Lu Xun Complete Works/zh-en/Refeng
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| 中文 (Original) | English (Translation) |
|---|---|
| class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; width: 280px;" |+ style="background-color: #4a7c59; color: white; padding: 5px;" | Work Information |- ! style="background: #e8f0e8; width: 100px;" | Chinese Title | 热风 |- ! style="background: #e8f0e8;" | Genre | essays |- ! style="background: #e8f0e8;" | Year | 1925 |- ! style="background: #e8f0e8;" | Sections | 15 |- ! style="background: #e8f0e8;" | Status | style="background: #ffe0e0;" | Translation pending |- ! style="background: #e8f0e8;" | Database ID | refeng |} |
= Lu Xun: Hot Wind (热风) = |
| Part of the Lu Xun's Complete Works translation project. | Lu Xun (1881-1936) |
| == Chinese Original Text (中文原文) == | Translation from the Chinese |
| Total: 34,998 characters in 15 section(s). | Andere Sprachen / Other languages: Deutsch | Francais |
| === Section 1 === | ---- |
| 【热风】 | == Section 3 == |
| 【题记】 | In April he went to the Tongwen Academy to give a lecture entitled: "Hooligans and Literature." |
| 现在有谁经过西长安街一带的,总可以看见几个衣履破碎的穷苦孩子叫卖报纸。记得三四年前,在他们身上偶而还剩有制服模样的残余;再早,就更体面,简直是童子军的拟态。 | In June he gave a lecture at the Japanese "Women's Friends Association." |
| 那是中华民国八年,即西历一九一九年,五月四日北京学生对于山东问题的示威运动以后,因为当时散传单的是童子军,不知怎的竟惹了投机家的注意,童子军式的卖报孩子就出现了。其年十二月,日本公使小幡酉吉抗议排日运动,情形和今年大致相同;只是我们的卖报孩子却穿破了第一身新衣以后,便不再做,只见得年不如年地显出穷苦。 | In July he finished explaining the entire "Brief History of Chinese Fiction" for Masuda Wataru. |
| 我在《新青年》的《随感录》中做些短评,还在这前一年,因为所评论的多是小问题,所以无可道,原因也大都忘却了。但就现在的文字看起来,除几条泛论之外,有的是对于扶乩、静坐、打拳而发的;有的是对于所谓“保存国粹”而发的;有的是对于那时旧官僚的以经验自豪而发的;有的是对于上海《时报》的讽刺画而发的。记得当时的《新青年》是正在四面受敌之中,我所对付的不过一小部分;其他大事,则本志具在,无须我多言。 | In the same month he went to the "Social Science Research Association" to deliver the lecture "A Glimpse of Shanghai's Literature and Art." |
| 五四运动之后,我没有写什么文字,现在已经说不清是不做,还是散失消灭的了。但那时革新运动,表面上却颇有些成功,于是主张革新的也就蓬蓬勃勃,而且有许多还就是在先讥笑,嘲骂《新青年》的人们,但他们却是另起了一个冠冕堂皇的名目:新文化运动。这也就是后来又将这名目反套在《新青年》身上,而又加以嘲骂讥笑的,正如笑骂白话文的人,往往自称最得风气之先,早经主张过白话文一样。 | On August 17 he asked Mr. Uchiyama Kakichi to teach students woodcut techniques, with the Master himself translating, which was completed on the 22nd. On the 24th he gave a lecture for the woodcut section of the "Eighteen Art Society." |
| 再后,更无可道了。只记得一九二一年中的一篇是对于所谓“虚无哲学”而发的;更后一年则大抵对于上海之所谓“国学家”而发,不知怎的那时忽而有许多人都自命为国学家了。 | In November he collated "The Collected Works of Ji Kang" against the Song dynasty reprint of the Hanfenlou Library. |
| 自《新青年》出版以来,一切应之而嘲骂改革,后来又赞成改革,后来又嘲骂改革者,现在拟态的制服早已破碎,显出自身的本相来了,真所谓“事实胜于雄辩”,又何待于纸笔喉舌的批评。所以我的应时的浅薄的文字,也应该置之不顾,一任其消灭的;但几个朋友却以为现状和那时并没有大两样,也还可以存留,给我编辑起来了。这正是我所悲哀的。我以为凡对于时弊的攻击,文字须与时弊同时灭亡,因为这正如白血轮之酿成疮疖一般,倘非自身也被排除,则当它的生命的存留中,也即证明着病菌尚在。 | In the same month the printing of "Destruction" was completed. |
| 但如果凡我所写,的确都是冷的呢?则它的生命原来就没有,更谈不到中国的病证究竟如何。然而,无情的冷嘲和有情的讽刺相去本不及一张纸,对于周围的感受和反应,又大概是所谓“如鱼饮水冷暖自知”的;我却觉得周围的空气太寒冽了,我自说我的话,所以反而称之曰《热风》。 | In December he co-edited with friends the ten-day periodical "At the Crossroads." |
| 一九二五年十一月三日之夜,鲁迅。 | Twenty-first Year [of the Republic] -- 1932 -- Fifty-two years old |
| 【华盖集】 | On January 29 he was caught in the crossfire during hostilities. The next day he took refuge in the Uchiyama Bookstore. |
| 【题记】 | On February 6, escorted by a staff member of the Uchiyama Bookstore, he was taken to the Uchiyama branch in the English Concession for temporary shelter. |
| 在一年的尽头的深夜中,整理了这一年所写的杂感,竟比收在《热风》里的整四年中所写的还要多。意见大部分还是那样,而态度却没有那么质直了,措辞也时常弯弯曲曲,议论又往往执滞在几件小事情上,很足以贻笑于大方之家。然而那又有什么法子呢。我今年偏遇到这些小事情,而偏有执滞于小事情的脾气。 | In April he compiled his short essays from 1928 and 1929, calling them: "Collection of Three Idlers." His miscellaneous writings from 1930 to 1931 he collected under the title "Collection of Two Hearts." |
| 我知道伟大的人物能洞见三世,观照一切,历大苦恼,尝大欢喜,发大慈悲。但我又知道这必须深入山林,坐古树下,静观默想,得天眼通,离人间愈远遥,而知人间也愈深,愈广;于是凡有言说,也愈高,愈大;于是而为天人师。我幼时虽曾梦想飞空,但至今还在地上,救小创伤尚且来不及,那有余暇使心开意豁。立论都公允妥洽,平正通达,像“正人君子”一般;正如沾水小蜂,只在泥土上爬来爬去,万不敢比附洋楼中的通人,但也自有悲苦愤激,决非洋楼中的通人所能领会。 | In May he compiled his own bibliography of translations and writings. |
| 这病痛的根柢就在我活在人间,又是一个常人,能够交着“华盖运”。 | In September he finished compiling and translating the first volume of an anthology of twenty modern Russian fiction writers, which he called "The Harp." The second volume, also completed, he called "A Day's Work." |
| 我平生没有学过算命,不过听老年人说,人是有时要交“华盖运”的。这“华盖”在他们口头上大概已经讹作“镬盖”了,现在加以订正。所以,这运,在和尚是好运:顶有华盖,自然是成佛作祖之兆。但俗人可不行,华盖在上,就要给罩住了,只好碰钉子。我今年开手作杂感时,就碰了两个大钉子:一是为了《咬文嚼字》,一是为了《青年必读书》。署名和匿名的豪杰之士的骂信,收了一大捆,至今还塞在书架下。此后又突然遇见了一些所谓学者、文士、正人、君子等等,据说都是讲公话,谈公理,而且深不以“党同伐异”为然的。可惜我和他们太不同了,所以也就被他们伐了几下,——但这自然是为“公理”之故,和我的“党同伐异”不同。这样,一直到现下还没有完结,只好“以待来年”。 | In October he arranged "Letters Between Two Places." |
| 也有人劝我不要做这样的短评。那好意,我是很感激的,而且也并非不知道创作之可贵。然而要做这样的东西的时候,恐怕也还要做这样的东西,我以为如果艺术之宫里有这么麻烦的禁令,倒不如不进去;还是站在沙漠上,看看飞沙走石,乐则大笑,悲则大叫,愤则大骂,即使被沙砾打得遍身粗糙,头破血流,而时时抚摩自己的凝血,觉得若有花纹,也未必不及跟着中国的文士们去陪莎士比亚吃黄油面包之有趣。 | On November 9 he traveled to Beiping because of his mother's illness. |
| 然而只恨我的眼界小,单是中国,这一年的大事件也可以算是很多的了。我竟往往没有论及,似乎无所感触。我早就很希望中国的青年站出来,对于中国的社会,文明,都毫无忌惮地加以批评,因此曾编印《莽原周刊》,作为发言之地,可惜来说话的竟很少。在别的刊物上,倒大抵是对于反抗者的打击,这实在是使我怕敢想下去的。 | From the 22nd of the same month, he gave lectures at Peking University, Fu Jen University, Beiping University, the Women's College of Arts and Sciences, Normal University, China University, and other institutions. |
| 现在是一年的尽头的深夜,深得这夜将尽了,我的生命,至少是一部分的生命,已经耗费在写这些无聊的东西中,而我所获得的,乃是我自己的灵魂的荒凉和粗糙。但是我并不惧惮这些,也不想遮盖这些,而且实在有些爱他们了,因为这是我转辗而生活于风沙中的瘢痕。凡有自己也觉得在风沙中转辗而生活着的,会知道这意思。 | Twenty-second Year [of the Republic] -- 1933 -- Fifty-three years old |
| 我编《热风》时,除遗漏的之外,又删去了好几篇。这一回却小有不同了,一时的杂感一类的东西,几乎都在这里面。 | On January 4, Cai Yuanpei invited him by letter to join the "China League for Civil Rights"; he was elected a member of the executive committee. |
| 一九二五年十二月三十一日之夜,记于绿林书屋东壁下。 | On February 17, Cai Yuanpei invited him by letter to Song Qingling's residence to welcome George Bernard Shaw. |
| 【二心集】 | In March "Lu Xun's Self-Selected Works" was published by Tianma Bookstore. |
| 【序言】 | On the 27th of the same month he moved his books to Dixwei Road, renting a house for their storage. |
| 这里是一九三○年与三一年两年间的杂文的结集。 | On April 11 he moved to No. 9, Dalu New Village. |
| 当三○年的时候,期刊已渐渐的少见,有些是不能按期出版了,大约是受了逐日加紧的压迫。《语丝》和《奔流》,则常遭邮局的扣留,地方的禁止,到底也还是敷延不下去。那时我能投稿的,就只剩了一个《萌芽》,而出到五期,也被禁止了,接着是出了一本《新地》。所以在这一年内,我只做了收在集内的不到十篇的短评。 | On May 13 he went to the German Consulate to submit a protest against the atrocities of the "Fascists." |
| 此外还曾经在学校里演讲过两三回,那时无人记录,讲了些什么,此刻连自己也记不清楚了。只记得在有一个大学里演讲的题目,是《象牙塔和蜗牛庐》。大意是说,象牙塔里的文艺,将来决不会出现于中国,因为环境并不相同,这里是连摆这“象牙之塔”的处所也已经没有了;不久可以出现的,恐怕至多只有几个“蜗牛庐”。蜗牛庐者,是三国时所谓“隐逸”的焦先曾经居住的那样的草窠,大约和现在江北穷人手搭的草棚相仿,不过还要小,光光的伏在那里面,少出、少动、无衣、无食、无言。因为那时是军阀混战,任意杀掠的时候,心里不以为然的人,只有这样才可以苟延他的残喘。但蜗牛界里那里会有文艺呢,所以这样下去,中国的没有文艺,是一定的。这样的话,真可谓已经大有蜗牛气味的了,不料不久就有一位勇敢的青年在政府机关的上海《民国日报》上给我批评,说我的那些话使他非常看不起,因为我没有敢讲共产党的话的勇气。谨案在“清党”以后的党国里,讲共产主义是算犯大罪的,捕杀的网罗,张遍了全中国,而不讲,却又为党国的忠勇青年所鄙视。这实在只好变了真的蜗牛,才有“庶几得免于罪戾”的幸福了。 | On June 20, Yang Quan was assassinated; he went to the International Funeral Home for the laying out of the body. There were rumors at the time that the Master too would not be spared, and some tried to dissuade him from going, but he would not be deterred; he left without taking his house key, to show his resolve. |
| 而这时左翼作家拿着苏联的卢布之说,在所谓“大报”和小报上,一面又纷纷的宣传起来,新月社的批评家也从旁很卖了些力气。有些报纸,还拾了先前的创造社派的几个人的投稿于小报上的话,讥笑我为“投降”,有一种报则载起《文坛贰臣传》来,第一个就是我,——但后来好象并不再做下去了。 | In July the monthly magazine "Literature" was launched; the Master was one of the contributors. |
| 卢布之谣,我是听惯了的。大约六七年前,《语丝》在北京说了几句涉及陈源教授和别的“正人君子”们的话的时候,上海的《晶报》上就发表过“现代评论社主角”唐有壬先生的信札,说是我们的言动,都由于墨斯科的命令,这又正是祖传的老谱,宋末有所谓“通虏”,清初又有所谓“通海”,向来就用了这类的口实,害过许多人们的。所以含血喷人,已成了中国士君子的常经,实在不单是他们的识见,只能够见到世上一切都靠金钱的势力。至于“贰臣”之说,却是很有些意思的,我试一反省,觉得对于时事,即使未尝动笔,有时也不免于腹诽,“臣罪当诛兮天皇圣明”,腹诽就决不是忠臣的行径。但御用文学家的给了我这个徽号,也可见他们的“文坛”上是有皇帝的了。 | In October the woodcut picture sequence "One Man's Suffering," edited and prefaced by him, was printed. |
| 去年偶然看见了几篇梅林格(Franz Mehring)的论文,大意说,在坏了下去的旧社会里,倘有人怀一点不同的意见,有一点携贰的心思,是一定要大吃其苦的。而攻击陷害得最凶的,则是这人的同阶级的人物。他们以为这是最可恶的叛逆,比异阶级的奴隶造反还可恶,所以一定要除掉他。我才知道中外古今,无不如此,真是读书可以养气,竟没有先前那样“不满于现状”了,并且仿《三闲集》之例而变其意,拾来做了这一本书的名目。然而这并非在证明我是无产者。一阶级里,临末也常常会自己互相闹起来的,就是《诗经》里说过的那“兄弟阋于墙”,——但后来却未必“外御其侮”。例如同是军阀,就总在整年的大家相打,难道有一面是无产阶级么?而且我时时说些自己的事情,怎样地在“碰壁”,怎样地在做蜗牛,好象全世界的苦恼,萃于一身,在替大众受罪似的,也正是中产的智识阶级分子的坏脾气。只是原先是憎恶这熟识的本阶级,毫不可惜它的溃灭,后来又由于事实的教训,以为惟新兴的无产者才有将来,却是的确的。 | In the same month the "Woodcut Exhibition" was held at Qianai Lane. |
| 自从一九三一年二月起,我写了较上年更多的文章,但因为揭载的刊物有些不同,文字必得和它们相称,就很少做《热风》那样简短的东西了;而且看看对于我的批评文字,得了一种经验,好象评论做得太简括,是极容易招得无意的误解,或有意的曲解似的。又,此后也不想再编《坟》那样的论文集,和《壁下译丛》那样的译文集,这回就连较长的东西也收在这里面,译文则选了一篇《现代电影与有产阶级》附在末尾,因为电影之在中国,虽然早已风行,但这样扼要的论文却还少见,留心世事的人们,实在很有一读的必要的。还有通信,如果只有一面,读者也往往很不容易了然,所以将紧要一点的几封来信,也擅自一并编进去了。 | Also the collection of short essays "Pseudo-Free Book" was printed. |
| 一九三二年四月三十日之夜,编讫并记。 | Twenty-third Year [of the Republic] -- 1934 -- Fifty-four years old |
| 【鲁迅先生年谱 许寿裳 】 | In January "The Beijing Letter Paper Album" was published. |
| 【凡例】 | In May he proofread the essay collection "Southern Tones and Northern Melodies," which was printed the same month. |
| 一 先生自民国元年五月抵京之日始,即写日记,从无间断,凡天气之变化如阴、晴、风雨,人事之交际如友朋过从,信札往来,书籍购入,均详载无遗,他日付印,足供参考。故年谱之编,力求简短,仅举荦荦大端而已。 | In May the woodcut collection "Luring Jade," edited and prefaced by him, was published. |
| 二 先生著作既多,译文亦富,另有著译书目,按年排比,故本谱于此二项,仅记大略,未及详写。 | In August he edited the inaugural issue of the magazine "Translation." |
