Chapter 49 Appendix II

"Fog" and "Electricity" ——Ba Jin's "Trilogy of Love" Liu Xiwei Arnold, when discussing the translation of Homer, believed that translators should not predetermine a language as a bondage to their work.In fact, not only translators, but critics also need this kind of advice.And not just language—symbols of expression; I mean something more like a standard of prejudice.Language helps us to perform and hinders us to perform; standards help us to perform and hinder us to perform. Where there is an advantage, there is a disadvantage, and this regret is especially seen in spiritual activities and artistic production.Professor Niu Man didn't translate Homer into English with Latin roots, but in the end he didn't do it himself, and even if he did, it would be futile.The poet Cowper wanted to translate Homer in Milton's poetic style, and in the end he succeeded, but he lost Homer's natural fluency.The two saw it small, but didn't see it big; saw it quiet, but didn't see it changing.The so-called big change is the root of Homer's human nature.Homer sang with a free mood back then, but today we do not have a broad mood to accept.

Both critics and translators are originally readers, and they all have the process of initial reading experience. Gradually based on differences in personality and goals, they parted ways. One hoped to introduce the work intact, and the other hoped to explain the work intact.Here too, be as faithful as possible.But when it comes to explanations, critics can't help but add something extra—another existence.So reading a piece of criticism becomes the joy and sorrow of watching two people separate or reunite.The reason why criticism succeeds as an independent art is not because it has fragments such as terminology, but because it has a rich and human existence.A real creation cannot cancel its own existence because of the existence of another critic.Critics are not blunt dikes that block the flow of water.Dikes are needed, even necessary.However, in front of a masterpiece, a critic is not so much a guide, a referee, but an appreciator, not only polite, but also a matter of course.This is just another stream of water: small, absorbed by big water;A human nature penetrates into another human nature, not standing up to block another human nature.Being clear and straight, not misleading others and my vitality, is not a clever but laborious effort of modern people.

The critic is not slick, he has his own basis for explaining the phenomenon of life: this is a complex or simple organic existence, and what is active here may only be a few abstract concepts, but abstract concepts are not the standard of his criticism, Restrict small and imaginative activities, big and vast ups and downs of human nature.Before understanding a work, before experiencing a writer from a work, he must first know himself.When I observe this work and its author in this way, do I really have no prejudices, prejudices, or things I don’t see?In other words, am I not misunderstanding my writer?Because first, my congenital conditions may be different from his; second, my acquired environment may be different from his;He may be my intellectual enemy.Can I forgive him, appreciate him?Can I open the emotional barrier and accept his emotional presence?Can I tolerate the worldly views, throw away the worldly views, and completely follow the justice of my own reason?Unable to resist a few questions, the critic becomes more timid and more determined; if he is wrong, his entire existence will be his backing.That's why.Baudelaire does not want to be a critic, but he is really appreciating; Bretier wants to be a critic, but sometimes he can't help but fall into the wrong: one is based on knowledge, and the other is based on life.Learning is dead, but life is alive; learning belongs to life, not life belongs to learning; we respect Bretier, and we love Baudelaire.It is Bretier, even if he is wrong, he has his entire existence as the basis.He is not a broken tree without roots, flowing with the wind and water.He is himself.

However, before the rich, gorgeous and mysterious life, even the diamond-like Bretier, he will lose color, be in a dilemma, and have no grounds to look up.A critic needs a broad mind, but he is not afraid of not having a broad mind, and even more afraid of lacking a deep understanding.Although a quatrain, do you fully accept it?Although it is a popular novel, do you guarantee that it does not have a profound background in life?In the personal or social corners represented by poets or novelists, if you have never lived, do you have the full imagination to reborn?If your experience differs from that of the author, who is more reasonable?If you are right, have you ever taken into account all the basic distinctions, such as temperament, feeling, faculties, etc.?There is nothing more unpredictable than life, and nothing more profound and unknowable than human nature.Almost all the difficulties in knowing a work and its author lie in the barriers between people.

One more step into a masterpiece, one more refinement of my heart, one more enlightenment of my wisdom; traveling in a similar but different world, I have gained a lot of insight.There is only happiness at this time.Because of the greatness of another personality, my insignificant life unknowingly adds a little meaning.This time it is thanks again.And the pain of the critics, the only thing that can't cross the other land across the water, is also particularly profound. That's why, many writers of the same generation and their works, I often can't enter them, only if they are solid, and if they are not, they are not.Belonging to the same era and the same region, they inevitably share the interests of the world.Can I see them as spotless and unhappy as I see the ancients?

For people today, even for the ancients, my standards hinder my understanding of them.Observing Fei Ming and Ba Jin with the same scale, I have to sacrifice one of them, because Fei Ming becomes a state by itself, just as Ba Jin becomes a force by itself.There should be hermits like Fei Ming in the world, and there should be warriors like Ba Jin.One gives us philosophy, and the other gives us youth.Both are in human nature, one is the coldness that must be reversed at the extreme, and the other is the heat that must be reversed at the extreme, but they are also in line with human nature.When the time comes to criticize these two writers, we should first disarm ourselves, disarm our diction, grammar, art, literature, etc., and then meet them with our bare hands according to their attitude.

