Chapter 82 Chapter 6 Saint Mary of the Woods

On August 28 of this year, according to the provisions of the subsidized air ticket, I took Northwest Airlines via Angola, Alaska, to Seattle and changed to New York. After more than 20 hours of flying, I arrived at the airport at 1:30 midnight.Friends from the US News Service in Taipei booked a hotel for me, and they assured that the taxis at New York Airport are the safest and most reliable in the world.The next morning (the last day of the meeting), I caught up with the "American Scholars Foundation" meeting.However, later I received a letter from them to my sister's home informing me that they could not support my plan to study for a degree.So I had to go to Terre Haute, west of Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana, to teach at "Saint Mary in the Woods" for half a year.

The fate of the world is intertwined, and it is true. I accidentally went to teach in Jingyi College of Arts and Sciences, and met Sister Mary Gregory, who taught English literature, and was also a Fulbright Exchange Scholar.She knew about my plans to go abroad and encouraged me to study at Indiana University (Indiana UniVersity).She completed her Ph.D. in the department three years ago.The Department of Comparative Literature at Indian University can be said to be the earliest and most powerful pioneer in the United States at that time. German-American masters of comparative literature theory such as Ramak, Nina Weinstein, HorSt Frenze, Newton P.Stalknecht, etc. are the best in Indian University. class.Don't miss this opportunity.She also lent me a few original books in this area, which gave me a better understanding.She was the first person to receive a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature by doing research in English.At the end of April 1967, she knew that the school I would visit as a Fulbright exchange professor in the United States had not yet been decided, so she invited me to establish Jingyi's alma mater.Only seventy miles away from Indian University, "Saint Mary of the Woods" teaches a class on Chinese literature and a class on special research.I can teach at the same time, and then arrange to register for courses at Indian University, and commute to study comparative literature and English and American literature.This unexpected invitation, for me, is God's most merciful arrangement.

"Saint Mary of the Woods" is an order of Catholicism in the United States. It is located in the Indiana state in the central part of the United States. There is a forest covering an area of ​​3,000 acres.Founded in the woods in 1840 as a liberal arts college for women, it is a well-known aristocratic school in that area. Ten years ago, I saw the vast land and abundant resources of the United States. This time in this "small" college, I felt the strength of the land even more.The endless, lush forest is simply a paradise! On the right is the pear orchard, and on the left is the apple orchard.Beginning in October, the apples are ripe and no one picks them.Falling on the grass in the ground like a red flower, we would exclaim when we first went there, bending over to pick up the reddest big apple, only to realize that what we picked up was just a drop in the ocean, and the apple pickers were driving small trucks Yes, when the car came out, the tires were bright red after running over thousands of apples! There is a longan tree in the front yard of my home in Taichung. When it is fruitful every year, the children in the neighborhood split the pincer head with a long bamboo pole and pick it over the wall. When the children chased them out, they dispersed in a rush. Everyone was very excited, and it became like a celebration in early autumn every year.When I first saw that juice-soaked wheel, I thought, what would they think if they came to this apple orchard?

When I first arrived, there was another day before dusk, a maple tree on the outer edge of the forest outside the restaurant turned red, a light mist rose in the forest, and the setting sun shone, which is really a wonderful state in Chinese landscape painting.Han Yunmei, a student from Jingyi, Taiwan, and I went out from the restaurant to get closer to Fenglin. When we were admiring and cheering, a police car chased us from behind and "destroyed" us back to the dormitory.I said to them, how can you not enjoy watching such beautiful scenery? The campus police said with a straight face that the forest is too big, and our responsibility is to protect young women from getting lost.

Walking into the college from the charming woods, there are more things to remember.The first one that struck me was the identity of my friend Sister Mary Greg Ory. All my life, I have been quite slow about official positions. When she hired me to teach at her school in the United States in Taichung, Sister Francis, who held a big umbrella and held all the power, was always there to help me. I thought it was her power and her style of acting. , "Say what you say", and Sister Mary GregOry is my friend who talks about literature.Just someone who came forward and invited me.At the beginning of September, I flew from New York to Indianapolis, and then took a Greyhound bus to the bus station in Terre Haute. She invited Miss Hu Hongyi, who works in the college library, to pick me up.Seeing me waiting for her with my luggage, she immediately came over to hug and welcome me, helped me carry my luggage to her car, and drove more than 30 miles into the woods.The campus is small but very grand. There are several tall red brick buildings, and there is a small courtyard and small light green building not far away. This is the very comfortable staff dormitory where I will live for a year.She took my suitcase and escorted me to a comfortable suite.If you want me to take a break, I will ask Miss Hu (Janet) from the next room to take me to the restaurant at six o'clock.The dining room is deep in the bushes. It is open and bright, and can accommodate nearly a thousand teachers and students of the whole school. It is close to the Virgin Mary holding the Holy Child.The first area is the teaching staff area, and it is also the place for school affairs meetings.Here, I have seen quite deeply the changes in certain institutions of a congregation, and the debates, conflicts and pains of the process of change.

