Chapter 53 Talk about the joys and sorrows of reading and writing

Today, Comrade Principal asked me to speak a few words to you. I am really apprehensive, because comrades are serving cadres with high level and rich life experience. I feel that I am not qualified to speak here.But I thought again, this is just the first lecture of this semester, like the beginning of a play, the good show is yet to come.I remember when I was a child watching operas, the first opera was always a dance, the singer came out wearing a red robe and a mask, without saying a word, just holding a piece of red satin or a piece of paper in his hand, which wrote The four big characters of "zhirigaosheng" are written, and they are bright for everyone to see.I'm just here today to congratulate you all on your good spirits, your academic progress, and your promotion.That's all I can do.

I once complained to Comrade Principal, saying that I am an inexperienced person, and I have nothing to "learn" to "talk". "Not learning" means lack of knowledge, and if you want to get something from me, you will not get it; "No skill" means you don't have any skills, if you want to know how to write after listening to me, And well written, that too will be disappointing.So why am I here?It is based on my nearly forty years of writing experience, whether the writing is good or not, the reader's eyes are discerning, and you are neither allowed to be too modest nor exaggerated.Today, I can only tell you about my ups and downs in writing and where I failed, and I hope you will not fail like me.If I still have some achievements, I will also tell you how I got them.But just like this, I don’t know where to start, so I asked Comrade Principal to collect some questions raised by the students, and now I will answer them according to these questions, which is like a graduate’s answer, If the answer is not good, please criticize it.

The first question: Over the past few years, you have participated in some international activities. In the contact with international friends, what are the most profound and prominent examples? How do you write down those feelings? I can't finish talking about this issue in a few days, and now I can only choose the one that touched me the most.As for how I wrote it into an article, it is hard to say, because some things cannot be written, and there is no way to write it. The reason is that I am too moved and cannot find appropriate words to express it; Some people still can't write; some can't even write for a long time.It's not that I'm avoiding it, there is indeed such a situation.

The international activities I participated in were all people's diplomatic activities.People's diplomacy is subject to the general line of my country's foreign policy. This policy enables us to closely unite with the peoples and representatives of various countries.We feel that the Chinese representatives are welcomed everywhere by the people of all countries.The speeches made by the representatives of China are always supported by the people of all countries.In our contacts with the people and representatives of various countries, we have many examples to talk about, but some of them are really not easy to talk about.Now I can only cite a few examples that touched me the most.

In 1953, I joined a delegation of the China-India Friendship Association and visited India. Most of the people we contacted were from the upper class, and we only met with the people at mass meetings and did not talk much, but even a short contact touched us very much. Once, our Indian host invited us to a party to listen to music.Indian music is different from ours. It is divided into seasons and times. Some movements should be listened to in the morning; some at noon; some at dusk; and some at midnight. On this day, we have held seven meetings, large and small. When they invited them to listen to the midnight music, we wanted to politely say no, but they said that the concert performance was very good and we must listen to it, so we went.None of us understand Indian music.I was afraid that I would fall asleep because of being too sleepy, but because the music was very good, we didn't sleep.But after listening to it, it was already midnight, and we fell asleep in the car on the way back. In our sleep, we suddenly felt that the car had stopped. Also had to wait.After a while, I saw the driver coming slowly from a long distance, and he was supporting two people, an old man and an old lady, both wearing white clothes, and the old man had a crutch under his armpit. , the driver told us through an interpreter: These two are my parents, my father is disabled and cannot attend the mass meeting, so I want to meet you when you pass by here, my parents and I It is promised to come out of the village early and wait for you in the woods.At this time we were fully awake and got out of the car. The old people were holding garlands of wild flowers that they wove around our necks.

The old lady came up and hugged me very tightly. I felt how much she wanted to say in her heart but couldn't say it!At this time, I was really moved, and I was moved by the love of the Indian people for us.I wrote this paragraph out and wrote it in "A Trip to India". Another time, also at night, we took a train to a city, and there were people coming to welcome us at every stop along the way, so we didn't dare to all sleep, so we could only sleep in turns.It was time for me to sleep. After a while, they shook me awake. When I got up, I saw that there was really a magnificent picture outside the car window.It was a small country station, and no one expected to be greeted by anyone, let alone women among the crowd.

I saw more than a dozen torches held high, and in the light of the torches there was a big red flag, and the person holding the red flag was a rural woman--everyone knows that people in the tropics like to wear dark-colored clothes, bright red and green--this The woman was wearing a bright red scarf, and she held a big red flag in her hand, which was really eye-catching against the backdrop of a dozen torches.That night, when other people in our delegation saw this moving scene, they had to shake me awake. When I got out of the car, this woman also came up to me and hugged me. I could smell a "earthy smell" from her body, but we still didn't say a word.I will never forget this scene, and I wrote it out, but never finished it.