Often we misuse words, especially abstract words, and thus lose their full meaning.For example, "attitude", a person's expression of life, an inevitable function of internal and external consistency, a consistent activity that affects life from the spirit, and affects the spirit from life, forming the greatest relationship between us in this world.To understand Fei Ming, we must know his attitude towards life; to understand Ba Jin, we especially need to know his attitude towards life. Only Ba Jin has many readers, enthusiastic young men and women in their twenties.The so-called attitude is not about things, let alone people, but a reflection of the whole personality of the whole society or the whole life.I say "whole" because the author adopts a certain attitude, not to deal with a certain matter or a certain person: anything that contains selfish elements will be rejected.For example, Ba Jin, using the terminology of his characters, his love is for human beings, and his hatred is for the system.Knowing this, we can read all his writings, and not misunderstand all his wrath.

It is no wonder that in the preface to the banned "Sprout", the author complained: "Whether the critics praise or blame me, they can't go out of the same circle; they extract a factual statement or a character in the novel. What I say is analyzed and criticized as my thoughts. They never want to observe and study my novels as a whole thing. For example, they want to understand the current society. Live with one or two people, and judge what the current society is like from the thoughts and actions of these one or two people. Isn’t this ridiculous?” I said that most of his readers are young people in their twenties.This journey of life from innocence to sophistication is most worthy of one's nostalgia: here is the lovely interweaving of hope, faith, enthusiasm, love, loneliness, pain, and disillusionment.Ba Jin is happy because his characters belong to a group of real young people, and his readers also belong to a group of real young people.His heart kindles their hearts.His feelings were exactly what they were feeling in a state of depression.They have just been released from the cage of the old family and come to the city they yearn for; they have longing hearts, boiling blood, and excess energy; they need work, not for work, not for themselves (actually for themselves) , for a nobler ideal, an unattainable cause (is there a nobler ideal than saving all mankind, a cause more unattainable than sacrificing oneself?); The power of tradition—they are not allowed to do anything, and society itself is a great evil.These innocent youths who have nowhere to go, are wandering astray, and are driven by their passions, need sex, encouragement, and comfort more than the old people. They don't have the old people's experience, philosophy, and a kind of down-and-out spontaneous tide; they are eager to see themselves—even if it is their own. Shadow—fighting, and the greatest comfort at the same time is seeing yourself struggling and feeling the heroism of being sacrificed for the first time in the world.So Ba Jin came, Ba Jin and his enthusiastic works came.You can imagine how such a group of young men and women hugged his novels, for example, crying and laughing with the characters in the novel.There is more need than this.more appropriate.It's even more difficult to say what they want.

There is no writer who does not love his own writings, but no writer loves his works like Ba Jin.After reading all his prefaces and postscripts, you can understand the kind of maternal love.He will tell you that he despises literature: "What is literature? I don't know, and I never wanted to know. There are various courses on literature in universities, and there are various books on literature in bookstores, but these do not exist among bearers and servants... It is an undeniable fact that I have written some novels.But these novels will not be included in the literature, because I have never read a book on literature. "Preface to The General) You don't need to pay attention to his similar indignation. He has something to say; he is mocking the kind of ascetics who art for art's sake, or to put it more plainly, the university that separates life and art Professor. He is perfectly reasonable—the rationale of intuitive emotion. But if art is a reflection of society, if literature is a reflection of life, and if art and life are the same, then Ba Jin’s novels, no matter how he is, are as hot as children. , is to be "listed in the forest of literature" and become a kind of historical material for future generations to understand some forms of today's upheaval. Ba Jinyi expanded his works purely because they symbolize the meaning of social movements: "I write articles to consume myself youthful life, wasting his vigor.My literature sucks my blood, I know it myself, but I cannot forbid it.Social phenomena are like a whip driving me to pick up a pen.But my attitude towards life, my beliefs, and my disposition make me unable to be reconciled, and I have to struggle. "(Preface to "The General") In another preface, he cut to the chase: "I am a person with faith. "(Preface to "Death") Remembering him as "a man of faith", we can better understand his works, lessons (not moral, but upward), background, and his love of himself rather than literature works for a reason.

"I never have the guts to say that my articles are well-written, but I always have a preference for my own articles. Every time a book is published, I always like to write some words of my own explanation." (Preface to "Sprout") also Precisely because it is entirely based on his attitude towards life, his works and his characters are filled with his soul, and his soul is completely integrated into their existence.Zola had a great influence on Mao Dun, and a considerable influence on Ba Jin; but Zola, who was too much hinted by science and Flaubert, tended to pay more attention to objective observation, although he himself should have become a lyric poet ( Especially Zola in Germination).Bajin lacks Zola's objective approach, but is more enthusiastic than Zola.In this respect, he is similar to George Sand.George Sand puts her woman's universal love into her works; she loves the characters she creates; she is lyrical and ideal; she wants to save the world and want everyone to share her heart.Ba Jin also puts himself into his novels: his emotions, his likes and dislikes, his thoughts, his entire spiritual life.As he said: "None of the things described in this book are my own (although there are many things I have seen and heard), but the sorrow that runs through the whole book is my own sorrow." "(Preface to "Death") This kind of "sorrow that runs through the whole book" is his own sorrow, but the sorrowful, optimistic Johan Sang never bears it.Sorrow is real and belongs to the world beyond Eden.George Sand is like a rich man, giving her happiness to her kind; Ba Jin is like a poor man, trying to win an equal amount of happiness for his kind.When he writes about a hero, he actually has to write countless heroes; when his hero blows up an opponent, he actually wants to blow up the entire system represented by the opponent.Manpower is limited, so sorrow is inevitable; hope is infinite, so struggle must continue.Sorrow is not despair.Some of Ba Jin is sad, some of his characters are sad, but the light is bright in front of their eyes, the torch is burning in their hearts, they never despair.They are human as we are, yet none of them will be weak when the time comes to sacrifice themselves.Not weak, but they are so easy to move.Touched to the extreme, they forgot themselves, regardless of their own interests, and became the first to be the brave warriors who looked down on death.This group of outspoken people with lofty ideals saw and thought of everything, but they did not think for themselves.But they can't help their physical demands: they have to live, to live to fulfill the mission of human beings; they have to love, to satisfy their instinctive impulses.Life must be meaningful; love must not interfere with justice.Other traditions are superfluous, hypocritical, and secular.In other words, bondage.From "Fog" to "Electricity", it is from skin to flesh, from flesh to core, peeling into the center of the author's thoughts step by step. The object of "Fog" is hesitation, the object of "Electricity" is action.

