Chapter 3 third quarter

14 There were many French entomologists as well as several foreign ones. Among them was a Czech in his sixties who was said to be an important figure in the new system, perhaps a minister or a member of the Academy of Sciences. long, or at least an academician.Anyway, from a purely curious point of view, he was the most notable figure in the room (he represented a new era in history after the end of the dark age of communism); yet, among the chattering crowd, he stood tall, awkward, and alone of.For a while now, everyone rushed to shake his hand and ask him a few questions, but the conversation always stopped earlier than they expected, and after exchanging a few pleasantries, they didn't know what to say to him.Because they have nothing in common.The French never leave their own question, and he tried to listen attentively, occasionally adding "in contrast, in our country", and then he understood that no one was interested in his "in contrast, in our country", he Walking away from the crowd, his face is covered with a layer of sadness that is neither bitter nor sad, but clear and even proud.

As others crowded the hall with a bar, he walked into the empty venue, where four long tables were arranged in a square, waiting for the seminar to open.There was a small table by the door with a list of attendees and a lady who looked as lonely as he was.He leaned over to give her his name.She asked him to repeat it twice, but she didn't dare to ask for a third time, so she randomly searched for names on the list that sounded similar to the one she heard. Paternally, the Czech academic stooped to find his name on the list. He points with his index finger: CECHORIPSKY. "Ah! Mr. Sechripi?" she said.

"Read it as Tche-kho-rjips-qui". "Oh, it's so hard to read!" "Also, it's written wrong," the scholar said.He picked up the pen on the table and added what looked like a reversed macron to the letters C and R. The secretary looked at these symbols, looked at the scholar, sighed and said, "It's really complicated." "On the contrary, very simple." "Simple?" "Do you know Jean Hus?" The secretary quickly cast his eyes on the list of participants, and the Czech scholar was eager to explain: "As you know, he was a reformer of the church in the fourteenth century. A pioneer of Lutheranism. He is also a professor at the University of Charles. , this university, as you know, was the first university established in the era of the Holy Roman Empire. What you don't know is that John Yus was also a spelling reformer. He succeeded in simplifying the spelling to perfection. The sound of tch you pronounce must be spelled out with three letters, t, C, ho German requires four letters: t, S, C, h. But thanks to John Yusi, we only One letter, C, plus a small symbol at the beginning."

The scholar leaned over to the blank space of the list on the secretary's desk and wrote a big C, V plus the long reversed sign: C Then he looked her in the eyes and pronounced clearly: "Tch!" The secretary also looked into his eyes.Follow it up: "Tch." "Yes, very good!" "It's really convenient. It's a pity that Luther's reforms didn't spread in our country." "Jon Yuth's reformation..." the scholar continued, pretending not to hear the secretary's mistake, "...not totally disregarded. Used in another country...you know that, don't you?"

"have no idea." "In Lithuania!" "In Lithuania," the secretary repeated, trying to figure out where in the world the country was. "In Latvia too. Now you know why we Czechs are so proud of the little symbol on the word. (With a smile:) We can betray everything. But in defense of this little symbol, we will die to the last drop Blood." After nodding to the secretary, he walked towards the square rows of tables.Each chair has a card with its name written on it.He found his name, looked at it for a long time, then picked it up, and with a sad but understanding smile, showed it to the secretary.

At this time, another entomologist was standing at the table at the entrance, waiting for the secretary to make a small mark next to his name.Seeing the Czech scholar, she said to him: "Wait a minute, Mr. Chipiqui!" He made a tolerant gesture: Don't worry, miss, I'm in no hurry.Patiently, and with touching modesty, he waited at the table, (two more entomologists arrived), and when the secretary finally broke down, he handed her the little card: "Look, it's funny , isn't it?" She didn't see why: "Mr. Chenipiqui, the symbol you want is on it!"

"Yes, but that's the usual macron! They forgot to turn it upside down! Look where the sign is! On the E and O! It becomes Thanks Cechoripsky! " "Oh, yes, you are right!" The secretary also became indignant. "I wonder," said the Czech scholar, increasingly mournful, "how people keep forgetting these symbols. They are so poetic, these inverted macrons! Don't you think? Like a bird in flight! Like stretching A white dove with wings! (softly:) Or, if you prefer, like a butterfly." He leaned over again and picked up the pen on the table to correct the spelling of his name on the little card.He moved so humbly, like apologizing, that he walked away without saying a word.

The secretary watched him go, tall and weirdly deformed, and she was suddenly filled with maternal affection.Imagine the upside-down macron, transformed into a butterfly, flying around the scholar, and finally landed on the white hair. When walking towards the seat, the Czech scholar turned his head and saw the secretary’s moving smile, and he smiled back. On the way to the seat, he turned back and smiled at her three times.It was a sad but proud smile.A sad pride: that's how we might define the Czech scholar. 15 He was sad because he saw the misplaced symbol on the name, and everyone understood.But where did his pride come from?