| 三 先生著译之外,复勤于纂辑古书,钞录古碑,书写均极精美,谱中亦不备举。 | On the 23rd of the same month, because of the arrest of an acquaintance, he left his residence to seek safety. |
| 四 先生工作毕生不倦,如编辑各种刊物,以及为人校订稿件之类,必忠必信,贡献亦多,谱中亦从略不述。 | In October "Woodcut Chronicle" was printed. |
| 五 本谱材料,有奉询于先生母太夫人者,亦有得于夫人许广平及令弟作人建人者,合并声明。 | On December 14 at night, back pain and night sweats. After the illness he grew very thin; his dentures no longer fit his gums. |
| 二十六年五月 日 许寿裳记 | In the same month the collection of short essays "Quasi-Wind-and-Moon Talks" was published. |
| 民国前三十一年 (清光绪七年辛巳西历 | Twenty-fourth Year [of the Republic] -- 1935 -- Fifty-five years old |
| 一八八一年) 先生一岁 | In January he finished translating the Soviet fairy tale "The Clock" by Panteleev. |
| 八月初三日,生于浙江绍兴城内东昌坊口。姓周,名树人,字豫才,小名樟寿,至三十八岁,始用鲁迅为笔名。 | In February he began translating Gogol's "Dead Souls." |
| 前二十六年 (十二年丙戌 | In April the first volume of "The Letter Paper Album of the Ten Bamboo Studio" was printed. |
| 一八八六年) 六岁 | In June he finished selecting and writing the introduction for the second volume of fiction in the "Anthology of New Literature"; it was printed. |
| 是年入塾,从从叔祖玉田先生初诵《鉴略》。 | In September the translation of Gorky's "Russian Fairy Tales" was published. |
| 前二十四年 十四岁戊子 | In October he edited the first volume of Qu Qiubai's posthumous writings: "Forest Voices from the Sea." |
| 一八八八年 八岁 | In November he continued writing "Old Tales Retold." |
| 十一月,以妹端生十月即夭,当其病笃时,先生在屋隅暗泣,母太夫人询其何故,答曰: | In December he compiled the woodcut edition of "One Hundred Illustrations of Dead Souls" and wrote a preface. |
| “为妹妹啦。” | Twenty-fifth Year [of the Republic] -- 1936 -- Fifty-six years old |
| === Section 2 === | In January, severe pain in shoulders and ribs. |
| 是岁一日,本家长辈相聚推牌九,父伯宜公亦与焉。先生在旁默视,从伯慰农先生因询之曰:“汝愿何人得赢?”先生立即对曰:“愿大家均赢。”其五六岁时,宗党皆呼之曰“胡羊尾巴”。誉其小而灵活也。 | On the 20th of the same month the fortnightly "Petrel," co-founded with friends, was published. |
| 前二十年 十八年壬辰 | Also he finished proofreading "Old Tales Retold"; the book appeared immediately. |
| 一八九二年 十二岁 | In February he began the continuation of translating Part Two of "Dead Souls." |
| 正月,往三味书屋从寿镜吾先生怀鉴读。 | On March 2 in the afternoon, a sudden asthma attack. |
| 在塾中,喜乘闲描画,并搜集图画,而对于二十四孝图之“老莱娱亲”、“郭巨埋儿”独生反感。 | On April 7 he went to the Liangyou Company to select "Soviet Prints" for them. |
| 先生外家为安桥头鲁姓,聚族而居,幼时常随母太夫人前往,得在乡村与大自然相接触,影响甚大。《社戏》中所描写者,皆安桥头一带之景色,时正十一二岁也。外家后迁皇甫庄,小皋步等处。 | In the same month he edited the second volume of "Forest Voices from the Sea." |
| 十二月三十日曾祖母戴太君卒,年七十九。 | On May 15 another attack of illness; the doctor diagnosed a stomach ailment. Thereafter the fever persisted. On the 31st, Miss Smedley brought the American Dr. Dunn for examination; the condition was extremely critical. |
| 前十九年 十九年癸巳 十三岁 | In June, he gradually recovered from his prostration and could sit up a little, stand and read. He was able to write a few dozen characters. |
| 一八九三年 | In the same month, while ill, he answered a visitor O.V.'s question: "On Our Present Literary Movement." |
| 三月祖父介孚公丁忧,自北京归。 | Also "Marginalia" was printed. |
| 秋,介孚公因事下狱,父伯宜公又抱重病,家产中落,出入于质铺及药店者累年。 | In July the "Selected Prints of Kaethe Kollwitz," edited and printed by him, was published. |
| 前十六年 廿二年丙申 十六岁 | In August, blood in the sputum. |
| 一八九六年 | He wrote a short piece for the inaugural issue of "Zhongliu" (In Midstream). |
| 九月初六日父伯宜公卒,年三十七。 | In October his weight was eighty-eight pounds, approximately two pounds more than on August 1. |
| 父卒后,家境益艰。 | The translation of Chekhov's "Bad Boys and Other Strange Stories" was published. |
| 前十四年 廿四年戊戌 十八岁 | He could occasionally go out to see films and pay brief visits to friends. |
| 一八九八年 | On the 8th of the same month he visited the second "National Traveling Woodcut Exhibition" at the YMCA. |
| 闰三月,往南京考入江南水师学堂。 | On the 17th he visited Kaji Wataru and Uchiyama Kanzo. |
| 前十三年 廿五年己亥 十九岁 | On the 18th, before dawn, the illness struck; incessant asthma, until he passed away at five twenty-five in the morning on the 19th. |
| 一八九九年 | == Section 6 == |
| 正月,改入江南陆师学堂附设路矿学堂,对于功课并不温习,而每逢考试辄列前茅。 | And yet there is still much paper in the world, while the members of each literary society are few, their ambitions large but their strength slight, unable to cover all the paper with writing. Hence the critics within a society, whose duty it is to vanquish enemies, aid friends, and sweep away alien elements, sigh heavily with shaking heads and stamping feet when they see others come to scribble on paper. The Shanghai Shenbao went so far as to call translators of social science "any Tom, Dick, or Harry" -- such was its indignation. Mr. Jiang Guangci, whose "position in China's new literature is long since known to readers," had gone to Tokyo to convalesce, and there met Kurahara Korehito. When the conversation turned to the many bad Japanese translations, which were practically harder to read than the originals, he laughed and said: "...The Chinese translation world must be even more absurd. Recently many Chinese books have been translated from Japanese; if the Japanese convey European works into Japanese with sundry errors and abridgments, and these are then translated into Chinese, will not the work have lost half its face?..." (See "The Pioneer.") This too is an expression of deep dissatisfaction with translation, especially retranslation. However, Mr. Liang at least names titles and specific flaws, while Mr. Jiang merely smiles gracefully and sweeps everything away -- truly far more sweeping. Kurahara Korehito has translated many works of literary theory and fiction directly from Russian, which has been of great benefit to me personally. I hope that China too will have one or two such honest translators from Russian who will gradually produce good books, instead of merely cursing themselves once as "idiots" and considering their duty as revolutionary writers discharged. |
| 课余辄读译本新书,尤好小说,时或外出骑马。 | But how do things stand at present? Mr. Liang Shiqiu does not translate such things, the great man who calls others "Tom, Dick, and Harry" does not translate either, and Mr. Jiang, who has studied Russian, would actually be best suited, but unfortunately after his convalescence he has produced only one book, "One Week," while Japan has long had two translations. China once talked eagerly about Darwin, eagerly about Nietzsche, and at the time of the European War cursed them roundly, but to this day there is only one translation of Darwin's works, only half of Nietzsche; the scholars and literary luminaries who have studied English and German have neither the leisure nor the inclination to attend to it -- and that is that. So for the time being, I am afraid we can only let ourselves be laughed at and cursed and continue to retranslate from Japanese, or take an original text and translate it directly while consulting the Japanese version. I intend to continue doing so, and I hope there will be more people who do the same, to fill in a little of the emptiness behind all the thoroughgoing high talk. For we cannot "laugh about it" like Mr. Jiang, nor should we "wait, wait, wait" like Mr. Liang. |
| 前十一年 廿七年辛丑 二十一岁 | 6 |
| 一九〇一年 | At the beginning I wrote, "To pose as hard while actually being soft as cotton is quite a characteristic of the Crescent Moon Society" -- to which I should like to add a few brief supplements here, as a conclusion to this essay. |
| 十二月,路矿学堂毕业。 | When "The Crescent Moon" came into the world, it immediately advocated a "strict attitude," but cursed those who cursed and mocked those who mocked. That is not wrong at all; it is simply "returning to each man according to his own method," though it is also a kind of "retaliation," not done for selfish ends. Even in the advertisement for the combined issue of Volume 2, Numbers 6 and 7, it says: "We all maintain an attitude of 'tolerance' (except for the attitude of 'intolerance,' which we cannot tolerate), and we all appreciate sound, rational doctrines." The first two sentences are also not wrong -- "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" -- and are consistent with the initial position. But if one continues along this broad road, one must inevitably arrive at "violence against violence," which is no longer compatible with the "soundness" so dear to the gentlemen of the Crescent Moon Society. |
| 前十年 廿八年壬寅 二十二岁 | This time, when the Crescent Moon Society's "free speech" was suppressed, the old method would have required suppressing the suppressor as well. But the reaction displayed in "The Crescent Moon" was an essay "To the Suppressors of Freedom of Speech," which first cited the other side's party doctrine, then foreign laws, and finally historical examples from East and West, to show that those who suppress freedom often meet destruction -- a warning solicitously conceived for the other side. |
| 一九〇二年 | So the Crescent Moon Society's "strict attitude," the "eye for an eye" method, comes down in the end to being applied exclusively to forces of similar or lesser strength. If a more powerful party punches one's eye swollen, an exception is made: one merely raises a hand, covers one's own face, and cries, "Watch out for your own eye!" |
| 二月,由江南督练公所派赴日本留学,入东京弘文学院。 | == Section 7 == |