In fact, sadness is just the other side of enthusiasm. I have used the word "enthusiasm" several times, now we might as well think about it carefully. Nothing can stop enthusiasm, unless the author himself cools down, like a torrent, unless the source itself dries up. China Krasik's ideal is "to stay within the bounds. "Intellect and emotion in one. This is not an easy task, nor is it what Ba Jin wants.Enthusiasm makes him know justice instinctively, makes him know what he likes and dislikes instinctively, and makes him live forever in the wilderness of youth instinctively.He doesn't steer his passions; he's brilliant, he steers them, or passions by their nature, you name it.He can really say: "I write articles as if I am living." (Preface) He lives in enthusiasm.Enthusiasm makes his narration smooth.You can imagine how quickly he writes.Some fluency is the effect of several carvings, and some are natural momentum.Between the two, Ba Jin's writing seems to belong to the latter.He doesn't use style, enthusiasm is his style.In a good season, you read it in one go; in a bad season, the article slips past before it is catchy.There is nothing wrong with this, but you are about to pay attention, but you have already been involved in the following.Mao Wang lacks the spontaneity of Ba Jin's writing; he puts too many things into the words and sentences, one thing in one thing, one thing in the other, which is bumpy and dazzling; this is stronger than Ba ​​Jin's writing, but bumpy.This is why our two major novelists today are not good at description.Mao Dun is clumsy in terms of words, because he picks them up along the way; Ba Jin's enthusiasm does not allow him to describe, because the work of description is relatively calm, and enthusiasm does not allow Ba Jin to be calm.Lost in the east, harvested in the mulberry, he uses narrative to make up for the lack of description.In his "Trilogy of Love", the reason why "Fog" pales in comparison is because scenery is needed here, but the author has lightly let it go. The seaside and countryside in "Fog" are looking forward to picturesque colors, but the author lacks sympathy and patience.Chen Zhen, a martyr with lofty ideals, alluded to the author's proposition: "For me, it is better to live a day of activity in the city than to live a peaceful and stable life in the countryside for a year." Enthusiasm then becomes the character of the main character.Either love or hate, there is no possibility of compromise.Chen Zhen told us: "I am a person with blood, flesh and feelings. Since I was a child, I have had love and hatred... My hatred is as deep as my love." ("Fog") Hug With such a hot heart, they hesitated at the crossroads, surrounded by unknown silence.Wu Renmin said to himself: "I will always be lonely and enthusiastic."Hearing his friend praise others, Wu Renmin couldn't help but smile miserably; "This smile contains jealousy and loneliness." Leaving aside all external causes, we can immediately see that the revolution has such a chain of emotions: enthusiasm—loneliness— - resentment - destruction - destruction - construction.These young people are almost like "a volcano, which has never erupted before, so it seems to be calm on the surface, and now it is about to erupt." The first five chapters strongly set off Wu Renmin's enthusiasm for nowhere, and the final conclusion is "everything is dead, Only the pain is not dead. The pain surrounds them, surrounds this room, and surrounds the whole world." A powerful character in "Electricity" is Min, who wants to blow up the brigade commander, but he is very calm.The author described his determination: "This determination is unchangeable. For him, everything has been arranged. It is not reason that orders him, it is emotion, it is experience, it is environment. They make him understand : Peaceful work is useless, others don't give them long hours. Others don't give them opportunities." The Brigadier was slightly injured.Min died for it.No one sent him to assassinate; he spoiled all the plans that were going on.But they had to forgive him: "If you think about it, he's been through so much pain, he's seen so many people die, he's a man of too many emotions. Agitation