The following is an outline of his life: one year after the Russian invasion in 1968, he was expelled from the Institute of Entomology and forced to work as a construction worker until the end of the Russian occupation in 1989, approximately twenty years. Yet there are hundreds of thousands of people out of work in America, France, Spain, all over the world who are suffering and are not at all proud of it.Why are Czech academics proud and those people not? Because he was kicked out of his job, not for economic reasons, but for political reasons. Even so.But in this case, what must be explained is why misfortune caused by economic factors is less serious and less admirable?Should an employee who was fired because he didn't like his boss feel ashamed, but whoever lost his job because of his political ideas has the right to be proud of it?Why?

Being fired for financial reasons, the fired person is passive and does not have any commendable courage in his actions. This may seem obvious, but it is not.Because the Czech academic, who was dismissed after 1968, did not accomplish any heroic acts when the Russian army established an extremely disgusting regime in his country.He was the director of a small group at the Institute that specialized in the study of flies.One day, out of the blue, more than a dozen well-known reactionaries rushed into his office and asked him to set aside a research room for them to hold a semi-underground meeting.They acted according to the rules of moral judo: come suddenly, form a group of observers.This unexpected confrontation made Czech scholars very embarrassed.Saying "yes" has immediate and unfortunate dangers: he'll lose his job, and his three kids won't be able to attend college.But he didn't have the guts to say "no" to the crowd who mocked him for his cowardice.He finally agreed, and began to despise himself for his cowardice, his fragility, his inability to be pushed around.Therefore, it is precisely his cowardice that later caused him to lose his job and the child to be expelled from school.