In 1955 we went to Japan to participate in the first conference to ban atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. The conference was held in Tokyo. After the conference, we went to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Hiroshima was the place where the first atomic bomb was dropped, and the United States dropped the atomic bomb there. The reason is to snatch the fruits of victory.In 1945, the Japanese invading army was about to be defeated by the Chinese people's army. The Soviet Union sent troops to the Northeast and defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army. It seemed that the Japanese government was about to surrender.The United States dropped two atomic bombs.The first dropped on Hiroshima and the second on Nagasaki.Hiroshima is the concentration of the Japanese army, there are 80,000 people.Nagasaki is the naval base of Japan.At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.It is said that 200,000 people died that day, and many, many others survived.The Americans publicized the power of the atomic bomb, saying that no vegetation would grow in the place where the atomic bomb was dropped for seventy years.I came to Japan in the winter of 1946. In the spring of 1947, I heard that grass grew in this place, and it grew very luxuriantly, which shows that the US propaganda is scaring people.When we were in Hiroshima, we went to the hospital to visit the victims of the atomic bomb.There was a woman who, on the morning of the atomic bombing, was cooking with her child on her back. Her child died at that time, but she did not die. Therefore, she had scars all over her body except for the place covered by the child on her back.She said to us: This is how I carry the shadow of my child on my back all my life!I could have committed suicide, but besides this youngest child, I have three children, I must live for these children, and now I insist on not only living for my children, but also for all of Japan The children of this family will be able to live a peaceful and happy life in the future!This incident also made me very excited.That afternoon, we held a meeting and invited some victims of the atomic bomb to talk. Among the people who came, many were young girls, and some of them couldn't walk and came in a pushcart. They were already disabled.What I said when I complained was extremely sad and indignant words that we couldn't hear at other complaint meetings.

When the meeting was over, a mother said to me: My daughter was only ten years old when the atomic bomb was dropped. The flesh on the upper body and the back of the shoulders were twisted, and the hands and feet could not move.For ten years, she refused to leave the house, even the curtains were not opened, she did not want people to see her ugly image, she felt that she had no happiness, no hope, and she did not want to live.If it wasn't for me, she would have killed herself long ago.You come this time and give her great hope and stimulation. She said that she wants to show her image to everyone, so that people all over the world will be shocked and hated by it, and they will resolutely unite against imperialism. , to prevent nuclear war.These stories move us very much.

In 1958, when I joined a cultural delegation to visit Europe, I went to various British universities to give lectures and interacted with some high-level intellectuals. During the conversation, I felt that they were yearning for China, or unconsciously. longing for. At a luncheon reception given by the Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh in the UK, a professor of literature sat next to me and he asked me what my major was?He also said that the guest list introduced you as a children's literature writer. I said that I had written children's literature, but I couldn't write well.He said, how do you write children's literature there? I don't think there is a particularly new way of writing, but we clearly know that the purpose of our creation is to cultivate our children into a more honest, braver, and nobler. child.

To use the phrase we are most familiar with, it is to train them to be successors of revolution and construction.He said that in our UK, it is the opposite, which is really outrageous. Nowadays, there are a lot of comic cartoons in our newspapers, which seem to always try their best to turn children into oppressors and exploiters.For example, there is a funny picture that says that there was a child whose mother gave him a dime to push grass in the yard, and the child came up with a way to buy a popsicle for five cents. Take another five cents and hire a neighbor's kid to push the grass, and while the neighbor's kid pushes the grass, he'll sit in the shade and eat popsicles. The title of this caricature is "Wise Henry".It seems like a joke, but it is actually telling children that there is a way for children who can exploit and deceive others.This is just a relatively small period of harm, what do you think we should do?Almost every day, some parents and teachers here submit written comments to the daily funny column or children's book publishing