Chapter 2 Inspiration -1

The circumstances of Joseph Knecht's parentage are no longer traceable.His life experience is similar to that of many students in elite schools. If he had not lost his relatives in his early years, he would not have been rescued from a bad environment by educational organizations and cultivated education.In any case, he did not suffer from the conflicts between elite schools and families, but some young people of the same age suffered greatly. Not only did it make it difficult for him to join religious groups, but it also confused some originally talented young people and even became people with problems.

Knecht, however, was one of the lucky ones. He seemed to have been born exclusively for Castalia and religious groups, and was destined to serve the authorities of educational organizations.Although his spiritual life was not without doubt, he experienced the spiritual tragedy that every spiritual devotee is born with, but there is no physical suffering.Perhaps it is not entirely due to this kind of spiritual tragedy that draws our attention to Knecht's personal character so deeply; They can successfully fulfill their destiny, develop their talents, and achieve their goals.Like any important person in the world, he has his "evil spirit" and "auspicious star", which we see protect him from gloom and fanaticism.Even so, there must be hidden things that we don’t know at all, so we must not forget that all historical works, no matter how objective and plain they are written, and no matter how hard the writers try to conform to the truth, they still cannot escape the category of fiction. All are fictitious in nature.

So what do we even think of the actual lives of the greatest men, whether Bach or Mozart?Whether it's more pleasant or heavy, we don't know.Whereas Mozart moves us with the uniquely touching and endearing genius of a man who fulfills his mission prematurely, Bach enlightens and comforts us with God's fatherly desire to be faithful to pain and to death.And we can't read all this from their biographies, nor can we know it from various private life anecdotes that have been circulated. We can only know it from music by listening to their works.Furthermore, even though we have already read Bach's biography and inferred his entire image from his music, we can't help but think about the fate of his manuscripts after his death: we imagine that he seemed to think that his own The entire work will be forgotten immediately after death, the manuscripts will be disposed of as garbage, so sad, he also thinks that one of his sons, not himself, will become "the great Bach", fruitful, and he also thinks that his work is not If it is rediscovered, it will be misunderstood and abused by the age of the supplement, etc.Likewise, we tend to imagine that Mozart knew that his safety was in the hands of death, and that he foresaw that death was about to embrace him during his creative prosperity when he wrote a lot of healthy and perfect works.Wherever a work remains, the historian there has but one thing to do, he must relate it to the life of its creator and synthesize it as two inseparable parts of a living unity. generalize.What we do with Mozart or Bach, we also do with Knecht, although he belongs to our uncreative age, and there is no "work" left like the two masters.

When we try to trace Knecht's life, and of course try to shed some light on it, we as historians have to regret that almost nothing has survived of his later life.This gives us the courage to take on the heavy responsibility, because the last part of Knecht's life has become a legend of the saint.We accept this legend wholeheartedly, regardless of whether it is a pious invention. Just as we know nothing about Knecht's birth and life experience, so also about the circumstances of his death.But we have absolutely no reason to assume that his death could have been a pure accident.His life, so far as we know it, consisted of distinct stages of development which we would readily accept and write if we thought about his end in relation to the legend.We do this because the final phase of life described by the legend seems to fit perfectly with the preceding phases of his life.We even admit that it seems reasonable and organic for his life to disappear into the legend at last, just as we believe that a constellation disappears in the "underground" invisible to the naked eye, but still exists. place of doubt.Joseph Knecht lived in the world in which we—here, the author and readers of this book—live, reached the highest peaks and achieved the highest achievements we can imagine.

As a master of the game, he became the leader and mentor of all those who strive for spiritual cultivation.He has brilliantly managed and expanded his legacy.He served as abbot of a monastery that we all look up to.But he has not only achieved and assumed the position of a game master and a position at the top of our religious organization, but has crossed the line and entered a situation we can only look up to.Therefore, in order to be fully in keeping with his life, we must take his biography also beyond the usual sphere, in order to finally pass into the realm of legend. We not only accept this miraculous fact, but also rejoice that the miracle occurred, and we do not want to make any redundant explanations.

