Since it was reprinted in China in 1980, I have often seen Zhongshu expressing apologies to readers who wrote or visited: either sincerely advised not to study anything; or politely said "no comment"; Or it was an impolite and unreasonable refusal.Once I heard him say to an English lady on the phone: "If you eat an egg and think it's good, why do you need to know the hen that lays the egg?"Comrade Hu Qiaomu once suggested that I write an article "Qian Zhongshu and "Fortress Besieged".I do have itchy hands, but in my capacity, it is easy to write articles like Zhong Shu's so-called "narratives of a dead husband".However, I neither praise nor criticize, only based on the facts; Zhong Shu also admitted that there is no distortion after reading it.Comrade Qiao Mu recently asked about this article.It just so happened that the "Camel Series" edited by Comrade Zhu Zheng was willing to include it, so I gave it to him for publication, maybe it can be used as a reference for those who prefer it.
Qian Zhongshu said in the preface that this book was written by his "accumulation of pennies".I finished reading "Zi baht accumulation".Every night, he showed me the finished manuscript, eager to see my reaction.When I laugh, he laughs; when I laugh, he laughs too.Sometimes I put down the manuscript and laughed at him, because what I laughed was not only the things in the book, but also the things outside the book.I don't need to explain what I'm laughing at, anyway, it's tacit understanding.Then he told me what he planned to write in the next paragraph, and I eagerly waited to see what he would write.He writes about 500 words a day on average.What he showed me was the final draft, which will not be changed.Later, he was dissatisfied with this novel and other "rare works", and wished to make major changes, but this is for a later story.
I once volunteered to be Bai Juyi's "old woman" when Zhongshu annotated Song poems—that is, the minimum standard; if I couldn't understand, he had to add annotations.But among the readers, I have become the highest standard.Just as scholars and ordinary people are familiar with the origins of the words and sentences in ancient poems, I am familiar with the origins of the characters and plots in the stories.Apart from the author himself, it is me who is most qualified to comment.
Why do you need notes when reading novels?However, every time many readers become interested in a novel, they also become interested in the author, and regard the characters and plots in the novel as real people.Some simply regard the protagonist of the novel as the author himself.Smart readers admit that the author cannot be equated with the characters in the book, but they say that the characters and stories created by the author cannot be separated from his personal experience, thoughts and feelings.This is of course true.However, I once pointed out in an article: an important element of creation is imagination, experience is like a fire lit in the dark, imagination is the light from this fire; without fire, there is no light, but the reach of light far exceeds The size of the fire point.Created stories often transcend the author's own experience in many ways.To return the author's experience from the story of creation is reversed.The creation of the author's thoughts and emotions is like fermenting and turning into wine; it is not easy to identify the raw materials of wine making from the wine.I have the opportunity to know the author's experience and the raw materials of the brewed wine. I would like to let readers see how real people and facts are related to the plots of fictional characters, and how they are related.Because many so-called realistic novels are actually recounting one's own experience in a different way to enhance or satisfy one's feelings.This kind of autobiographical novel or novel-style autobiography is really a romantic documentary, not a realistic fiction.It's just a fictitious novel, although it reads as if it is true, there are real people.
It is written that Fang Hongjian's hometown is famous for blacksmithing and grinding tofu, and his famous product is clay dolls.Someone read this and couldn't help snorting proudly: "Isn't this Wuxi? Isn't Qian Zhongshu from Wuxi? Didn't he also stay abroad? Didn't he also live in Shanghai? Didn't he also teach in the Mainland?" Is it?" A gentleman who loves to study evidence actually deduced that Qian Zhongshu's degree is also not reliable, and Fang Hongjian's conclusion that Qian Zhongshu is is even more tenable.
Qian Zhongshu is a native of Wuxi. He graduated from Tsinghua University in 1933 and taught English at Shanghai Guanghua University for two years. B.Litt.), and then went to France to study at the University of Paris.He originally wanted to study for a degree, but later gave up his original intention.In 1938, Tsinghua University hired him as a professor. According to a letter from Tsinghua’s dean of literature at that time, Mr. Feng Youlan, this was an exception, because according to Tsinghua’s old practice, he was only a lecturer when he first returned to China to teach, and he was promoted from a lecturer to an associate professor. Promoted to professor.Zhongshu returned to China in September and October, disembarked in Hong Kong, and transferred to Kunming to teach at Tsinghua University.At that time, Tsinghua University had been merged into Southwest Associated University.His father was originally a professor of National Zhejiang University. At the request of his old friend Mr. Liao Maoru, he went to Lantian, Hunan to help him establish the National Teachers College; his mother, younger siblings and others fled to Shanghai with his uncle's family.In the autumn of 1939, after Zhongshu returned to Shanghai from Kunming to visit his relatives, his father wrote and called, saying that he was old and sick and asked Zhongshu to go to Hunan to take care of him.Mr. Liao, the dean of the Teachers College, came to Shanghai and repeatedly persuaded him to become the dean of the English department so that he could serve his father and take care of both public and private affairs.In this way, he went to Hunan without returning to Kunming.In the summer vacation of 1940, he and a colleague went back to Shanghai to visit relatives, but the road was impassable, so they turned back halfway.In the summer vacation of 1941, he went from Guangxi to Haiphong to Shanghai by sea, planning to stay for a few months before returning to the mainland.Mr. Chen Futian, Director of the Foreign Language Department of Southwest Associated University, came to Shanghai to visit him and asked him to return to the Associated University.During the Pearl Harbor incident, he was trapped in Shanghai and could not get out.He wrote a Qilu "Ancient Idea", in which there is a couplet saying: "There are no many roads to Chatong Bihan, which floor is the dream of entering the red building?" Noisy, eyes like yellow plums deceiving rain and sunshine", all pinned on the nostalgia of living in the enemy-occupied area at that time.It was written during the fall of Shanghai.