houses, but it is useless.How do you get rid of the bad stuff and reward writers for the good stuff?I said, our solution is very simple, that is, the government and people from all walks of life work together to handle this matter.He said thoughtfully, yes, it is still very important for the government to be with the people!He didn't say anything more.I think whether children's literature can develop healthily, and whether harmful children's books and paintings can be banned are big problems in capitalist society, and they feel helpless about how to train a new generation.Another time, several British MPs invited us to drink tea in Parliament, and a female MP accompanied me to talk.I asked her what issue is being debated in their parliament now, and she said that the issue of prostitution ban is being debated. We have asked male congressmen to cooperate with us many times, but this bill has never been passed.We can only go so far, which is to prohibit prostitutes from openly soliciting customers on the street.How did you female representatives of the Chinese National Congress get the cooperation of male representatives to ban prostitution?I said, as far as I know, we had no prostitutes before the People's Congress.Since liberation, those women who were insulted and damaged have been liberated and turned around. In our country, men and women are together, the government and the people are together, and all harmful things have been removed.She sighed after hearing it.She said, I think it is still very important who has the power.In our conversations with international friends, there are many such stories.I won't go into details here. Due to the feelings gained from participating in international activities, I have written some articles, "Spring on the Nile" is one of them. How did this article come out?It turns out that when our delegations go abroad, they will have a formal report after they come back. This is public and for everyone to see.But every member of our delegation also has their own feelings. In this article, I want to use a story to describe how it is not easy for intellectuals and the people to do revolutionary work together.Chairman Mao taught us a long time ago that if intellectuals are not with workers and peasants, they will accomplish nothing.But it is difficult for intellectuals, especially those in capitalist countries, to do this all at once.The two Japanese female writers I mentioned here are real people, but their names have been changed.The one named "Xiuzi", I have known her since the first meeting of Asian-African writers, this female writer writes prose and reviews.I think the purpose of Xiuzi's trip to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan in the Soviet Union (where the first Asian-African Writers Conference was held), was not for the meeting, but mostly for travel and sightseeing.I don't care much about the content of the meeting discussion.The second time was the Tokyo emergency meeting of Asian and African writers, and she was also a member of the Japanese delegation.This time she attended more meetings.That conference of Asian and African writers was very successful, and it was the first time in Japanese history that African writers went to Japan for the conference.Since the Meiji Restoration, most of the Japanese intellectuals have been facing the West, and have paid little attention to China (they were influenced by China in the Tang Dynasty, and they treated China very well). As for North Korea and Vietnam, not to mention Africa , they simply look down on Africans.But at this conference, the words spoken by the African representatives shook them like a thunderclap.The third Asian-African Writers Conference was held in Cairo, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (this conference is actually the official second conference).Xiuzi also went, she performed very well and was very positive.The two of us were divided into one group (the cultural exchange group). Although this group was different from the political group, there were still struggles, and the struggles were fierce. Xiuzi usually doesn't speak much, but today she stood up to speak.She said: Our Japanese delegation supports the views of the Chinese delegation, and we will never take a step back.At this time, I was really excited.I don't think it's surprising for others to say this, but Xiuzi's speaking shows that she has indeed made great progress.So I wrote this article "Spring on the Nile". Some of the content of the article are facts and some are not. I can talk about what is a fact and what is not a fact. When we held a meeting in the United Arab Emirates, we stayed in a hotel with representatives from the Soviet Union and some African countries, and representatives from Japan and other countries stayed in another hotel. The hotel we stayed in was relatively modern, and the bath water was very clean. Hot, the hotel where the Japanese representative stayed may be under repair (the reason is not clear), the bath water is not hot. Once, during the break of the meeting, I was talking with Hideko and Kazuko, a Japanese female representative. They