to people, but it can also bring blessings to people. My study of Tocharian is related to chance. To be honest, before I came to Göttingen, I had never heard of Tocharian.After arriving in Göttingen, the master Sik who has mastered Tocharian is right in front of me, and I have not thought of learning Tocharian.The reason is actually very simple: I want to study three departments, and I have already taken so many courses and learned so many languages, which is already overloaded.I am self-aware (sometimes I think it is too much), I can't say that I have no talent for learning foreign languages, but I am by no means a language genius.I dare not overload on overload.And I also thought that I am Chinese, and when I go to a foreign country, I represent China.I learned that it is a small matter to lose face, but it is a big matter to lose face for the country, and it must not be taken lightly.Therefore, I always warn myself: my booth is already big enough, and I must not expand it any further.That's what I was thinking.

But, as I have already said above, when the Second World War broke out and Waldschmidt was drafted into the army, Thick came out to represent him.The old man must pass on all his good shows to me.He has already passed the age of seventy, doesn't he know the hard work of teaching?Didn't he know that it would be more comfortable to spend his days at home?But why ask for it?I guess, apart from personal emotional factors, he regards academics as the public weapon of the world, and wants to pass on his unique knowledge to me, a young man in a foreign land, so that Indology and Tocharianism can take root and blossom in China.Could it be that there are some sinister intentions of aggression mentioned by some ultra-left gentlemen?In the history of Chinese Buddhism, there are many good stories about teaching the Dharma and passing on the mantle. I didn’t encounter it at the time about the secret teaching in the middle of the night, about other disciples being jealous, etc., probably because time has changed and things have changed.I recently encountered something similar to this.It's a long story, so don't worry about it.

In short, when Professor Sigg proposed to teach me Tocharian, he did not mean to ask for opinions at all, and he did not leave me any room for consideration.He made an opinion, immediately arranged the time, and the class was about to begin.I was so deeply moved, what else can I say besides being grateful?I made up my mind to expand my stall and "give up my life to accompany the gentleman". It is the common wish of many scholars in the world to come to Göttingen to learn Tocharian from this world authority.How many feel sorry for themselves for not having such an opportunity.Now I am close to the water, which is the envy of many people.I am very clear about this.If I don't learn, it is really hard to understand.While Sick was giving me a class, Walter Couvreur, a Belgian expert on Hittite, came to Göttingen and wanted to teach Tocharian from Sick.The timing was just right, so a special class in Tocharowen was started.There is no such class in the university curriculum, and there are only two students, both of whom are foreigners. It is really a special class.But Sik was not sloppy.In his octogenarian years, he walked across the city from his home in the east of the city several times a week to Gauss-Weber Hall to attend classes. a miracle.Walking such a long way, but never had anyone to accompany him.He has no children, no one at home to accompany him, and of course the school doesn't care about these things.The concept of respecting the elderly is almost non-existent in Western countries.Western society is a pragmatic society.If a person is useful to society, he has value; once he is useless, his value disappears.No one thought there was anything wrong with it.Therefore, Professor Sigg is at ease with his situation and takes it calmly.

Fragments of Tocharian script are only found in Xinjiang, China.It turns out that no one in the world understands this language. It was Sick and Sickling who compared the linguist W.With the help of W. Schulzs, I read it through.The "Tocharian Grammar" co-authored by the three of them is well-known among scholars all over the world, and it is a classic work of this new learning.However, this 518-page masterpiece is by no means an ordinary book for beginners, but extremely difficult to read.It is like a primeval forest, dangerous and complicated, with many divergent paths, and it is extremely difficult to get into it without someone to guide you.A master who has mastered this language is of course the most ideal guide.Sik taught Tocharian, also using traditional German methods, which I have already mentioned above.He does not explain grammar at all, but starts by reading directly from the original text.We read together the Tocharian fragments that he and his partner Sickling translated into Latin letters and published together with the photocopies of the original volume—Prachtstuck's "Prachtstuck", as Sick often calls it. Karma Sutra".We read the grammar by ourselves, looked up the index, and translated new words; in class, Gubel and I took turns translating into German, and Sik corrected it.This work is extremely hard.The fragments of the original text are incomplete, not a single page is complete, not even a line is complete, although it is a "refined product", it is only relatively speaking, a few words are missing here, and a few syllables are missing there.If you don't make up, you won't get the meaning, and you can only make up with the meaning, and you don't necessarily have a lot of confidence.The result is that Mr. Thicke talks more and we talk less.Reading the Bayeux fragments and filling in the missing words or syllables, a whole set of practices, I learned in the Tocharian class.My interest in learning is getting stronger and stronger. I attend classes twice a week. Not only do I not feel bitter, but sometimes I even feel hopeful.