Whenever Knecht's life is still a historical fact, we will write it truthfully until a certain date. As for the rumors after that, we will report it as accurately as possible according to our research. Of his childhood, that is, before Knecht entered the elite school, we know only one fact, and this event is of great symbolic importance, because it signifies the earliest greatness sent to him by spiritual thought. Summoning means his first mission, and the source of this first summoning does not come from science or academia, but from music.This biographical material, like almost all reminiscences of Knecht's personal life, is due to the detailed account written by a student of the glass bead game, a student who admired the glass bead game and recorded his own greatness. Many remarks and anecdotes from the mentor.

Knecht Jomo was twelve or thirteen years old at the time, and had been studying for some time at a Latin school in Belofengen, a small town on the outskirts of Chapelwater.Bellofingen may well have been his birthplace.Knecht has received a scholarship for many years, and the teachers of the school, especially the music teacher, have actively recommended him to the highest authority of the school to study in an elite school, at least twice or three times.But he himself knew nothing about it, and had never had contact with tutors in elite schools or the authorities of the Supreme Education Council.The music teacher (Knecht was learning violin and lyre at the time) told him that perhaps a music instructor would come to Belofengen soon to inspect the music teaching of the school, and Joseph must practice the piano obediently, so as not to let himself and The teacher made a fool of himself.

This news shocked Knecht greatly, because the boy certainly knew what kind of character this music teacher was. He was by no means the usual inspector of the education committee who came to inspect the school every two years. One of the Twelve Highest Members of the Highest Authority of the Honorable Council of Education, one of the Twelve Demigods! This god presides over the supreme leadership of all music affairs in the country.The music instructor is also the music master of the glass bead game group, and he is going to visit Belofengen in person!In the eyes of little Joseph, perhaps the only person who is more legendary and mysterious than the music teacher is the master of the glass bead game himself.

Knecht was full of respect and fear for the coming mentor, imagining him in various images, sometimes as a king, sometimes as a magician, sometimes as one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, or was a legendary great artist of the classical period, equivalent to Michael Praetorius, Claudio Monteverti, Johan Jacob Froberger or even It's Bach. ——He was looking forward to the moment when this superstar would appear with joy, but at the same time he was full of fear.Because an angelic half-god, a mysterious regent who rules the spiritual world is about to come alive to these small towns, come to this Latin school, and they will meet soon, the master Perhaps he will be questioned, tested, reprimanded, or praised--it will be a great event, a miracle, a rare celestial phenomenon.For the first time in decades, a master of music visited the town and the small Latin school, just as his teacher had said.Knecht pictured various scenes of the coming moment in his mind, and the first thing he thought of was a grand public celebration, and a welcome event similar to the one he had witnessed to welcome the new mayor, with colorful flags waving in the streets and orchestral music The team played music constantly and even set off fireworks.Knecht's classmates were full of fantasies and expectations just like him.Knecht's excitement and excitement came only when he thought that maybe he shouldn't get too close to this great man, and most importantly, maybe he might be too embarrassing when talking to this expert. will be slightly suppressed.But the fear was bittersweet, and though he would not admit it, deep down he thought how beautiful, how charming, how important this long-awaited spectacle, with its flags and fireworks, would be, Should he, little Joseph Knecht, stand beside this great man?In fact, it was partly for him, for Josef, that the master visited Perofingen, because he had come to study music teaching in the Latin school, and the music teacher would of course try to get him to test the cockney as well. Sit.

But maybe that won't happen, alas, maybe it's simply impossible, the master must have other more important things than letting him listen to a little boy play the violin.He may just want to meet the seniors and hear how well they are playing. Such was the boy's anxious anticipation of the day when his guests would come.This day disappointed him from the very beginning: there was no band playing in the street, and there were no colorful flags or flowers in front of the houses. Knecht had to go to the usual daily classes with books and notebooks as before, and even There is no festive decoration and atmosphere even in the classroom.Everything is business as usual.The class began, and the teacher, still in his everyday clothes, made no speech, not a word about the coming guest of honor.