said that they were going to take a bath at a Japanese friend's house that afternoon.I said, the water in our hotel is very hot, go to our place to wash it. That afternoon they left in a hurry after taking a bath and having tea. I found that Xiuzi left behind a hand towel, which was white with a few red flowers around it. This was true.Before and after the two of them took a bath, we also talked a lot, some of which I wrote in the article.How was the article laid out and tailored?The sentence at the beginning of this article says: "There are two large glass floor-to-ceiling windows leading to the balcony, and the golden sun shines in directly." This description does not match the facts.The room I live in faces west, not east, and they come to take a bath in the afternoon, not in the morning. So why did I move my windows over to face east?Because facing west doesn't fit the atmosphere of the article I wrote, I don't want it facing west.If it is facing west, then it is the setting sun that shoots into the house, not the rising sun.So I just put my windows facing east.If I do this, the reader will not protest, as long as it does not affect the facts below, and the reader has no way of protesting, because he has not been to the hotel where I am staying.Also, the hotel we stayed in was not on the bank of the Nile River, it was in the middle of the new city and the old city, but when I attended the Asian-African National Solidarity Conference in 1957, I stayed in a hotel beside the Nile River.So I was able to describe what I saw from the window of a hotel next to the Nile.In the penultimate paragraph of this article it reads: The Nile River is shining with thousands of points of silver light, flowing happily across the river; on both sides of the river, on the long poles of several high-rise buildings, flags are unfurled, rattling. Floating to the west, the east wind blows everywhere! Why did I use "Spring on the Nile" as the title?Because the meeting was held in Cairo, and the meeting was held in Cairo, it would be a pity if I didn’t write about the Nile River and use the Nile River as a background, so I moved the Nile River and put it in front of my window.In the first sentence of this paragraph, why did I say "the Tower of Cairo, which is far higher than the pyramids"? The "Cairo Tower" was built after I first went to Cairo. Everyone knows the "Pyramid". When it comes to Egypt, everyone knows that there is a "Pyramid". The "Cairo Tower" is about ten meters higher than the "Pyramid".Why do I mention this tower?First, this tower is very beautiful, as if carved from fine porcelain; second, the "Pyramid" is an old tower, and the "Cairo Tower" is a new one. Putting in the new Cairo Tower shows that the Nile Riverside I wrote is not what it used to be Instead, the banks of the Nile are filled with a new atmosphere—an atmosphere in which the Asian and African peoples unite against their common enemy, imperialism.As for the hand towel, I thought for a long time whether to put it in or not, and then I put it in anyway.Why?Just focus on the last paragraph: A handkerchief embroidered with a few small red flowers was found, dropped on the floor beside the chair, it was used by Xiuzi to wipe sweat just now.Embroidering red flowers one by one onto a snow-white handkerchief is not a quick job!I bent down to pick it up, and unconsciously pressed the slightly moist handkerchief tightly against my chest. Pay particular attention to the last sentence of this paragraph.In fact, the little red flowers on the handkerchief may not be embroidered by her, it is very likely that this handkerchief was bought.But I think that it is not a matter of a day or two for intellectuals to walk with the people step by step. If there is no such feeling, why should I put such a small handkerchief "tightly pressed against my chest"!This feeling arose when I heard Hideko stand up and say, "Our Japanese delegation will never take a step back." I really wanted to press her tightly to my chest.As I said before, some of the things written in this article are true and some are false, but the falsehood is acceptable, because I don't want to write articles with a "sunset" atmosphere. The second question: What are the main issues that must be paid attention to when writing prose? Prose, why is it called prose?Not because it "scattered".As far as I know, prose is not rhyme, not every sentence or every few sentences rhyme, and it is not parallel prose.This kind of article is a parallel prose, and two sentences are matched.Prose is neither rhyme nor parallel prose, so it is called prose.Our country has a long tradition of prose, and there are many genres, and the writing is very good, which is not the case in other countries.I remember the Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore’s letter to his friend: I like poetry very much, because poetry is like a small river, sandwiched by two banks, with woods and villages on the bank. When walking across the two banks, the scenery is different, easy to write, and able to write well.He believes that meter is the two sides of poetry, which limits