Zhongshu and I first met in Tsinghua University in the spring of 1932, got engaged in 1933, married in 1935, went to England on the same boat (I studied abroad at my own expense), went to France in the autumn of 1937, and went to France in 1937. In the autumn of eight years, he returned to China on the same boat.My mother passed away a year ago, and my home in Suzhou was robbed by Japanese invaders. My father took refuge in Shanghai and stayed with my brother-in-law.I was anxious to ignore my father, Zhong Shu disembarked in Hong Kong and went to Kunming, and I took the original ship directly to Shanghai.At that time, the principal of my middle school alma mater asked me to establish a "branch school" in Shanghai, an "isolated island".Two years later, Shanghai was occupied, and the "branch school" was closed. I temporarily worked as a tutor, and then acted as a substitute teacher in elementary school, creating dramas in my spare time.When Zhongshu fell into Shanghai and had no job, my father gave him the hours of teaching at Aurora Women's College of Arts and Sciences, and we lived in Shanghai with difficulty.
Once, we watched the performance of a play I wrote, and after returning home, he said: "I want to write a novel!" I was very happy and urged him to write it quickly.At that time, he was stealing time to write short stories, fearing that he would not have time to write novels.I said it doesn't matter, he can reduce the teaching time, our life is very frugal, and we can be more frugal.It just so happened that our maid wanted to go back because life in her hometown improved.I didn't force her, and I didn't find another maid, I just took over her work myself.I am a layman in chopping firewood, lighting fire, cooking, washing clothes, etc. I often stain my face with soot, or my eyes are filled with tears, or I get blisters from boiling oil, or cut my fingers.But I am eager to read Zhong Shu (he has already explained the title and main content to me), and I am willing to be a servant under the stove.
It was written in 1944 and completed in 1946.As the original "Preface" said: "During the past two years, he was worried about the world and his life", feeling anxious, and busy writing "Talking about Art"; there is a couplet in his thirty-fifth birthday poem: "Book The obsession to drill the window before the bee comes out, the poetic sentiment is uneasy around the tree", it is precisely this kind of state of mind that cannot be taken care of.At that time, we lived in the extended family of Qian's family who took refuge in Shanghai, including Zhongshu's father's family and uncle's family.The two families live together and live separately. Zhongshu's father has been out of town. Zhongshu's younger siblings, sister-in-law, nephew, and nephew have left Shanghai one after another. Only his mother remains, and one younger brother stays alone in Shanghai; the so-called big family. It's just like a small family.
Above, I briefly described Zhongshu's experience, family background and the situation he was in when he wrote it, and wrote a brief introduction for the author.Below are some notes.
Zhongshu draws materials from his familiar times, familiar places, and familiar social classes.However, the characters and plots that make up the story are entirely fictitious.Although some characters are slightly real, things are not true; some plots are slightly real, but the characters are all fabricated.
Fang Hung-chien drew materials from two relatives: one was ambitious and talented, but was often full of complaints;Both of them had read it, but neither of them thought of Fang Hongjian, because they had never had Fang Hongjian's experience.Zhongshu regards Fang Hongjian as the center of the story, and often sees things through his eyes and feels from his heart.Casual readers will sympathize with him from understanding, care about him from sympathy, and even integrate themselves with him.Many readers thought he was the author himself.Flaubert, the author of French novels in the 19th century, once said: "Madame Bovary, that is me." Then, Qian Zhongshu can still say: "Fang Hongjian, that is me." But there are still many male and female characters who can say It was Qian Zhongshu, not just Fang Hongjian.Fang Hongjian and Qian Zhongshu were both from Wuxi, and their experiences were far from the same.
We returned home on the French cruise ship Athos II, and the scenes on the deck were very similar to those described in the novel, including French police officers flirting with Jewish women, and Chinese students playing mahjong, etc.But Miss Bao is pure fiction.When we went abroad, there was a curvy Nanyang girl on the same boat. The foreigners on the boat were very interested in her and regarded her as an oriental beauty.We met a female student in Oxford who was sponsored by her fiancé to study abroad. I heard that she was very romantic.There was an Egyptian student of English at Oxford who was dark-skinned, and we both thought she was beautiful.Miss Bao is a combination of oriental beauty, romantic fiancee and Egyptian beauty.Zhongshu once heard the story of Chinese students having an affair on a cruise ship, and Fang Hongjian in the novel was seduced by Miss Bao.The abalone shop is smelly, so the lady's surname is Bao.
Miss Su is also a complex.Her appearance is that of a classmate who has been beautified.Her mind and feelings belonged to another; there was nothing beautiful about this one.There is another person who sells orders and sells smuggled goods.I was asked by Zhong Shu to translate the poem written by Miss Su. He asked me not to translate it well, but to do it in general.Miss Su's husband is another classmate, and the mandarin ducks are messed up in the novel.The groom who got married wearing a black dress and a white stiff collar that was soaked yellow and limp with sweat was none other than Zhongshu himself.Because the auspicious day we got married was the hottest day of the year.In our wedding photos, the couple, the bridesmaids, the girl with the flower basket, and the boy with the yarn all looked like pickpockets who had just been caught by the police.
Zhao Hsin-mei was grown up by a five- or six-year-old boy we liked, and Zhongshu added an age of twenty to him.This child has not yet grown into Zhao Xinmei, and of course it is impossible to have Zhao Xinmei's experience.If the author said: "Fang Hung-chien, that's me," he would surely say, "Zhao Hsin-mei, that's me."