ruins him. He yearns for sacrifice at all times." Enthusiasm is not power, but through psychological steps, it can become a great motivation.At first it was just a cloud of mist, stuffy in my beating heart.Wu Renmin cherishes his emotions, and most revolutionaries cherish their own emotions, which is the most personal and true.Chen Zhen is dead ()Chapter 1 Chen Zhen's sudden death is an accident for us, and an allegory for the author. The influence of the actual deceased follows the whole book without interruption; we feel his great personality everywhere.Only in this way, the author had to call a car to kill him like a dog at the beginning: the protagonist of "Electricity" is Wu Renmin, and the protagonist of "Electricity" is Li Peizhu, so the author turns him into a kind of air, as the spirit of the two. breathing), Wu Renmin answered his grief like crazy: "This is not his problem, this is my problem." "My problem."—Emotion is the problem of their eternal life, and it is the root of youth.Enthusiasm is not power, but it is a kind of madness, a subconscious demand that cannot be restrained.Wu Renmin got drunk, grabbed his friend back on the street and shouted: "My heart is beating so hard, I can never close my eyes and sleep. You don't know how much it is for a person with such a warm heart to be shut up in a room like a tomb, lying on a bed as cold as a coffin, tossing and turning, hearing the car horn outside, as if hearing music from hell. uncomfortable.You won't understand this kind of torture.What I want is activity, heat, and even death.I'm afraid to be calm.I don't want to calm down... I'm very flustered.I must go where there are many people.Even to the big world.I'm not afraid even if I meet a soliciting pheasant.At least that exciting smell, that intoxicating hug will also give me a little heat and give me a little strength.My blood is going to burn.My heart is going to melt.I don't feel my presence anymore. This naked raving is full of truth.We now understand the sentence in Chen Zhen's diary: "If the world does not perish and mankind does not perish, revolution will always come." Enthusiasm is not a kind of power, but a fire that burns itself and others. It seeks something, but cannot satisfy it, so it turns into pain: "We want to cherish pain, pain is our strength, and pain is our pride." Min in "Electricity" did not hesitate to destroy the overall plan because of pain, begging One faster than others and I will die.He finds solutions through action.But Wu Renmin is not only enthusiastic, but also sentimental and sentimental.He has a strong instinctive request: a woman.For him, passion is nothing but passion for healing. He finds a solution in love.We might as well listen to Wu Renmin's raving again: "There is always darkness around me. There is no one who cares about me and loves me... But you are here. You emerged from the darkness... I have new courage ...I beg you to allow me...I beg you not to leave me..." He thought love was immortal because emotion lived forever; their love was immortal because love was immortal.He is drowning in the sea of ​​love.Outwardly he has changed drastically.He got courage from the woman, and he wants to use this courage to save her. "He put the responsibility of saving a woman on his shoulders, and felt that this was much more practical than working for the happiness of mankind." He was not as smart as Li Peizhu, although this was a girl under twenty years old, She knows that love is just a moment of intoxication.And more than intoxication, love is disillusionment.The image of life is changing all the time, and love is changing all the time.But this is a medicine after all; Wu Renmin has a strong body and character; Zhou Rushui (the protagonist of "Fog") can't fight the disease, and he can't fight the medicine; Wu Renmin didn't mistake himself, nor committed suicide, he finally matured Yes, he went from the trek of life to the "Electricity" of life. Among the comrades who came to "Dian", Wu Renmin almost became an elder.He has come out of his apprenticeship.He gradually returned to a simple and simple situation from the temperament inherited from the tradition.In the past, he was the protagonist