Chapter 5 The third part I miss the three of us alone

In July 1935, when Zhong Shu was less than 25 years old and I was a few days less than 24, we got married and went to Oxford, England to study together.We are far away from home, no longer under the shelter of our parents, and we are a little trembling; but with two companions, we can depend on each other for life. Zhongshu often sighed to himself "clumsy and clumsy".All I know is that he can't tie a bow tie, can't tell the difference between his left foot and his right foot, and he can only grab chopsticks like a child.I don't know how stupid and clumsy he is in other aspects.

When he first arrived in Oxford, he kissed the floor of Oxford and knocked out most of his front teeth.He went out alone, and the bus drove away before he could stand still.He fell heavily on his face.At that time we were tenants at Mr. King's house.In addition to our husband and wife, there are two tenants living in a single room, one surnamed Lin and the other surnamed Zeng, both of whom are visiting medical experts in Oxford.Zhong Shu fell down, walked back by himself, and covered his mouth with a big handkerchief.There was blood all over the handkerchief. After shaking off the handkerchief, half a broken tooth fell down, and the mouth was full of blood.I was so anxious that I didn't know how to continue the broken tooth.Fortunately, both of them are doctors.They taught me to accompany Zhongshu to find a dentist as soon as possible, pull out the broken tooth, and then install false teeth.

Oxford University's autumn commencement (Michaelmas Term) is around October.School hadn't started yet.After disembarking from the ship, we stayed in London for sightseeing, and arrived in Oxford before the semester began.Zhongshu has been officially arranged for him to enter Exeter College to study for a Bachelor of Arts (B.Litt) degree.I'm in contact with admissions.I was going to go to the non-residential women's college (Home Students), but the places for literature there were full, so I had to take history.I do not want to. I did not hesitate to give up the scholarship to Wellesley College in the United States because the scholarship was only for tuition.The principal of my alma mater thought I was stupid and dared not argue with my father.In fact, my father has already promised me.I just feel sorry for my father's heavy burden. He is old, and I don't want to add to his burden.I hope to be admitted to the Tsinghua Research Institute, so that I can go abroad at public expense.I actually passed the exam.But our department head at the time was more focused on drama.None of the graduate students in the Department of Foreign Languages ​​majored in drama.He said that Tsinghua's graduate students in the Department of Foreign Languages ​​are worthless, and the Department of Foreign Languages ​​does not set up publicly funded places for further study abroad.In fact, Zhao Luorui, who is one level above me, and I are both outstanding students who have received scholarships; and among the public-funded students sent abroad by Tsinghua University, two of them used to be classmates with me in Soochow, and my academic performance is at least as good as theirs. I won the Soochow Golden Key Award.I'm worthless?I thought to myself: If I am an undergraduate in the Department of Foreign Languages ​​and Literatures of Tsinghua University, if I take drama as an elective, maybe I can write a small play, and maybe the dean of the department will take me as a training student.But my interest is not in plays but in novels.At that time, I was young and didn't know how to play tricks on others, so I just felt very unconvinced.Since I have no chance to go abroad at public expense, I will go abroad with Zhongshu. With his help, I can save some living expenses.

However, the tuition fees at Oxford are already more expensive than those of other schools, and there are additional fees for tutors, and the cost of rent and food is also higher.If I go to study elsewhere and the two of us live separately, we will have to spend in two places, plus travel expenses, which is not economical.It was an accident that Zhongshu knocked out his front teeth; but such accidents should also be included in the budget.Calculated in this way, there is not much of his public expenses that I can borrow.What if I also have an unexpected need?My dad already has high blood pressure.There were no antihypertensive drugs at that time.I am so ashamed of leaving my parents, how can I have the heart to ask them for money again?I had no choice but to settle for the next best thing. I had to be content with being an auditor, attending a few courses, and going to the university library (Bodleian) for self-study.

Lao Jin's house provides four meals a day - breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.We live in a double bedroom and living room, the window faces the garden, and Lao Jin's wife and daughter tidy up every day.Since I am not a formal student, I have no homework, and I can arrange all the time by myself.I have never enjoyed such freedom.When I was in university in Suzhou, I often searched in the library after class, trying to get into the field of literature but couldn’t find it.After being admitted to Tsinghua University, I felt deeply that I owed many literature courses and had no time to take them.This time, in the library of Oxford University, the rooms and shelves are full of literary classics, and I can take a good tutoring time at ease.