There are two unimportant characters who have shadows of real people, and the author picked them up easily without melting them, so the two acquaintances are "identified".One didn't care, and the other was very angry when he heard about it.Zhongshu exaggerated one aspect of Dong Xiechuan, but not others.But Dong Xiechuan's speeches and poems were not plagiarized, they were all fabricated.Chu Shenming and his shadow did not match up.That shadow's real body is more exaggerated than Chu Shenming's.Once I took the train with him from the suburbs of Paris to the city, and he suddenly took out a piece of paper from his pocket, which listed various criteria for a girl to choose a husband, such as appearance, age, knowledge, character, family background, etc. Seven or eight items forced me to score a batch and arrange them in sequence.I knew his intentions and his target, so I dealt with it carefully.He then said to me angrily: "They say that he (referring to Zhongshu) is 'young Pianpian', but you can tell me that he is 'Pianpian' and not 'Pianpian'." I should be more honest and tell him that I first met Zhong When he was studying, he wore a large blue cloth hanger, a pair of woolen cloth shoes, and a pair of old-fashioned big glasses. He was not "elegant" at all.But I saw that he thought I should stand on the same side as him, so I couldn't help but mischievously said: "Of course I think he's 'Pianpian' the most." He was stupefied and remained silent for a long time.Later, when I praised his suits for their neatness, he said pleasantly, "Really? I always feel that my clothes are not straight. Even if I wash and iron them once a week, they are not as straight as others'." I am sure that his clothes are really straight, and he is happy.In fact, Chu Shenming is also a complex, and the glass of milk in the novel was drunk by another person.That man was also our companion in Paris. He was not yet married, and he once told us that he loved "the beauty of angels" and not the "beauty of fairies".One of his friends admired the "beauty of goblins" and was very interested in a prostitute leading a dog. He wanted to "make a game" and invite the prostitute to have a drink and talk with her.One night, a group of us were sitting in a cafe when we saw the whore with the dog go into another cafe. The admirer of "Heavenly Beauty" volunteered to the admirer of "Fairy Beauty" and said, "I'll find her for you." He went away for a long time and didn't come back. I’m going to save him.” Zhongshu ran into that cafe, and saw the admirer of “Heavenly Beauty” sitting alone at a table, drinking a glass of very hot milk, surrounded by prostitutes, who were secretly laughing at him. .Zhongshu "rescued" him back.From then on, everyone often made fun of the glass of milk, saying that if you were called a prostitute, you should at least have a glass of beer instead of milk.It must have been that glass of milk that caused Zhongshu to drag Chu Shenming to a restaurant to drink milk; the pile of medicines must have been born from that glass of milk.
Fang Dunweng is also a complex.Because he is Fang Hongjian's father, readers can be sure that he is Zhongshu's father. In fact, Fang Dunweng and his father are only somewhat similar.Before and after Zhongshu and I got engaged, Zhongshu’s father read the letter I had written to Zhongshu without permission. He was very impressed and wrote me a letter directly, entrusting Zhongshu to me.This is very similar to Fang Dunweng's style.When we fell in Shanghai, he wrote me to say that I was "poor and happy", which was also very similar to Fang Dunweng's tone.However, if Fang Dunweng is two or three points like his father, then four or five points are more like his uncle, and a few points are fabrications, because this kind of feudal patriarch is often seen among relatives and friends.Zhongshu's father and uncle both read it.His father smiled; we did not see the expression of his uncle.My husband and I often wonder whether they feel that Fang Dunweng is similar to us.
Tang Xiaofu is obviously the author's favorite character, and he is unwilling to marry her to Fang Hongjian.In fact, if the author makes them become family members, and the family members quarrel and fall out again, then the meaning of marriage as being trapped in a besieged city will be more thoroughly explained.After Fang Hung-chien broke up in love, he said that if Zhao Hsin-mei married Miss Su, it would be nothing but mediocrity, and he also said that after marriage, he would find that the person he married was not the one he liked.These words are very true.But after all, he didn't marry the person he wanted, so his words could be interpreted as words of consolation.
As for the president of Dianjin Bank, the parents of Ms. "I, You and He" are all common Wuxi businessmen in Shanghai, I will not explain them one by one.
I love reading Fang Hongjian and his party's journey from Shanghai to Sanlv University.I didn't go to Hunan with Zhongshu, but I knew all five of his companions, and none of them resembled the five in the novel, not even a trace.I have seen Wang Meiyu's bedroom: the bed is covered with a red silk quilt, folded inside the bed; there is a large round mirror on the table, and a woman sits on the edge of the bed with her shoes off, with half a washbasin of opium frying beside her.That's what I saw when I was looking for a house in Shanghai, and I described it to Zhongshu.When I was a student at Tsinghua University, I traveled together during the spring break, stayed overnight in a deserted village, slept on the muddy ground with hay, and had nightmares at night. Push me, but can't push.I once told Zhongshu about that nightmare.Maggots are called "granulation", and I once told Zhongshu as a new thing.When Zhong Shu went to Hunan, he sent me poems along the way.When he traveled to Xuedou Mountain with his traveling companions, there were four poems about traveling in the five ancient poems. I like the second and third poems very much. I might as well copy them down as a comparison between real people and novels.
The sea is blown by the wind from the sky, and it stands erect as a mountain;I often look at the mountains, the ups and downs are caused by water; the windings are like bones, and the wrinkles are like waves.Knowing that water and mountains have their own positions, they are like heroes, who are both beautiful and capable.Gu Zai Lu Zhongsou, only understands the benevolence and wisdom.
The mountain is too ancient and quiet, but the Zhongzang Waterfall flows day and night, and the rain is even more angry.Bitterness also has tears, and I dare to pour it out in my chest; it is slightly like this mountain, but don't change its degree outside.The phase agreement is silent, and the long-distance service is happy to meet.A little hate wanders a lot, but hiding it is not solid.Heart song Mo Lang Chen, leisurely travel the other way.
The novel only mentions visiting Xuedou Mountain, but not a single word about the scene of visiting the mountain.Mountain tourists are mountain tourists, and Fang Hongjian, Li Meiting and others are busy dealing with Wang Meiyu.It shows that there are so many things that can be fabricated, and the real things can be put aside, and the real things can't squeeze into this world of fabrications.
Li Meiting also has some shadows when he meets a widow on the way.Zhongshu has a friend who is a loyal elder. During the trip, he met a widow who claimed to be in distress; that friend sponsored her, and later found out that she was cheated.I have a classmate nicknamed "The Merry Widow". I once described to Zhongshu that she washed off her makeup before going to bed, and her face, eyebrows, eyes, mouth and nose were gone.Probably these two irrelevant things made a widow from Suzhou, and when she met Li Meiting again, she gave birth to witty sayings such as "he is a good person".
Wang Chuhou's wife reminded me of the female staff we saw in a post office in Shanghai.She has withered hair, pale complexion, eyes slanting upwards, and she wears a light purple linen cheongsam.I once pointed out to Zhongshu that if she has fair skin and soft black hair, and the light purple linen cheongsam is replaced by a deep purple silk cheongsam with soft lines, she can become a beauty.Mrs. Wang is such a beauty, and I seem to have known each other when I saw her.