of the movie, but he is not a perfect man, a hero.The author never embellishes because of love.He is not completely worthless like Zhou Rushui, nor is he completely transcendent like Chen Zhen: he is a good person and a bad person, in other words, a person full of possibilities in human relationships.Sometimes I ask myself whether the success of the film is due to having such a central figure. I'm afraid it is.This is exactly the tragedy of modern novelists like Ba Jin.A common ideal of modern novelists is: how to get rid of the traditional writing method centered on the individual to achieve the highest effect of the novel.They want novels to be socialized, popularized, and averaged. They don't want heroes, they can do it; they don't want central characters, they can't do it.The point is this: the novel, more than any other literary genre, is built on a special humanity, on a common interest among readers: there must be someone here.It is also under the same requirement that the disappointment of readers determines the fate of "Dian". The failure of "Fog" is due to the crudeness, and the failure of "Electricity" is due to disorder.However, chaos is better than ugliness. Moreover, I dare say that the author's narrative skills are more handy in "Electricity" than in "Electricity".I didn't intend to be playful, readers' eyes really can't catch up with Ba Jin's pen. However, back to my earlier observation.Wu Renmin became an elder in "Electricity".He has experience; experience increases his sympathy; despair makes his peace. To this day we still hear ridiculous talk about revolution and love.There is nothing more ludicrous than the mixing up of an ideal and an instinctive desire.Love contains spiritual activities, but even if Shelley is alive again, it cannot be denied that love belongs to instinctive needs.If revolution is noble, love is at least natural.We should let nature take its course.Revolutionaries, then, should fall in love—like everyone else.As he died, Ming spit out his usual question: "Do we have this—right?" The idea of ​​duty tormented him.Wu Renmin comforted him and explained: "Why do you have to be confused? Individual happiness does not necessarily conflict with collective happiness. Love is not a crime. We cannot be different from others in this regard." In terms of theoretical development, this "Trilogy of Love" actually got its final answer here.An example of an answer is Hui, a love supremacist, forever singing her song: "I know I don't have much time to live, and I should live it to the fullest." Another more perfect - more ideal example is the combination of Wu Renmin and Li Peizhu.I have to ask readers to take a look at the sixth chapter of "Electricity". This chapter is written so truthfully and so naturally.Here are two men and women of the same faith brought together, I would almost say two leaders walking hand in hand.Love increases their courage and makes them forget the dangers around them.They have hope: "Tomorrow the sun will rise as usual." Even if there is nothing tomorrow for them, their faith will not be shaken by "I am not afraid... I have faith." Doesn't this coincide with what the author said in another preface: "I am a person with faith," doesn't it?I don't know if their beliefs are the same, but they all have beliefs, don't they?Happy people, happy Ba Jin. Transcribed from the literary column of Tianjin "Ta Kung Pao" on the Double Tenth Festival) The Freedom of the Author of "The Trilogy of Love" ——To the friend of Mr. Liu Xiwei: I don't know what to call you.I call you a friend, and you should know that's not a distant call.In addition to my "Trilogy of Love", you may have read my prose or essays, and you may know one or two of my friends. From this, you should understand that the word "friend" is very important in people's life. meaning.I said I have many generous friends, I said I live off my friends.These are not hypocritical words.I have no home, no property, nothing that a man can call his own.I have faith, and faith governs my reason; I have friends, and friends inspire my emotions.I have nothing but these two.Without faith, I cannot live; without friends, there is no joy in my life.It is only