| 课余喜读哲学与文艺之书,尤注意于人性及国民性问题。 | Habit and Reform |
| 前九年 廿九年癸卯 二十三岁 | A people whose bodies and minds have already hardened will obstruct even the most trifling reform. On the surface it seems as though they fear inconvenience for themselves; in truth they fear disadvantage for themselves, yet the pretexts they devise often appear supremely just and dignified. |
| 一九○三年 | This year's prohibition of the lunar calendar is, of course, a trifling matter that touches nothing essential, but the merchants naturally bewail it to the skies. And that is not all: even Shanghai's unemployed and company clerks often sigh profoundly and say this is very inconvenient for farmers in their planting, or very inconvenient for ocean vessels awaiting the tides. They actually think of the country farmers they have long had nothing to do with, and the sailors on the sea. This really does sound like universal love. |
| 是年为《浙江潮》杂志撰文。 | As soon as the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month arrives, firecrackers explode everywhere. I asked a shop clerk: "May one still celebrate the old New Year this year? Next year we'll definitely celebrate the new calendar New Year?" The answer was: "Next year is next year; we'll have to see then." He does not believe that next year one will be compelled to celebrate the solar New Year. But on the calendar the lunar dates were indeed deleted, leaving only the solar terms. Yet at the same time, an advertisement appeared in the papers for a "One Hundred and Twenty Year Combined Solar-Lunar Calendar." Wonderful -- they have prepared the lunar calendar even for the times of great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, one hundred and twenty years! |
| 秋,译《月界旅行》毕。 | Although the likes of Mr. Liang Shiqiu very much despise the majority, the power of the majority is formidable and crucial. Those who aspire to reform, if they do not thoroughly understand the heart of the people and find ways to guide and educate them, will find that however lofty their essays and however grand their debates, whether romantic or classical, these will have nothing to do with the people -- everything will amount to a few individuals in their studies admiring each other and achieving self-satisfaction. And if there were actually a "government of good men" that ordered reforms, the people would soon drag it back onto the old road. |
| 前八年 三十年甲辰 二十四岁 | True revolutionaries have their own original insights. Mr. Ulyanov, for example, includes "customs" and "habits" within "culture" and considers reforming these extremely difficult. I think that if these things are not reformed, the revolution amounts to nothing -- like a tower built on sand that collapses in an instant. China's first anti-Manchu revolution found ready support because its slogan was "restoration of the old" -- that is, "restoration" -- which easily wins the consent of a conservative people. But when the flourishing age customarily expected at the beginning of a new dynasty failed to materialize and one had merely lost a queue in vain, the general dissatisfaction was great. |
| 一九〇四年 | The somewhat newer reforms that followed failed one after another: one liang of reform, ten jin of reaction. For example: one year the lunar calendar is banned from the official calendar -- and in exchange comes a combined solar-lunar calendar for one hundred and twenty years. |
| 六月初一日,祖父介孚公卒,年六十八。 | Such combined calendars will certainly find many enthusiastic buyers, for they are upheld by customs and habits and therefore also have customs and habits for their backing. With other matters it is the same: if one does not penetrate deep into the broad masses and study their customs and habits, analyze them, distinguish good from bad, establish standards for preservation and abolition, and for both carefully select the method of implementation, then every reform will be crushed by the rock of habit or will merely drift on the surface for a time. |
| 八月,往仙台入医学专门学校肄业。 | Now is no longer the time to sit in the study, book in hand, discoursing loftily on religion, law, literature, art, and the like. Even if one wishes to discuss these things, one must first understand customs and habits and possess the courage and perseverance to face their dark aspects squarely. For without clear sight, no reform is possible. To merely proclaim the coming light is in truth to deceive one's own lazy self and one's lazy audience. |
| 前六年 三十二年丙年 二十六岁 | == Section 8 == |
| 一九〇六年 | Non-Revolutionary Radical Revolutionary Theorists |
| 六月回家,与山阴朱女士结婚。 | Should one say that a great revolutionary army must presuppose that the consciousness of all its fighters is entirely correct and clear -- only then is it a true revolutionary army, otherwise not worth a smile -- this sounds at first glance quite justified and thorough, yet it is an impossible task, empty talk, a sweet poison that poisons the revolution. |
| 同月,复赴日本,在东京研究文艺,中止学医。 | Just as under the rule of imperialism it is impossible to train the masses so that every individual possesses "love of humanity" and then with smiles and folded hands establishes the "great harmony" of the world -- equally, under the forces against which the revolutionaries rebel, it is impossible through word or deed to bring the great majority to an entirely correct consciousness. Therefore in every uprising of a revolutionary force, the sentiment of the fighters is fundamentally but one: resistance to the status quo. In this they agree; in their ultimate aims they diverge widely. Some fight for society, some for a small clique, some for a lover, some for themselves, some simply to die. And yet the revolutionary army can still advance. For on the march, the bullet fired by an individualist at the enemy is just as deadly as one fired by a collectivist; and when a fighter falls, the reduction in the army's fighting strength is equal in both cases. Of course, because of the differences in ultimate aims, people will continually desert, lose their way, grow dispirited, or defect along the route. But as long as this does not impede the advance, the force will over time become ever purer and sharper. |
| 前五年 三十三年丁末 二十七岁 | When I wrote the preface to Mr. Ye Yongzhen's "A Small Decade," I held that the protagonist had already rendered some service to society, and this was precisely what I meant. The protagonist after all went to the front and stood sentry (even though he was never even taught how to fire a rifle) -- that is incomparably more concrete than the literary luminaries who merely sit on their knees singing sad songs or clutch their pens and sigh angrily. To demand that today's fighters must without exception possess correct consciousness and be steadfast as steel is not only a utopian fantasy but also an unreasonable demand beyond all reason. |
| 一九〇七年 | But later in the Shenbao I saw an even sterner, even more thorough criticism: because the protagonist of the book went to war from personal motives, deep dissatisfaction was expressed. The Shenbao is the most peace-loving newspaper, the one that least encourages revolution -- which at first glance seems quite incongruous. I wish to point out here that there are people who outwardly appear to be thorough revolutionaries but in truth are highly unrevolutionary or individualistic theorists harmful to the revolution -- so that the soul of the criticism and the body of the newspaper match perfectly. |
| 是年夏,拟创办文艺杂志,名曰《新生》,以费绌未印,后为《河南》杂志撰文。 | One type is the decadent: because he himself has neither a definite ideal nor definite abilities, he sinks and seeks momentary pleasure; having gorged on a particular pleasure, he feels surfeited and constantly seeks new stimuli, which must be ever more intense for him to feel satisfaction. Revolution too is one of the decadent's new stimuli -- like a glutton who has overeaten on rich sweets, whose palate is jaded and stomach weak, and who must now eat pepper and chili so that a little sweat appears on his brow and he can still get down half a bowl of rice. From revolutionary literature he demands thorough, complete revolutionary literature; the moment a reflection of the era's defects appears, he frowns and considers it not worth a smile. Detachment from reality does not matter -- so long as one gets one's thrill. Baudelaire in France is universally known as a decadent poet, yet he welcomed the revolution; only when the revolution began to interfere with his decadent life did he come to hate it. Therefore the paper revolutionaries on the eve of revolution, who are moreover the most thorough, most radical revolutionaries, can when the revolution comes tear off their former masks -- their unconscious masks. Such historical examples should also be presented to "revolutionary literary men" of the Cheng Fangwu type, who at the slightest setback flee east to Tokyo or run west to Paris the moment they obtain a small position (or a small sum). |