Ms. Fan and Ms. Liu must be familiar to everyone, so there is no need to introduce them.Although Sun Roujia went to Hunan and returned to Shanghai with Fang Hongjian, I never saw her.None of the women I've known (myself included) bears a resemblance to her.But after a little more contact with her, I found that she was the most common and visible in our circle.She is highly educated, has no special skills, but she is not stupid; she is not beautiful, but she is not ugly; she has no interests, but she has her own opinions.Fang Hung-chien "has a lot of interests, but no experience"; she has no interest but a lot of plans.Her world is extremely small, only confined inside and outside the "siege".The freedom she enjoys is also limited. She can squeeze into the city from outside the city and squeeze out of the city from the city.Her greatest success was marrying a Fang Hongjian, and her greatest failure was also marrying a Fang Hongjian.She and Fang Hongjian are a typical couple among intellectuals.The gratifying thing about Sun Roujia's cleverness is that she can draw Mrs. Wang's "summary": ten red nails and one red lip.A woman of whom a young woman envies, envies, and despises herself can have such acrimony.But this cleverness was bestowed on her by Zhongshu.Zhongshu is used to grasping this kind of "shortness". For example, he can grasp the "shortness" in everyone's voice, and distinguish the speaker by the voice, even though he has never met the person.
Maybe I'm just like Don Quixote, who smashed the puppet theater with my sword, chopped up the figures, and covered the floor with cardboard remains of severed limbs.However, when I read this novel paragraph by paragraph, what made me put down the manuscript and laugh out loud was not that I discovered real people and facts, but that I saw fragments and fragments of real people and facts. Made up things never thought of.I laughed out of surprise, and couldn't help saying "I can tear through your diorama".Zhongshu laughed with me, because he understood my laughter, admitted that I laughed well, and also had a bit of complacency.
Maybe I, like Don Quixote, did something very disappointing.However, I believe that this can explain the relationship with real people and facts.
Qian Zhongshu
To know the author, you still have to know him personally, preferably from childhood.
As soon as Zhongshu was born, he was taken up by his uncle to raise him, because his uncle had no son.According to the "Fengshui on the Grave" of the Qian family, if the long house is not prosperous, the small house is prosperous; the long house often has no children, but they have children, and they are not promising. My uncle is the eldest son who is "promising".He was fourteen years older than Zhongshu's father. His second uncle died early. His father was the third and his uncle was the fourth.Uncle went to the countryside in the rain overnight to find a strong peasant woman for Zhongshu; she was a widow, and her posthumous child died when she was in the field.Mu Ma has been helping Qian's family all her life, and after middle age, she will be in a daze for a while every year, and the family members call her "Mom Mom" behind their backs.Before Zhongshu got married, she specially bought an emerald-encrusted gold ring and planned to give it to me as a meeting gift.Someone told her it was a fake, and tricked her into taking the ring, and Mammy went mad with rage, and died shortly thereafter, and I never saw her.
Zhongshu grew up in a big family, and his relationship with his cousins is not inferior to that of his brothers.There are ten relatives and cousins, and Zhongshu is the elder.Among the brothers, he is relatively immature. When he was studying diligently, he didn't care about anything. When he put down the book, he was completely unrefined.The Qian family likes to say that he has "foolishness" after eating the milk of the idiot's mother.What we Wuxi people call "foolish" includes many meanings: crazy, stupid, stupid, childish, foolish, mischievous and so on.His parents sometimes said that he was "crazy and not pulling", "crazy dancing", "Mum Zhua Miao Luo" (meaning "doing three things but not two" - I don't know the correct word, so I just write it according to the local accent).It is true that he was not as taciturn and serious as his mother, nor as serious as his father.His mother often complained that his father was "stupid".Maybe Zhongshu's "foolishness" is the same as his father's honesty.I have seen old photos of their home.His younger brothers are all fine and strong, but he is thin and weak, with a kind-hearted, kind-hearted, honest and pitiful appearance.I think the "foolishness" at that time was just childish, foolish, and not naughty.
When Zhongshu was one year old, he "grabbed Zhou" and grabbed a book, so he was named "Zhongshu".On the day he was born, someone sent a copy of "Changzhou Sages Series", and his uncle had named him "Yangxian" and the word "Zheliang".But with the scientific name "Zhongshu" at the age of one, "Yangxian" became a nickname, called "Axian".But "Xian'er" and "Xiange" are like "dead son" and "dead brother", and the word "xian" was changed to "Xuan", and his father still called him "A Xian". [His father pasted the family letters written by Zhong on the notebooks. There are many thick volumes, and he personally affixed the inscription "Xianer's family letters (1) (2) (3)..."; I have also seen those notebooks and the letter posted above. 〕After his uncle died, his father changed the word "Mo Cun" for Zhong Shu because of his love of nonsense, telling him to talk less.Zhongshu said to me: "Actually, I like 'Zheliang', which is both philosophical and good--I close my eyes, and I can still see the 'Zheliang' written by my uncle in the exercise book." This may be because he misses his uncle's reason.I think he is both philosophical and good, but his "foolish" nonsense often makes him not philosophical and bad-if he is naughty, he can be considered bad. The number "Mo Cun" obviously did not play a restraining role.
The uncle is "no-promise" and is not liked by his parents, half of the reasons are also with his aunt.My aunt's natal family is a wealthy family in Jiangyin, who made a fortune as a paint merchant, and has seven or eight large ships to transport goods.Zhongshu's grandmother's family was the Sun's family in Shitangwan, a bureaucratic landlord and the overlord of the party.Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law look down on each other, which also affects the relationship between father and son.When my uncle returned home after being selected as a scholar, he was beaten up by his father when he entered the door, saying that he had "the momentum to kill him"; because although Zhongshu's grandfather had two older brothers who were awarded the award, he himself was only a scholar.When Zhongshu was less than one year old, his grandmother passed away.The grandfather never liked the eldest son, and Zhong Shu was also an unfavorable grandson.