I don't know why, when I recall the scene at that time, I always associate it with the long winter of snow.One day, after class, dusk had already come to the world ahead of schedule, because the sky was overcast, and because of the blackout, the street was completely plunged into darkness.I helped the old man down the stairs and out the door.The snow on the ten-mile long street was already deep, and there was no one there.The surroundings were eerily quiet, the sound of our snow-covered footsteps sounded, and the silver light of the snow was shining in our eyes.It seems that there are only two of us, master and student, left in the universe.I was afraid that the teacher would fall, so I held him tightly and sent him home like this.I can recall as many memorable things in my life as I can remember.But this little incident is firmly imprinted in my memory.Every memory feels a burst of warmth in desolation, which has become my "reserved program" of memories.However, time has changed and circumstances have changed. At that time, it was considered a trivial matter, but it is absolutely impossible to repeat it in this life.

Connected with this one little thing, there is another little thing.The professors at the University of Göttingen have a rather old tradition: on Saturday afternoons, meet two or three friends, go for a walk in the mountains and forests, and talk while walking, mostly about academic issues; sometimes there are disputes, even disputes. I got red in the face.At this time, the beautiful scenery of nature no longer exists in the minds of these professors, and what they care about is still their own knowledge.Anyway, these professors are tired of roaming in the woods, maybe find a coffee shop, sit down and have a drink or something to eat.Then go back to the city.One Saturday afternoon, I was walking down the mountain, and by chance I met Mr. Sick and several other professors who were about to go up the mountain.I hasten to salute them.Mr. Sick immediately called me to his face, and introduced to several others: "He has just passed the defense of his doctoral thesis, which is the best." He was quite proud of himself.I am really ashamed.My own academic performance is really insignificant, but the old man's praise really makes me uneasy.Yang Jingzhi's poem in Chinese Tang poetry: "I don't understand the kindness of Tibetans all my life, and I talk about Xiang Si everywhere."What else can I say besides hard work?

Once, I made a great vow to add some nutrition and joy to the elderly.This can only be achieved by squeezing from one's meager food allotment.I haven’t eaten butter for about a month or two. I forgot where I got the flour, the eggs that are as expensive as golden eggs, and a pound of sugar. I went to one of the most famous pastry shops and asked them to bake a cake.This is undoubtedly an extremely valuable gift. I carried the cake to the old professor's house like a treasure box.This was obviously a bit unexpected to him, his hands trembled a little, he called his wife, and they took it together, unable to even say the word "thank you".This, of course, added another fire to the fire of hunger in my belly, but my heart was happy, and it became one of the happiest memories of my life.

After the American soldiers invaded Göttingen, as soon as the artillery stopped, I went to see Mr. Sick at his house.A shell fell near his house, which was fired by the U.S. Army from the west to the east of the city.His wife told me that when the shell exploded, he was reading a book about Tocharian. All the glass on the window was blown up, and the glass pieces covered the table. Miraculously, he was not injured at all.After I heard it, I couldn't help feeling scared.However, for this old man who puts the study of Tocharian above his life, my admiration surges in my heart like the waves of the sea.Is there no reason for Mr. Sigg's personal achievements, the brilliant achievements of German scholars?How much can we learn from this little incident?Like other little things about Mr. Thicke, this one stuck with me as long as I lived.

I vaguely recalled some of my learning Tocharian.I attribute this to chance.That's true, but it's a little underwhelming.Chance is often combined with necessity.Is there any inevitability here?In any case, I always learned the language and brought what I learned back to China.Although I have never taken Tocharian as my main business, it is only my sideline business, and I have not done it for almost thirty years due to various reasons. It is only because of another accident that I resumed my old business; however, this After all, the study of this language has taken root in China, and it is an inevitable result to blossom and bear fruit.When I think of this, my nostalgia and gratitude for my grandfather-like teacher arises spontaneously.

Now that Professor Sigg has passed away, and I am an octogenarian myself, the days I can work are limited.However, when I think of my teacher, Mr. Thick, my energy is boundless.China's Tocharian studies, and to expand it a little bit, China's Indology, can now be said to have laid the foundation.We have a group of vigorous young and middle-aged Sanskrit scholars, who are Mr. Jin Kemu and my students and students of students, of course, it can also be said that they are the students of the students of Professor Sick and Professor Waldschmidt.They will shoulder the important task of prospering this science, I have no doubts.Thinking of this, although I am old and fatuous, I can't help but have a fresh vitality welling up in my heart.

1988