| 前四年 三十四年戊申 二十八岁 | The other type -- I cannot yet name him. In short, he is a man without fixed convictions, who therefore finds that nothing in the world is right and that he himself is never wrong, and who in the final analysis considers the status quo best. When he speaks as critic, he arbitrarily seizes upon one thing to refute its opposite. When he wants to refute the theory of mutual aid, he uses the theory of the struggle for existence; when he wants to refute the struggle for existence, he uses mutual aid. Against the peace theory he invokes class struggle; against struggle he preaches the love of humanity. If his opponent is an idealist, his standpoint is materialism; but when debating a materialist, he transforms into an idealist. In short, he measures Russian versts with English feet and meters with French feet, and discovers that nothing matches. Because nothing else matches, he eternally feels that he "holds to the golden mean," eternally self-satisfied. According to the guidance of these people's criticism, anything that is not perfect and has defects is no good. But where in today's world, among today's people and affairs, is there anything perfectly perfect and entirely flawless? For safety's sake, the only course is not to budge an inch. Yet this not budging is itself a great error. In short, the art of being human is extremely difficult, and being a revolutionary, naturally, even more so. |
| 一九〇八年 | The Shenbao's critic demands a thoroughly revolutionary protagonist for "A Small Decade," but for the translation of social science he has only venomous cold mockery. His soul therefore belongs to the latter category, with a slight touch of the decadent's boredom with life, wanting to eat a bit of chili to stimulate the appetite. |
| 是年从章太炎先生炳麟学,为“光复会”会员,并与二弟作人译域外小说。 | == Section 9 == |
| 前三年 宣统元年己酉 二十九岁 | Zhang Ziping's "Theory of the Novel" |
| 一九○九年 | Zhang Ziping is, so they say, the "most progressive" "proletarian writer": while you are still "sprouting," still "breaking new ground," he is already harvesting. That is progress -- sprinting ahead, leaving nothing but dust in the distance. What he industriously writes, however, is still the love triangle -- the specialty of the "revolutionary writer" that no one else can surpass -- but that is a matter upon which outsiders cannot pass judgment, and for the moment I shall not discuss it here. Now he has produced a book called "Theory of the Novel," which might give a "romanticist" pause, for from it one learns: the novel does indeed have a "theory." But the method of this "theory" is also quite simple; it requires only copying -- just like his own novels. |
| 是年辑印《域外小说集》二册。 | == Section 10 == |
| 六月归国,任浙江两级师范学堂生理学化学教员。 | Opinions on the League of Left-Wing Writers |
| 前二年 二年庚戌 三十岁 | -- Speech at the founding assembly of the League of Left-Wing Writers, March 2 |
| 一九一〇年 | Many things have already been explained in detail by others, and I need not repeat them. I believe that today it is very easy for "left-wing" writers to become "right-wing" writers. Why? First, if one has no contact with actual social struggle and merely sits behind glass windows writing essays and studying problems, then however radical and "left" one may be, that is easily accomplished; but the moment one collides with reality, one is instantly shattered. Shut up in a room, it is easiest to hold forth on thoroughgoing principles, yet also easiest to "drift rightward." In the West this is called the "salon socialist" -- "salon" means drawing room: sitting in the drawing room chatting about socialism, very elegant, very pretty, but without any intention of putting it into practice. Such socialists are utterly unreliable. Moreover, in the present age there is virtually no writer or artist who does not carry at least a touch of socialist thought in the broad sense -- that is, writers or artists who hold that the workers and peasants should be slaves, should be slaughtered and exploited, are almost nonexistent, unless one counts Mussolini, but Mussolini has not written literary works. (Of course, one cannot say such writers are entirely absent -- for instance, the literati of the Chinese Crescent Moon school and the Mussolini-admired D'Annunzio belong to them.) |
| 四月初五日祖母蒋太君卒,年六十九。 | Second, if one does not understand the actual circumstances of revolution, one can also easily turn "right." Revolution is pain; it inevitably contains filth and blood; it is by no means as interesting or as perfect as poets imagine. Revolution above all is a matter of reality and requires all manner of lowly, troublesome work -- by no means as romantic as poets imagine. Revolution of course involves destruction, but it needs construction even more; destruction is exhilarating, but construction is a troublesome business. Therefore those who hold romantic illusions about revolution easily become disillusioned the moment they approach or enter the revolution. I hear that the Russian poet Yesenin initially also warmly welcomed the October Revolution, crying at the time: "Long live the revolution in heaven and on earth!" and also "I am a Bolshevik!" But when after the revolution the actual situation proved entirely different from what he had imagined, he fell into disillusionment and decadence. Yesenin later committed suicide, and this disillusionment was, I hear, one of the causes. Pilnyak and Ehrenburg are also examples. In our own Xinhai Revolution there were similar cases: many literati at that time, such as members of the "Southern Society," were initially quite revolutionary, but they harbored an illusion -- they believed that once the Manchus were driven out, everything would be restored to the splendor of "Han official dignity," everyone would wear wide sleeves, tall caps and broad sashes, and stride grandly through the streets. But after the Manchu emperor was expelled and the Republic established, everything was utterly different, and so they were disillusioned; some later even became reactionaries against the new movement. If we too do not understand the actual circumstances of revolution, we risk becoming like them. |
| 八月,任绍兴中学堂教员兼监学。 | Furthermore, the notion that poets or writers stand above all other people and their work is nobler than all other work is also incorrect. For instance, Heine once believed that the poet was the noblest being and God the most just; after death the poet would go to God, sit around Him, and God would offer him sweets. Nowadays, of course, no one believes God offers sweets. But to believe that the poet or writer, who today makes revolution for the laboring masses, will after the revolution's success certainly be richly rewarded and specially favored by the working class, will ride in special carriages and eat special meals -- or that workers will bring him buttered bread saying: "Our poet, please help yourself!" -- this too is incorrect. For in reality this will never happen; it will probably be even harder then than now -- not only no buttered bread, but perhaps not even black bread, as the situation in Russia one or two years after the revolution illustrates. If one does not understand this, one can also easily turn "right." In fact, the laboring masses, as long as they are not those whom Liang Shiqiu would call "successful," will by no means specially value members of the intelligentsia -- just as the Medik (of intelligentsia origin) in "Destruction," which I translated, is often mocked by miners and others. Needless to say, the intelligentsia has its own work to do and should not be specially despised; but the working class has absolutely no obligation to give poets or writers specially favorable treatment as an exception. |
| 前一年 三年辛亥 三十一岁 | Now let me mention several points we should heed in the future. |
| 一九一一年 | First, the struggle against the old society and old forces must be resolute, sustained, and uninterrupted, with attention to actual strength. The foundations of the old society are extremely solid; without still greater force, the new movement cannot shake them. Moreover, the old society has excellent methods of making the new force compromise, while it itself never compromises at all. In China there have been many new movements, yet each time the new has lost to the old, and the cause generally lay in the new side's lack of a resolute, comprehensive aim -- its demands were small and easily satisfied. For example, the vernacular movement: at first the old society resisted with all its might, but soon it permitted the vernacular to exist, assigned it a pitiful position, and in the corners of newspapers one could see articles written in the vernacular. This was because the old society saw that the new thing was nothing special and not threatening, so it let it exist, and the new side was satisfied, thinking the vernacular had won the right to exist. Similarly the proletarian literature movement of the past year or two: the old society also tolerated proletarian literature, because it was not particularly formidable. On the contrary, they themselves dabbled in proletarian literature and used it as decoration, as if placing a coarse worker's bowl alongside the many antique porcelains in the drawing room -- quite charming. And the proletarian writers? They already had a small place on the literary stage, their manuscripts already sold, they no longer needed to fight, and the critics sang triumphal songs: "Proletarian literature is victorious!" But apart from personal victory, how much had proletarian literature as such actually won? Moreover, proletarian literature is a wing of the proletariat's liberation struggle and grows with the growth of the proletariat's social power: when the proletariat's social position is very low and the position of proletarian literature in the literary world is on the contrary very high, this merely proves that the proletarian writers have left the proletariat and returned to the old society. |