When Zhongshu was four years old (I always use imaginary years in my records, because Zhongshu only remembers imaginary years, and Zhongshu was born in the late November of the Gregorian calendar, so his full age should be reduced by one or two years). His uncle taught him how to read.Uncle is like a loving mother, Zhongshu follows him all day long.When my uncle went to the teahouse and heard about the book, Zhong Shu followed him.His father was inconvenient to interfere, and he was afraid of spoiling the child, so he had no choice but to suggest that the child be sent to primary school as soon as possible.Zhongshu entered Qin's Primary School at the age of six.Now when he sees people talking about "comparative literature", he remembers the sentence in elementary school: "A dog is bigger than a cat, and a cow is bigger than a sheep"; ", was scolded by the teacher.He had been in school for less than half a year, and fell ill. His uncle was reluctant to let him go to school, so he asked him to suspend school and stay at home.He was seven years old, and he and his cousin Zhong Han, who was half a year younger than him, were in a private school attached to a relative's house. He read "Mao Shi" and Zhong Han read "Erya".But it was inconvenient to join the school. A year later, both he and Zhong Han were taught by their uncle at home.The uncle said to Zhongshu's father and uncle: "You two brothers are my enlightenment, I can't teach them?" Of course, the father and uncle did not dare to object.
In fact, Zhongshu's father was enlightened by a clan brother.The grandfather thought Zhongshu's father was stupid, his uncle was smart, and his uncle's writing skills were not very good.My uncle is smart anyway, so it's okay to be taught by my uncle; my father is stupid, so I have to ask a brother who is better in arts and sciences to teach.That clan brother was very strict, and Zhongshu's father suffered countless beatings.The uncle felt sorry for his younger brother, and begged his grandfather to let him teach both younger brothers.Zhongshu's father didn't complain at all when he was beaten by his clan brother, but he didn't understand it.He told Zhongshu: "I don't know why, one day I was beaten suddenly and suddenly opened up."
Zhong Shu and Zhong Han studied with their uncle, and they only had classes in the afternoon.Both his father and uncle are employed, and the housework is managed by the uncle.Every morning, my uncle went to the teahouse to drink tea, do chores, or chat with acquaintances.Zhong Shu always followed.Uncle spent one copper coin to buy him a big shortbread to eat (according to what Zhongshu compared to me, the shortbread was the size of a rice bowl, I don’t know if it was really that big, or the cake was as big as a child thought); Rent him a novel from a small bookstore or book stand.The only novels at home are serious novels such as "Water Margin" and "Water Margin".Zhongshu had already started reading such novels at home, and pronounced "idiot" as "Qizi", but he didn't know that the "idiot" in the novel was Zhu Bajie.The "Jigong Biography" and the like rented from the book stalls are not elegant, and they are not kept at home.After eating the shortbread, Zhongshu read diligently until his uncle called him home.After returning home, he danced and gave a speech to his two younger brothers about the novel he had just read: Li Yuanba or Pei Yuanqing or Yang Lin (I can’t remember exactly) bent the opponent’s gun with a hammer, and so on.What he wondered was that a hero can only rule the roost in one book.If Guan Gong enters, his Qinglong Yanyue Knife weighs only 80 catties, how can he be against Li Yuanba's pair of 800 catties hammer heads; Cudgel (when we were in Oxford, he told me which hero used which weapon and how much it weighed.The wonderful thing is that he can memorize the weight of each weapon thoroughly, but he doesn't even know the Arabic numerals 1, 2, and 3.Zhong Han was taught by his own father when he came home from school, but his uncle and Zhong Shu were "brother Mouse's companions at the same age".My uncle hung a ball of cotton from a high place with a rope, and taught Zhong Shu to hit the ball of cotton up, down, left, and right.Uncle likes to drink two sips of wine.He didn't have much money in his hand, so he could only buy some cheap cooked food such as sauced pork tongue to go with wine. He coaxed Zhongshu that it was "dragon liver and phoenix marrow", which Zhongshu thought was delicious.So far he likes to use this kind of name. For example, foreign ham is collectively called "tiger meat" in my family.His father didn't dare to offend his elder brother, so he had to wait for the opportunity to arrest Zhongshu and teach him mathematics;Zhong Shu had a patch of cyan and purple on his body, and when he took off his clothes at night, his uncle felt distressed and annoyed when he found out.When Zhongshu and I talked about the past, he couldn’t help but sympathize with his father’s anxiety, and his uncle’s anger. Of course, he also sympathized with his own pain and not daring to cry, but in the recollection, he only felt it was funny and pitiful.I laughed and said: Beating hard may be able to "suddenly open up", twisting, probably screwed up the trick.Zhongshu only scored 15 points in the university entrance examination in mathematics.
The happiest thing for Zhong Shu when he was a child was to go back to his natal home in Jiangyin with his aunt; his uncle also went there (my cousin was married).They often live for a month or two.His aunt's house had a big manor, and Zhongshu wandered around the fields with the farmer all day long.He often told me about the scenery of the fields.After a heavy thunderstorm, a big green snake hung from a tree by the river, and it was said that it was killed by a thunderstorm.The whole family of my aunt's natal family smoked opium, and later my uncle also smoked.Zhong Shu would often wake up in the middle of the night and have lunch with his uncles and aunts.I was very happy at that time. When I returned to Wuxi, I had enough food and fun, and I was wearing new clothes made by my grandmother's house.But as soon as he got home, he was worried, knowing that his father would ask questions about his homework, and he would inevitably be beaten.His father did not dare to discipline Zhongshu in front of his elder brother, but when he saw the opportunity, he did so, because Zhongshu not only neglected his homework, but also developed many bad habits, such as getting up late and going to bed late, eating and playing too much.
In the autumn of 1919, my family returned to Wuxi from Beijing.My parents don't want to live in their hometown and have to find another house.Relatives and friends introduced one place, my parents went to see the house and took me with them.Zhongshu's family was renting that house at that time.That was the first time I went to their Qian family's door, but the two families didn't know each other at that time.I remember my mother said that a female relative who lived in that house told her that after moving in, she never left the medicine jar.My family didn't like that house; even though the Qian family thought it was dark, they didn't move out.It took five years for them to move into a new house built by their family in Qichichang.I can't remember what kind of house I saw or who I met that time, I just remember that the place where I got off the car at the door was very open, with two big trees; a very tall white powder wall, and there were hollows on the top of the wall. Flower square window hole.Zhongshu said that I had a good memory, and added that there was a big screen wall in front of the door, and behind the screen wall was a river flowing in front of the door.He said that it was probably my aunt who was talking to my mother, because my uncle and aunt lived in the outermost house, my uncle and aunt lived in the middle with him, and his parents lived in the last house serving my grandfather.