through these two that I can live until now. You say that I am a happy person, but you also compare me to a poor person who wants to fight for the happiness of the same kind (I admire your good metaphor.).I don't know what to say to your words.I have just finished writing the general preface of "The Trilogy of Love". In this article of nearly 30,000 words (I have never written such a long preface), I opened a corner of my soul for the first time: I explain Why I wrote those three books; I explain how I wrote them; I explain why I like them particularly among my oeuvre.If you read that article, you can understand me a little bit, and you will also know what kind of answer I should give to your criticism.But that article has not yet been typed, so I have to write you this letter first.Over the past year, I have said that I should be silent, and others also said that I have been silent. But when enthusiasm is burning in my body, just swallowing a word can shorten the life of a day.If I am not willing to close my eyes and wait for death, I have to open my mouth and say out loud what I have to say, and I even say it over and over again. Friends, don't think that I just write on paper with a tube of "ten thousand years pen". In fact, I read while writing.At this time, I was living in a friend's "house". According to the friend himself, "because of the gray color, one friend said that he would go crazy if he lived in less than two months, and the other said that it would only take three months." You can become a madman in just one day." Your friend's words may be reliable.Now he has gone to Tianjin, leaving me and a cook to guard the seven rooms on the north and south sides.The cook slept quietly in the porter's room.The South Room kept its secrets in darkness.I was sitting alone in the spacious north room surrounded by gray and dark colors.On the matted desk, an old watch ticked monotonously from second to second.The embers of the burnt coals in the furnace fell feebly through the cracks in the bridge.That was the only sound in a row of four rooms.As I say in it, everything is dead: love is dead, hate is dead, sorrow and joy are dead.At this time, I also want to lie down on the bed with my eyes closed.However I can't.I am not dead.Not even this tomb-like room could suffocate my breath.I cannot bear the silence.I can't hear a human voice.But I can still speak for myself.So I read out loud the sentences I wrote, even if it was just me. I am such a person, and my whole existence can be explained by this.Be a man who screams in the dark—and here lies my strength, my tragedy. When I talk about tragedy, you may not believe it. As a critic, didn't you say "Happy Ba Jin"?Happiness, that is indeed what I have been striving for all my life, but as you said, I am trying to "win happiness for the same kind", I am not seeking happiness for myself.At this point I see your contradiction.He who strives for the happiness of his fellow man will never achieve it himself.Thomas Paine, who helped the United States become independent, said: "Where there is no freedom is my land," Franklin, who said "Where there is freedom, is my land," understands freedom better. Those who have faith must be happy; Ba Jin's novels are full of people with faith, and they are all happy people, so Ba Jin is happy.Friend, you just believe it.But there is a distance between belief and religion.Christian virgins knelt in front of the beasts in the Colosseum, looked up at the sky and prayed. At that time, they had no fear of impending doom, because they saw the gate of heaven opened for them.They are happy because their belief is heaven - personal happiness.The happiness we seek is for all, except ourselves.Our faith lies in a bright future that we may not be able to see ourselves.Revolutionaries and Christians are two completely different types.Revolutions have passion, and among Christians, passion is crime.Passion is the source of pain: the efforts of the religious kill it, the revolutionaries cherish it.That is why we rarely see happy people among revolutionaries.The suicide notes of the martyrs are also often mournful.They don't regret it, but they said to their parents: "Please forgive