| 九月绍兴光复,任绍兴师范学校校长。 | Second, I believe the front should be expanded. In the year before last and last year there were battles in literature, but the scope was really too narrow. All old literature and old thought were ignored by the new school; instead, in one corner, new writers fought new writers, while the old school could comfortably watch the battle from the sidelines. |
| 冬,写成第一篇试作小说《怀旧》,阅二年始发表于《小说月报》第四卷第一号。 | Third, we should train great numbers of new fighters. For at present we truly lack hands. We have several magazines, and not a few books are published as separate volumes, but the authors are always the same few people, so the content cannot help being thin. If one person does not specialize but dabbles in this and that -- translating and also writing novels and also writing criticism and also writing poetry -- how can it turn out well? This is all because too few people are involved. If there were more, the translators could specialize in translating, the creators in creating, the critics in criticism; in repelling the enemy too, the military force would be formidable and victory easier. On this point let me mention one thing in passing. When the Creation Society and the Sun Society attacked me the year before last, their strength was truly meager; in the end even I found it a bit boring and had no desire to counterattack, because I eventually saw that the enemy army was playing "the empty city ruse." At that time my enemy army was solely occupied with bluster, neglecting to recruit soldiers and train officers; the attacks on me were naturally numerous, but one could see at a glance that they were all pseudonyms, and the curses back and forth were always the same few sentences. I was waiting for someone capable of sniping at me with the marksmanship of Marxist criticism, but he never appeared. For my part, I have always paid attention to training new young fighters and have organized several literary groups, though with little effect. But henceforth we must attend to this. |
| 注:以上月分均系阴历。 | We urgently need to produce great numbers of new fighters, but at the same time, people on the literary front must possess "tenacity." What I mean by tenacity is that one should not use the method of the "doorknocking brick" as in the former Qing dynasty's eight-legged essay. The eight-legged essay of the former Qing was a tool for "entering school" and becoming an official; once one could write "introduction, development, turn, and conclusion" and thereby attained the title of "xiucai" or "juren," one could throw away the eight-legged essay and never need it again in one's life -- hence the name "doorknocking brick," like using a brick to knock on a door: once you've knocked your way in, the brick can be discarded, no need to carry it with you anymore. This method is still used by many people today. We often see that after some people have published one or two volumes of poetry or fiction, they vanish forever. Where have they gone? Because after publishing one or two books and gaining a small or large reputation, after obtaining a professorship or some other position, their success is achieved and there is no longer any need to write poetry or fiction -- hence they have vanished forever. This is why China has nothing to show for itself in either literature or science; but we must have something, because it is useful to us. (Lunacharsky even advocated preserving Russian peasant art, because it could be produced and sold to foreigners, which would be economically helpful. I believe that if we have something in culture and science to present to others, it would even help the political movement to break free from imperialist oppression.) But to achieve results in culture, tenacity is absolutely essential. |
| 民国元年 一九一二年 三十二岁 | Finally, I believe that a united front requires a common objective as its necessary condition. I recall hearing something like this: "The reactionaries already have a united front, and we are still not united!" In truth they do not have a deliberate united front either; only because their objective is the same, their actions are consistent, and to us it looks like a united front. That we cannot unify our front proves that our objectives are not consistent -- perhaps they serve only a small clique, or perhaps in truth only individuals. If everyone's objective were the working and farming masses, then the front would naturally be united. |
| 一月一日,临时政府成立于南京,膺教育总长蔡元培之招,任教育部部员。 | == Section 11 == |
| 五月,航海抵北京,住宣武门外南半截胡同绍兴会馆藤花馆,任教育部社会教育司第一科科长。八月任命为教育部佥事。 | We Want Critics |
| 是月公余纂辑谢承《后汉书》。 | Judging by the general situation (we cannot obtain reliable statistics here), since last year the readership of creative fiction published under the "revolutionary" label has been declining, and the trend in the publishing world has already shifted toward the social sciences, economics, and even philosophy. Whether this is the reverse side of suppression or whether it expresses a new advance in the consciousness of readers, I cannot say. But one thing is certain: creative fiction has not yet developed well enough, whether judged by quality or quantity. And as for criticism, it is an even greater wasteland. Among us there is not yet a single equipped critic who surveys the entire literary scene and is capable of delivering the right judgment at the right moment. |
| 二年 一九一三年 三十三岁 | == Section 12 == |
| 六月,请假由津浦路回家省亲,八月由海道返京。 | Good Government-ism |
| 十月,公余校《嵇康集》。 | Mr. Liang Shiqiu has this time in the "Sundries" section of "The Crescent" also expressed his approval of "dissatisfaction with the status quo," but he thinks that "today's intellectuals (especially those who have long styled themselves 'pioneers,' 'authorities,' 'vanguards') are most content with the status quo," and they should please "stand up and demand a good government rather than merely shouting revolutionary slogans." That sounds quite cheap. As for "good government," the demand for it is by no means based solely on dissatisfaction with "bad government"; rather: if the social order is not fundamentally changed, if only the personnel are replaced, then the successors may at best be somewhat more exemplary at the beginning, but soon they too will become a "bad government" again. This is a truth that even ancient Chinese history proves. Mr. Liang need not consult any "dangerous thoughts"; he need only open the twenty-four dynastic histories -- provided he has read them. |
| 三年 一九一四年 三十四岁 | == Section 13 == |
| 是年公余研究佛经。 | "Homeless" "Capitalists' Toothless Running Dog" |
| 四年 一九一五年 三十五岁 | Because the "Pioneer" called him "a running dog of the capitalists," Mr. Liang Shiqiu wrote an article he himself entitled "I Am Not Angry." First, basing himself on the definition on page 672 of the second issue of the "Pioneer," he concluded that he "felt somewhat like a member of the proletariat," and then defined "running dog" as follows: "Generally speaking, all running dogs want to please their master and thereby gain a little favor." He then raised the question: |
| 一月辑成《会稽郡故书杂集》一册,用二弟作人名印行。 | "The 'Pioneer' says I am a running dog of the capitalists. Which capitalist, or all capitalists? I don't even know who my master is. If I knew, I would certainly take several magazines to my master to show my merits, and perhaps receive a few gold pounds or rubles as a reward... I only know that by working ceaselessly one can earn money to sustain one's livelihood. How one goes to the capitalist's counting house to collect gold pounds, how one goes to the XX Party to collect rubles -- these skills, how could I possibly know them?..." |
| 同月刻《百喻经》成。 | This is a living portrait of "the capitalists' running dog." Every running dog may be kept by a particular capitalist, but in truth belongs to all capitalists. Therefore it wags its tail before all the wealthy and barks at all the poor. Not knowing who its master is -- that is precisely why it wags before all the wealthy, and proof that it belongs to all capitalists. Even if no one feeds it and it starves to a skeleton and becomes a stray, it still wags before all the wealthy and barks at all the poor -- only now it knows even less who its master is. |
| 是年公余喜搜集并研究金石拓本。 | Since Mr. Liang himself recounts how hard he works, so that he seems like "the proletariat" (that is, what Mr. Liang formerly called "the defeated"), and does not know "who his master is," he belongs to the latter category. To be precise, we must add a few words and call him a "homeless" "running dog of the capitalists." |