the poetic flavor and makes it tortuous and beautiful when it flows.What is prose like?Prose is like a swamp when the water is flooded and the banks are submerged.Prose is like a bag of sand, which cannot be pulled together, and it is difficult to lift it up.If I am asked to write a poem, it is a kind of joy to me, but if I am asked to write an essay, it is pain to me.But he didn't know that his letter was a good essay.I have said above that Chinese prose has the most genres and is the best written.Where is the good thing?The good thing is that it is concise and not scattered, and can write prose tightly.Is there any way to write concisely, and how to write concisely?According to my experience: ①You have to have a central idea.You know exactly what you want to write, unlike the old essays in school, the topic was given by the teacher, and you don't understand it at all. Write "life is alive" in the first sentence, and then talk about it later!Written in this way, it is really so-called "loose" prose; ②There must be tailoring.Prose is afraid that Luo Li will be too wordy to find something to say. We Chinese have a saying that it is best to say "long when there is something to say, and short when there is nothing to say". This is how prose should be written.Writing articles is not for writing articles, but for expressing your thoughts and feelings.Now let me talk about "A Clog" I wrote.This clog has been floating in my mind for fifteen years, and I have not written it out. I don't know how to write it, because I can't grasp the central idea.This incident happened more than ten years ago, and the situation at that time was not as described in this article, that is to say, I was not the only one who saw this clog. When I returned from Japan, I and My two daughters were on the side of the boat, and my younger daughter saw it first, and she said, "Mom! Look, Gada." (Gada is the sound of clogs) My youngest daughter was only nine when she arrived in Japan. At the age of 10, she likes this thing very much, because children like to go barefoot. When they enter the door in Japan, they are like Chinese people on the kang. They take off their shoes and go to the "couch fan", where they can roll around and play freely. Put on Gadda in one go.On the window sill of her bedroom, there are all kinds of toys.When she pointed out a clog floating in the sea, it was a small thing, but I never forgot, and I often asked myself, why do I miss this thing so much?I can't grasp the central idea.Once, I almost wrote it out, into a poem, but felt wrong, it was not the mood of poetry, very strange!By the way, let’s talk about the issue of materials. I feel that writers should be all-rounders. They should come to everything. No matter whether it is well written or not, they should try it.It is true that sometimes the material of poetry is different from that of prose, the material of prose is different from that of novels, and the material of novels is different from that of opera.I want to make "Gada" into poetry!But if I can't write it out, I keep it, not on paper, but in my mind.When I commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Yan’an Literature and Art Symposium last year, I talked about my often insomnia in Tokyo at a symposium, and suddenly remembered why this wooden clog had such a deep impression on me. When I have insomnia in Tokyo, I always hear the sound of clogs. That is the sound of countless Japanese working people passing by my window. It is also the footsteps of Japanese working people with this sound, which gave me a bright idea!Therefore, when I left Japan, I suddenly developed feelings for the clogs on the sea, otherwise, there would be everything on the pier, such as fruit peels and barrel lids... why did this clog leave such a deep impression on my mind? Woolen cloth?Finally, I decided on my central idea. After I decided, I wanted to start with how my daughter likes clogs, just like what I just said, but I later felt that it was boring to write like this.Because my insomnia has nothing to do with my daughter, and her preference for bare feet has nothing to do with my preference for clogs, so I just wrote that I saw this clog alone. A rectangular block of sea water.The gray doors of the warehouses on the docks on both sides have been tightly closed.The noisy voices of the whole afternoon have been silenced.Only the sudden evening wind is blowing the messy straw ropes and dust on the pier. The "sunset" written in this paragraph is a fact, because the time is indeed evening.The surrounding atmosphere at this time was indeed "empty" and "heavy" as I wrote below.At this time, there can be no "sunrise" or "east wind".I just wrote "stray rope and dust on the pier" and it was all very bleak. Heavy, time passed minute by minute, and the vast night covered it. Because of the "heaviness", the night must be "covered", just like it is on my body. Looking up sharply, I saw a wooden clog floating on the water not far from the boat, which had been soaked into dark brown by the sea.On the swaying waves, rocking, rocking, slowly moving outward, as if trying to rock out