me"; they said to their comrades: "When our ideals become reality one day in the future, I hope you will remember me." From this point of view, I should say that you are wrong in analyzing the revolution as a chain of emotions: enthusiasm-loneliness-resentment-destruction-destruction-construction.A true revolutionary is never lonely.His starting point is love, not hate.When a young man has love in his chest, that passion gives him the courage to give everything.If I use the words of my friend, a French philosopher, to explain, this is that life is overflowing in the body, and it must be released.Everyone has more love, more sympathy, more energy than he needs to keep himself alive, and should spend it on others.I have a little bit of experience myself: at the age of fifteen, I also had that "moment of devotion".At that time, I didn't feel lonely, and I didn't feel resentful. All I have is just one thought: use my extra energy to fight for the happiness of the same kind. Destruction and construction are not separable things.There should be no "destruction" in the middle.In it, Wu Renmin believes in Bakunin's words: "The passion for destruction is the passion for construction." But the meaning of this sentence is deeper than Wu Renmin understands.I want to say that these two nouns have almost the same meaning, and they are not complete when used alone.Passion contains these two things.And when passion is in a man's body, his desire to build (or create) is stronger than his desire to destroy. But enthusiasm doesn't accomplish everything.If there is nothing to guide it, to assist it, then it will burst out in pieces like sparks and fall to the wetlands to die. Passion so often destroys people.I don’t know how many letters I have written to advise my friends, saying: Enthusiasm is precious, but if you blindly let it be consumed anytime and anywhere, you will only destroy yourself.Such enthusiasm may be like a volcano, and all that remains after the eruption is death.It destroys other things, and it also destroys itself. Then comes faith.Faith does not restrain enthusiasm, it strengthens it, but what is more important: it also guides it.Faith opens a path for enthusiasm, allowing it to flow slowly without being blocked or flooded.From "fog" to "electricity", faith flows into the sea with enthusiasm and comfort.The seascape appeared in "Electricity". 《电》是结论，所以《电》和和《雾》都不同，就如海洋与溪流相异。一个人的眼睛可以跟着一道溪流缓缓地流入江河。但是站在无涯的海洋前面你就只能够看见掀天的白浪。你能说你的眼睛跟得上海水吗？ 进了《电》里面，朋友，连你的眼睛也花了。你就说《电》紊乱，这是不公平的。朋友，你坐在书斋里面左边望望福楼拜，右边望望左拉和乔治·桑。要是你抬起头突然看见巴金就站在你的面前，你一定会张皇失措。你的冷静和客观都失了效用。你准备赤手空拳迎上去，但是你的拳头会打到空处。你不会看清楚这个古怪的人，因为这样的人从前就没有过。《电》迷了你的眼睛。因为福楼拜，左拉，乔治·桑就写不出这样的东西。朋友，这句话会给你抓装错儿"了。但是请慢点，我的话里并不含有骄傲的成分。我只是说：我们现在生活里的一切，他们在那个时候连做梦也想不到。他们死了，你可以把他们的尸首搬来搬去，随意地解剖。但是对于像我这样的一个活人，你就得另想办法。你以为抓住了我，可是我一举脚就溜了几千里，你连我跑到什么地方也不会知道。你"俏皮地"说读者的眼睛追不上我的笔，然而你忘记了你的眼睛是追不上我的脚的。我的脚要拖起你的眼睛跑，把你的眼睛也弄得疲倦了。所以你发出了怨言：紊乱。 你以为我"真正可以说：我写文章如同在生活。"但是你不知道我的文章还要把别人也带进生活里去。你进到生活里，你太陌生，你的第一个印象一定是紊乱。因为实际生活并不像小说里安排得那样地好。你既然承认我写文章如同在生活，你要得跟着我去"生活"，你不应该只做一个旁观者。 你在书斋里读了《电》，你好像在电影上看见印地安人举行祭仪，跟你的确隔得太远，太远了。而且你责备《电》紊乱，你想不到那部小说怎样地被人宰割了几次，你所看见的已经是残废的肢体了。 然而甚至这个残废的肢体也可以告诉人《电》是《爱情的三部曲》的顶点，到了《电》里面，热情才有了归结。在《雾》里似乎刚下了种子，在里"信仰"发了芽，然后电光一闪，"信仰"就开花了。到了《电》，我们才看见信仰怎样支配着一切，拯救着一切。倘使我们要作这个旅行，我们就不能不拉住两个人做同伴：吴仁民和李佩珠。只有这两个人是经历了那三个时期而存在的。而且他们还要继续地活下去。 在《雾》里面李佩珠没有露过脸，但是人提起她，就说她是一个"小资产阶级的女性"；在里面她开始感到生活力过多准备拿它来为别人放散。她不仅知道爱情只是一时陶醉，从事业上才可以得到永久的安慰，她还想到Ｆ地去做实际的工作。于是幕一开，两年半以后的李佩珠便以一个使人不能相信的新的姿态走出来，使得吴仁民也吃惊了。她不仅得到Ｆ地的青年朋友的爱护，连吴仁民也热烈地爱着她。 她虽然幼稚，但是她幼稚得可爱。看起来她是一个平凡的人。 也许有人会像你那样把她当作领袖（你"几乎要说两位领袖携手前行"，幸亏你用了"几乎"二字，否则你不觉得肉麻吗？），但是我把《电》的原稿翻来复去地细看几次，我把李佩珠当作活的朋友看待，好像我就在她的身边跟着她跑来跑去，她给我的印象是：一个极其平凡的女子。然而我相信她如果说一句话或做一个手势叫我去为理想交出生命，我也会欢喜得如同去赴盛筵。似乎曾经有人用过和这类似的话批评苏非亚·别罗夫斯卡雅。可见真正的伟大和平凡就只隔了一步。你虽然聪明绝顶，但是遇到这样的女子，你要用你的尺度去衡量她的感情，你就会碰壁。事实上你那所谓情绪的连锁已经被她完全打碎了。 《雾》中的吴仁民正陷溺在个人的哀愁里，我用了"哀愁"这个字眼，因为他的痛苦是缓慢的，零碎的，个人的。那时候的吴仁民平凡得叫人就不觉得他存在。然而打击来了。死终于带走了他那个病弱的妻子。那个消磨他的热情的东西——"爱"去了。热情重新聚拢来（记住他是一个强健的男子）。他的心境失去了平衡。朋友们不能够了解他，他又缺乏一个坚强的信仰来指导他（自然他有信仰，但是不够坚强）。 他时时追求，处处碰壁。他要活动，要温暖，然而他的眼睛所看见的却只有死，还有比死更可怕的寂寞。寂寞不能消灭热情，反而像一阵风煽旺了火。于是热情在身体内堆积起来，成了一座火山。倘使火山一旦爆发，这个人就会完全毁灭。恰恰在这时候意外地来了爱情。一个女人的影子从黑暗里出现了。女性的温柔蚕蚀了他的热情。在温暖的怀抱中火山慢慢地熄灭了。这似乎还不够。必须再让另一个女人从记忆的坟墓中活起来，使他在两个女性的包围里演一幕恋爱的悲喜剧，然后两个女人都悲痛地离开了他。等他醒过来时，火已经熄灭，就只剩下一点余烬。这时候他又经历了一个危机。