My daughter laughed and said, "Dad was naughty somewhere at that time. If Dad saw a girl like Mom at that time, he would have picked some noses to play her." Zhongshu recalled the old story and said that there was a seamstress who often brought He brought a daughter to his house to do work; the daughter was named Baobao, she was good-looking, two or three years older than him, he and Zhong Han grabbed the baby at once, and pressed her against the partition in the hall, while Zhong Han took a small pencil-sharpening foot The knife stabbed her.The baby cried and screamed, but was rescued by an adult.The two brothers felt that this victory should be erected as a monument, so they engraved the words "stabbing the baby" on the partition.Zhong Han is dexterous and can carve characters, but those four characters have not been simplified, so it is really troublesome to carve.This is probably a typical performance of the naughty boy who "knows Mu Shaoai" at the beginning.Later, when the house was rented out, the landlord claimed compensation for the loss, one of which was the four shapeless characters engraved on the partition, and the other was the bad deeds committed by Zhong Shu alone. He "digged ginseng" in the back garden and The root of a magnolia tree was gouged and the tree was half dead.
Zhong Shu was eleven years old, and he and Zhong Han were admitted to the first grade of Donglin Primary School, a four-year high school.In the fall of that year, my uncle died.Zhong Shu hadn't finished school yet, when his family recalled him, he rushed home crying, "Uncle", and his uncle was already unconscious.This was the first time in his life that he suffered from grief.
After the uncle passed away, except for the monthly money that the aunt should have for the long house, all other expenses were borne by Zhongshu's father.My aunt’s family lost rapidly, and my brothers passed away one after another. The family’s large cargo ship was gradually sold out. Of course, Zhongshu’s tuition and book fees were borne by his father, but he often bought new textbooks during the semester. In addition, when he was a child, he was greedy to read the small print books that his uncle rented for him at the book stand, and his eyes were damaged. He sat in the back row of the classroom and could not see the words written on the blackboard of the teacher, so he had no idea what the teacher said in class. .He couldn't afford the exercise book, so he used the book that his uncle had nailed for him with raw paper and paper twisters. The teacher frowned when he saw it.Practice English calligraphy with a pen.When he started school, he had a pen holder and a pen nib, but the nib broke off soon after.Classmates all have many nibs, but he only has one, and if the head is broken, he can't write.He was so quick-witted that he sharpened the ends of the bamboo chopsticks and dipped them in ink to write. Of course, the writing was so messy that the teacher was unwilling to accept his exercise book.