to sea! what!My friend in distress!How did you know I was going to leave quietly! How do you know that I can't leave those friends who put you under my feet! You jumped into the sea from the shore and escorted me by the boat all the way! The paragraph above was something I didn’t think of when I saw the clog that day. After I fixed the central idea, I fixed my feelings on the clog and regarded the clog as something with emotion.Indeed, when I left Tokyo, I didn’t tell my friends that I was going back to my country, so I said, “How did you know I was going to leave quietly?” “You jumped from the shore into the sea and escorted me by the boat all the way? "This is where I assume it (my friend) is escorting me back to China by the side of the boat. Then in the penultimate paragraph, I talked about how the sound of the clogs passed by my window. step by step, one step at a time, stepping out a solid and flat road for me, leading me from night to dawn! "From night to dawn" in this paragraph is a metaphor, which means to send my dark thoughts to the light.That's what this clog does to my train of thought.In the last paragraph, I write that every time we go to Japan for a meeting, many friends who go with us always bring back some cherry blossom souvenirs from Mount Fuji in Japan.I have lived in Japan for many years, and I have seen Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms countless times. Japanese friends gave me such souvenirs, and I always gave them to others. I still bought those small toy clogs, and half of the reason was me. Daughter loves it, and half of this thing has me attached to it.When this article was written, it had more than 2,000 words, but 1,500 words were deleted later, and only the current 800 words are left. It cannot be shorter!I tried my best to concentrate my thoughts on one point, and tried my best to write concise articles, but the biggest reason is that I can't write long articles. The third question: We all feel that it is very important to write the beginning and end of an article, but it is not easy. Please talk about your experience in this area. It would be best if you could give an example of how one of your articles started and ended , how was it modified later, and why? This issue was actually discussed in the previous two articles, but the best example is my "Night in the Suburbs of Beijing Before the National Day". I did not expect this article to be written like this.Here's how it starts: On a bench under the awning of the bus station, sitting and waiting for the bus. The background of this article is different from the previous two articles. It is neither "morning sun" nor "sunset", but "a quiet and soft night". Who are "we"? It was a child whom I hadn’t met and talked with for several years. This child was in my home since she was a child, and later she went to the Liberated Area.We haven't seen each other for many years and we have a lot to talk about.It was the first day of her vacation, and it happened to be my birthday. She came to my house, and we went into the city again for dinner and drinks.When it's time to break up, I say you go back!She said no, I will take you to the zoo, and when we got to the zoo, we were still reluctant to leave, so we sat on the bench outside the window of the taxi stand and talked.This article could have been written about this child, it could have written about many, many things in life during the period of the Anti-Japanese War... But I didn't write that, because the fireworks were set off, and when the fireworks were set off, there happened to be a few sitting The foreign students there caught my attention.This is also related to my participation in international activities.There is a foreign language college in the western suburbs, and there are many African students. I heard them speak as if they were students from Cameroon and Algeria, because there are three Caucasian countries in Africa, namely Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.Cameroonians have black skin.What happened here made me feel that the people of Asia, Africa, Latin America and other countries will receive meticulous care in Beijing, the capital of our country. Even the dispatcher at the bus station also takes special care of them.I remember one time when I sent a friend from an Asian country abroad in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and she cried when we parted. She said: As soon as we leave this station, people don't see us as human beings.I just thought how correct our country's foreign policy is. We believe that all countries, big or small, are equal.And we especially sympathize with them, care for them, and support them.Therefore, the article is written from here, and all the words that I wanted to say before are cut off.When writing such a story, you need to prepare a suitable backdrop for the flowers. Fireworks are very bright and brilliant, and they need a very peaceful background, so I will focus on describing the surrounding scenery. A line of lush willow trees outside, shrouded in the night, looks dark green. In the dim light, there is a long line of people