There is a row of single desks near the window in the library, and I can occupy a desk.I can pick up the books on the shelf by myself.Unfinished books can be left on the table.There are very few students studying there, and the environment is very quiet.I set a schedule for myself and read each book carefully from beginning to end.If you can read like this, what else is there to be dissatisfied with? After the semester started, Zhongshu received a black cloth vest with two black cloth ribbons on the back.He is a public-funded student in our country, but he is a self-funded student (Commoner) in Oxford.Both male and female students at their own expense wear this kind of black cloth vest.The boys had a stiff square hat, but no one wore it.Scholarship students wear gowns.Girl students wear soft square hats.I saw people wearing school uniforms all over the street. I had the inferiority complex of out-of-school children, and I always envied the black cloth vest that other people had but I didn't.

The lectures at Oxford University are held in the university building; the lectures at the college Zhongshu belongs to are in the dining hall of the college, and there are many auditors.Zhong Shu didn't attend the classes I attended.He has his required classes.What he valued the most was the one-on-one lessons with his tutor.I wore a cheongsam to class alone, and I often sat in the auditorium on the side of the class with two or three nuns, and my heart was full of inferiority complex. Zhongshu said that I don't know if I am blessed.He asked me to look at his required courses.I read it, and fortunately I am not under the jurisdiction of the school.He also asked me to look at the thesis titles of the previous two sessions.It also makes me feel lucky that I don't have to go to such trouble.However, strict training is what I lack.As for him, if he also has as much free reading time as I do, he will definitely gain more.We were both unhappy anyway, and he was even more disappointed.

There is a rich man named HNS Spalding in Oxford.It is said that he will create a professorship of Sinology at Oxford University.His younger brother KJSpalding is a Sinologist, specializing in Chinese philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi. KJ is a resident researcher (Fellow Don) of a college in Oxford (Brazenose College).The rich man invited us and my wife to his home for tea, and persuaded Zhongshu to give up his scholarship in China, change his career to study philosophy, and become his brother's assistant.In his tone, China's scholarships are insignificant.Zhong Shu immediately rejected his suggestion.Afterwards, we still kept in touch with him, and his younger brother often invited us to have tea at his college residence, where we could ask many questions.Although Zhongshu was not very happy about studying for a Bachelor of Arts, he was determined not to give up his own country's scholarship and seek refuge with foreign rich men.

Most of the students at Oxford University are the sons of wealthy families who have just graduated from noble middle schools. They live in various colleges during the semester, and travel around when they are on vacation.The Oxford academic system consists of three terms per year, each term is eight weeks, followed by a six-week holiday.After the third semester, there is a summer vacation of more than three months.The examination is not at the end of the semester but before graduation, that is, after two to four years of enrollment.Most of the young students are cramming and don't take their studies seriously.They like to get together in the hotel to drink at night, mischievous and mischievous after drunk, breaking school rules is a common occurrence.Therefore, in the college Zhongshu belongs to, each student has two tutors: one is an academic tutor, and the other is a moral tutor.If a student is extraordinarily detained for being naughty, he will be released on bail by the moral instructor.Zhongshu's character mentor just often treats us and my wife to tea.

Oxford has another rule that must be followed.Students have to eat dinner four or five times a week in the canteen of their college.Meals are nothing more than proof that the student lives on campus.Eating is more important than going to class.According to Zhongshu, after obtaining a Bachelor of Arts with Honors (BAHonours), you will be awarded a master's degree after two years of meals (that is, two years of living on campus, excluding holidays); and a doctorate after another four years of meals. Most of the Chinese students studying in Oxford at that time received scholarships or government subsidies.They also left Oxford during the holidays and went elsewhere.Only Zhongshu didn't leave until the summer vacation after three semesters.