If so, what can he be proud of? As time went by, he gradually forgot his original hatred of the reactionaries, and became more and more accustomed to regard his answering "yes" as a voluntary and free expression, as his personal rebellion against the disgusting regime.So he believed that he was part of the great stage of history, and from this certainty he drew his pride. However, countless people have been involved in countless political conflicts for a long time. Can they also feel proud of being promoted to the big stage of history? I have to make my point: the pride of the Czech scholar comes from the fact that he does not step onto the stage of history at a random moment, but at the very moment when the lights on the stage come on.The moment when the lights on the historical stage are turned on is called a global historic moment.Prague in 1968, under the spotlight and the gaze of the camera, was the most embodying moment in the history of the world, and Czech scholars are still proud of that time. However, an important business negotiation is being held, and world leaders gather together. This is also an important current event, and it is also paid attention to, filmed, and commented on; why are the protagonists not similarly aroused with pride and touching emotions? Let me make that last point right away: what Czech scholars worship is not the gift of any one global historic moment, but the one that is called sublime. The moment is sublime because the people in front of the stage are suffering, and the people behind the stage are suffering. The sound of machine gun fire echoed, and the angel of death floated above the stage. So the final formula is as follows: Czech scholars are proud to be involved in noble global historic moments.He knows this makes him different from all those Norwegians in the hall.Participants from Denmark, France, United Kingdom. 16 There was a vacant seat at the chair's table for speakers to take turns; he wasn't listening.He waited for his turn, reaching out from time to time to touch the five pages of prepared lectures in his pocket. A little-known, he named a study of the Prague fly (musca prngensis) for an introduction.He got up and walked to the podium when he heard what he believed to be the pronunciation of his name from the chairman Within 20 seconds of arriving at the podium, an unexpected thing happened to him: he was emotionally excited: God, after so many years, he returned to the respected and respected people again At the same time, he returned to these scholars who were dear to him, but fate scattered them; he did not sit down when he came to the speaking seat; What I feel in my heart. "Forgive me, dear ladies and gentlemen, for expressing my emotions, which overwhelm me at the moment. After twenty years of absence, I am finally able to think again with people who think the same things as I do, and share the same passions I come from a country where a man is deprived of all meaning of life simply by speaking aloud what is on his mind, because to a man of science the whole meaning of life is science. As As you know, millions of people, intellectuals in our country, were thrown from work after the tragic summer of 1968. Six months ago, I was working as a construction worker. No shame, we can learn a lot, we can win the friendship of some simple, kind people, and we also know that those who do science are lucky, because they are lucky to do what they love. Yes, friends, This luck is not available to my fellow construction workers, because one cannot love to carry cement. This luck has been denied me for twenty years, and today I am ecstatic to have it again. This is why, dear friends, I See this moment as a real joy, even if it is tinged with sadness." He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke the last words.It made him a little embarrassed, thinking of his old father who was the most emotional and crying, but he told himself immediately, why not let himself go: these people should be honored by his affection, this is his little gift from Prague . He was right.The participants were deeply moved.As soon as he had finished his last words, Baker stood up and applauded.The camera immediately moved closer to capture his face, his clapping hands, and the Czech scholar.Everyone in the hall stood up, slowly or quickly, smiling or serious, all clapping, they were so ecstatic that they didn't know when to stop, and the Czech scholar stood in front of them, tall, very tall, awkward He is tall and tall, the more this clumsiness envelops his figure, the more moving he is, and the more he is moved, so the tears are no longer hidden under the eyelids, and flow solemnly along the nose to the lips and chin. Seeing this, all applauding colleagues Work as hard as you can. Finally, the cheers stopped and everyone sat down again. The Czech scholar said in a trembling voice: "Thank you, my friends, I thank you from the bottom of my heart." He nodded and walked towards his seat.He knows this is the greatest moment of his life, the moment of glory, yes, glory, why not say it, he feels great and beautiful, he feels famous, he hopes the walk back to his seat is long can't finish 17 Silence fell over the room as he made his way to his seat.Perhaps it would be more correct to say that there are many kinds of silence.Czech scholars recognize only one of them: moved silence.He didn't notice it, but gradually, like an imperceptible modulation, the tone of the sonata changed, and the moved silence turned into an embarrassing silence.Everyone knows that this gentleman with a name he doesn't know how to pronounce was so moved that he forgot to read the lecture he was supposed to reveal to everyone about his newly discovered fly.Everyone also knows that it is impolite to remind him.After a long hesitation, the chairman of the meeting coughed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Tchecochipi... (He pauses for a while, giving the participants one last chance to remind the audience about the speech)... Then I will ask Next speaker." As soon as he said this, a snicker from the back of the room briefly broke the silence. Lost in his own thoughts, the Czech scholar heard neither the laughter nor the speech of his next colleague.Other speakers took turns to take the stage, until a Belgian scholar who also studied flies spoke, which woke him up from meditation: God, he forgot to read the speech!He reached into his pocket, and the five manuscript pages confirmed that he was not in a dream. His cheeks were hot.I feel so ridiculous.What else could he redeem?No, he knew nothing could be undone. After a moment of shame, he was comforted by a strange thought: he was ridiculous, but there was nothing negative, shameful, or offensive about him; this ridiculousness brought closer together the sadness that was already in his life, made him His fate is even more depressing, but also more grand and tragic. No, pride is never far from the sadness of Czech scholars. 18 At every gathering there will always be deserters, hiding in the next room to drink.Fan Sheng, tired of listening to the lectures of entomologists, and not finding the strange behavior of the Czech scholars so amusing, gathered in the hall with other wanderers around a long table by the bar. After a long silence, he finally managed to join the conversation of the strangers: "I have a girlfriend who wants me to behave rougher." Because Peng Defan paused when he finished speaking, causing the audience to fall into a silence of attentive listening.Fan Sheng paused for a while, indeed, he heard laughter, a loud laugh, which greatly increased his confidence, his eyes lit up, and he made a gesture to silence the audience, but at this moment, He noticed that everyone turned towards the other end of the table, watching with interest the two gentlemen hurling insults at each other. After a minute or two, he finally drew his attention back: "I just said that my girlfriend wanted me to behave rougher." Now everyone listened to him, and Vanson no longer made the same mistake of pausing; The faster he spoke, as if he wanted to avoid someone chasing after him and interrupting him: "But I can't do it, I'm too meticulous, aren't I?" In response to this sentence, he laughed himself.Noticing that his smile was not answered, he hurriedly continued, speeding up his narration: "There is often a young typist in my family, and she will type whatever I say..." "Does she use a computer to type?" A gentleman suddenly became interested. Fan Sheng replied: "Yes." "What brand of computer?" Fan Sheng mentioned a label name.The gentleman's computer was from another brand, and he began to describe how his computer failed every time and made him very angry.Everyone joked and laughed a few times. Fan Sheng, sadly, reminded him of his original thoughts: People always think that a person's fortune depends more or less on his appearance, the beauty of his face, his body shape or the amount of hair.wrong.The sound is everything.Fansheng's voice was weak and high-pitched; no one paid attention when he spoke, and when he made a loud noise, everyone thought he was shouting.Peng Defan was just the opposite, he spoke slowly and softly, and the low noise reverberated, pleasant, beautiful, and powerful, so that everyone could only hear his voice. Ah, what a Peng Defan.He had promised to come to the seminar with the crowd, then lost interest, befitting his talkative nature.On the one hand, Fan Sheng was very disappointed. On the other hand, he felt that he could not disobey his master's order. On the eve of departure, Peng Defan said to him: "You have to represent us. I give you the full authority to work hard for our common cause in our name." It's a ludicrous order, of course, but the folks at Café Gasco are convinced that in the meaningless world we live in, only ludicrous orders are worth following.In memory, next to Peng Defan's clever head, Fan Sheng saw Matthew's gigantic face with an agreeing smile.Sustained by this instruction and this smile, he decided to act; looking around, he saw a nice young woman among the group at the bar.