他站在灭亡的边沿上，一举脚就会落进无底的深渊去。然而幸运地来了那个拯救一切的信仰。那个老朋友回来了。我们可以想象到吴仁民怎样抱着他的老朋友流下感激的眼泪。这样的眼泪并不是一天可以流尽的，等到眼泪流尽时吴仁民就成了一个新人。不，我应该说他有些"老"了。因为"老"他才能"持重"，才能"淳朴"。他从前也曾经想过在一天里面把整个社会改换了面目，但来到《电》的同志中间他却对人说："罗马的灭亡并不是一天的事情。"他甚至以为"目前更需要的是能够忍耐地、沉默地工作的人。"他和李佩珠不同，他是另外一种典型。李佩珠比他年轻，知道的并不见得就比他少。 然而她却像一个简单的小女孩。你远看，她和贤（那个暴牙齿的孩子）仿佛是一对，可是实际上她却"挽住仁民的膀子，慢慢地往前面走了。"她和吴仁民狂吻了以后，会抿着嘴笑起来说："今天晚上我们真正疯了。倘使他们看见我们刚才的情形，他们不知道要说什么话。"这是很自然的。奇怪的是吴仁民的回答。他平静地说："这个环境很容易使人疯狂，但是你记住：对于我们，也许明天一切都不会存在了。"他没有恐怖，就像在转述别人的话一样。 这两种性格，两种典型，差得很远，匆匆地一看，似乎他们中间就没有一个共同点。然而两个人手挽手地站在一起，我们却又觉得这是最自然、最理想的结合。我们跟在这两个人后面，从《雾》到，从到《电》，的确走了很长的路程，一路上我们看见了不少的事物，我们得到了不少的经验。然而最重要的却是这一对男女的发展。所以《爱情的三部曲》的答案并不是一番理论，或者一个警句，或者任何与爱情有关的话。它的答案是两个性格的发展：吴仁民和李佩珠。爱情在这两个人心上开过花，但是它始终占着不十分重要的地位。对于这两个人，更重要的是信仰。信仰包含了热情，这样的信仰就能够完成一切。这个三部曲所写的只是性格，而不是爱情。所以《爱情的三部曲》的答案还是和爱情无关。《电》从各方面看来都不像一本爱情小说。朋友，在这一点你上了我的当了。据说屠格涅夫用爱情骗过了俄国检查官的眼睛，因此他的六本类似连续的长篇至今还被某一些人误看作爱情小说。我也许受了他的影响，也许受了别人的影响，我也试来从爱情这个关系上观察一个人的性格，然后来表现这样的性格。在观察上我常常成功。我观察一些朋友，听他们说一番漂亮的话，看他们写一篇冠冕堂皇的文章，这没有用。只有在他们的私生活方面，尤其在男女关系上，他们的性格才常常无意地完全显露了出来。我试把从这方面观察得来的东西写入小说，我完成了《雾》。《雾》比、比《电》都简单。它主要地在表现一个性格。我写了周如水。在这一点上我不承认失败。你说"窳陋"，那是因为你的眼睛滑到别处去了。你说我"不长于描写"，我承认。但是你进一步说："《雾》的海滨和乡村期待着如画的景色，"我就要埋怨你近视了。你抓住了一点枝节，而放过了主题。我并不是在写牧歌。我是在表现一个性格，而这个性格并不需要如画的背景。你从头到尾只看见爱情，你却不明白我从头到尾就不是在写爱情。在，在《电》也都是如此。你"从《雾》到，从到《电》，由皮而肉，由肉而核，一步一步剥进"我的"思想的中心"，你抓住两件东西：热情和爱情。 但是刚刚抓到手你就不知道怎样处置它们，你就有些张皇失措了。当你说："《雾》的对象是迟疑，的对象是矛盾，《电》的对象是行动，"那时候你似乎逼近了我的"思想的中心"。但是一转眼你就滑了过去（好流畅的文笔。真是一泻千里，叫人追不上。）。再一望，你已经流到千里以外了。我读你的文章，我读一段我赞美一段，到最后我读到"幸福的巴金"时，我已经不知道跟着你跑了多远的路程了。一路上我就只看见热情和爱情，那两件"不死的"东西。你以为热情使我"本能地认识公道，本能地知所爱恶，本能地永生在青春的原野"，你"以为爱情不死"，"情感永生"。我不知道这是不是你的要点，因为我跑了这么远的路，根本就抓不住你的要点。你一路上指点给我看东一件西一件，尽是些五光十色的东西。但是你连让我仔细看一眼的工夫也不给。你说我行文迅速，但是你行文的迅速，连我也赶不上。我佩服你的本领，然而我不能承认你的论据。我不相信热情是生来就具有的，我更不相信热情可以使人本能地认识公道。你似乎忘记了一个更重要的东西，那就是我的全生活，全思想，全作品的基石。是它使我"认识公道"，使我"知所爱恶"，使我"永生在青春的原野"。我要提出信仰来，但是这两个字用在这里还嫌含糊。我并不是"不要驾驭热情"，相反的，我却无时不在和热情激斗，结果常常是我失败。但是我也有胜利的时候。至于爱情，那绝不是不死的东西。在《电》里面就没有不死的东西，只除了信仰。李佩珠甚至在吴仁民的怀里也说：也许明天我就会离开这个世界，离开你。 "她还说："过一会我们就会离开了。 "她甚至梦呓似地问："假使我明天就死去呢？ "她"没有留恋"。可是她却能够勇敢地说："也许明天这个世界就会沉沦在黑暗里，然而我的信仰决不会动遥"永生的并不是爱情，而是信仰。从《雾》到，从到《电》，一路上就只有这一件东西，别的都是点缀。由下种而发芽，而开花，一步一步地在我们的眼前展开了信仰的全部力量。我自己也可以像李佩珠那样地说："我不怕……我有信仰。 " 朋友，写到这里我的这封信似乎应该收场了。但是我还忘记告诉你一件东西。我现在要说的就是"死"。是的，在《爱情的三部曲》里我还写了"死"。 你很注意《电》里面的敏。你几次提到他，你想解释他的行动，但是你不能够。因为你抓不到那个要点。你现在且跟着我来检阅他："死并不是一件难事。我已经看见过好几次了。"这是他在热闹的集会中说的话。 "我问你，你有时也想到死上面去吗？你觉得死的面目是什么样的？"他临死的前夕这样问他的女友慧道。 慧只看见一些模糊的淡淡的影子。敏却恳切地说：有时候我觉得生和死就只隔了一步，有时候我又觉得那一步也难跨过。 " 这几段简单的话，看起来似乎并不费力，然而我写它们时，我是费尽了心血的。这个你不会了解。你的福楼拜，左拉，乔治·桑不会告诉你这个。我自己知道，我必须有了十年的经验，十年的挣扎才能够写出这样的短短的几句话。我自己就常常去试探死的门，我也曾像敏那样"仿佛看见在面前就立着一道黑暗的门"，我也觉得"应该踏进里面去，可是还不能够知道那里面是什么样的情形。"我的心也为这个痛苦。我能够了解敏的心情。他的痛苦也是我的痛苦，也就是每一个生在这个过渡时代中的青年的痛苦。然而我和他是完全相异的两种典型，而且处在不同的两个环境里面。我可以昂然地说："我们要宝爱痛苦，痛苦就是我们的力量，痛苦就是我们的骄傲。"但是我绝不会"因为痛苦便不惜……求一快于人我俱亡。"所以我的英雄并不会拿对方的一个人来代表整个制度。敏炸死一个人，主要地在炸死自己。这就是你所说的"求一快于人我俱亡"。除了这个就没有别的意义。于是你的矛盾又来了，因为你以为"人力有限，所以悲哀不可避免。" 但是在敏，他根本就不管什么"人力有限"，而且毁灭之后也就更无所谓"悲哀"；在《电》的青年，他们根本就不相信"人力有限"，而且他们绝不至于"求一快于人我俱亡"。 在这一点上我常常被人误解。其实我自己是完全反对恐怖主义的（虽然我对那些所谓恐怖主义的革命者的传记很感兴趣）。在我的一册早已绝版的书上便有一篇和一个广东朋友讨论这个问题的文章。某一些批评家将恐怖主义和虚无主义混为一谈，又认定我赞成恐怖主义，因此就把我的作品盖上了"虚无主义"的烙樱其实敏牺牲自己，只是因为他想一步就跨过生和死中间的距离。杜大心牺牲自己只是因为他想永久地休息，而且他相信只有死才能够带来他的心境的和平。这都是带了病态的想法。知道这个的似乎就只有我。我知道死：死毁坏一切，死也"拯救"一切。 你以前读到的序言，你会奇怪为什么那个朋友要提到"可怕的黑影"，现在你也许可以了解了。在《雾》里面"死"没有来，但是在陈真的身上现了那个黑影。进了里面，那个黑影威压地笼罩着全书。死带走了陈真和周如水，另外还带走一个郑玉雯。到了《电》，死像火花一般地四处放射，然而那个黑影却渐渐地散了。在《电》里面我像一个将军在提兵调将，把那些朋友都送到永恒里去，我不能够没有悲痛，但是我却没有丝毫的恐惧。我写死，因为我自己就不断地跟死在挣扎。我从《雾》跋涉到，再跋涉到《电》。 到了《电》，我才全胜地把死征服了。有人想用科学来征服死（如龚多塞），有人想用爱（如屠格涅夫和别的许多人）；我就用信仰。在《电》里面我的确可以这样说："我不怕……我有信仰。" 有信仰，不错。所以我的第一部小说《灭亡》的序言的第一句话就是："我是一个有了信仰的人。" 然而幸福，那却是另外一件事情。我自己说过："痛苦就是我的力量，痛苦就是我的骄傲。"我追求的是痛苦。这个时候，你又会抓住我的"错儿"了。我先前不是说过我一生所努力追求的是幸福吗？但是朋友，你且忍耐一下。我求幸福，那是为了众人；我求痛苦，只是为了自己。我有信仰，但是信仰只给我勇气和力量。信仰不会给我带来幸福，而且我也不需要幸福。 那么谁是幸福的呢？你既然提出了幸福的问题，我们就不应该放过它。我把你的文章反复地诵读，想找出一个答案。 是这么流畅的文笔，你写得这么自然，简直像一首散文诗。 我读着，我反复地读着。我渐渐地忘了我自己。于是你的面影就在我的眼前出现了。我仿佛看见你那指手划脚、眉飞色舞的姿态，你好像在对一群敬爱你的年轻的学生演说。 No.你好像一个富家子弟，开了一部流线型的汽车，驶过一条宽广的马路。一路上你得意地左右顾盼，没有一辆汽车比你的车华丽，没有一个人有你那样的驾驶的本领。你很快地就达到了目的地。现在你坐在豪华的客厅里沙发上，对着几位好友在叙述你的见闻了。你居然谈了一个整夜。你说了那么多的话，而且使得你的几位好友都忘记了睡眠。朋友，我佩服你的眼光锐利。但是我却疑惑你坐在那样的汽车里面究竟看清楚了什么？ 那么谁是幸福的呢？朋友，这显然应该是你。你这匆忙的人生的过客，你永远是一个旁观者。你走过宽广的马路，你就看不见马路旁边小屋里的情形。你不要信仰，你不会有痛苦。你不是战士，又不是隐者。你永远开起你的流线型的汽车，凭着你那头等的驾驶本领，在宽广的人生的路上"兜风"。在匆忙的一瞥中你就看见了你所要看见的一切，看不见你所不要看见的一切。朋友，只有你才是幸福的人。那么让我来祝福你：幸福的刘西渭。 Ba Jin １９３５年１１月２２日