However, things finally happened.During the second or third period, someone knocked on the door of the classroom, and the janitor came in to greet the teacher and informed that the student Joseph Knecht had to see the music teacher in fifteen minutes. Dress yourself neatly, wash your hands and nails before going. Knecht turned pale with fright. He staggered out of the classroom and ran to the dormitory. He put down his textbooks, washed his hands and face, combed his hair, picked up the violin case and his music score with trembling hands, Feeling his throat constricting; he walked into the music classroom building next to the main building.A classmate greeted him nervously at the stairs, pointed to a piano practice room and said, "Let you wait here until someone calls you." The waiting time was not long, but it seemed to him that he had been waiting for a lifetime.No one came to call him, but someone came in.This is an elderly man who is not very tall at first glance, with white hair and a very smooth face. There are sharp eyes in a pair of light blue eyes, which may be frightening; but he I feel that these eyes are not only sharp, but also full of joy, it is not a mockery or a smile, but a kind of serene joy with a faint brilliance.The man held out his hand to the boy, greeted each other, and then sat down on the old piano bench leisurely. "You are Joseph Knecht, aren't you?" he said. "Your teacher seems very pleased with your grades; I believe he likes you. Come, let us play a little music together." Knecht had already taken out the violin, and when he heard the old man playing the key of A, he tuned his own violin, and then looked timidly at the music master with questioning eyes. "What do you like to play?" the master asked him. The boy could not utter a word, for he was overwhelmed with awe of the old man, such as he had never seen before.He hesitated to pick up his music score and handed it to the old man. "No," said the master, "I want you to play a melody you can memorize, no etudes, anything easy to memorize will do, just a song you like every day." Knecht was very nervous, and seemed to be fascinated by the old man's face and expression, and couldn't say a word; the more ashamed he was of his panic, the more speechless he became.The master did not force him to speak, but played out the first few notes of a melody with one finger, and looked at him questioningly; Knecht nodded and immediately began to play happily. Song, often sung in school. "Again!" said the Master. Knecht played again, and this time the old man joined him in the second part.In this way, the ensemble music of the two parts of this old song resounded in the small piano room. "Again!" Knecht obeyed, and the master played the second and third parts simultaneously.The three voices of this beautiful old song filled the cabin. "Do it again!" said the master, playing all three voices simultaneously. "What a beautiful song!" the master said softly. "Play at the highest note this time." After the master started the sound for him, Knecht continued to play obediently, and the other three voices cooperated closely.The old man repeated over and over again: "Do it again!" The music became more and more cheerful.Knecht played the tenor part, always accompanied by two or three pairs of voices.They played the song so many times that there was no need for cooperation, and each repetition added some ornament and variation to the music.The empty little piano room resounded with festive and cheerful music in the joyful morning sun. After a while the old man stopped. "Is that enough?" he asked the child.Knecht shook his head and began to play again; the other three voices also jumped in cheerfully, and the four voices were intertwined into a crystal-clear musical network. Surrounding each other, the boy and the old man have forgotten everything in the world at this time, and are completely submerged in the beautiful strings and qin sounds formed by their group playing, intoxicated in the network woven by the music; they are completely obedient. At the mercy of an invisible conductor, his body swayed slightly.When the melody ended again, the master turned to the child and asked, "Joseph, do you like playing this way?" Knecht's face was