Chapter 61 The word is bigger than the bucket (1)

The female writer Eileen Chang bid farewell to the human world, which is the "object" of her writing life.When she was there, she was naturally famous, but after all, she was a little unsurprising, as if she was nothing more than "famous".Once she died, they all mourned and remembered her, and took everything about her differently, understood, precious, regretted, regretted... This is how people are, this is called "law". I have no qualifications to write a mourning essay for her, because although she is only two years younger than me, she is really a contemporaneous person, but because I have never read her novels, essays or plays, I am even more familiar with her family life. is ignorant.I don't want to have a friend send me a photocopy of the preface of "Dream of the Red Chamber" a few days ago, which surprised me!After reading this preface, I felt mixed feelings of sadness and joy, and felt very ashamed. I’m sorry for her—in the spring of 1987, when I was in the United States, I borrowed this book from the university library. It was a small format version of the Taiwanese version, but I didn’t read it !Do you think this is convincing?

Why borrow it at hand and ignore it?Thinking about it now, there are roughly three reasons: First, due to the tight schedule at that time, the books borrowed were mainly in foreign languages ​​(which were difficult to find in the past), and Chinese writing had to be postponed.Second, at that time, her interest was focused on the new subject of ""Red Mansions" and Chinese Culture". Seeing that her book is about textual research-this is the most troublesome and troublesome subject. I am afraid that reading it will make my "" "Spiritual realm" was suddenly disrupted, which affected my plan to hurry up and work.Three, to be honest, as soon as I saw her use the four characters "Dream of the Red Chamber" as the title of the book, I hated it in my heart. I felt that I would not vote for "smell", and I was even more afraid that after a long period of entanglement, there would be no real gain— My eyesight has been severely damaged, and reading is so difficult that I really can't bear to waste my eyesight.

In this way, I flipped through the headlines of each chapter and pushed them aside until I had to return the book to the library, but I didn't have time to revisit it. The above is my "connection" with this female literary star. Please think, what qualifications do I have to write an article commemorating her? Who would have thought that the photocopied preface came, and I read it in one go. I was surprised and happy, regretful and ashamed! Regret and surprise are just two sides of the same thing. If there is no surprise, where will regret come from?So first let me tell you about my surprise.

I have been engaged in "red studies" for half a century, and met many people, but I didn't know that Zhang Ailing was a "red study" that should be respected.There are people who think they are "famous red scholars" everywhere in the world. In fact, some of them are neither "learned" nor "red". Zhang Ailing never regarded herself as a "famous red scholar", but she is really smarter than those who claim to be A hundred times.This surprised me a lot, and made me very happy. She speaks very honestly—and therefore she is also very straightforward, without the twitching of a "literary scholar" at all, let alone the bragging of a "red scholar".In her preface, you first listen to these lines——

(I only knew after reading the fat book "Red Mansion") The textual research of recent people is to stand and read - too late to sit down. This exposed the "famous red scholar" to the bottom, and she didn't need to be courteous about academic matters.Then she said herself— As for doing it myself, my only qualification is that I have read it well. I don’t need to pay attention to the different books, and the words that are slightly unfamiliar will pop up automatically. This is already great!It’s the first time that I will feel and express this way (my former teacher Mr. Gu Sui also said that when he reads poems, he doesn’t look for good sentences, but they jump into my eyes by themselves! It’s unique , but that is not about "Red Mansion", nor is it about the version).

I was pleasantly surprised, "Red Scholars" are like crucian carp crossing the river, how many dare to say this sentence.You put the different texts in front of his eyes, and he can't tell the right from the wrong, the original from the wrong (Xueqin's original pen and another's tampering). Then she said— I may have been poisoned by ancient prose. Bacon’s prose most remembers this sentence: "Shortness is the soul of eloquence", but I think it is not limited to eloquence.Therefore, a word can be seen as big as a bucket, and it is good to save one. This is simply wonderful, I am overwhelmed!

What's so wonderful about this?First, speak frankly and frankly, without making people feel bored.Second, the metaphor is wonderful-do you know what is "Bandou"?how big is itTo whom does this "noun" have "feelings"?Third, the most wonderful thing is that different characters will "jump out by themselves,"! This kind of words can be called a strange language, and it is also qualified for a reward. This is the advanced aesthetic ability (sensitivity) and expressive talent of poets and artists. There are at least two really important principles here—

One is that she is extremely proficient in the book "Red Mansions"—probably referring to the popular Cheng, Gao and fake copies. I was stunned!The "different" and "big fight" will jump into her eyes. Her artistic genius and cultivation have given her such "high sensitivity" and "deep pain" surprise and understanding. She went on to say: She is afraid of being wordy, "It's good to save a word."These words seem to contain her own writing creed and her experience of Xueqin's original and usurped texts—of course, these "two" are actually the same thing.

Here, however, there is a huge problem of literary language that is clearly revealed by her few short sentences, which needs to be "broken out" for her, or translated into "coherent rigid words" for her—— Why does she read Chinese like that?The reason is that she has already said it out: "Poisoned by the ancient Chinese"! This ancient prose refers to the "classical Chinese prose" written in Chinese characters by the literary stars of our past dynasties, which are well-recited and appreciated, and the words, meanings, and syllables are catchy. You can suddenly realize that in terms of Zhang Ailing's artistic feelings, the ancients would never be wordy in their composition. A word is also good"!

It turns out that the "poison" of "ancient Chinese" is here. It just blows my mind.