We entered the restaurant and sat at a long table in the second row.The dinner was very formal. After leading the thank-you ceremony, an elderly nun from the main hospital said: "Now, please introduce the new teacher to the principal." I stood up, led me forward, and introduced me to the hall. I think I must have been confused and speechless at the time.Because I didn't know that she returned to the United States from Taichung to serve as the principal (the one who signed my appointment letter was the previous principal).No one told me before I got to the restaurant.She didn't mention it herself in our many conversations and correspondence.It turned out that inviting me to teach Chinese literature was also her "New Deal".

The content and materials of my class are fully discussed with her, which is suitable for the student's level and saves the trouble of fumbling for both parties.There are nearly 20 students enrolled in the course, which is considered very good.Soon after class, an oriental culture exhibition was held, which successfully deepened the background of our literature class.In life, she takes care of me everywhere.Ms. Hu Honglai, who lives in the dormitory with me, can cook exquisite Chinese dishes. This new principal and a Korean student, Ding Yinghui (I later learned that she is the daughter of Korean Prime Minister Ding Il-kwon, also attends my class) and The other two Chinese nuns (among them Cai Yingyun has been working in Jingyi University since returning to China) are often our guests.She also helped me find several faculty members who regularly attend classes at IU, and took me there by car.However, it is not easy to coordinate the time, and it is impossible to go once or twice a week.There is no bus between Trey Heilt and Blossom City of Indiana, not to mention the need to go out of the 3,000-acre forest! In the eyes of Americans, a mere 70 miles seems to be an insurmountable river for me.So I went to the comparative literature department of Indian University to visit the head of the department, PrOf. HOrst Frenz, talked about my predicament, got the course schedule, and went back to the woods.Acknowledge your fate and concentrate on teaching, let's talk about it next semester.

Those four months were the beginning of my life's systematic study. St. Mary's College in the woods has a very professional attitude in running schools, and its teaching is above the level. It is by no means just to cultivate noble ladies, so its library is not big but high-quality. Not bad, especially in terms of English and American literature, the collection of books is quite substantial, which is the main force.In order to teach, I read all the books about Chinese literature in the library. I saw that in addition to the modern Chinese literature department, in addition to the new novels after the "May 4th Movement", such as Lu Xun's, Mao Dun's, Ba Jin's, and Lao She's "Camel Group" ", "Cat City Tale", and even the CCP's model work "The Cotai Strip", etc., but there is no information about Taiwan.Of course, we didn’t have any English translation works at that time. This is also the place where my wish to do English translation of Taiwanese literature sprouted.Here, I unexpectedly witnessed the process of the Catholic nun system facing a process of "modernization" in form and connotation in the 1960s.

After lunch on the third day of my arrival in the woods, the congregation had a historic vote in the hall on whether to remove the veil.There were fierce debates before and after the vote, full of "sound and fury" ("sound and fury"). The young nuns who advocated the abolition of the veil won victory, some even cheered, while the conservative elders were visibly sad and angry.A few days later, the long skirt was shortened to three inches below the knee by voting, and soon the newly decorated girls were seen walking briskly on the campus, and those faces that remained unchanged became more serious.In addition, the internal rules of the monastery life have also been relaxed a lot.

During the summer vacation of the second year, quite a few young nuns withdrew from the congregation and returned to secular life.Western culture is closely related to religion. I was fortunate enough to see the change process of the core form and connotation of dedication at close range. I am really touched by the fact that I come from an ancient culture.Because of this, I made friends with several Catholic religious orders, and I could talk about knowledge and concepts throughout my life.Also talk about real life.A year later, I returned to Shulin from Indian University to teach for a semester, and I felt quite at home.