radiant, and he looked at him gratefully and excitedly, but still couldn't say a word. "Do you know more or less what a fugue is?" the master asked him. Knecht showed a puzzled expression.He had heard of the fugue, but hadn't taught it in class. "Well," continued the master, "I will teach you now. If we compose a fugue with our own hands, you will understand it at once. So let's begin. A fugue must first have a theme, You don't have to take the trouble to find the theme, just take one from the piece we just played." He played a melody on the piano, which was a short section of the whole song. This piece of music was cut out without beginning or end, which sounded a bit weird.When he played the theme again, he began to develop and change, first adding the first fill, changing a fifth interval to a fourth interval in the second fill, and changing it by an octave higher in the third fill. The first fill is repeated on the same note, and the second fill is also repeated an octave higher on the fourth fill.The idea ends on a rest note in the dominant tone.The second conception shifts the tones more freely, while the third conception tends to go beyond rests and then ends the passage with an adjunct to the fundamental note. The boy gazed at the deft movements of the player's white fingers, and saw the development of the piece reflected vaguely on the old man's intent face, though his still eyes were half-closed.The boy's heart was boiling, he was full of respect and love for the old man, and the fugue in his ears made him feel as if he was hearing music for the first time in his life.He vaguely felt that the music born before his eyes was a spiritual world, a happy harmony of all bondage and freedom, service and dominion. He swore to be loyal to this spiritual world and to this master. To see himself, his life and the world as guided, tuned and foreshadowed by this musical spirit. When the performance was over, he saw that the magician and king he admired paused a little, closed his eyes and bowed silently to the keys, and at the same time his face glowed faintly.Facing this blissful moment, Knecht didn't know whether he wanted to cheer or cry, but this moment disappeared in an instant. The old man rose slowly from the piano-stool, and looking at him piercingly and with great friendliness from his cheerful blue eyes, said, "There is nothing that makes two people friends so much as playing music together. A beautiful thing. I hope we will be friends forever, you and me. You too can learn to compose a fugue." He shook hands with Knecht to bid farewell, and walked towards the door, but when he reached the door, he turned around and nodded politely, expressing his farewell with his eyes. Many years later, Knecht described this meeting to his students: When he walked out of school, he felt that the small town and the world had changed greatly, as if by magic, far better than the colorful flags, flower bouquets, Streamers and fireworks. This is the first time he has experienced the power of inspiration. People can completely describe it as a religious sacrament. Before that, he only knew the ideal world from hearsay or in a confused dream. The son clearly appeared, and the door was opened to him.This world exists not only in the past, somewhere far away, in the future, no, it exists vividly in the here and now, it is alive, it is full of brilliance, it sends messengers, apostles, ambassadors to the outside world, To send someone as great as this master of music, who, by the way, was not too old in the eyes of Joseph Knecht back then.This ideal world sent to him, the little boy in the Latin school, a message of oracle and summons through the venerable messenger.This was the spiritual significance of his experience, and it took him weeks to truly understand and be convinced that the miraculous events that took place in those sacred moments were in fact perfectly consistent with any real events that took place in the real world.For this calling is not only the happiness and consolation of his personal soul and conscience, but also a gift and favor bestowed on him by the powers of the world.Because with the passage of time, the truth can no longer be concealed. The visit of the music master was neither purely