Chapter 57 Inscription on "Long Live the Wife"

"Long Live the Wife" is about an ordinary man's wife.In the alleys of Shanghai, there can be several of her in one house. Her breath is the one we are most familiar with, like the smell of cooking smoke downstairs, faint, dreamy, slightly suffocating; it comes in from the window in bursts, and then there is the clear and urgent rustle of cooking. The sound of running water.The housewife probably doesn't cook by herself, but sometimes the aunt is too busy, so she will sit in front of the round plaque in the living room to pick vegetables or peel peppers.Cut the emerald green bell pepper in half to form ears, and then take out the seeds and strands of cotton in each petal, patiently, as if digging the ears of countless children.There are old and young in the family, but she still has to be a lonely person.There was no one to talk to, and she didn't seem to have any good friends.She had too many scruples, and it was rare for her to speak the truth.I don’t go out very much, but when I go out, I look very decent; I put on a spring coat with “raincoat shoulder blades”, hold a glass leather bag in my hand, smile pinkly and redly, brag for my husband, support the scene for my mother’s family, and cover up for the failed children. ...

Her circumstances had an unfortunate tendency to make one narrow, petty, and vulgar, so that the word "madame" was often spoken of in the general world with a hint of sarcasm.Modern China doesn't seem to have much expectations for wives, and there are few requirements except chastity.And there are many incompetent wives who spend their lives safely.Those conscientious wives, like Chen Sizhen in this play, dealt with a half-sized family, wronged themselves everywhere, and took care of the overall situation. When you get up, you will become a little bit of a little bit.After all, Chen Sizhen is not a famous person.She is less saintly and heroic than them, so she looks much more approachable.But it's even more impersonal.Without the pressure of the environment, why should she be so restrained?This kind of psychology seems very puzzling.If she has any greatness, I think it is that her actions are automatic, we cannot count her as a victim of the system.

Chinese women have always changed from young girls to middle-aged people as soon as they get married, skipping the stage of young women.Chen Sizhen already has the temperament of a middle-aged person.She finally got a happy ending and she was not very happy; the so-called "sorrowful middle age" probably means that their joy is always mixed with a bit of bitterness, and their sorrow is not completely without comfort. I like "Floating World" very much However, if it is "sorrows and joys of the floating world", it is actually more sad than "sorrows of the floating world", so there is a feeling of boundlessness and change.

Chen Sizhen uses her skills in dealing with the world to smooth the lives of the people around her and make the passing of life silent. Whether she uses those tricks and scheming is necessary! !Was her manner unquestionable?This is of course still a problem.In "Long Live My Wife", I didn't intend to affirm or protect Chen Sizhen, I just proposed that there is a person like her. For a woman like Sizhen to marry a worthless husband, she would have liked it.Her husband always felt depressed that he was underappreciated for his talents, and when the time came, his luck would immediately follow.It turned out that his wife had created his opportunity to get rich. After he found out, his self-esteem was hurt, and he lost his temper with her instead—this is also human nature.Perhaps those with more experience in the audience wouldn't condemn him too much?

As for the psychology of the audience, to be honest, I still have no grasp at all until now, although I have been exploring there.Some accidental discoveries are also discoveries that make people feel more bleak.However... literature and art can have the literature and art of a few people, but things like movies cannot be shared between second and third confidantes.Even watching in the test room, the atmosphere is different from watching in a theater, because there is no large audience.Once I saw three 14-year-old and 15-year-old children on the street. They were road heroes. They walked shoulder to shoulder and said, "Go to the movies." I thought, "Ah, are they the audience?" There was a bit of respect, and at the same time it seemed that they were suddenly far away from me. I looked at their backs and felt very melancholy.

The most difficult thing for Chinese audiences to deal with is not bad taste or poor understanding, but that they are too accustomed to legends.Unfortunately, the wife in "Long Live the Wife" does not have a twisted and bizarre life experience.Her deeds are as plain as the ripples in the wood's heart.No matter how you try to add to the drama, I am afraid it is still difficult to make up for this defect, in the eyes of the audience.But I always feel that Jitu uses techniques to replace legends, and gradually dilutes the audience's desire for legendary dramas. This painstaking effort should be forgiven?

John Gassner criticized the play "Our Town," saying it "affirms humanity—a simple humanity that seeks only to quietly complete its cycle of life and love and death." kind.The progress of the play should also be like the movement of the sun, pounding from one corner of the room to another corner, it is almost invisible to move, but it is sudden.The "quiet drama" once advocated by Maeterlinck almost overlaps the realms of drama and painting, but in fact it is the most likely to be realized on the screen.However, we can only yearn for these for the time being.For example, "Long Live My Wife" had to involve a lot of plots, keeping several actors busy.Strictly speaking, this is not enough training.

However, because of this, I find it more Chinese.I like it like the shoes sold on the street, the hollow patterns cut out of white paper, supported on rose red paper, those simple patterns. Some characters appearing in "Long Live My Wife", all they experienced were tears and laughter that were destined to be forgotten, and even they themselves had to forget.The burden of this long life is shared by everyone, and this alone should make people feel close, right? "Death makes all men equal", but why wait until death? Does not life itself make all men equal?In a person's life, the things they go through really shock them, aren't they all the same few things?Why should death be so important?Is it because death is more legendary-while life seems trivial and ordinary?

Thinking like this, I felt as if I had suddenly made a major discovery, and besides being happy, I also felt sad. I knew at the time that once I left the balcony at dusk, I would never understand again.The half-length green bamboo curtain stretched out on the balcony has turned as yellow as autumn grass after being exposed to the sun all summer.I grate my hair on the balcony, and my hair also falls out like fallen leaves, falling in bursts, and blowing on my arms, like night rain.There are many car horns screaming in a hurry from far and near; the sky that is gradually darkening spreads out like a hazy lake in all directions.There was a wisp of white cooking smoke coming out of a window opening on the lowest floor of a house across the street, ascending very hesitantly, as if not knowing where the sky was.When the dew falls, the hair will become more astringent when it is wet, and the more you grate, the more difficult it will be.With bare ankles and a chilly wind blowing up, I went in later.

(December 3, 1947)