standing, waiting for the bus. They obviously visited the park or watched a movie, and the breeze sent them sporadic laughter..."Dark green" means that the sky is not so clear It was pitch black, and the green could still be seen. "There is a long line of people standing, waiting for the bus", explaining why we sat on the benches waiting for the bus, because there were so many people waiting for the bus that we couldn't get on the bus. "The breeze sent them sporadic laughter", this is a foil, writing about the happy entertainment life of the people of Beijing. There is a little breeze on this day, and they can hear what they say.These people may have been to the zoo, where they admired birds and animals, or they may have watched movies and laughed there.This is to our right.Anyone who has been to the zoo knows that the faces of the people waiting for the bus sitting on the benches at the bus station are facing west. The door wall is more distinct.From the secluded path, we heard the crisp chirping of insects. The "worm sound" is inaudible when it is busy, and can only be heard when it is quiet.The sound of worms here sets off the silence. Layers of light and shadow.The western mountain at the end of the day slowly turned from dark gray to lavender... "The moon is coming up from behind us." Because we are facing west, the moon is coming up from behind. The accent of the speech, we looked back, it turned out to be three foreign students.The two women have fairer skin, and the one man has dark skin.They didn't sit down, just leaned out of the window, talking in French, I guessed they were young people from Cameroon and Algeria. Both Cameroon and Algeria were formerly French colonies, so they can only speak in French when they talk. Blossoming red and green, with bright white sparks constantly erupting in the middle. "Put flowers!" We cried happily. Then came one after another, reflecting the sky brightly... Most of the trial fireworks were on the side of Shijingshan, and we could see it clearly in the western suburbs. Asked in Chinese: "Is today a holiday?" I said, "Today is not a holiday, I think they are trying to set off the fireworks on National Day night." She nodded and smiled and walked back to their group. I saw that female student in dark clothes walking alone into the moonlight, looking up at the fireworks, then lowering her head, standing there, motionless for a long time. Seeing her independent figure in Moon Shadow, many memories of living in foreign countries when I was young suddenly came to my mind. "What is she thinking? Thinking of her land trampled by the imperialists? Thinking of her relatives who are fighting for their own freedom and happiness? She sees the sparks of our joy, what is in her heart Taste?" My sympathy and gratitude, like a rushing spring, has been flowing to these young people who are guests in our "home"... Two very bright car lights are driving straight towards us from the West Avenue Come and stop in the square.The dispatcher came out of the house, walked to the car, smiled at us, but greeted the three foreign youths and said: "The car is here, you go." They quickly pointed to us and said: "They are the first Here we come." We quickly said: "We're not busy, please go ahead!" They thanked them with a smile, got into the car, and we watched the speeding car drive them to the shining direction of the sky. "Two very bright headlights,... drive them to the direction where the sky shines" I changed the direction a little bit.Shijingshan is in the southwest of the station, and the Institute of Foreign Languages ​​should be in the northwest of the station, but this bus is heading west anyway. I write this because I want to send them to the direction of "glowing sky".Anyway, go west, although they didn't go up Shijingshan.Here is the end of this article: Hope, no one said a word.渐渐地焰火下去了，月亮已经升得很高，广场周围，深草里，又听到唧唧的虫声。国庆节前北京郊外之夜，就是这样地柔和，这样地宁静，而我的心中，却有着起伏的波涛一般的感动……根据以上所说，可以了解文章应该如何开头结尾，也可以了解我之所谓剪裁。总之，文章的开头结尾，一定要有关连，过去老师教给我的“起承转合”，我想这种结构方法还是对的。起的时候，如果跑野马似地拉不回来，那就真正成了散文了。你说了半天的话，最后还得把这话头拉到正题上来，还得找一句比较有力的句子把它收煞住。开头和结尾怎样才能扣题？据我的经验，构思的时候要围绕着题目去想，不要跳着想，要是发现思路离开了题目，那就赶紧收回来，我觉得就只有这个办法。比方《国庆节前北京郊外之夜》这篇文章，我注重的是写亚非国家的青年学生，在我国怎样受到无微不至的关怀，因此与此无关的事情我全去掉，只抱定这个题目不放。至于剪裁，最要紧的一点是去掉与文章的中心思想无关的东西。例如在这篇文章里我前面所说的那一大段我都不要了。至于那几个非洲留学生走了以后，我们是什么时候走的，我们还谈了些什么，我跟我那位小朋友谈到我当时的感想没有，这些也都没有写进去。这篇文章写完了以后还没有题目，后来才从文中找出一句话：“国庆节前北京郊外之夜”作为题目。我是不大喜欢用长题目的，我觉得长题目太罗嗦，文章那么短，题目这么长，不大相称，但是也没有别的适宜的短题目，就这样用了。 第四个问题：请您谈一谈运用语言（包括选择恰当词汇和句式等等）的经验。 这个问题提得非常好，但是我所能回答的，我愿意回答的，也跟古往今来有写作经验的人差不多，就是“勤学苦练”四个字！至于怎样运用词汇和句式，我感到也没有别的路子，不但是写作，就是绘画、雕塑、表演……一切一切属于文艺的行业，也都只有靠“勤学苦练”。这是各行各业的前辈都讲过的话，我虽然不大愿意重复，但也不能不重复，因为它实在是经验之谈。从我自己的写作经验来说，再也没有什么捷径可找了。我们“作协”的一些同志，常常收到一些年轻人和中学生，或者大学生的来信，说我们愿意做一个作家，请您介绍有什么速成的办法，可以使我们很快地掌握写作的技巧。关于这个问题，赵树理同志曾写过好几次的公开信。我看了他写的，也跟我要写的差不多，也就是说关于写作技巧除了勤学苦练以外没有别的办法。你能不能成为一个作家，先立下一个雄心大志吧！这也是对的，但是不是说你立了雄心大志再想法找个捷径，就能够成为一个作家，我觉得这还有待考虑。古今中外的作家，有好多开始并没有想当一个作家的。拿我自己来说吧，我当初就没有想当一个作家，我那时不认为写写文章有什么了不起的，我愿意学理科，并且已在开始学了。在中学的时候，我的功课理科比文科好，因为我不喜欢作文，这也跟我的老师有关系，他不能引起我作文的兴趣，我的作文老师是前清的秀才，出的题目都是四书五经上的，非常的抽象，叫人不知从何说起。我从小没进过小学，一到北京就考中学（就是现在的女十二中）。考的时候别的科目都没有，只做一篇作文，题目是《学然后知不足论》，那时我才十二三岁，怎么懂得“学然后知不足论”的道理呢？