I asked Zhongshu why he didn't ask his father for money.He said it never occurred to him.Sometimes his aunt told him to ask his father for money, but he didn't say anything.His aunt smoked opium and got up late in the morning, so Zhongshu had his aunt's dowry to warm some bad porridge for school.His classmates and his younger brother all wore foreign socks, and he also wore cloth socks. He felt that there was a seam on the instep that was very eye-catching, and he only hoped that he could hide it with cotton shoes.On rainy days, my classmates and my younger brother wear leather shoes. He wears spiked shoes, and they are uncle’s spiked shoes. They are too big, and the toes are stuffed with paper balls.一次雨天上学，路上看见许多小青蛙满地蹦跳，觉得好玩，就脱了鞋捉来放在鞋里，抱着鞋光脚上学；到了教室里，把盛着小青蛙的钉鞋放在抬板桌下。上课的时候，小青蛙从鞋里出来，满地蹦跳。同学都忙着看青蛙，窃窃笑乐。老师问出因由，知道青蛙是从锺书鞋里出来的，就叫他出来罚立。有一次他上课玩弹弓，用小泥丸弹人。中弹的同学嚷出来，老师又叫他罚立。可是他混混沌沌，并不觉得羞惭。他和我讲起旧事常说，那时候幸亏糊涂，也不觉得什么苦恼。
锺书跟我讲，小时候大人哄他说，伯母抱来一个南瓜，成了精，就是他；他真有点儿怕自己是南瓜精。那时候他伯父已经去世，“南瓜精”是舅妈、姨妈等晚上坐在他伯母鸦片榻畔闲谈时逗他的，还正色嘱咐他切莫告诉他母亲。锺书也怀疑是哄他，可是真有点耽心。他自说混沌，恐怕是事实。这也是家人所谓“痴气”的表现之一。
他有些混沌表现，至今依然如故。例如他总记不得自己的生年月日。小时候他不会分辨左右，好在那时候穿布鞋，不分左右脚。后来他和锺韩同到苏州上美国教会中学的时候，穿了皮鞋，他仍然不分左右乱穿。在美国人办的学校里，上体育课也用英语喊口号。他因为英文好，当上了一名班长。可是嘴里能用英语喊口号，两脚却左右不分；因此只当了两个星期的班长就给老师罢了官，他也如释重负。他穿内衣或套脖的毛衣，往往前后颠倒，衣服套在脖子上只顾前后掉转，结果还是前后颠倒了。或许这也是钱家人说他“痴”的又一表现。
锺书小时最喜欢玩“石屋里的和尚”。我听他讲得津津有味，以为是什么有趣的游戏；原来只是一人盘腿坐在帐子里，放下帐门，披着一条被单，就是“石屋里的和尚”。我不懂那有什么好玩。他说好玩得很；晚上伯父伯母叫他早睡，他不肯，就玩“石屋里的和尚”，玩得很乐。所谓“玩”，不过是一个人盘腿坐着自言自语。小孩子自言自语，其实是出声的想像。我问他是否编造故事自娱，他却记不得了。这大概也算是“痴气”吧。
锺书上了四年高小，居然也毕业了。锺韩成绩斐然，名列前茅；他只是个痴头傻脑、没正经的孩子。伯父在世时，自愧没出息，深怕“坟上风水”连累了嗣给长房的锺书。原来他家祖坟下首的一排排树高大茂盛，上首的细小萎弱。上首的树当然就代表长房了。伯父一次私下花钱向理发店买了好几斤头发，叫一个佃户陪着，悄悄带着锺书同上祖坟去，把头发埋在上首几排树的根旁。他对锺书说，要叫上首的树荣盛，“将来你做大总统。”那时候锺书才七八岁，还不懂事，不过多少也感觉到那是伯父背着人干的私心事，所以始终没向家里任何别人讲过。他讲给我听的时候，语气中还感念伯父对他的爱护，也惊奇自己居然有心眼为伯父保密。
锺书十四岁和锺韩同考上苏州桃坞中学（美国圣公会办的学校）。父母为他置备了行装，学费书费之外，还有零用钱。他就和锺韩同往苏州上学，他功课都还不错，只算术不行。
那年他父亲到北京清华大学任教，寒假没回家。锺书寒假回家没有严父管束，更是快活。他借了大批的《小说世界》、《红玫瑰》、《紫萝兰》等刊物恣意阅读。暑假他父亲归途阻塞，到天津改乘轮船，转辗回家，假期已过了一半。他父亲回家第一事是命锺书锺韩各做一篇文章；锺韩的一篇颇受夸赞，锺书的一篇不文不白，用字庸俗，他父亲气得把他痛打一顿，锺书忍笑向我形容他当时的窘况：家人都在院子里乘凉，他一人还在大厅上，挨了打又痛又羞，呜呜地哭。这顿打虽然没有起“豁然开通”的作用，却也激起了发奋读书的志气。锺书从此用功读书，作文大有进步。他有时不按父亲教导的方法作古文，嵌些骈骊，倒也受到父亲赞许。他也开始学着作诗，只是并不请教父亲。一九二七年桃坞中学停办，他和锺韩同考入美国圣公会办的无锡辅仁中学，锺书就经常有父亲管教，常为父亲代笔写信，由口授而代写，由代写信而代作文章。锺书考入清华之前，已不复挨打而是父亲得意的儿子了。一次他代父亲为乡下某大户作了一篇墓志铭。那天午饭时，锺书的姆妈听见他父亲对他母亲称赞那篇文章，快活得按捺不住，立即去通风报信，当着他伯母对他说：“阿大啊，爹爹称赞你呢！说你文章做得好！”锺书是第一次听到父亲称赞，也和姆妈一样高兴，所以至今还记得清清楚楚。那时商务印书馆出版钱穆的一本书，上有锺书父亲的序文。据锺书告诉我，那是他代写的，一字没有改动。
我常见锺书写客套信从不起草，提笔就写，八行笺上，几次抬头，写来恰好八行，一行不多，一行不少。锺书说，那都是他父亲训练出来的，他额角上挨了不少“爆栗子”呢。
锺书二十岁伯母去世。那年他考上清华大学，秋季就到北京上学。他父亲收藏的“先儿家书”是那时候开始的。他父亲身后，锺书才知道父亲把他的每一封信都贴在本子上珍藏。信写得非常有趣，对老师、同学都有生动的描写。可惜锺书所有的家书（包括写给我的），都由“回禄君”收集去了。
锺书在清华的同班同学饶余威一九六八年在新加坡或台湾写了一篇《清华的回忆》，有一节提到锺书：“同学中我们受钱锺书的影响最大。他的中英文造诣很深，又精于哲学及心理学，终日博览中西新旧书籍，最怪的是上课时从不记笔记，只带一本和课堂无关的闲书，一面听讲一面看自己的书，但是考试时总是第一，他自己喜欢读书，也鼓励别人读书。……”据锺书告诉我，他上课也带笔记本，只是不作笔记，却在本子上乱画。现在美国的许振德君和锺书是同系同班，他最初因锺书夺去了班上的第一名，曾想揍他一顿出气，因为他和锺书同学之前，经常是名列第一的。一次偶有个不能解决的问题，锺书向他讲解了，他很感激，两人成了朋友，上课常同坐在最后一排。许君上课时注意一女同学，锺书就在笔记本上画了一系列的《许眼变化图》，在同班同学里颇为流传，锺书曾得意地画给我看。一年前许君由美国回来，听锺书说起《许眼变化图》还忍不住大笑。