accidental nor did he really come to inspect the work, but he had already known Knecht's name, and his teacher had already given a report to introduce him. In his case, his name has already been listed on the recommendation list for admission to elite schools, or it can be said that he has already been recommended to the Supreme Education Council authorities.According to the recommendation, this boy not only has excellent grades in Latin and good conduct, but his music teacher also praised his outstanding musical talent, so the music master decided to stay in Belofengen for a few hours during this official business trip , examine this student.He didn't pay much attention to Knecht's Latin and fingering training, he trusted the teachers' comments, and he had already spent a whole hour on it.All he cares about is whether the boy as a whole has what it takes to be a real musician in essence, whether he has enthusiasm, self-control, respect for others, and a sincere heart of service.Generally speaking, although teachers in public schools recommend "talents" to elite schools with good intentions, they are often overly generous, and there are always more or less bad motives. Eyesight, stubbornly recommending a certain student you love, but you can't see that this child has no other strengths other than studying hard, having vanity, and being obedient and well-behaved in front of the teacher.And the music master just hates this kind of students the most, he will see clearly at a glance the possible development trajectory of this child before the student himself realizes that he is being tested.Those students who were too well-behaved, too sensible, and too clever in front of him often had bad luck, and those who tried to flatter him ended up worse.Some kids were even kicked out of him before the official exams. The master of music is very fond of this student named Knecht, the master likes him very much, and always thinks of this child with a happy mood when he continues his official travel.He never recorded any words about Knecht in his notebook, but he kept this pure and simple boy firmly in his memory. When he returned to school, he would immediately write a letter in his own handwritten letter by one of the members of the highest education authority. Fill in the name of Knecht on the list of qualified students. Knecht would occasionally hear this list from his classmates at school, but everyone’s accents were completely different. Most of the classmates called it the "Golden List", and some people contemptuously called it the "Roster of Careerists". ".If any teacher mentions this list, it is always because he wants to remind a certain student that a young man who refuses to work hard will never get a gold medal-he always said this with a touch of respect and respect in his tone. A dignified tone of importance. And those students who called the list the "Roster of Careerists" mostly adopted a Noel tone and put on a look of indifference.Once, Knecht heard a student say something like this: "What's the big deal, I don't care about this stupid 'roster of careerists'! You have to believe that there are not a single good guy on the list. The teachers just stuff it with the nastiest sycophants." After Knecht experienced this experience, he felt a little strange for a while.At first, he didn't know that he had become a "chosen one", a "flower of youth"-this is what everyone calls elite students. Nor did he at first have any idea of ​​the practical consequences and noticeable effects this experience would have on his fate and life.When the teachers all regarded Knecht as the winner and the one who was about to go far, he himself realized this inspiration, almost as if it was a process in his own heart.This incident also drew a clear dividing line in his life.Although his hours with the musical conjurer had filled him, or almost filled him with foreboding, the event had precisely separated his yesterday from his present, his present from his future, as if A person wakes up from a dream, and the environment is exactly what he saw in the dream, but he still suspects that he is in the dream. There are indeed many ways and types of inspiration, but there is always only one core and meaning: to awaken a person's soul, transform or sublimate this soul, because dreams and premonitions come from the heart, but inspiration comes suddenly from the outside, where there are not only some reality , and has deeply affected this person. For Knecht, this "some reality" is the Master Musician, who in the eyes of the child is only a demigod from afar, an archangel from the highest paradise.He came down to earth in the form of a human body, he had a pair of omniscient blue eyes, he once sat on the piano bench at the practice piano, and once played music with Knecht.His performance was superb, and he gave people an understanding of real music almost without saying a word.He blessed Knecht and left. Knecht could not imagine the possible consequences of this incident and all the possible future situations at first, because his mind was full of the immediate repercussions aroused by this incident, and he could not think about any problems.Like a young sapling, which has been growing slowly and peacefully until now, suddenly, as if at some inconceivable moment, he realizes the law of his own growth, so that he begins to desire passionately to reach the goal of perfection as soon as possible.Knecht is like this. As soon as this child is pointed by the magician, he immediately collects and gathers his energy nervously and quickly to prepare for action; he feels that he has changed, grown up, and feels that there is a connection between himself and the world. New tension, new harmony.He felt at times that he was capable of solving difficult problems in music, Latin, and mathematics far better than his peers and classmates, and that he could do anything.And at other times he forgets everything and enters into daydreams with a tenderness he has never felt before, he listens to the wind or the rain, he gazes long at a flower or the flowing river, he does not want to understand What, just with all the goodwill, curiosity and sympathy for the objective world, longing to get rid of this self, enter another self, another world, and move closer to the sacred and mysterious, the painful and beautiful game realm of the illusion world. Joseph Knecht completed his spiritual calling in this way, starting from the heart, gradually developing to let the heart and the outside world meet and affirm each other, and finally achieve pure harmony and unity.Knecht has passed through all stages, has tasted all stages of happiness and terror.This process of spiritual sublimation has reached its end without any haste or perfunctory, which is the typical history of every noble heart, "inside" It develops harmoniously with "outside" and approaches each other with the same rhythm.Finally, when this development process reached its end, Knecht saw clearly his own situation and future destiny.He saw that the teachers treated him like a colleague, sometimes even like a distinguished guest who came to visit for a short time. Most of the classmates were half envious and half jealous, some avoided him, even suspected him, and some stood in a hostile position And laughed at him, and as for many old friends, he felt that he was getting farther and farther away from them, and they also abandoned him. —At this moment, even this process of isolation from everyone has already been completed in him.He felt that teachers were no longer superiors but colleagues, and his old friends were companions who had traveled with him and were now stranded.He found that he could not find friends of his own kind in school and in the small town, nor could he find a suitable place to stand.Now everything here is lifeless, filled with an old and false atmosphere, and everything gives people the feeling of a temporary state, as if wearing an old clothes that no longer fit, feeling uncomfortable all over.And in the last days when he was about to leave school, because he had surpassed this beloved hometown, because he had to abandon this way of life that was no longer suitable for him, because he had also spent so much happiness in these short days In the most glorious moment, parting has become a great torture, an unbearable pressure and pain, because everything in the world has left him, and he cannot be sure whether he has abandoned everything himself, whether he should face it. To leave