但是我也会勉强做，因为我在家塾里学的就是那一套。 我家里请了一位私塾先生，不是为我请的，而是为我的堂哥哥们请的，我没有姊妹，因此从小就跟男孩子们一块学习，由于我小时爱看书，据老师说我的文章比堂哥哥们都写得好。像什么“学然后知不足论”“富国强兵论”等等文章我都做过，所以一考就考上了。考进以后，文科都没问题，但是数学什么的就把我难住了。当时我只会二位数的加减乘除，因此就很感苦恼。我觉得理科比文科难多了，什么历史、地理只要是用中国文字写的我都不怕（因为我从小就有背诵的习惯，只要是好的东西我就背下来，直到现在我还是喜欢背诵）。 我把精力都放在理科方面，什么代数、几何、三角，……尤其喜欢几何，因为我父亲是学航海的，他常常告诉我，对于学航海的人，三角、几何都非常重要，所以我也就很喜欢这些学科。谈到作文，我当时还有一些额外负担，我不但自己要作作文，还要帮别人作文，因为那些胡诌的作文，可以夸夸其谈，不着边际，写起来非常快，只要什么“之”“乎”“者” “也”搞对了就行。同学们知道我作的快，就“利诱势迫”，有的给我买点炒栗子，有的给我买根糖葫芦，这些食物对我的诱惑力很大，我有时候同时写它两三篇，老师对我很头痛，可是他还是说我文章作得好，有一次他给我的作文评了一百二十分，卷子送上去，教务处不知如何平均，就对他说分数最高是一百分，他说这篇文章写的实在好，我一定要加她二十分。但是对这种作文，我就倒了胃口。当时老师在班上讲的古文，差不多都是我念过或看过的，我根本不好好听，就在班上看小说，作数学。当时我只注重理科，想学医，因此我在大学里，是理预科的毕业生。五四运动起来了，我正巧是学生会的文书，要做宣传工作，写宣传文章。理科的功课是不能缺的，一缺就补不上。我缺课很多，由于经常写文章，在报纸上登载，对于创作慢慢地喜欢起来，就改学了文科。这是我自己的情况。至于别的作家，还可以举许多例子，我相信鲁迅先生当初也不是想做作家的，后来由于经常写文章，也就成了作家了。现在的中学生，要当一个作家，还想找捷径，从我的经验里看，是没有什么捷径可找的。因为无论是一种脑力或是体力劳动都不是变戏法，就是变戏法，那也得有材料。比方小孩子玩积木，木头越多，摆的花样就多。一块积木摆不出东西来，两块就有了对立面，三块可以搭个过门，四、五六块就更好，可以摆个比较复杂的东西了。拿词汇来说，你没有积累到相当多的话，就没法挑选，因时因地制宜地把它放在适当的地方。比方“风”，你只知道“狂风暴雨”，当然不能到处都用它，所以要解决词汇和句式问题，首先要多读书，多看点东西。书里面好的句子最好抄下来。例如里面的句子，到现在我有时还把它抄下来，如我刚才举的《尼罗河上的春天》一文里，我就偷了里一句话，大家看出来了没有？在四十九回里七星坛诸葛祭风一段，写的有声有色： 看近夜，天色清明，微风不动。瑜谓鲁肃曰：“孔明之言谬矣，隆冬之时，怎得东南风乎？”肃曰：“吾料孔明必不谬谈。”将近三更时分，忽听风声响，旗幡转动，瑜出帐看时，旗带竟飘西北，——霎时间东南风大起。 我十分欣赏这段的有力的描写，就把它偷到这篇文章里了，我说：“河的两岸，几座高楼尖顶的长杆上，面面旗帜都展开着，哗哗地飘向西方，遍地的东风吹起了。”我常常抄袭，就是说模仿别人的好句子。西方有一句话：模仿是最深的爱慕。 刚才休息的时候，大家反映说：我讲时有一种“亲切”之感。老实说，我就是靠这个“亲切”来的，因为我说的都是自己的经验。我小时候看书，是逼上梁山的，哪个小孩子愿意整天坐在家里看书呢？实在是因我小时候太寂寞了，我是两头够不着，我的弟弟们都比我小很多，堂哥哥们都比我大，起码的都是大我五六岁，我就在半空中悬着，他们和我都玩不起来，那时我们住在海边，邻居也不多。去年十月号《人民文学》上不是有我的一篇《海恋》的文章吗？就是描写我小时候的情况的，我为什么爱海，就是因为我一看到海，就想起我小时寂寞中的“朋友”。在海边生活的我，天气好的时候还可以出去走走，天气不好的时候就只得坐在家里看书，那时又没有专门给小孩看的书，于是我抓到什么书就看什么书，连黄历之类的东西我也看，而且非常喜欢看，从前黄历后头有什么“万事不求人”，在每一个日子下面还有什么“不宜动土”“不宜出行”之类，从这里头我可以看出很多故事来。直到现在，我写文章时用的句子还有从那些杂书里头来的，所以过去我的老师说我的学问是三教九流式的学问。但是我认为爱看书是有好处的。举个词的例子说吧，比方刮风下雨，我在报上看到有关于十二级风的解说，这十二级风的形容词都是不同的，我没有全记下来，但今天也可以说一些，比方：细风、和风、微风、轻风、凉风、朔风、春风、秋风、狂风、天风、雄风、黄风……你把这些词汇掌握之后，在种种不同的风上面，你就可以写上一个形容词了。有时风很大，但是好的风，就不能用不好的形容词。比方说很大的东风，你能说是狂风、暴风吗？大风一定要有一个很雄壮的形容词，你登上万里长城时，你所受的风，就可以称为“天风”，古文上也有什么“大王之雄风也”等等，所以“风”往好里说有好的字眼，往坏里说有坏的字眼。同时也要看季候的不同，你的心情的不同跟周围环境的不同，而使用种种的词汇。讲雨吧，也有好雨、细雨、大雨、狂雨、骤雨、苦雨、山雨等等，在什么时候用什么词来形容雨，你都应该想到。要说捷径的话，这里可以说有个捷径，就是有些工具书是可以拿来当闲书看的。记得我从父亲书架上翻到一部《诗韵合璧》，在风字和雨字底下，有形容各种风和雨的词汇。我到现在还爱看像《辞源》一类的书，没事就拿来消遣。还有就是深入生活，多跟各种人谈话，熟悉人民的语言。我们跟人谈话的时候，可以发现有的人说话非常俏，有的人说话非常幽默，有的人说话非常简短有力，有的人说话非常清楚有条理，有的人说话非常美，这些都是我们作文时很好的材料，说话的艺术虽然是不大容易学得来的，但是学不来总可以抄得来的。我们要多注意周围发生的事情，经常注意人的谈话，最好身边带一个小本子，看书看报或听人谈话，有一些好的你就赶紧把它记下来，这当然不是现买现卖，而是你所积累的财富，这本子就好像是你的存款折子，存折上的财富愈多，你手头就愈宽裕，用起来就方便了。还有一个很好的看书方法，对我们在职干部来说是有用的，就是在你手边和枕边，常常放几本古典的散文或诗词。为什么说古典的呢？因为今人的一些好的词汇有不少还是从古典书里来的。我前面说过，我国是个有很好的散文传统的国家，在我国最好的文章里头，除了诗、词、歌、赋、戏曲和小说之外，差不多都是用散文体裁写的。 我们自己每人天天在那里写散文，比方说书信日记等也都是散文，就是小学生也在那里写散文，如什么游记等等。总之，我们中国的散文是很多的。我们做工作难免有累的时候，或者因为其他什么原因睡不着觉，那你看点古典散文或诗词，就非常的合适，这种文章又短，随时可以放下。在这里，我还想说，要想把文章写好，首先要热爱我们祖国的语言文字。我们祖国的语言文字的确可爱，我常常想假如我不是中国人，看不懂中国的文学作品的话，那真是太遗憾了。我有时陪一些外国朋友出去游览，看见好景忽然想起一句好诗，我就想说我们中国有句好诗，但是因为翻不出来也就把它咽了回去。我想他们要是中国人那该多好。在这一点上，我特别喜欢朝鲜、越南和日本的朋友，因为你写出的汉字他们都懂，有的老先生他们对中国文学比我们还熟悉。日本朋友在道别的时候常常说：“劝君更进一杯酒，西出阳关无故人。”他念的虽不是汉语之音，但是他们写出来给我们看的时候，我们非常高兴，相视而笑，莫逆于心。我常常在手头和枕边放些中外的文学短篇，现在看的是，这是小时看过的，我们常常和阿拉伯国家朋友来往，他们常常提到里面的故事，你要是对于书里的故事一点不了解的话，那就没有共同的语言了。我们这样忙里偷闲，随随便便地零零碎碎地看也可以积累很多材料。我们看到有很多好句子和好字眼，可以随手摘写下来，因为经过书写一遍，更可以帮助我们记忆，也可以帮助背诵，我们从背诵文学作品里，可以得到很大的快乐。因为在你生病的时候，或者其他原因不能看书的时候，如果你能背诵点什么，那你会感到很有意义。苏联第二个宇宙飞行员季托夫，在他写的报告里，说上天以后，我看见许多星星，就像嵌在黑绒上的点点光明，我就想起莱蒙托夫的一首诗：星星对着星星在说话。我看报看到这里就想，假如我飞上天空的话，我看到宇宙中的奇景，我会想到中国文学作品中哪一个好的句子，因为当时整个天空就只你一个人，你不能跟谁对面说话，你就可以把这些文学财富都带上天去。我常常想，现在我们中国的少年儿童，要是不多读点文学作品的话，将来他去做个宇宙飞行人员，也许会感到寂寞的。以上说的是要看一些短的文章。下面再谈读长的古典文学作品，如、、、等等，说来说去仿佛就是这一些，其实古典小说里面最好的也还是这些。我的朋友郑振铎先生，他有好几百部这样的章回小说，有一年，我生了好几个月的病，病榻无聊就把这几百部书都借来看，浏览一遍以后，感到还是这几部书最好。像这类书，常常放在手边，不怕重看。这一点我们应该跟儿童学，儿童就喜欢你跟他重复地讲一样的故事。我记得我的孩子小时候就爱听“三只小熊”的故事，今天讲，明天还要讲，我说你听过了，她说听过还要听，她不但听，你要说错了她还替你纠正。我说那些书我们应该重看，一来是重看时不用太费脑力；二来因为这些书里面的语言非常生动，重看了记住了以后，对我们写文章就有很大的帮助。就拿上白妞说书那一段来说，作者把白妞出来的那种台风写得多好，白妞衣着朴素，风度非常稳静、大方，写了这些，然后描写她开口唱，一阵高过一阵等等，里有许多糟粕，但是我却挑出这一段看了好几遍。西方作家谈到文章的风格的时候，第一种谈法是“文如其人”，这个人是什么样的一个人，他写出的东西就是什么样的东西。这句话我们都承认，要不然怎么会百花齐放呢！李白、杜甫、元稹、白居易、韩、柳、欧、苏，每个人的文章风格都不一样，因为他们每一个人的一切都不一样。关于风格的第二种说法是： 最好的词句放在最好的地方，就变成一种风格了。不必说远，就拿近代的人写的散文来说吧，刘白羽的散文就和巴金的不一样，杨朔的又跟秦牧的不一样，郭风的又跟柯蓝的不一样，各人有各人的风格，用字造句都各有不同。因为每个作家都有他自己的风格，我们就要多看、多读，来扩大我们词汇的领域。有人说你给我介绍一些作品吧，我说这很难，因为我喜欢的，你不一定喜欢，只有多看，才能有个比较，才能看出一篇文章好处在哪里。中国谚语说“不怕不识货，就怕货比货”，你看多了，就会分辨出好坏来。我还觉得要想写好文章的人，最好能把词句变成你的精兵，用兵的时候，做到指挥若定，使每个字都能听你的指挥，心到笔到，想写什么就能够写得出来，这是不容易的。你的工具若是不熟练的话，它就不听你的调动！谚语又说“熟能生巧”，不熟就不能生巧。 但是“巧”是不是做不到呢？我说不，能做到，我自己没做到，至少我希望在座的同志能做到，我相信能做到，因为文学历史上已经有许多人做到了。 第五个问题：我们阅读作品时，不能深入地真切地体会作者所表达的意思，请您举例说明应该如何阅读作品，如何去体会作者的意思。 我们对某一篇作品看不懂，不能体会，有两方面的原因： ①作者写不好文章的话，我们就不会看懂，或者这篇文章里没有说清道理，莫名其妙，不知他说些什么东西，你也不会看懂。有的作者的文笔很晦涩，或是文不对题，这种文章我们也看不懂。所以说自己看不懂的时候也不要把自己的理解力估计得过低。②反过来说，那就是我们没有细读。我自己看文章总是先看题目，因为写文章的人总是要发挥与题目有关的内容，按着题目去体会内容是一种办法。再就是要去了解作品的背景，包括作者的创作环境、思想和社会背景等等，看古今人的作品都是这样。为什么同一个题目，这个人写起来是那么欢娱，那个人写起来是那么忧郁，我们想知道原因，就必须了解他的背景，所以我们教课的时候，就常常给学生讲作者的生平和作品的背景。比方李后主的词“帘外雨潺潺……独自莫凭栏，无限江山，别时容易见时难，流水落花春去也，天上人间。”他为什么说“无限江山”呢？那时皇帝是坐江山的，他是亡国之君，所以他说“独自莫凭栏，无限江山，别时容易见时难”，江山一丢就再也回不来了。别人写“梦里不知身是客”的时候就不会像他这样写法。我们拿过一篇文章来，先看这文章是谁写的，什么时代人写的，他在什么时候写的，有什么背景，能这样的话，就比较容易看懂它。 这是我自己的经验，我就只能说到这里。 一九六三年。 （本篇收入《语文学习讲座丛书》第二辑，商务印书馆１９８０年出版。）