| 五年 一九一六年 三十六岁 | Yet even this title has some shortcomings. Mr. Liang is after all an educated professor, and therefore different from the ordinary type. He has finally stopped asking "Does literature have class character?"; in his essay "Reply to Mr. Lu Xun" he very cleverly inserts sentences about "Armed Protection of the Soviet Union" written on telegraph poles and the smashing of newspaper office windows; and in the passage quoted above he writes "go to the XX Party to collect rubles" -- where the two deliberately concealed X's can immediately be recognized as the characters for "Communist." He thereby implies that anyone who maintains "literature has class character" and has offended Mr. Liang is engaged in the business of "protecting the Soviet Union" or "collecting rubles." This is the same method by which Duan Qirui's guards shot students and the Morning Post claimed the students had lost their lives for a few rubles, or by which, when my name appeared on the Freedom League, the "Revolutionary Daily" reported in a dispatch that I had been "bought with glittering golden rubles." Mr. Liang may believe that sniffing out criminals ("scholarly bandits") for his master is also a form of "criticism," but this profession is even more base than that of an "executioner." |
| 五月,移居会馆补树书屋。 | I still remember: during the era of "KMT-CCP cooperation," it was most fashionable to praise the Soviet Union in correspondence and speeches. Now things are different: according to the papers, writing on telegraph poles and the "XX Party" are being pursued most vigorously by the police. Well then, to point to one's own debating opponent as a "defender of the Soviet Union" or the "XX Party" is also fashionable and timely and might even earn one "a little favor" from the master. But to say that Mr. Liang aims to obtain "favor" or "gold pounds" would be slander; there is nothing at all to it. He merely wants to lend a hand to rescue his "literary criticism" from its impasse. Therefore, from the perspective of "literary criticism," one must affix another adjective before "running dog": "toothless." |
| 十二月,请假由津浦路归省。 | (April 19, 1930.) |
| 是年仍搜集研究造象及墓志拓本。 | == Section 14 == |
| 六年 一九一七年 三十七岁 | Preface to "Evolution and Degeneration" |
| 一月初,返北京。 | This is a selection the translator has assembled from the nearly one hundred texts translated over ten years: works that are not too specialized, that anyone can read, brought together in one volume in the hope of wider circulation. First, it shows the state of the latest evolutionary theory; second, it serves as reference for those engaged in biology; and third -- perhaps most importantly -- it aims to provide stimulus even to non-specialists, since evolutionary theory by no means concerns biology alone but also influences thinking in general. |
| 七月初,因张勋复辟乱作,愤而离职,同月乱平即返部。 | However, I must add: the hope that this work will truly exert influence is slight. For Chinese society, though readily receptive to new doctrines, ordinarily adopts them only to lay them as ornament upon the old order, like sticking fresh flowers in a corpse's hair. |
| 是年仍搜集研究拓本。 | == Section 15 == |
| 七年 一九一八年 三十八岁 | The Secret of Writing Classical Prose and Being a Good Person |
| 自四月开始创作以后,源源不绝,其第一篇小说《狂人日记》,以鲁迅为笔名,载在《新青年》第四卷第五号,掊击家族制度与礼教之弊害,实为文学革命思想革命之急先锋。 | -- Night Notes, No. 5 |
| 是年仍搜罗研究拓本。 | Of all the so-called critical writings about us during the past year and a half since last year, the most suffocatingly comical was Mr. Chang Yansheng's words in a monthly called "The Long Night," where he put on a fair face and said my works had at least ten more years of life. I recall that a few years earlier, when "The Storm" ceased publication, this same Mr. Chang Yansheng had also published an article to the effect that "The Storm" had attacked Lu Xun, and now no publisher wanted to bring it out -- who knows (!) whether Lu Xun had not influenced the publisher to persecute it? He then went on to lavishly praise the magnanimity of the North China warlords. I still have some memory, and so beneath that fair face I could still dimly see the watermark of that earlier piece of forged prose; at the same time I recalled Professor Chen Yuan's method of criticism: first enumerate a few merits, to display fairness, but then a host of grave charges -- grave charges arrived at through fair weighing. Merits offset against crimes, it all comes down in the end to "scholarly bandit," who deserves to have his head displayed beneath the banner of the "upright gentlemen" as a warning to all. My experience therefore is: censure may do no harm, but praise can be terrifying, sometimes extremely "urgent in its peril." How much more so when this Mr. Chang Yansheng reeks through and through of the Five-Colored Flag -- even if he sincerely grants my works immortality, it feels to me as if the Xuantong Emperor had suddenly beamed with delight and graciously bestowed upon me the posthumous title "Wenzhong" (Loyal in Letters). Amid the suffocating comedy within the oppression, I had no choice but to reverently remove my hat, bow, and most respectfully decline. |
| 八年 一九一九年 三十九岁 | But in another issue of the same "Long Night" there was an essay by Mr. Liu Dajie -- these essays seem not to have been collected in "China's Literary Debate" -- which I read with genuine gratitude, perhaps precisely because, as the author himself says, we were entirely unacquainted and no personal grudges or favors intervened. What I found especially useful was that the author devised a way out for me, suggesting that in such a siege from all sides it would be better to lay down the pen and go abroad for a while; and he gave me the honest advice that a few blank pages in one person's life history are really nothing serious. That a few blank pages in the life history of a single person, or even a book entirely blank, or even a book painted entirely black, would by no means cause the earth to explode -- this I had long known. The unexpected gain I made this time was that after thirty years, as if I had suddenly caught the insight yet without being able to formulate the clear and concise formula, I had at last seized the bridle of the secret of writing classical prose and being a good person. |
| 一月发表关于爱情之意见,题曰《随感录四十》,载在《新青年》第六卷第一号,后收入杂感录《热风》。 | The formula is: To write classical prose and be a good person, one must write it all through and still end up with something equivalent to a blank page. |
| 八月买公用库八道湾屋成,十一月修缮之事略备,与二弟作人俱移入。 | The teachers who taught us composition in the old days imparted no "Ma's Grammar" or "Methods of Essay Writing" and the like. Day in, day out, it was just: read, write, read, write. If the essay was bad, again: read, write. The teacher never said where the faults lay or how one should write. A dark alley in which one had to grope one's own way -- whether one got through or not, everyone left to fate. But now and then -- it came quite suddenly and one did not know how -- truly "now and then" and "one did not know how" -- the essay in the notebook had fewer and fewer deletions and corrections, and the passages left standing, even those with dense circles of approval, grew more numerous. Then the student's heart filled with joy, and he simply went on writing like that -- truly, he himself did not know how, it was just "like that" -- and after long years the teacher no longer deleted or changed anything in the essays, but merely wrote at the end comments like "has book and pen, neither sprawling nor branching." When one reached this point, one could be counted as "proficient." -- Of course, if one asked the high critic Mr. Liang Shiqiu, he would probably not accept it; but I am speaking of the world in general, so for now I follow common usage. |
| 十月发表关于改革家庭与解放子女之意见,题曰《我们现在怎样做父亲》,载《新青年》第六卷第六号,后收入论文集《坟》。 | The basic idea of such writing must of course be clear; what the opinion is, is secondary. Suppose one must write an essay on "He who would do fine work must first sharpen his tools": one may argue from the positive side that "blunt tools produce no fine work"; or one may argue from the negative side that "for the craftsman, skill comes first; if skill is unripe, then however sharp the tools, the work will still not succeed." Even concerning the emperor, one may say "The Son of Heaven is holy, the subject's crime deserves death" -- or one may equally say the emperor is bad and should be cut down with one stroke of the sword, for our Master Mencius said beforehand: "I have heard that a single villain named Zhou was executed, but not that a sovereign was killed" -- and we disciples of the Sage think precisely so. But in any case one must argue from beginning to end, layer by layer, until everything is perfectly clear: is the Son of Heaven holy, or should he be beheaded? Or if one disagrees with both, one may declare at the end: "Though the tyrant raged cruelly, the distinction between sovereign and subject endures; the gentleman does not go to extremes, and in my humble opinion it suffices to banish him to the four frontiers" -- such an approach too would probably not meet with the teacher's disapproval, for "the golden mean" is likewise a teaching of our ancient sages. |
| 十二月请假经津浦路归省,奉母偕三弟建人来京。 | However, the above applies to the late Qing period. At the beginning of the Qing dynasty, a single denunciation could have exterminated one's entire clan, and even advocating "banishment to the four frontiers" would not have been tolerated -- then they would not discuss Mencius and Confucius with you. Now, since the revolution has only recently succeeded, conditions probably resemble those at the start of the Qing. (Unfinished) |