锺书小时候，中药房卖的草药每一味都有两层纸包裹；一张白纸，一张印着药名和药性。每服一付药可攒下一叠包药的纸。这种纸干净、吸水，锺书大约八、九岁左右常用包药纸来临摹他伯父藏的《芥子园画谱》，或印在《唐诗三百首》里的“诗中之画”。他为自己想出一个别号叫“项昂之”——因为他佩服项羽，“昂之”是他想像中项羽的气概。他在每幅画上挥笔署上“项昂之”的大名，得意非凡。他大约常有“项昂之”的兴趣，只恨不善画。他曾央求当时在中学读书的女儿为他临摹过几幅有名的西洋淘气画，其中一幅是《魔鬼临去遗臭图》（图名是我杜撰），魔鬼像吹喇叭似的后部撒着气逃跑，画很妙。上课画《许眼变化图》，央女儿代摹《魔鬼遗臭图》，想来也都是“痴气”的表现。
锺书在他父亲的教导下“发愤用功”，其实他读书还是出于喜好，只似馋嘴佬贪吃美食：食肠很大，不择精粗，甜咸杂进。极俗的书他也能看得哈哈大笑。戏曲里的插科打诨，他不仅且看且笑，还一再搬演，笑得打跌。精微深奥的哲学、美学、文艺理论等大部著作，他像小儿吃零食那样吃了又吃，厚厚的书一本本渐次吃完，诗歌更是他喜好的读物。重得拿不动的大字典、辞典、百科全书等，他不仅挨着字母逐条细读，见了新版本，还不嫌其烦地把新条目增补在旧书上。他看书常做些笔记。
我只有一次见到他苦学。那是在牛津，他提出论文题目之前当学习“古文书学（Paleography）”，要能辨认英国十一世纪以来的各式古字体。他毫无兴趣，考试前只好硬记，因此每天读一本侦探小说“休养脑筋”，“休养”得睡梦中手舞脚踢，不知是捉拿凶手，还是自己做了凶手和警察打架。结果考试不及格，只好暑假后补考。这件补考的事，英译本《导言》里也提到。锺书一九七九年访美，该译本出版家把译本的《导言》给他过目，他读到这一段又惊又笑，想不到调查这么精密。后来胡志德（Theodore Huters）君来见，才知道是他向锺书在牛津时的同窗好友Donald Stuart打听来的。
锺书的“痴气”书本里灌注不下，还洋溢出来。我们在牛津时，他午睡，我临帖，可是一个人写写字困上来，便睡着了。他醒来见我睡了，就饱蘸浓墨，想给我画个花验。可是他刚落笔我就醒了。他没想到我的脸皮比宣纸还吃墨，洗净墨痕，脸皮像纸一样快洗破了，以后他不再恶作剧，只给我画了一幅肖像，上面再添上眼镜和胡子，聊以过瘾。回国后他暑假回上海，大热天女儿熟睡（女儿还是娃娃呢），他在她肚子上画一个大脸，挨他母亲一顿训斥，他不敢再画。沦陷在上海的时候，他多余的“痴气”往往发泄在叔父的小儿小女、孙儿孙女和自己的女儿阿圆身上。这一串孩子挨肩儿都相差两岁，常在一起玩。有些语言在“不文明”或“臭”的边缘上，他们很懂事似的注意避忌。锺书变着法儿，或作手势，或用切口，诱他们说出来，就赖他们说“坏话”。于是一群孩子围着他吵呀，打呀，闹个没完。他虽然挨了围攻，还俨然以胜利者自居。他逗女儿玩，每天临睡在她被窝里埋置“地雷”，埋得一层深入一层，把大大小小的各种玩具、镜子、刷子，甚至砚台或大把的毛笔都埋进去，等女儿惊叫，他就得意大乐。女儿临睡必定小心搜查一遍，把被里的东西一一取出。锺书恨不得把扫帚、畚箕都塞入女儿被窝，博取一遭意外的胜利。这种玩意儿天天玩也没多大意思，可是锺书百玩不厌。
他又对女儿说，里有个丑孩子，就是她。阿圆信以为真，却也并不计较。他写了一个开头的里，有个女孩子穿一件紫红毛衣，锺书告诉阿圆那是个最讨厌的孩子，也就是她。阿圆大上心事，怕爸爸冤枉她，每天找他的稿子偷看，锺书就把稿子每天换个地方藏起来。一个藏，一个找，成了捉迷藏式的游戏。后来连我都不知道稿子藏到哪里去了。
锺书的“痴气”也怪别致的。他很认真地跟我说：“假如我们再生一个孩子，说不定比阿圆好，我们就要喜欢那个孩子了，那我们怎么对得起阿圆呢。”提倡一对父母生一个孩子的理论，还从未讲到父母为了用情专一而只生一个。
解放后，我们在清华养过一只很聪明的猫。小猫初次上树，不敢下来，锺书设法把它救下。小猫下来后，用爪子轻轻软软地在锺书腕上一搭，表示感谢。我们常爱引用西方谚语：“地狱里尽是不知感激的人。”小猫知感，锺书说它有灵性，特别宝贝。猫儿长大了，半夜和别的猫儿打架。锺书特备长竹竿一枝，倚在门口，不管多冷的天，听见猫儿叫闹，就急忙从热被窝里出来，拿了竹竿，赶出去帮自己的猫儿打架。和我们家那猫儿争风打架的情敌之一是紧邻林徽因女士的宝贝猫，她称为她一家人的“爱的焦点”。我常怕锺书为猫而伤了两家和气，引用他自己的话说：“打狗要看主人面，那么，打猫要看主妇面了！”（的第一句），他笑说：“理论总是不实践的人制定的。”
钱家人常说锺书“痴人有痴福”。他作为书痴，倒真是有点痴福。供他阅读的书，好比富人“命中的禄食”那样丰足，会从各方面源源供应（除了下放期间，他只好“反刍”似的读读自己的笔记，和携带的字典）。新书总会从意外的途径到他手里。他只要有书可读，别无营求。这又是家人所谓“痴气”的另一表现。
锺书和我父亲诗文上有同好，有许多共同的语言。锺书常和我父亲说些精致典雅的淘气话，相与笑乐。一次我父亲问我：“锺书常那么高兴吗？”“高兴”也正是钱家所谓“痴气”的表现。
我认为《管锥编》、《谈艺录》的作者是个好学深思的锺书，的作者是个“忧世伤生”的锺书，的作者呢，就是个“痴气”旺盛的锺书。我们俩日常相处，他常爱说些痴话，说些傻话，然后再加上创造，加上联想，加上夸张，我常能从中体味到的笔法。我觉得里的人物和情节，都凭他那股子痴气，呵成了真人实事。可是他毕竟不是个不知世事的痴人，也毕竟不是对社会现象漠不关心，所以小说里各个细节虽然令人捧腹大笑，全书的气氛，正如小说结尾所说：“包涵对人生的讽刺和感伤，深于一切语言、一切啼笑”，令人回肠荡气。
锺书写完了，“痴气”依然旺盛，但是没有体现为第二部小说。一九五七年春，“大鸣大放”正值高潮，他的《宋诗选注》刚脱稿，因父病到湖北省亲，路上写了《赴鄂道中》五首绝句，现在引录三首：“晨书暝写细评论，诗律伤严敢市恩。碧海掣鲸闲此手，祇教疏凿别清浑。”“弈棋转烛事多端，饮水差知等暖寒。如膜妄心应褪净，夜来无梦过邯郸。”“驻车清旷小徘徊，隐隐遥空辗懑雷。脱叶犹飞风不定，啼鸠忽噤雨将来。”后两首寄寓他对当时情形的感受，前一首专指《宋诗选注》而说，点化杜甫和元好问的名句（“或看翡翠兰苕上，未掣鲸鱼碧海中”；“谁是诗中疏凿手，暂教径渭各清浑”）。据我了解，他自信还有写作之才，却只能从事研究或评论工作，从此不但口“噤”，而且不兴此念了。重印后，我问他想不想再写小说。他说：“兴致也许还有，才气已与年俱减。要想写作而没有可能，那只会有遗恨；有条件写作而写出来的不成东西，那就只有后悔了。遗恨里还有哄骗自己的余地，后悔是你所学的西班牙语里所谓'面对真理的时刻'，使不得一点儿自我哄骗、开脱、或宽容的，味道不好受。我宁恨毋悔。”这几句话也许可作《围城·重印前记》的笺注吧。
我自己觉得年纪老了；有些事，除了我们俩，没有别人知道。我要乘我们夫妇都健在，一一记下。如有错误，他可以指出，我可以改正。里写的全是捏造，我所记的却全是事实。
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Notes: