Chapter 4 fourth quarter

The first time I read Chekhov's articles was when I was in the lower grades of elementary school. "What? How could a child understand Chekhov's book?!" It would be fine if it was a Russian child, or a Japanese child!But I did read it.Of course, at that time I didn't know that Chekhov was the most outstanding playwright in Russia, having written "The Seagull", "Uncle Vanya", "Three Sisters" and "The Cherry Orchard" and so on.Later, by chance, I became an actress and received Chekhov's favor in many ways. It is very interesting and a coincidence to recall that I read Chekhov's works when I was a child.When I was still in the lower grades of elementary school, I read Chekhov's articles, and I admired them. Even though I was a child, I also felt

"This is very remarkable", that article was a letter Chekhov wrote to his brother when he was 27 years old.However, I have forgotten about this incident for many years, and I just recalled it recently, when Her Majesty Empress Michiko gave a speech on the theme of "Memories of Reading in Childhood" on TV.Her Majesty the Queen delivered the speech for the International Children's Book Council in New Delhi, India.The speech was broadcast by NHK, and I also watched the scene of the speech.Her Majesty the Queen talked about the books she read when she was a child, as well as her impressions and thoughts about reading, etc. It was really wonderful and moved me deeply.His Majesty also spoke of the time when he read these books, and I wholeheartedly agree with all of this.If you want to see the full text of His Majesty's speech, this article entitled "Building Bridges" has been published by Sumori Library, and I strongly recommend you to read it.In the article, Her Majesty the Queen listed several books she had read from the "Selected World Masterpieces" published by Japan Shonen Bunko.Your Majesty remembers it very clearly. After listening to His Majesty, the beautiful floral paper cover of that set of books appeared in my mind, as well as the storefront and bookshelf of the bookstore I used to go to. nostalgia.At that time, I thought, maybe I will never see that book again?However, taking Her Majesty's speech as an opportunity, this set of "Selected World Masterpieces (1) and (2)" published by Shinchosha in Showa 11 (1936) was republished.Moreover, the letter from Chekhov, which I think is "remarkable", was also included in it, which made me recall the scene when I read this letter.The above is about reading Chekhov's works when I was a child, and I have said so much without knowing it.

Looking back at this set of books now, I deeply feel that this set of books edited by Mr. Yuzo Yamamoto is really excellent. Every corner of the book is filled with Mr. Yuzo Yamamoto's idea of ​​"giving the best to children".Ms. Momoko Ishii once wrote an article about the scene when compiling the book. How many learned people gathered together to select the best works from the world famous books to compile this set of books!Moreover, how much effort was spent on translation!Mr. Yuzo Yamamoto repeatedly emphasized that the translation "must be in a language that children can understand at a glance".So, although this is a book for children, if you look at it now, you will be surprised to find that the names of superb translators are all listed in the book.There are novels, letters, biographies, and poems in the book.The third-class gentlemen of Yamamoto did not flatter the children, nor did they doubt whether the children would find these things interesting and read them. My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Yamamoto and others.

Now let's talk about Chekhov's letter.It was written by the 27-year-old Chekhov to his older brother.Only 27 years old, can write such a letter, really worthy of Chekhov!Although I understand these things now, when I was a child, of course I only half-understood them.However, this letter made a very deep impression on me, and I like it very much.What I find most interesting is the sense of humor that pervades the entire letter.I would like to introduce the full text of the letter to you, but it would be too long, so I will extract the part I am particularly impressed with here.Fortunately, the pronunciation of the difficult words in the article is marked, so the students in the lower grades at that time could understand it.

Here is Chekhov's "Letter to My Brother": To Nikolai Pavlovich Chekhov: You often complain to me: "Others don't understand me!" Neither Goethe nor Newton had such complaints.However, Christ complained in this way, but he did not mean that others did not understand his own "I", but that others did not understand his teachings.Don't say such things, because people understand you very well! (omitted in the middle) I swear to God, as your brother, and as someone who is like your character, I understand you and have heartfelt sympathy for you... I know your extraordinary character as well as I know myself The same five fingers.I respect your character and have a deep and deep respect for it. (omitted in the middle)

However, you have a downside. (omitted in the middle) That is, you are extremely uneducated.Please forgive me for saying this, isn't there a saying that "truth is greater than friendship"? . . . If you want to be happy in the circle of talented people--that is, in order not to feel inferior and restricted among them--you must acquire a certain degree of upbringing. (omitted in the middle) In my opinion, an educated person must have the following conditions: One, they respect personality.They are always tolerant, gentle, attentive, and humble.They don't quarrel over a hammer or can't find an eraser.When living with other people, they do not expect to be rich, and when parting, they will never say "I can't live with you".They tolerate noise, cold, overcooked meat, and other people in their homes.