This is not unusual in Zhongshu.He doesn't like activities.During my half-year stay at Tsinghua University, I traveled all over the places of interest in Beijing.He stayed in Tsinghua University for four years, and he never even went to Yuquan Mountain or Badachu.On the anniversary of Tsinghua University, the whole school visited the Summer Palace.Zhong Shu also visited the Summer Palace, and he also visited Fragrant Hills once, but he has never been anywhere else.It wasn't until the spring of 1934, when I was studying at Tsinghua University, that he came to visit me in the north, and I took him on a tour of Beijing's scenic spots.He wrote a set of "Northern Travel Poems", including the sentence "this year makes an exception for a spring outing", but now only one poem "Yuquan Mountain Tongjiang" is left. There are quite a few holidays in Oxford.Zhongshu devotes all his holiday time to reading.The classics in the university library are bounded by the eighteenth century, and the collection of classic works in the library is limited to the eighteenth century and before the eighteenth century.The classics and popular books of the 19th and 20th centuries can only be borrowed from the city library.There is a rich collection of books, and the loan is limited to return within two weeks.We often have to go to the city library in less than two weeks.We still have Chinese classics, poems, ci, poetry and other books brought out from home, as well as books borrowed or donated by friends. The bookstore also allows you to stand in front of the bookshelf and read at will. We go out and about every day, we like to say "expedition".After breakfast, we had to go out for a walk and let Lao Jin's wife and daughter clean up the room.Before dinner, our walk is a walk for the heart, walking slowly and having more fun.Both kinds of walks are "adventure" in nature, because we always choose places we don't know and discover things everywhere. Oxford is a quiet little place. We walked in the streets, alleys, in front of colleges, parks, suburbs, churches, downtown, and visited shops.When we see different types of houses in different districts, we can guess what kind of people they live in; looking at people of all classes in the busy city, we can guess their identities and match the characters we read in books. Oxford is very humane.The postman met us on the way and handed us our letters from home.The children were waiting by the side, politely asking us for Chinese stamps.Tall policemen, wearing white gloves, walked slowly all the way in the evening, pushing and pushing the doors of each house to see if they were closed properly; if someone did not close the door properly, the police would politely warn them.When we got back to Lao Jin's apartment, we drew the curtains and read books. During school term, we have a little more social activities.The most common communication between classmates is to invite them to have afternoon tea.The teacher always invites them to have afternoon tea at their home, and the students invite them in the dormitory of the college.They taught Zhongshu and me how to make tea.Warm the teapot first, and use a full teaspoon of tea leaves for each person: You have a spoonful, I have a spoonful, and he has a spoonful, and give the teapot a full spoonful.Four people drink tea with five spoons of tea, and three people use four spoons.Boiled water can be added again and again, and the tea will always be strong enough. Zhongshu only wore a dress once when he was studying in Oxford.Because I was going to a dinner at the St. George's Hotel.The owner is CDLe Gros Clark.In 1935, he published a small volume of "Su Dongpo Fu", and asked Zhong to write the preface.He learned that Qian Zhongshu was in Oxford, and Mrs. Texie rushed to Oxford from Paris to meet and treat us to dinner. I looked down the upstairs window and saw a big black car parked in front of the hotel.Someone opened the car door, and a small oriental woman got out of the car. Mrs. Le Gros Clark told me that she is the daughter of Hu Wenhu, king of all balm. Le Gros Clark was a senior official of the Governor-General of Borneo, so he recognized him.This Miss Hu is also studying in Oxford.We only hear about her diamond theft.This chance saw a glimpse. At that time, Chinese classmates included Yu Dazhen, sister Yu Dazhen, Xiang Da, Yang Renzhu, etc.A frequent visitor to our house is Xiang Da.He copied Dunhuang papers in London, and then came to Oxford to compile Chinese bibliographies for the Oxford University Library.Because of the high cost of living in Oxford, he lived in the home of the pastor E. Hughes.Among the classmates is Yang Xianyi, who is young and everyone calls him Xiao Yang. Zhongshu also loves to play, not traveling, but playing with words.He was full of nonsense and jokes, and made up nonsense and crooked poems casually.He once wrote a long poem for Xiangda.The first two sentences describe Xiang Da as "the way of death in appearance (still), the door of life in heart (sentimental)"-the whole poem is nonsense, and they both laughed so hard.Xiang Da said Zhongshu: "People talk about honey and swords, but you talk about swords and honey." There are not many people who can play with Zhongshu on an equal footing, and those who don't agree will think Zhongshu is mean.We keep a distance from people who don't agree with us, and it seems to be proud again.We are young and unsophisticated, but those who are the most sophisticated and know how to behave are also criticized.Zhong Shu and I explained this to ourselves.