Chapter 71 say

say Who can not speak, except the mute?Some people say it at this time, but they don't say it at that time.Some people say it in one place, but not in another place.Some people talk to these people, not to those people.Some say more, some say less.Some people like to talk, some people don't like to talk.Although the dumb man didn't speak, he still had that Yiyi Yaya voice and gestures of pointing and pointing. Talking is not easy.Talking every day may not be able to speak; many people have talked all their lives without saying a few words well.The so-called "debaters' tongue sharpness" and "a three-inch tongue" are just evidence that things are rare and expensive; the literati pay attention to "speaking" for the same reason.We don't want to be debaters, lobbyists, or literati, but life is nothing more than words and actions, except for actions, there is only words. The so-called sophistication of the world is half in words.The ancient text "Shangshu" said, "Only the mouth, good Xing Rong," the impact of a sentence is sometimes unexpected, and there are many examples in history and novels.

Even if speaking is not more difficult than writing, it is by no means easier than writing.Some people can speak but can't write, but some people can write but can't speak.Speech is like flowing clouds and flowing water, and you can't deliberate word by word, so there will inevitably be careless omissions, which is not as rigorous as composition.But those flowing nature is by no means covered by ordinary articles. ——An article can reach such a state, it should be regarded as speech, and it is no longer an article.But what an unattainable state this is!In our articles, although there is a standard of "use the pen as the tongue" in philosophy, how many people in ancient and modern times can really "use the pen as the tongue"?However, the writing is not very natural, and it can still be skillful, but the speaking is not good; if the speaking is also skillful, you think, it's really impressive!

How many kinds of speech there are, I can't say.Roughly divided: speaking to everyone, explaining, and even storytelling is one kind, meeting is one kind, public-private negotiation is one kind, court trial is one kind, and talking to journalists is one kind;—these can be called formal.Chatting among friends is also a kind, which can be called informal.Formal ones don't necessarily have to elongate the face, but most of the time it is elongated.These words are always fragmented, and sometimes they are prepared in advance.Only chatting, you can go up and down the past and present, and come up with a mix; if you say it is a mix, it will naturally be fragmented, with the exception of fragments.Chatting is far from being prepared, it's all about making conversation and adapting to changing circumstances.Wouldn't it be a big joke to say that you will go to "chat" when you are ready?There are probably some formulas for this kind of talk, even for small talk—"weather" is often the beginning of small talk, which is an example.But the formula is dead, not enough, and God still cares about people.Those who can speak will make you smile, and those who can't speak will make you dizzy, even if it means the same meaning or even the same sentence.

The Chinese have long paid attention to speaking. "Zuo Zhuan", "National Policies", and "Shi Shuo" are our three talking classics.One is diplomatic rhetoric, the other is strategist rhetoric, and the other is talk.You can see how tactful and smooth their words are, and every word hits people's hearts.There is another one, the dialogue in it is also very relaxed and beautiful.In addition, Jia Junfang in the Han Dynasty was nicknamed "Yu Mi Tian Tian", but unfortunately all we have left is this praise; Liu Jingting's storytelling in the Ming Dynasty was very famous, but unfortunately we have no way of understanding it.In recent years, the new literature has Europeanized the vernacular, borrowing many lively and subtle expressions from foreign languages, and at the same time suggesting that we should re-evaluate some of the old expressions.This gives our language a new flavor, a new power.In addition to the difficulty of speaking in these years, ordinary newspapers have become more obedient. They know how to use sideways, reverse, and in-between expressions.This is an unavoidable good training for readers; they gradually become sensitive, and only sensitive people can appreciate the subtle chewing taste.The art of speaking has indeed made considerable progress during this period.On the art of speaking, Han Fei's "Say Difficulty" seems to be the only famous one in the past, which is a meticulously analyzed text.Now we have quite a few fine police works, Mr. Lu Xun's "Li Lun" is the best.This proves what I mean by considerable progress.

The highest attitude of the Chinese towards speaking is forgetting words, but as Zen "teaches" people to "hang their mouths on the wall", they still cannot avoid talking.The second is to be cautious, reticent, and slow in speaking.There are differences between these three things: careful speech means speaking carefully, and speaking carefully means speaking less, and speaking less will make fewer mistakes.Reticence means talking less, and it is a deep or chaste character or virtue.Na Yuyan is unable to speak, and it is a kind of honest and honest character or morality.These two are mostly generated.The third is rhetoric or rhetoric.For a sincere gentleman, the power of personality shines through all darkness, and there is no need to speak much, and there is no need to embellish what he says.He only knows how to be groomed, with extravagantly gaudy lips and full of spears in his belly, he is a so-called villain; he is so good at grooming that people will not believe it.His tricks will always be exposed one day.We are ordinary people between the two, without that great courage, but we will not forget ourselves.It's just that we can't ignore the world and human feelings. We look at the time, the place, and the person, and modify our speech under the two conditions of politeness and fun.There is no power here, only wit; real power is not something that can be embellished.All we can hope for is: say less and say more.

(Originally published in "Novel Monthly" on June 10, 1929)