such a lovely and accustomed world is to be guilty of one's own ambition, self-importance, arrogance, infidelity, and lack of love.Of all the pains he has to endure in response to a genuine appeal, such pains are the bitterest.If a person accepts this kind of appeal, then he not only accepts gifts and orders, but also accepts something similar to "crime". The higher the height, the stronger his sense of guilt, and he will feel uneasy about his original partners. Knecht was very restrained, and finally got through this stage of development safely.Later, when the school authorities finally informed him that he was about to enter an elite school for further studies due to his excellent grades, he was surprised at once.Only then did he recall that in recent weeks someone had called "Inductee" or "Outstanding Child" sarcastically behind him.He heard it, but often he didn't hear it, never took it seriously, and only took it as a joke.He felt that the students didn't really want to call him "the candidate", but wanted to say "you are so arrogant and conceited, you really think you are an outstanding person"! Occasionally he was deeply distressed by the gap between himself and his classmates, but he never really considered himself a "chosen one", because for him, this calling was not an upgrade, but a conscious awareness of An inner warning and spur.But could he say that he hadn't thought about it, hadn't anticipated it, and had thought it over and over again? Now that it is ripe, his luck is vindicated and legitimate, his suffering has meaning, the clothes that are too old and too narrow can be thrown away, and a new one is ready for him. He is ready. After Knecht was admitted to an elite school, his level of life changed significantly.He took the first step that was decisive for his lifelong development.The fact is that not all students officially admitted to elite schools have had an inner experience of their spiritual calling. "Selection" is a gift from heaven, or in layman's terms: good luck.Whoever has good luck will have a smooth life, just as whoever has good luck will always make people ingenious.Most of the young elites, yes, it can be said that almost everyone regards their selection as great luck, as a proud award, and many of them have even eagerly longed for this award.But most of the young students who are selected come to this Castalian elite school from the ordinary school in their hometown. After a period of transition, they often find it difficult to adapt, and even have many unexpected disappointments.First of all, this kind of students are hard to let go of the comfortable family that loves them so much, so the following situation occurs. A considerable number of students drop out of school one after another in the first two semesters. The root cause is not that these students lack talent and unwillingness to work hard. Rather, they cannot adapt to the boarding life that firstly requires them to gradually give up their connection with family and hometown, and finally fully believe in and be loyal to Castalian educational ideas. However, some students, on the contrary, think that being admitted to an elite school is a perfect opportunity to get rid of family and school. Expectations are high and excessive throughout life, only to be disappointed very quickly. Even true model students, progressives, or young academics may not be able to persevere in Castalia.It is not that they have not improved professionally, but because the goal of elite schools is not only to cultivate professional talents, but also requires students to develop in education and art, and it is difficult for such students to make up for these gaps. Finally, there are four other elite schools that have set up many departments and branches for various talents, so every student who is interested in mathematics or linguistics, if he really has the qualifications to become such a scholar, need not be afraid of lack of music. Or philosophical talent with no way out.In fact, there was already a strong tendency in the Castalian group at that time to cultivate various professional disciplines, and the pioneers who held this view not only opposed and ridiculed the cultivation of "visionaries"—that is, against Enthusiastic