| 是年仍搜罗研究拓本。 | This is the smaller half of the fifth piece of the "Night Notes." The "Night Notes" were something I intended to write from 1927 onward, jotting down occasional thoughts by lamplight to collect them; that year I published two pieces. In Shanghai, moved by the ferocity of the massacres, I wrote one and a half more pieces entitled "Slaughter," beginning with matters like the Japanese shogunate's crucifixion of Christians and the Russian tsar's cruel treatment of revolutionaries. But soon I ran into the storm of denunciation of humanism, and so I used this as an excuse for my laziness and wrote no more; now even the manuscript has vanished. |
| 九年 一九二〇年 四十岁 | The year before last, Roushi wanted to go to a publisher as a magazine editor and asked me to write something casual, something that would not cause a headache to read. That evening I thought again of writing "Night Notes" and set down this title. The gist was that writing and being a good person in China must have been like this since antiquity: it must already exist, but one must not copy whole passages verbatim; rather one must piece together from here and there, patch and mend so that no seams show -- only then does it count as a supreme success. One writes a great deal and in the end has written next to nothing, and the critics call it a fine essay or a fine person. That society makes no progress in anything has its root precisely here. That evening I did not finish, and went to sleep. The next day Roushi came to visit; I showed him what I had written; he furrowed his brow and thought it a bit too verbose, and also feared it would take up too much space. So I suggested he translate a short piece instead, and I set this aside. |
| 一月,译成日本武者小路实笃著戏曲《一个青年的梦》。 | Now it has been over a year since Roushi was killed, and when I chanced to dig this manuscript out of a heap of papers, my grief was beyond words. I wanted to complete the entire text, but could not manage it; no sooner did I take up the pen than my thoughts immediately wandered to other things. What is called "both the man and his lute are gone" -- this is probably what it looks like. Now I merely append this half piece here, as a memorial to Roushi. |
| 十月译成俄国阿尔志跋绥夫著小说《工人绥惠略夫》。 | In the night of April 26, 1932, written down. |
| 是年秋季起,兼任北京大学及北京高等师范学校讲师。 | |
| 是年仍研究金石拓本。 | |
| 十年 一九二一年 四十一岁 | |
| 二三两月又校《嵇康集》。 | |
| 仍兼任北京大学,北京高等师范学校讲师。 | |
| 十一年 一九二二年 四十二岁 | |
| 二月八月又校《嵇康集》。 | |
| 五月译成俄国爱罗先珂著童话剧《桃色的云》。 | |
| 仍兼任北京大学,北京高等师范学校讲师。 | |
| 十二年 一九二三年 四十三岁 | |
| 八月迁居砖塔胡同六十一号。 | |
| 九月小说第一集《呐喊》印成。 | |
| 十二月买阜成门内西三条胡同二十一号屋。 | |
| 同月,《中国小说史略》上卷印成。 | |
| 是年秋起,兼任北京大学,北京师范大学,北京女子高等师范学校及世界语专门学校讲师。 | |
| 十三年 一九二四年 四十四岁 | |
| 五月,移居西三条胡同新屋。 | |
| 六月,《中国小说史略》下卷印成。 | |
| 同月又校《嵇康集》,并撰校正《嵇康集》序。 | |
| 七月往西安讲演,八月返京。 | |
| 十月译成日本厨川白村著论文《苦闷的象征》。 | |
| 仍兼任北京大学,北京师范大学,北京女子高等师范学校及世界语专门学校讲师。 | |
| 是年冬起为《语丝》周刊撰文。 | |
| 十四年 一九二五年 四十五岁 | |
| 八月,因教育总长章士钊非法解散北京女子师范大学,先生与多数教职员有校务维持会之组织,被章士钊违法免职。 | |
| 十一月杂感第一集《热风》印成。 | |
| 十二月译成日本厨川白村著《出了象牙之塔》。 | |
| 是年仍为《语丝》撰文,并编辑《国民新报》副刊及《莽原》杂志。 | |
| 是年秋起,兼任北京大学,北京女子师范大学,中国大学讲师,黎明中学教员。 | |
| 十五年 一九二六年 四十六岁 | |
| 一月女子师范大学恢复,新校长易培基就职,先生始卸却职责。 | |
| 同月教育部佥事恢复,到部任事。 | |
| 三月,“三一八”惨杀案后,避难入山本医院,德国医院,法国医院等,至五月始回寓。 | |
| 七月起,逐日往中央公园,与齐宗颐同译《小约翰》。 | |
| 八月底,离北京向厦门,任厦门大学文科教授。 | |
| 九月《彷徨》印成。 | |
| 十二月因不满于学校,辞职。 | |
| 十六年 一九二七年 四十七岁 | |
| 一月至广州,任中山大学文学系主任兼教务主任。 | |
| 二月往香港演说,题为:《无声的中国》,次日演题:《老调子已经唱完!》 | |
| 三月黄花节,往岭南大学讲演。同日移居白云楼。 | |
| 四月至黄埔政治学校讲演。 | |
| 同月十五日,赴中山大学各主任紧急会议,营救被捕学生,无效,辞职。 | |
| 七月演讲于知用中学,及市教育局主持之“学术讲演会”,题目为《读书杂谈》,《魏晋风度及文章与药及酒之关系》。 | |
| 八月开始编纂《唐宋传奇集》。 | |
| 十月抵上海。八日,移寓景云里二十三号,与番禺许广平女士同居。 | |
| 同月《野草》印成。 | |
| 沪上学界,闻先生至,纷纷请往讲演,如劳动大学,立达学园,复旦大学,暨南大学,大夏大学,中华大学,光华大学等。 | |
| 十二月应大学院院长蔡元培之聘,任特约著作员。 | |
| 同月《唐宋传奇集》上册出版。 | |
| 十七年 一九二八年 四十八岁 | |
| 二月《小约翰》印成。 | |
| 同月为《北新月刊》译《近代美术史潮论》,及《语丝》编辑。 | |
| 《唐宋传奇集》下册印成。 | |
| 五月往江湾实验中学讲演,题曰:《老而不死论》。 | |
| 六月《思想·山水·人物》译本出。《奔流》创刊号出版。 | |
| 十一月短评《而已集》印成。 | |
| 十八年 一九二九年 四十九岁 | |
| 一月与王方仁,崔真吾,柔石等合资印刷文艺书籍及木刻《艺苑朝花》,简称朝花社。 | |
| 五月《壁下译丛》印成。 | |
| 同月十三,北上省亲并应燕京大学,北京大学,第二师范学院,第一师范学院等校讲演。 | |
| 六月五日回抵沪上。 | |
| 同月卢那卡尔斯基作《艺术论》译成出版。 | |
| 九月二十七日晨,生一男。 | |
| 十月一日名孩子曰海婴。 | |
| 同月为柔石校订中篇小说《二月》。 | |
| 同月卢那卡尔斯基作《文艺与批评》译本印成。 | |
| 十二月往暨南大学讲演。 | |
| 十九年 一九三〇年 五十岁 | |
| 一月朝花社告终。 | |
| 同月与友人合编《萌芽》月刊出版。开始译《毁灭》。 | |
| 二月“自由大同盟”开成立会。 | |
| 三月二日参加“左翼作家联盟成立会”。 | |
| 此时浙江省党部呈请通缉“反动文人鲁迅”。 | |
| “自由大同盟”被严压,先生离寓避难。 | |
| 同时牙齿肿痛,全行拔去,易以义齿。 | |
| 四月回寓。与神州国光社订约编译《现代文艺丛书》。 | |
| 五月十二日迁入北四川路楼寓。 | |
| 八月往“夏期文艺讲习会”讲演。 | |
| 同月译雅各武莱夫长篇小说《十月》讫。 | |
| 九月为贺非校订《静静的顿河》毕,过劳发热。 | |
| 同月十七日,在荷兰西菜室,赴数友发起之先生五十岁纪念会。 | |
| 十月四五两日,与内山完造同开“版画展览会”于北四川路“购买组合”第一店楼上。 | |
| 同月译《药用植物》讫。 | |
| 十一月修正《中国小说史略》。 | |
| 二十年 一九三一年 五十一岁 | |
| 一月二十日柔石被逮,先生离寓避难。 | |
| 二月梅斐尔德《士敏土之图》印成。 | |
| 同月二十八日回旧寓。 | |
| 三月,先生主持“左联”机关杂志《前哨》出版。 | |
| === Section 3 === | |
| 四月往同文书院讲演,题为:《流氓与文学》。 | |
| 六月往日人“妇女之友会”讲演。 | |
| 七月为增田涉讲解《中国小说史略》全部毕。 | |
| 同月往“社会科学研究会”演讲《上海文艺之一瞥》。 | |
| 八月十七日请内山嘉吉君教学生木刻术,先生亲为翻译,至二十二日毕。二十四日为一八艺社木刻部讲演。 | |
| 十一月校《嵇康集》以涵芬楼景印宋本。 | |
| 同月《毁灭》制本成。 | |
| 十二月与友人合编《十字街头》旬刊出版。 | |
| 二十一年 一九三二年 五十二岁 | |
| 一月二十九日遇战事,在火线中。次日避居内山书店。 | |
| 二月六日,由内山店友护送至英租界内山支店暂避。 | |
| 四月编一九二八及二九年短评,名曰:《三闲集》。编一九三〇至三一年杂文,名曰:《二心集》。 | |
| 五月自录译著书目。 | |
| 九月编译新俄小说家二十人集上册讫,名曰:《竖琴》。编下册讫,名曰:《一天的工作》。 | |
| 十月排比《两地书》。 | |
| 十一月九日,因母病赴平。 | |
| 同月二十二日起,在北京大学,辅仁大学,北平大学,女子文理学院,师范大学,中国大学等校讲演。 | |
| 二十二年 一九三三年 五十三岁 | |
| 一月四日蔡元培函邀加入“民权保障同盟会”,被举为执行委员。 | |
| 二月十七日蔡元培函邀赴宋庆龄宅,欢迎萧伯纳。 | |
| 三月《鲁迅自选集》出版于天马书店。 | |
| 同月二十七日移书籍于狄思威路,税屋存放。 | |
| 四月十一日迁居大陆新村九号。 | |
| 五月十三日至德国领事馆为“法西斯蒂”暴行递抗议书。 | |
| 六月二十日杨铨被刺,往万国殡仪馆送殓。时有先生亦将不免之说,或阻其行,先生不顾,出不带门匙,以示决绝。 | |
| 七月,《文学》月刊出版,先生为同人之一。 | |
| 十月,先生编序之《一个人的受难》木刻连环图印成。 | |
| 同月“木刻展览会”假千爱里开会。 | |
| 又短评集《伪自由书》印成。 | |
| 二十三年 一九三四年 五十四岁 | |
| 一月《北平笺谱》出版。 | |
| 五月校杂文《南腔北调集》,同月印成。 | |
| 五月,先生编序之木刻《引玉集》出版。 | |
| 八月编《译文》创刊号。 | |
| 同月二十三日,因熟识者被逮,离寓避难。 | |
| 十月《木刻纪程》印成。 | |
| 十二月十四夜脊肉作痛,盗汗。病后大瘦,义齿与齿龈不合。 | |
| 同月短评集《准风月谈》出版。 | |
| 二十四年 一九三五年 五十五岁 | |
| 一月译苏联班台莱夫童话《表》毕。 | |
| 二月开始译果戈理《死魂灵》。 | |
| 四月《十竹斋笺谱》第一册印成。 | |
| 六月编选《新文学大系》小说二集并作导言毕,印成。 | |
| 九月高尔基作《俄罗斯的童话》译本印成。 | |
| 十月编瞿秋白遗著《海上述林》上卷。 | |
| 十一月续写《故事新编》。 | |
| 十二月整理《死魂灵百图》木刻本,并作序。 | |
| 二十五年 一九三六年 五十六岁 | |
| 一月肩及胁均大痛。 | |
| 同月二十日与友协办之《海燕》半月刊出版。 | |
| 又校《故事新编》毕,即出书。 | |
| 二月开始续译《死魂灵》第二部。 | |
| 三月二日下午骤患气喘。 | |
| 四月七日往良友公司,为之选定《苏联版画》。 | |
| 同月编《海上述林》下卷。 | |
| 五月十五日再起病,医云胃疾,自后发热未愈,三十一日,史沫特黎女士引美国邓医生来诊断,病甚危。 | |
| 六月,从委顿中渐愈,稍能坐立诵读。可略作数十字。 | |
| 同月,病中答访问者O·V.《论现在我们的文学运动》 | |
| 又《花边文学》印成。 | |
| 七月,先生编印之《凯绥·珂勒惠支版画选集》出版。 | |
| 八月,痰中见血。 | |
| 为《中流》创刊号作小文。 | |
| 十月,称体重八十八磅,较八月一日增约二磅。 | |
| 契诃夫作《坏孩子和别的奇闻》译本印成。 | |
| 能偶出看电影及访友小坐。 | |
| 同月八日往青年会观第二回“全国木刻流动展览会”。 | |
| 十七日出访鹿地亘及内山完造。 | |
| 十八日未明前疾作,气喘不止,延至十九日上午五时二十五分逝世。 | |
| === Section 4 === | |
| 【“硬译”与“文学的阶级性”】 | |
| 一 | |
| 听说《新月》月刊团体里的人们在说,现在销路好起来了。这大概是真的,以我似的交际极少的人,也在两个年青朋友的手里见过第二卷第六、七号的合本。顺便一翻,是争“言论自由”的文字和小说居多。近尾巴处,则有梁实秋先生的一篇《论鲁迅先生的“硬译”》,以为“近于死译”。而“死译之风也断不可长”,就引了我的三段译文,以及在《文艺与批评》的后记里所说:“但因为译者的能力不够,和中国文本来的缺点,译完一看,晦涩,甚而至于难解之处也真多;倘将仂句拆下来呢,又失了原来的语气,在我,是除了还是这样的硬译之外,只有束手这一条路了,所余的惟一的希望,只在读者还肯硬着头皮看下去而已”这些话,细心地在字旁加上圆圈,还在“硬译”两字旁边加上套圈,于是“严正”地下了“批评”道:“我们‘硬着头皮看下去’了,但是无所得。‘硬译’和‘死译’有什么分别呢?” | |
| 新月社的声明中,虽说并无什么组织,在论文里,也似乎痛恶无产阶级式的“组织”、“集团”这些话,但其实是有组织的,至少,关于政治的论文,这一本里都互相“照应”;关于文艺,则这一篇是登在上面的同一批评家所作的《文学是有阶级性的吗?》的余波。在那一篇里有一段说:“……但是不幸得很,没有一本这类的书能被我看懂。……最使我感得困难的是文字,……简直读起来比天书还难。……现在还没有一个中国人,用中国人所能看得懂的文字,写一篇文章告诉我们无产文学的理论究竟是怎么一回事。”字旁也有圆圈,怕排印麻烦,恕不照画了。总之,梁先生自认是一切中国人的代表,这些书既为自己所不懂,也就是为一切中国人所不懂,应该在中国断绝其生命,于是出示曰:“此风断不可长”云。 | |
| 别的“天书”译著者的意见我不能代表,从我个人来看,则事情是不会这样简单的。第一、梁先生自以为“硬着头皮看下去”了,但究竟硬了没有,是否能够,还是一个问题。以硬自居了,而实则其软如棉,正是新月社的一种特色。第二、梁先生虽自来代表一切中国人了,但究竟是否全国中的最优秀者,也是一个问题。这问题从《文学是有阶级性的吗?》这篇文章里,便可以解释。Proletary这字不必译音,大可译义,是有理可说的。但这位批评家却道:“其实翻翻字典,这个字的涵义并不见得体面,据《韦白斯特大字典》,Proletary的意思就是:A citizen of the lowest class who served the state not with property,but only by having children.……普罗列塔利亚是国家里只会生孩子的阶级!(至少在罗马时代是如此)”其实正无须来争这“体面”,大约略有常识者,总不至于以现在为罗马时代,将现在的无产者都看作罗马人的。这正如将Chemie译作“舍密学”,读者必不和埃及的“炼金术”混同,对于“梁”先生所作的文章,也决不会去考查语源,误解为“独木小桥”竟会动笔一样。连“翻翻字典”(《韦白斯特大字典》!)也还是“无所得”,一切中国人未必全是如此的罢。 | |
| 二 | |
| 但于我最觉得有兴味的,是上节所引的梁先生的文字里,有两处都用着一个“我们”,颇有些“多数”和“集团”气味了。自然,作者虽然单独执笔,气类则决不只一人,用“我们”来说话,是不错的,也令人看起来较有力量,又不至于一人双肩负责。然而,当“思想不能统一”时,“言论应该自由”时,正如梁先生的批评资本制度一般,也有一种“弊病”。就是,既有“我们”便有我们以外的“他们”,于是新月社的“我们”虽以为我的“死译之风断不可长”了,却另有读了并不“无所得”的读者存在,而我的“硬译”,就还在“他们”之间生存,和“死译”还有一些区别。 | |
| 我也就是新月社的“他们”之一,因为我的译作和梁先生所需的条件,是全都不一样的。 | |
| 那一篇《论硬译》的开头论误译胜于死译说:“一部书断断不会完全曲译……部分的曲译即使是错误,究竟也还给你一个错误,这个错误也许真是害人无穷的,而你读的时候究竟还落个爽快。”末两句大可以加上夹圈,但我却从来不干这样的勾当。我的译作,本不在博读者的“爽快”,却往往给以不舒服,甚而至于使人气闷,憎恶,愤恨。读了会“落个爽快”的东西,自有新月社的人们的译著在:徐志摩先生的诗,沈从文、凌叔华先生的小说,陈西滢(即陈源)先生的闲话,梁实秋先生的批评,潘光旦先生的优生学,还有白璧德先生的人文主义。 | |
| 所以,梁先生后文说:“这样的书,就如同看地图一般,要伸着手指来寻找句法的线索位置”这些话,在我也就觉得是废话,虽说犹如不说了。是的,由我说来,要看“这样的书”就如同看地图一样,要伸着手指来找寻“句法的线索位置”的。看地图虽然没有看《杨妃出浴图》或《岁寒三友图》那么“爽快”,甚而至于还须伸着手指(其实这恐怕梁先生自己如此罢了,看惯地图的人,是只用眼睛就可以的),但地图并不是死图;所以“硬译”即使有同一之劳,照例子也就和“死译”有了些“什么区别”。识得ABCD者自以为新学家,仍旧和化学方程式无关,会打算盘的自以为数学家,看起笔算的演草来还是无所得。现在的世间,原不是一为学者,便与一切事都会有缘的。 | |
| 然而梁先生有实例在,举了我三段的译文,虽然明知道“也许因为没有上下文的缘故,意思不能十分明了”。在《文学是有阶级性的吗?》这篇文章中,也用了类似手段,举出两首译诗来,总评道:“也许伟大的无产文学还没有出现,那么我愿意等着,等着,等着。”这些方法,诚然是很“爽快”的,但我可以就在这一本《新月》月刊里的创作──是创作 | |
| 呀!──《搬家》第八页上,举出一段文字来── | |
| “小鸡有耳朵没有?” | |
| “我没看见过小鸡长耳朵的。” | |
| “它怎样听见我叫它呢?”她想到前天四婆告诉她的耳朵是管听东西,眼是管看东西的。 | |
| “这个蛋是白鸡黑鸡?”枝儿见四婆没答她,站起来摸着蛋子又问。 | |
| “现在看不出来,等孵出小鸡才知道。” | |
| “婉儿姊说小鸡会变大鸡,这些小鸡也会变大鸡么?” | |
