Lu Xun Complete Works/en/Dixiong
Brothers
弟兄 (Brothers)
von Lu Xun (鲁迅, 1881-1936)
Uebersetzt aus dem Chinesischen.
Section 1
[1924]
[Once Again, "It Has Existed Since Antiquity"]
Mr. Taiyan suddenly appeared at the podium of the annual meeting of the Society for Educational Improvement to "exhort the study of history" in order to "preserve the national character" -- truly spoken with great passion. Yet he failed to mention one advantage: once one studies history, one can learn that many things "have existed since antiquity."
Mr. Yiping has apparently not devoted himself much to the study of history, which is why he takes the idea that excessive use of exclamation marks should be punished as a "joke." His meaning seems to be: such punishment must be unheard of in the world. Yet he does not know that it "has existed since antiquity."
I have never devoted myself to the study of history. Therefore I am quite unfamiliar with history. But I recall that during the Song Dynasty, when the partisans were severely persecuted -- perhaps when the Yuanyou scholarship was banned -- since among the partisans there were quite a few famous poets, the anger extended to poetry itself, and the government issued a decree: No one may write poems; violators shall receive two hundred strokes of the rod!
And we should note: this applied regardless of whether the content was pessimistic or optimistic -- even optimism still earned a hundred strokes!
At that time, presumably because Mr. Hu Shi had not yet been born, poems did not use exclamation marks. Had they been used, the punishment would probably have been a thousand strokes; had they been placed under "Alas" and "Oh dear," it would surely have been ten thousand; and with the added charge of "shrunk like bacteria, enlarged like cannonballs," at least a hundred thousand. Mr. Yiping's proposed punishment of merely a few hundred blows and a few years in prison is far too lenient, bordering on indulgence. But I know that if he were to become an official, he would certainly be a very merciful "father and mother of the people" -- only he is not quite suited to the study of psychology.
But how did the ban on writing poetry come to be lifted? I hear it was because the Emperor wrote a poem first, and then everyone started writing poetry again.
Unfortunately, China no longer has an Emperor. Only cannonballs, which are by no means shrunk, fly through the sky -- who is there to use these not-yet-enlarged cannonballs?
Oh dear! Your Majesties, the Emperors of the great empires that still have Emperors, please write a few poems and use some exclamation marks, so that the poets of our humble country need not suffer! Alas!!!
This is the voice of a slave -- so the patriots will say.
Indeed, that is correct. Thirteen years ago, I was truly a slave of another race. The national character has been preserved, so it "still exists today." And since I do not much believe in the progress of history, I also fear it "will still exist hereafter." The old nature always shows itself. Are there not already some young Shanghai critics who are demanding the "regulation of literati" and prohibiting the use of "Oh flowers!" and "My love!"? But they have not yet enacted a "flogging decree."
If one says that the absence of a "flogging decree" represents progress compared to the Song Dynasty: then I too can consider myself to have progressed -- from a slave of another race to a slave of my own race. Your servant is overwhelmed with joy and gratitude!
(Published on September 28, 1924, in the supplement of the Peking "Morning Post.")
[Higher Life -- Multatuli (Netherlands)]
I
High, high up in the sky soared a butterfly. He was proud of his beauty and his freedom, and especially enjoyed the view of everything spread out below him.
"Come up, up here!" he called loudly to his brothers, who were fluttering around the trees on the ground below him.
"Oh no, we are sipping nectar and staying down here!"
"If you only knew how beautiful it is up here! One can see everything! Oh, come, come!"
"Are there flowers up there too, with nectar to nourish us?"
"One can see all the flowers from here, and this enjoyment..."
"Do you have nectar up there?"
No, it was true -- there was no nectar up there!
This contradiction wore out the poor butterfly down below...
Yet he wanted to stay in the sky.
He thought it was beautiful to survey everything, to have it all in view.
But the nectar... nectar? No, there was no nectar up there.
He grew weak, the poor butterfly. His wingbeats only became more sluggish. He sank downward and his field of vision only shrank...
But still he struggled...
No, it was no good; he sank!...
"Ah, so you have finally come to us," the brothers cried. "What did we tell you? Come now and sip nectar like us. We know our way around the flowers!"
The brothers cried out thus and were pleased, because they were right, and not merely because they had no need for the beauty above.
"Come, and sip nectar like us!"
The butterfly only sank lower and lower... he still wanted to... here was a flower bed... did he reach it?... He was no longer sinking... he was falling! He fell beside the flower bed, onto the path, onto the road...
There he was trampled by a donkey.
II
High, high up in the sky soared a butterfly. He was proud of his beauty and his freedom, and especially enjoyed the view of everything spread out below him.