about music or art—and in the circle of people with similar views, reject all musical and artistic activities, especially the glass bead game undoubtedly bears the brunt. As far as we know, Knecht spent most of his life in Castalia. In this extremely quiet and beautiful mountainous area, people borrowed the name of the "educational area" created by the poet Goethe in ancient times. We have therefore, at the risk of wearying the reader, repeated as briefly as possible the nature and structure of the famous Castalian school.These schools - all referred to simply as elite schools - have sensible and flexible systems in which their leadership (a "Research Advisory Board" of twenty members, ten representing the top education当局，十名代表宗教团体）得以顺利行使职权，从全国各地的一切部门和学校中选拔最优秀的人才，经过培训后向宗教团体、教育机构和研究机构内一切重要职务提供新生力量。全国各地的许多普通学校、中等学校以及其他教育组织，不论其专业性质是人文抑或理工，对于百分之九十以上的学生来说，都属未来谋生求职的过渡学校。一待他们通过高等学校入学考试，他们便会按照指定的学习时间在该大学修毕某一专业课程，也即众所周知的大学标准课程。一般说来，这种高等学校对学生要求严格，总是尽可能筛去缺乏才能的学生。 与这些学校并行或者还高于这些学校的是精英学校，它的制度规定只接受天份和品格均出众的学生。其招生办法也不是进行考试，而由老师自由选定后向卡斯塔里当局推荐。一位老师会在某一天向一个十一二岁的孩子表示，下学期他可能进一座卡斯塔里学校深造，他不妨抽出时间们心自问，是否曾感觉精神召唤和为其所吸引。经过一段时间考虑后，如果他完全同意，并且也征得双亲的无条件赞成，他便可进入一所精英学校试读。由这些精英学校的校长和水平最高的导师（绝非普通大学教师水平）所组成的“最高教育当局”领导着全国各地的所有教育事务工作和一切文化知识机构。一旦成为精英学生，必得门门功课出众才不至于被遣返普通学校，届时他就不需再为谋生而操心了，不论是宗教团体还是等级森严的学术组织都会到学校来征求担任教师和高级行政职务的人才，包括十二个学科带头人——也称为“大师”，还包括游戏大师——也即玻璃球游戏的总领导。 一般情况下，修完精英学校的最后课程总在二十二岁到二十五岁左右，而且总会被吸收进宗教团体。从此以后，凡是隶属于教会组织和教育部门的所有教育和研究机构全都向他们开放，并为他们进一步开展研究作了准备，一切图书室、档案室、实验室等等，连同大批助理人员，再加上一切进行玻璃球游戏的设备，全都供他们支配使用。倘若哪个学生被公认为在某项学科上有特殊才能，不论是语言、哲学、数学，抑或其他任何学科，这个学生便可在未毕业前选修这一专业的高级课程以求得因才施教的培植。这类学生中的大多数人结束学业后成为公共学校和高等专业学校的教师。而且他们都将永远是卡斯塔里的成员，即使已经毕业离开，也是宗教团体的终身会员。这意味着他们与一般“普通人”（未在精英学校受过教育的人）有着极严格的区别，除非他们宣布脱离宗教团体，他们也不得担任“普通的”专业工作，如：医生、律师、工程师等，他们得终身遵守团体的规章，既不许拥有私人财产，也不可以结婚，以致一般人常常半怀敬意半是嘲讽地称呼他们为：“清官”。 大多数精英学生便以教师职务结束一生。只有卡斯塔里毕业生中的极少数尖子人物，才得以不受限制地从事自由研究，已替他们准备好一种静静思索的生活条件。 还有一些天分很高的学生，或因性格不够稳妥，或因身体有某种缺陷，不宜担任教师以及大大小小教育机构里的主管，则往往继续进修和从事资料研究终生，他们从教育当局领取生活费，因此他们的主要贡献大都限于纯学术领域，一部分人在各类辞书编纂委员会、档案馆、图书馆等机构担任顾问，另一部分人则把他们的学问奉献给了“纯艺术”，其中一些人专心致志于极冷僻而且深奥的题目，譬如那个厉害的鲁多维柯斯花了整整三十年工夫把所有还留存世间的古老埃及经文译成了希腊文和梵文，又如，那位有点古怪的信托斯·卡尔文席士二世则为后人留下了一部手写的对开本四大厚册巨著什二世纪末期意大利南部各大学拉丁语之发音》。这部作品原拟作为一套历史著作的第一部分，可惜这套题为什二世纪至十六世纪拉丁语发音之发展历史》只留下了这4页手写片断，后来也无人继续完成这项工作。 我们理解这类纯学术著作为何总是遭人讥讽，谁能正确估量出它们对未来世界的科学和民族所具有的真实价值呢？然而与此同时，这类学术工作与古老年代的艺术工作一样，也仍然形成了相当广大的草原，研究者们在从事他人毫无兴趣的课题时，得以不断积累知识，而为同时代其他科研人员提供极珍贵极有价值的服务，相等于辞书或者档案为人们提供的服务。 上面提到的种种学术著作大都已印刷成书。人们听任学者们从事纯学术工作，他们具有近乎绝对的自由去研究和进行玻璃球游戏，人们或许认为这类著作中有些作品目前对普通人和社会团体毫无直接利益，是的，对于文化较低的人来说，简直是一种奢侈的文字游戏，却也没有任何人横加反对。这类学者中不少人诚然因其研究成果遭受嘲笑，但从未被人斥责，更不用说个人特权之遭到剥夺了。应该说，他们在人民大众中不只是被容忍而已，而且颇受敬重，尽管也给他们编了许多笑话。 所有从事学术工作的学者，无一不为自己的求知特权付出了巨大牺牲。他们确实具有不少优越条件：他们不愁衣、食、住，虽然分配颇受节制，他们有规模可观的图书室、资料室、实验室可资利用。但是他们为此不仅得放弃舒适的生活，放弃婚姻和家庭，而且还得作为修道团体中的一名成员退出任何世俗名利竞争。他们不得拥有私人财产、头衔和任何荣誉，更不用说在物质上必得满足于极简朴的生活。倘若有人想以毕生的精力去辨认译释一篇古代碑文，他不会受到阻挠，还会得到资助。 但是他若想借此获得高等生活，华丽衣服，获得金钱或者荣誉，他会发现此路不通。 谁若看重这种种物欲，大都早在青春年华便已归返“世俗生活”，成了拿薪金的专家、教师、记者，或者结婚成家，总之，找到了一种适合自己口味的其他生活方式。 当男孩约瑟夫·克乃西特不得不离开贝罗奋根时，送他去火车站的是音乐老师。 与老师告别使克乃西特感到痛苦，随着火车的启动，古堡钟楼那白得耀眼的阶梯山墙也渐渐望不见时，他心里更升起了一股不安的孤独感。有些孩子踏上这第一次旅程比他的反应更加强烈，常常气馁沮丧，泪流满面。约瑟夫的心却早已倾向那边，便较易忍受这次旅行。何况旅程也不长。 他被分配到艾希霍兹学校。他曾在原来的校长办公室见过学校的图片。在卡斯塔里属下各所学校中，艾希霍兹的建筑群规模最大式样也最新，一切都十分现代化。 学校附近没有城镇，只有一座村庄似的居民点，周围都是密密的树木。村子后面便是开阔平坦、富有生气的艾希霍兹校区。建筑群的中间是一大片长方形的空地，空地中央有五棵巨大的杉树，它们排列整齐，好似一枚骰子上的五点，那些圆锥状浓绿的树冠高耸入云，颇为壮观。这块巨大空地半是草坪，半是铺着沙石的平地，其间唯有两座流着潺潺活水的游泳池，边上砌有宽阔而平坦的台阶通向池水。教学楼就矗立在这片阳光普照着的广场入口处，它是建筑群中唯一的高楼，楼分成左右两翼；每一座楼都建有五根柱子的前厅。而其余建筑全都密密匝匝地排列在广场的另外三面，这些房子低矮平淡、毫无装饰，分隔成大小相等的空间，每一幢房子都有一道门廊和几级台阶通向广场，在大部分游廊的出口处都摆放着盆花。 克乃西特到达后，并非由一位校工把他带到校长室或者教师委员会，而按照卡斯塔里的习惯由一位同学出来接待，那是一个身材高大的漂亮男孩，穿一身蓝色亚麻布服装，比约瑟夫稍大几岁，他向新生伸出手去，说道：“我叫奥斯卡，是希腊宿舍②的高班生，你也将住在希腊宿舍，我奉派来欢迎你，并领你参观学校。你要等到明天才能够上课，所以我们有充裕时间把一切都匆匆看上一眼，你很快就能熟悉一切了。在你初来乍到难以适应这里的生活之前，我也请你把我当作你的朋友和顾问，万一有小伙伴惹你，你也可以来找我当保护人。有些人总认为应该给新生吃点苦头才对。不过绝不会太糟，这一点我能打包票。现在我先领你去希腊楼，让你看看自己要住的房间。” 奥斯卡受舍监委托以这种传统方式欢迎新来的约瑟夫，他确实十分努力扮演着学长的角色，高班学生通常都很乐意扮演这个角色。一个十五岁少年只要不嫌麻烦，肯和颜悦色以保护人的声调接待一位十三岁的学弟，他总能把这个角色演成功的。 约瑟夫到达的头几天受到这位学长像迎接贵宾般的接待；这位学长似乎在希望，倘若客人次日离校的话，定会同时带走对他这位接待者的良好印象。 约瑟夫被领进一个房间，他将和另外两个男孩同住在这里。他被款待吃了几片饼干和一杯果汁，接着他参观了整座“希腊楼”——大广场上的宿舍建筑之一，随后去了蒸气浴室，人们告诉他挂毛巾的地方，还指点他可以摆放盆花的角落，如果他有兴趣养花的话。将近傍晚时分，人们又把他领到洗衣房见了管理员，帮他挑选了一套蓝色亚麻布服装，试穿还很合身。 约瑟夫觉得自己一踏进学校就像到了家，他也很喜欢奥斯卡说话的声调。约瑟夫只是稍稍露出了些微羞怯的痕迹，尽管他心里自然把这位比自己年长的卡斯塔里“老人”看成了一个半人半神。就连奥斯卡偶尔向他卖弄吹嘘也让他很高兴，例如奥斯卡在谈话时忽然插入一句复杂的希腊引文，随即又忽然想起对方是新人大概听不懂，便彬彬有礼地表示歉意。当然听不懂啦，谁能不学就会呢！