Two, they not only have sympathy for beggars and cats, but also worry about things that ordinary people cannot see.They'll stay up all night trying to help others, to pay for a buddy's college tuition, to keep their mother warm. (omitted in the middle) 4. They are very honest, and they are as afraid of lying as they are of fire.They never lie, even about trivial things.A lie is not only an insult to the listener, but also makes the speaker look inferior in the eyes of the listener. (omitted in the middle) 7. They respect their talents, if they have them.They are willing to sacrifice peace, beauty, wine, and vanity for the development of their wits.They are proud of their talents.They are well aware that they not only live with others, but also have a mission to educate and influence others. (omitted in the middle)

8. They focus on cultivating good emotions in their hearts.They don't sleep with their clothes on, they don't stare into the cracks of the wall to see bedbugs crawling inside, they don't breathe the stale air, they don't spit on the floor they walk on, and they don't eat cheap, poor-quality meals ... They don't drink while walking, they don't dig through the cupboards to find something to eat, because they know that there is a difference between themselves and pigs.They just drink a little wine occasionally when they are free.This is because they seek a sound body with a sound soul.

Well, roughly like this!That's what educated people are like. (omitted in the middle) What we need is uninterrupted effort every moment, unremitting reading, research and will.Every minute counts. (omitted in the middle) Come to me quickly.Smash the bottle and sit down and read!At least read Turgenev that you haven't touched! You must abandon your vanity, because you are no longer a child... you will be 30 soon, right?The time has come! Waiting for you...we are all waiting for you. your settlement Moscow in 1886 The reason why this letter can move me is probably because I realized Chekhov’s kind heart from it.When I read this letter, I was most interested in the point of "what an educated person is like". Of course, a student in the lower grades of elementary school still doesn't understand what "educated" is all about.But I still understood the letter as if it was about how a person can become a good person.I also understood that in order to be an educated person, one should study.So I decided to read.Although I was literate and able to read before that, but this time I decided to "read" for the first time.

In addition, Her Majesty also mentioned Kestner's poem "Despair NO. 1".I remember another work by Kestner, which was "Little One and Anton" which was included in the first series of this set of books.The article tells the story of a little girl as small as a little bit, which makes people laugh out loud.Since reading this story, I have become a loyal reader of Kestner.Later, I finally couldn't help but wrote a letter to the translator of Kestner's works and an expert in German literature, Mr. Takahashi Kenji. Thanks to Mr. Wang's friendship, he had a correspondence with him.That was when I was in college.Mr. Takahashi proposed to write "Code: Kestner" at the end of our letter.Our correspondence continued until the recent death of my husband at the age of 95.Mr. Takahashi is also a humorous person. Thanks to his help, I also received a letter from Kestner.With the guidance of Mr. Takahashi, I can not only read Kestner's works to my heart's content, but also understand Goethe, Hesse and Graham's books.If you think about it carefully, using the books you read in the lower grades of elementary school as an opportunity, you can actually lead to such a beautiful story.

Speaking of books, there is another very interesting thing.When I was in high school, or maybe later, I became obsessed with Daphne du Maurier.As soon as her new book comes out, I'll find it and read it.Generally speaking, Du Maurier's works are more famous because they were made into movies, but my favorite is "Love First". In addition, "Just Love" is also very good.Just listening to the name of the work gives people a sweet feeling, but the work itself contains an unimaginable sense of mystery.However, although I have always been a loyal reader of Du Maurier, but before I knew it, I couldn't find her books at hand.A few years ago, I really wanted to read her book, so I searched around in bookstores, and asked a familiar second-hand bookstore Help me pay attention, but there is always no way to get her complete works.Later, when I was talking to some guest on the program "Teiko's Cabin", I talked about books, and I expressed my desire to collect Du Maurier's works.Unexpectedly, soon after, I received a letter from the daughter-in-law of Mr. Okubo Yasuo, the translator of Du Maurier’s works. The letter wrote: “We still have a few complete works left by my father. I want to give you a set." This is really good news that makes people overjoyed. Most of the books by Du Maurier that I wanted to read when I was young were the translations of Mr. Yasuo Okubo, so I really admire the name of Mr. Yasuo Okubo for a long time.It is a pity that my husband has passed away, but my husband's daughter-in-law is willing to gift me a set of complete works.Now, there are 10 volumes of Du Maurier's complete works on my desk.I liked reading her books when I was young, and now I go back and re-read them, savoring the charm that can only be obtained in books, and feel more and more that she is a writer with personality.This is also a good story about the book, so I wrote it down too. Let’s talk about Chekhov’s letter. In addition to reading books, I also noticed the sentence “They will also worry about things that ordinary people can’t see” in the second article. "For... something you can't see? Could it be a monster? Or something?" When I saw this sentence, I could only think wildly, but I remembered this sentence.As I grew up, I gradually understood what is invisible to the eyes of ordinary people.Just as I decided in my heart to study hard, I also decided to "worry about things that my eyes can't see."When I was in the lower grades of elementary school, in the eyes of adults, I was just a poor kid who couldn't do anything.At that time, who could have imagined that I was thinking about how to be an educated person, so I was reading Chekhov's article word by word?A child who was expelled from school just a few months after entering the first grade of primary school was thinking about how to be a well-educated person, and he was thinking silently by himself!Even though everyone thinks that I have a lot of problems, such as jumping around every day, never being quiet for a moment, immediately joining in when I find something interesting, jumping into any pitfall I see, not listening to adults, etc.But I'm still listening, still thinking. Although today's children do not have such a habit, if they read books without video games and the like, they will definitely like Chekhov's letters as much as I do.Because children get such abilities from the gods from birth. Kestner said: "Children understand words with their hearts." Indeed, that is how I read Chekhov's letters.