Chapter 122 Lao She and the children

I met Mr. Lao She on a winter afternoon in the early 1930s.On this day, Mr. Zheng Zhenduo brought Lao She to our dormitory at Yenching University on the outskirts of Beijing.We just introduced and exchanged greetings. When I was pouring tea for the guests, I turned around and saw Lao She and my three-year-old son, kneeling on the ground head to head, looking for a bear.When Mr. Lao She reached behind the chair and pulled out the little cloth bear, my son was so happy that he hugged the neck of this strange guest and kissed him vigorously!This made us all laugh.It was not until the children were sent away that Lao She dusted off his trousers and sat down to talk with us.The first unforgettable impression he gave me is: he is a person who loves life and loves children.

Since then, he has often sent me his works. I remember: "Lao Zhang's Philosophy", "Two Horses", "Xiao Po's Birthday", and other works.My friends Mr. Xu Dishan and Mr. Zheng Zhenduo have told me about Mr. Lao She's family background, life, and creation process. They said that he was born in a poor Manchu family and suffered a lot.He started writing his first novel "Lao Zhang's Philosophy" when he was teaching Chinese at the University of London's School of Oriental Studies; . I also feel that his works have a special charm. His vivid and vivid language fully expresses the local color of Beijing; it fully conveys the grief, bitterness, yearning and hope of the working people in Beijing.There are sad tears in his humor, and the warmth and light of class friendship can be seen in the darkness.Each character in the book uses his or her most suitable and authentic Beijing dialect to express the brand or trauma that the old society has left on them.This is unique among writers of our generation.

The period when we had a close relationship with Lao She was in Chongqing during the Anti-Japanese War.At that time, I lived in Geleshan, a suburb of Chongqing, and Lao She was a regular visitor of my family, and he was the most welcome person to my children. As soon as "Uncle Shu" came, they and their children swarmed up like a swarm, holding on to him, asking him to tell stories and jokes, and Lao She would always talk to them endlessly with a smile on his face.At this time, my son and eldest daughter had already started to try novels, and they often talked with Lao She about his works.Once I heard the children ask: "Uncle Shu, why are the good people in your book always named Li?" Lao She tensed his face and said, "I just like the one named Li!" ——If you all do Good boy, next time I write a book, the good person in the book will be named Wu!" The children clapped their hands happily, and Lao She also laughed.

Because Lao She was often pestered by the children, we had no chance to talk about serious matters. We told Lao She: "If you bring some friends, don't pick Sundays, or when the children are out of school." So Lao She sometimes changed to come up the mountain with a group of friends at one or two o'clock in the afternoon.The few earthen houses in our house had no walls, and Lao She’s unrestrained laughter could be heard from the mountain path outside the window: “Have you made good tea? The guests are here! "I remember that in the poem note that Lao She gave me, there are these two lines:

Sweating and asking for good tea frequently. Now, the many poems that Lao She gave me, together with a fan given to me by their husband and wife—one side was written with his own poems, and the other side was flowers painted by Mr. Hu Juanqing, all were lost when the "Gang of Four" was rampant !This loss can never be compensated! After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, we went to Japan, and Lao She went to the United States.At this time, my children not only like to read books, but also write letters.Probably because of the loneliness among the guests, Lao She and my children corresponded quite frequently, and even asked domestic bookstores to send books to the children, such as, etc.Once my eldest daughter read to me a passage from Lao She’s letter to her, to the effect that: You have praised me so high. When I climbed up to a hundred-story building in New York and looked down, I felt that I was really not short. !My youngest daughter also said: "Uncle Shu wrote to me that he is like a stray dog ​​in New York." A ten-year-old girl, how can she understand the bitterness of going to the country and nostalgia for a writer who loves the motherland and the people? What's the taste?

In 1951, we came back from Japan.In the spring of 1952, when I was ill, Lao She came to see me.He pulled up a chair, sat by my bed, and happily talked to me about new people and new things in Beijing after liberation, and about Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou's encouragement and care for literary and art workers.At this time, when my children heard that the guest sitting in the room was "Uncle Shu", they all walked in quietly, stood by the door, and listened to our conversation quietly.Lao She turned around and saw them, glanced at them from head to toe, and asked with a smile, "Why? Don't you recognize 'Uncle Shu'?" At this time, these children were already college, high school and junior high school students. Instead, he held "Uncle Shu"'s hand tightly with both hands, and said a little shyly, "It's not that we don't recognize you, it's that you don't recognize us!" Lao She laughed and said: "No, you are all young men and young girls, but I am a little old man!" Immediately, the room was full of joy again!

One day in September 1966, my eldest daughter sent a letter from Lanzhou, saying: "Mother, Uncle Shu passed away, do you know?" How can a person who loses vitality die?At that time, I did not know any news about my friends, and I had no way of knowing... After the "Gang of Four" was overthrown, my family and I missed Lao She very much. , our first friend to fall!When we saw the re-screening of "Longxugou" on TV a few days ago, we all shed tears, not only because of the touching story itself, but also because the "people's artist" failed to see our second liberation !In the novel "Tao Qi's Summer Diary" I wrote in 1953, in the section on July 29, it was written that after Tao Qi and her cousin Xiao Qiu watched the film "Longxugou" , which is actually a conversation between my older daughter and younger daughter:

Go hug her and persuade her: "You know, right? This is all before liberation. Didn't Longxugou be repaired later, and the people's life is better?We'll never have that kind of hard life again. " Xiaoqiu nodded and said, "But Er Niuzi is dead, she hasn't seen any good things!" I also felt very uncomfortable. Twenty-five years later, my youngest daughter re-watched the movie "Longxugou" and unknowingly repeated what she said when she was a child: "The 'Gang of Four' was defeated, and we liberated for the second time." , Unfortunately, Uncle Shu can't see!" This time, my eldest daughter didn't go over and hug her, but wiped away her tears, each bowed her head and walked away!

At the just-opened enlarged meeting of the National Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, I saw many living and disabled friends in the literary and art circles, and many dead friends in the literary and art circles also appeared in my mind—especially Lao She.If Lao She was still alive, he would definitely make a righteous and hearty speech exposing the "Gang of Four".It's a pity he died! Regarding Lao She, many friends have written their own words of nostalgia, mourning and praise for him.There are many deeds and achievements of a "people's artist", "language master", and "model worker in the literary and art circles". Every friend has his own understanding of him, and each side projects a A beam of light, many beams of light combined to reflect a complete Mr. Lao She!It is not only Lao She's old friends and readers who shed tears of grief and indignation for Lao She's unfortunate death, but also many young people.If Lao She hadn't died, he would have written better children's literature works than "Treasure Ship" and "Frog Rider", because loving children means loving the motherland and the future of mankind!Under the great call of the Party Central Committee to march towards science and culture, he will write for children with a hundred times more enthusiasm.

I am grateful to the Party Central Committee for smashing the "Gang of Four" and saving the literary and art circles. After twelve years, I finally wrote this article in memory of Mr. Lao She.Today is the spring of the earth, and a hundred flowers bloom.My talent is far worse than that of Mr. Lao She, but I am still alive. I will follow his example of hard work, and with a heart that loves children, I will work hard to write for the masters of the four modern socialist motherlands at the end of this century. Give them something to benefit them!June 21, 1978 (This article was originally published in "People's Drama" No. 7, 1978, and later included in "Wan Qing Ji".)