| “好好的喂它就会长大了,像这个鸡买来时还没有这样大吧?” | |
| 也够了,“文字”是懂得的,也无须伸出手指来寻线索,但我不“等着”了,以为就这一段看,是既不“爽快”,而且和不创作是很少区别的。 | |
| 临末,梁先生还有一个诘问:“中国文和外国文是不同的,……翻译之难即在这个地方。假如两种文中的文法句法词法完全一样,那么翻译还成为一件工作吗?……我们不妨把句法变换一下,以使读者能懂为第一要义,因为‘硬着头皮’不是一件愉快的事,并且‘硬译’也不见得能保存,‘原来的精悍的语气’。假如‘硬译’而还能保存‘原来的精悍的语气’,那真是一件奇迹,还能说中国文是有‘缺点’吗?”我倒不见得如此之愚,要寻求和中国文相同的外国文,或者希望“两种文中的文法句法词法完全一样”。我但以为文法繁复的国语,较易于翻译外国文,语系相近的,也较易于翻译,而且也是一种工作。荷兰翻德国,俄国翻波兰,能说这和并不工作没有什么区别么?日本语和欧美很“不同”,但他们逐渐添加了新句法,比起古文来,更宜于翻译而不失原来的精悍的语气,开初自然是须“找寻句法的线索位置”,很给了一些人不“愉快”的,但经找寻和习惯,现在已经同化,成为己有了。中国的文法,比日本的古文还要不完备,然而也曾有些变迁,例如《史》、《汉》不同于《书经》,现在的白话文又不同于《史》、《汉》;有添造,例如唐译佛经,元译上谕,当时很有些“文法句法词法”是生造的,一经习用,便不必伸出手指,就懂得了。现在又来了“外国文”,许多句子,即也须新造,──说得坏点,就是硬造。据我的经验,这样译来,较之化为几句,更能保存原来的精悍的语气,但因为有待于新造,所以原先的中国文是有缺点的。有什么“奇迹”,干什么“吗”呢?但有待于“伸出手指”,“硬着头皮”,于有些人自然“不是一件愉快的事”。不过我是本不想将“爽快”或“愉快”来献给那些诸公的,只要还有若干的读者能够有所得,梁实秋先生“们”的苦乐以及无所得,实在“于我如浮云”。 | |
| 但梁先生又有本不必求助于无产文学理论,而仍然很不了了的地方,例如他说,“鲁迅先生前些年翻译的文学,例如厨川白村的《苦闷的象征》,还不是令人看不懂的东西,但是最近翻译的书似乎改变风格了。”只要有些常识的人就知道:“中国文和外国文是不同的”,但同是一种外国文,因为作者各人的做法,而“风格”和“句法的线索位置”也可以很不同。句子可繁可简,名词可常可专,决不会一种外国文,易解的程度就都一式。我的译《苦闷的象征》,也和现在一样,是按板规逐句,甚而至于逐字译的,然而梁实秋先生居然以为还能看懂者,乃是原文原是易解的缘故,也因为梁实秋先生是中国新的批评家了的缘故,也因为其中硬造的句法,是比较地看惯了的缘故。若在三家村里,专读《古文观止》的学者们,看起来又何尝不比“天书”还难呢? | |
| 三 | |
| 但是,这回的“比天书还难”的无产文学理论的译本们,却给了梁先生不小的影响。看不懂了,会有影响,虽然好象滑稽,然而是真的,这位批评家在《文学是有阶级性的吗?》里说:“我现在批评所谓无产文学理论,也只能根据我所能了解的一点材料而已。”这就是说:因此而对于这理论的知识,极不完全了。 | |
| 但对于这罪过,我们(包含一切“天书”译者在内,故曰“们”)也只能负一部分的责任,一部分是要作者自己的胡涂或懒惰来负的。“什么卢那卡尔斯基、蒲力汗诺夫”的书我不知道,若夫“婆格达诺夫之类”的三篇论文和托罗兹基的半部《文学与革命》,则确有英文译本的了。英国没有“鲁迅先生”,译文定该非常易解。梁先生对于伟大的无产文学的产生,曾经显示其“等着,等着,等着”的耐心和勇气,这回对于理论,何不也等一下子,寻来看了再说呢。不知其有而不求曰胡涂,知其有而不求曰懒惰,如果单是默坐,这样也许是“爽快”的。然而开起口来,却很容易咽进冷气去了。 | |
| 例如就是那篇《文学是有阶级性的吗?》的高文,结论是并无阶级性。要抹杀阶级性,我以为最干净的是吴稚晖先生的“什么马克斯牛克斯”以及什么先生的“世界上并没有阶级这东西”的学说。那么,就万喙息响,天下太平。但梁先生却中了一些“什么马克斯”毒了,先承认了现在许多地方是资产制度,在这制度之下则有无产者。不过这“无产者本来并没有阶级的自觉。是几个过于富同情心而又态度偏激的领袖把这个阶级观念传授了给他们”,要促起他们的联合,激发他们争斗的欲念。不错,但我以为传授者应该并非由于同情,却因了改造世界的思想。况且“本无其物”的东西,是无从自觉,无从激发的,会自觉,能激发,足见那是原有的东西。原有的东西,就遮掩不久,即如格里莱阿说地体运动,达尔文说生物进化,当初何尝不或者几被宗教家烧死,或者大受保守者攻击呢,然而现在人们对于两说,并不为奇者,就因为地体终于在运动,生物确也在进化的缘故。承认其有而要掩饰为无,非有绝技是不行的。 | |
| 但梁先生自有消除斗争的办法,以为如卢梭所说:“资产是文明的基础”,“所以攻击资产制度,即是反抗文明”,“一个无产者假如他是有出息的,只消辛辛苦苦诚诚实实的工作一生,多少必定可以得到相当的资产。这才是正当的生活斗争的手段。”我想,卢梭去今虽已百五十年,但当不至于以为过去未来的文明,都以资产为基础。(但倘说以经济关系为基础,那自然是对的。)希腊、印度,都有文明,而繁盛时俱非在资产社会,他大概是知道的;倘不知道,那也是他的错误。至于无产者应该“辛辛苦苦”爬上有产阶级去的“正当”的方法,则是中国有钱的老太爷高兴时候,教导穷工人的古训,在实际上,现今正在“辛辛苦苦诚诚实实”想爬上一级去的“无产者”也还多。然而这是还没有人“把这个阶级观念传授了给他们”的时候。一经传授,他们可就不肯一个一个的来爬了,诚如梁先生所说,“他们是一个阶级了,他们要有组织了,他们是一个集团了,于是他们便不循常轨的一跃而夺取政权财权,一跃而为统治阶级。”但可还有想“辛辛苦苦诚诚实实工作一生,多少必定可以得到相当的资产”的“无产者”呢?自然还有的。然而他要算是“尚未发财的有产者”了。梁先生的忠告,将为无产者所呕吐了,将只好和老太爷去互相赞赏而已了。 | |
| === Section 5 === | |
| 那么,此后如何呢?梁先生以为是不足虑的。因为“这种革命的现象不能是永久的,经过自然进化之后,优胜劣败的定律又要证明了,还是聪明才力过人的人占优越的地位,无产的仍是无产者”。但无产阶级大概也知道“反文明的势力早晚要被文明的势力所征服”,所以“要建立所谓‘无产阶级文化’,……这里面包括文艺学术”。 | |
| 自此以后,这才入了文艺批评的本题。 | |
| 四 | |
| 梁先生首先以为无产者文学理论的错误,是“在把阶级的束缚加在文学上面,”因为一个资本家和一个劳动者,有不同的地方,但还有相同的地方,“他们的人性(这两字原本有套圈)并没有两样”,例如都有喜怒哀乐,都有恋爱(但所“说的是恋爱的本身,不是恋爱的方式”),“文学就是表现这最基本的人性的艺术”。这些话是矛盾而空虚的。既然文明以资产为基础,穷人以竭力爬上去为“有出息”,那么,爬上是人生的要谛,富翁乃人类的至尊,文学也只要表现资产阶级就够了,又何必如此“过于富同情心”。一并包括“劣败”的无产者?况且“人性”的“本身”,又怎样表现的呢?譬如原质或杂质的化学底性质,有化合力,物理学底性质有硬度,要显示这力和度数,是须用两种物质来表现的,倘说要不用物质而显示化合力和硬度的单单“本身”,无此妙法;但一用物质,这现象即又因物质而不同。文学不藉人,也无以表示“性”,一用人,而且还在阶级社会里,即断不能免掉所属的阶级性,无需加以“束缚”,实乃出于必然。自然,“喜怒哀乐,人之情也”,然而穷人决无开交易所折本的懊恼,煤油大王那会知道北京检煤渣老婆子身受的酸辛,饥区的灾民,大约总不去种兰花,像阔人的老太爷一样,贾府上的焦大,也不爱林妹妹的。“汽笛呀!列宁呀!”固然并不就是无产文学,然而“一切东西呀!”“一切人呀!”“可喜的事来了,人喜了呀!”也不是表现“人性”的“本身”的文学。倘以表现最普通的人性的文学为至高,则表现最普遍的动物性──营养,呼吸,运动,生殖──的文学,或者除去“运动”,表现生物性的文学,必当更在其上。倘说,因为我们是人,所以以表现人性为限,那么,无产者就因为是无产阶级,所以要做无产文学。 | |
| 其次,梁先生说作者的阶级,和作品无关。托尔斯泰出身贵族,而同情于贫民,然而并不主张阶级斗争;马克斯并非无产阶级中的人物;终身穷苦的约翰孙博士,志行吐属,过于贵族。所以估量文学,当看作品本身,不能连累到作者的阶级和身分。这些例子,也全不足以证明文学的无阶级性的。托尔斯泰正因为出身贵族,旧性荡涤不尽,所以只同情于贫民而不主张阶级斗争。马克斯原先诚非无产阶级中的人物,但也并无文学作品,我们不能悬拟他如果动笔,所表现的一定是不用方式的恋爱本身。至于约翰孙博士终身穷苦,而志行吐属,过于王侯者,我却实在不明白那缘故,因为我不知道英国文学和他的传记。也许,他原想“辛辛苦苦诚诚实实的工作一生,多少必定可以得到相当的资产”,然后再爬上贵族阶级去,不料终于“劣败”,连相当的资产也积不起来,所以只落得摆空架子,“爽快”了罢。 | |
| 其次,梁先生说,“好的作品永远是少数人的专利品,大多数永远是蠢的,永远是和文学无缘”,但鉴赏力之有无却和阶级无干,因为“鉴赏文学也是天生的一种福气”,就是,虽在无产阶级里,也会有这“天生的一种福气”的人。由我推论起来,则只要有这一种“福气”的人,虽穷得不能受教育,至于一字不识,也可以赏鉴《新月》月刊,来作“人性”和文艺“本身”,原无阶级性的证据。但梁先生也知道天生这一种福气的无产者一定不多,所以另定一种东西(文艺?)来给他们看,“例如什么通俗的戏剧、电影、侦探小说之类”,因为“一般劳工劳农需要娱乐,也许需要少量的艺术的娱乐”的缘故。这样看来,好象文学确因阶级而不同了,但这是因鉴赏力之高低而定的,这种力量的修养和经济无关,乃是上帝之所赐──“福气”。所以文学家要自由创造,既不该为皇室贵族所雇用,也不该受无产阶级所威胁,去做讴功颂德的文章。这是不错的,但在我们所见的无产文学理论中,也并未见过有谁说或一阶级的文学家,不该受皇室贵族的雇用,却该受无产阶级的威胁,去做讴功颂德的文章,不过说,文学有阶级性,在阶级社会中,文学家虽自以为“自由”,自以为超了阶级,而无意识底地,也终受本阶级的阶级意识所支配,那些创作,并非别阶级的文化罢了。例如梁先生的这篇文章,原意是在取消文学上的阶级性,张扬真理的。但以资产为文明的祖宗,指穷人为劣败的渣滓,只要一瞥,就知道是资产家的斗争的“武器”,──不,“文章”了。无产文学理论家以主张“全人类”“超阶级”的文学理论为帮助有产阶级的东西,这里就给了一个极分明的例证。至于成仿吾先生似的“他们一定胜利的,所以我们去指导安慰他们去”,说出“去了”之后,便来“打发”自己们以外的“他们”那样的无产文学家,那不消说,是也和梁先生一样地对于无产文学的理论,未免有“以意为之”的错误的。 | |
| 又其次,梁先生最痛恨的是无产文学理论家以文艺为斗争的武器,就是当作宣传品。他“不反对任何人利用文学来达到另外的目的”,但“不能承认宣传式的文字便是文学”。我以为这是自扰之谈。据我所看过的那些理论,都不过说凡文艺必有所宣传,并没有谁主张只要宣传式的文字便是文学。诚然,前年以来,中国确曾有许多诗歌小说,填进口号和标语去,自以为就是无产文学。但那是因为内容和形式,都没有无产气,不用口号和标语,便无从表示其“新兴”的缘故,实际上也并非无产文学。今年,有名的“无产文学底批评家”钱杏邨先生在《拓荒者》上还在引卢那卡尔斯基的话,以为他推重大众能解的文学,足见用口号标语之未可厚非,来给那些“革命文学”辩护。但我觉得那也和梁实秋先生一样,是有意的或无意的曲解。卢那卡尔斯基所谓大众能解的东西,当是指托尔斯泰做了分给农民的小本子那样的文体,工农一看便会了然的语法,歌调,诙谐。只要看台明·培特尼(Demian Bednii)曾因诗歌得到赤旗章,而他的诗中并不用标语和口号,便可明白了。 | |
| 最后梁先生要看货色。这不错的,是最切实的办法;但抄两首译诗算是在示众,是不对的。《新月》上就曾有《论翻译之难》,何况所译的文是诗。就我所见的而论,卢那卡尔斯基的《被解放的堂·吉诃德》,法兑耶夫的《溃灭》,格拉特珂夫的《水门汀》,在中国这十一年中,就并无可以和这些相比的作品。这是指“新月社”一流的蒙资产文明的余荫,而且衷心在拥护它的作家而言。于号称无产作家的作品中,我也举不出相当的成绩。但钱杏邨先生也曾辩护,说新兴阶级,于文学的本领当然幼稚而单纯,向他们立刻要求好作品,是“布尔乔亚”的恶意。这话为农工而说,是极不错的。这样的无理要求,恰如使他们冻饿了好久,倒怪他们为什么没有富翁那么肥胖一样。但中国的作者,现在却实在并无刚刚放下锄斧柄子的人,大多数都是进过学校的智识者,有些还是早已有名的文人,莫非克服了自己的小资产阶级意识之后,就连先前的文学本领也随着消失了么?不会的。俄国的老作家亚历舍·托尔斯泰和威垒赛耶夫、普理希文,至今都还有好作品。中国的有口号而无随同的实证者,我想,那病根并不在“以文艺为阶级斗争的武器”,而在“借阶级斗争为文艺的武器”,在“无产者文学”这旗帜之下,聚集了不少的忽翻筋斗的人,试看去年的新书广告,几乎没有一本不是革命文学,批评家又但将辩护当作“清算”,就是,请文学坐在“阶级斗争”的掩护之下,于是文学自己倒不必着力,因而于文学和斗争两方面都少关系了。 | |
| 但中国目前的一时现象,当然毫不足作无产文学之新兴的反证的。梁先生也知道,所以他临末让步说,“假如无产阶级革命家一定要把他的宣传文学唤做无产文学,那总算是一种新兴文学,总算是文学国土里的新收获,用不着高呼打倒资产的文学来争夺文学的领域,因为文学的领域太大了,新的东西总有它的位置的。”但这好象“中日亲善,同存共荣”之说,从羽毛未丰的无产者看来,是一种欺骗。愿意这样的“无产文学者”现在恐怕实在也有的罢,不过这是梁先生所谓“有出息”的要爬上资产阶级去的“无产者”一流,他的作品是穷秀才未中状元时候的牢骚,从开手到爬上以及以后,都决不是无产文学。无产者文学是为了以自己们之力,来解放本阶级并及一切阶级而斗争的一翼,所要的是全般,不是一角的地位。就拿文艺批评界来比方罢,假如在“人性”的“艺术之宫”(这须从成仿吾先生处租来暂用)里,向南面摆两把虎皮交椅,请梁实秋、钱杏邨两位先生并排坐下,一个右执“新月”,一个左执“太阳”,那情形可真是“劳资”媲美了。 | |
| 五 | |
| 到这里,又可以谈到我的“硬译”去了。 | |
| 推想起来,这是很应该跟着发生的问题:无产文学既然重在宣传,宣传必须多数能懂,那么,你这些“硬译”而难懂的理论“天书”,究竟为什么而译的呢?不是等于不译么? | |
| 我的回答,是:为了我自己,和几个以无产文学批评家自居的人,和一部分不图“爽快”,不怕艰难,多少要明白一些这理论的读者。 | |
| 从前年以来,对于我个人的攻击是多极了,每一种刊物上,大抵总要看见“鲁迅”的名字,而作者的口吻,则粗粗一看,大抵好象革命文学家。但我看了几篇,竟逐渐觉得废话太多了。解剖刀既不中腠理,子弹所击之处,也不是致命伤。例如我所属的阶级罢,就至今还未判定,忽说小资产阶级,忽说“布尔乔亚”,有时还升为“封建余孽”,而且又等于猩猩;(见《创造月刊》上的《东京通信》;)有一回则骂到牙齿的颜色。在这样的社会里,有封建余孽出风头,是十分可能的,但封建余孽就是猩猩,却在任何“唯物史观”上都没有说明,也找不出牙齿色黄,即有害于无产阶级革命的论据。我于是想,可供参考的这样的理论,是太少了,所以大家有些胡涂。对于敌人,解剖,咬嚼,现在是在所不免的,不过有一本解剖学,有一本烹饪法,依法办理,则构造味道,总还可以较为清楚,有味。人往往以神话中的Prometheus比革命者,以为窃火给人,虽遭天帝之虐待不悔,其博大坚忍正相同。但我从别国里窃得火来,本意却在煮自己的肉的,以为倘能味道较好,庶几在咬嚼者那一面也得到较多的好处,我也不枉费了身躯:出发点全是个人主义,并且还夹杂着小市民性的奢华,以及慢慢地摸出解剖刀来,反而刺进解剖者的心脏里去的“报复”。梁先生说“他们要报复!”其实岂只“他们”,这样的人在“封建余孽”中也很有的。然而,我也愿意于社会上有些用处,看客所见的结果仍是火和光。这样,首先开手的就是《文艺政策》,因为其中含有各派的议论。 | |
| 郑伯奇先生现在是开书铺,印Hauptmann和Gregory夫人的剧本了,那时他还是革命文学家,便在所编的《文艺生活》上,笑我的翻译这书,是不甘没落,而可惜被别人着了先鞭。翻一本书便会浮起,做革命文学家真太容易了,我并不这样想。有一种小报,则说我的译《艺术论》是“投降”。是的,投降的事,为世上所常有。但其时成仿吾元帅早已爬出日本的温泉,住进巴黎的旅馆了,在这里又向谁去输诚呢。今年,说法又两样了,在《拓荒者》和《现代小说》上,都说是“方向转换”。我看见日本的有些杂志中,曾将这四字加在先前的新感觉派片冈铁兵上,算是一个好名词。其实,这些纷纭之谈,也还是只看名目,连想也不肯想的老病。译一本关于无产文学的书,是不足以证明方向的,倘有曲译,倒反足以为害。我的译书,就也要献给这些速断的无产文学批评家,因为他们是有不贪“爽快”,耐苦来研究这些理论的义务的。 | |
| 但我自信并无故意的曲译,打着我所不佩服的批评家的伤处了的时候我就一笑,打着我的伤处了的时候我就忍疼,却决不肯有所增减,这也是始终“硬译”的一个原因。自然,世间总会有较好的翻译者,能够译成既不曲,也不“硬”或“死”的文章的,那时我的译本当然就被淘汰,我就只要来填这从“无有”到“较好”的空间罢了。 | |
| === Section 6 === | |
| 然而世间纸张还多,每一文社的人数却少,志大力薄,写不完所有的纸张,于是一社中的职司克敌助友,扫荡异类的批评家,看见别人来涂写纸张了,便喟然兴叹,不胜其摇头顿足之苦。上海的《申报》上,至于称社会科学的翻译者为“阿狗阿猫”,其愤愤有如此。在“中国新兴文学的地位,早为读者所共知”的蒋光Z先生,曾往日本东京养病,看见藏原惟人。谈到日本有许多翻译太坏,简直比原文还难读……他就笑了起来,说:“……那中国的翻译界更要莫名其妙了,近来中国有许多书籍都是译自日文的,如果日本人将欧洲人那一国的作品带点错误和删改,从日文译到中国去,试问这作品岂不是要变了一半相貌么?……”(见《拓荒者》)也就是深不满于翻译,尤其是重译的表示。不过梁先生还举出书名和坏处,蒋先生却只嫣然一笑,扫荡无余,真是普遍得远了。藏原惟人是从俄文直接译过许多文艺理论和小说的,于我个人就极有裨益。我希望中国也有一两个这样的诚实的俄文翻译者,陆续译出好书来,不仅自骂一声“混蛋”就算尽了革命文学家的责任。 | |
| 然而现在呢,这些东西,梁实秋先生是不译的,称人为“阿狗阿猫”的伟人也不译,学过俄文的蒋先生原是最为适宜的了,可惜养病之后,只出了一本《一周间》,而日本则早已有了两种的译本。中国曾经大谈达尔文,大谈尼采,到欧战时候,则大骂了他们一通,但达尔文的著作的译本,至今只有一种,尼采的则只有半部,学英、德文的学者及文豪都不暇顾及,或不屑顾及,拉倒了。所以暂时之间,恐怕还只好任人笑骂,仍从日文来重译,或者取一本原文,比照了日译本来直译罢。我还想这样做,并且希望更多有这样做的人,来填一填彻底的高谈中的空虚,因为我们不能像蒋先生那样的“好笑起来”,也不该如梁先生的“等着,等着,等着”了。 | |
| 六 | |
| 我在开头曾有“以硬自居了,而实则其软如棉,正是新月社的一种特色”这些话,到这里还应该简短地补充几句,就作为本篇的收场。 | |
| 《新月》一出世,就主张“严正态度”,但于骂人者则骂之,讥人者则讥之。这并不错,正是“即以其人之道,还治其人之身”,虽然也是一种“报复”,而非为了自己。到二卷六、七号合本的广告上,还说“我们都保持‘容忍’的态度(除了‘不容忍’的态度是我们所不能容忍以外),我们都喜欢稳健的合乎理性的学说”。上两句也不错,“以眼还眼,以牙还牙”,和开初仍然一贯。然而从这条大路走下去,一定要遇到“以暴力抗暴力”,这和新月社诸君所喜欢的“稳健”也不能相容了。 | |
| 这一回,新月社的“自由言论”遭了压迫,照老办法,是必须对于压迫者,也加以压迫的,但《新月》上所显现的反应,却是一篇《告压迫言论自由者》,先引对方的党义,次引外国的法律,终引东西史例,以见凡压迫自由者,往往臻于灭亡:是一番替对方设想的警告。 | |
| 所以,新月社的“严正态度”,“以眼还眼”法,归根结蒂,是专施之力量相类,或力量较小的人的,倘给有力者打肿了眼,就要破例,只举手掩住自己的脸,叫一声“小心你自己的眼睛!” | |
| === Section 7 === | |
| 【习惯与改革】 | |
| 体质和精神都已硬化了的人民,对于极小的一点改革,也无不加以阻挠,表面上好象恐怕于自己不便,其实是恐怕于自己不利,但所设的口实,却往往见得极其公正而且堂皇。 | |
| 今年的禁用阴历,原也是琐碎的,无关大体的事,但商家当然叫苦连天了。不特此也,连上海的无业游民,公司雇员,竟也常常慨然长叹,或者说这很不便于农家的耕种,或者说这很不便于海船的候潮。他们居然因此念起久不相干的乡下的农夫,海上的舟子来。这真像煞有些博爱。 | |
| 一到阴历的十二月二十三,爆竹就到处毕毕剥剥。我问一家的店伙:“今年仍可以过旧历年,明年一准过新历年么?”那回答是:“明年又是明年,要明年再看了。”他并不信明年非过阳历年不可。但日历上,却诚然删掉了阴历,只存节气。然而一面在报章上,则出现了《一百二十年阴阳合历》的广告。好,他们连曾孙玄孙时代的阴历,也已经给准备妥当了,一百二十年! | |
| 梁实秋先生们虽然很讨厌多数,但多数的力量是伟大,要紧的,有志于改革者倘不深知民众的心,设法利导,改进,则无论怎样的高文宏议,浪漫古典,都和他们无干,仅止于几个人在书房中互相叹赏,得些自己满足。假如竟有“好人政府”,出令改革乎,不多久,就早被他们拉回旧道上去了。 | |
| 真实的革命者,自有独到的见解,例如乌略诺夫先生,他是将“风俗”和“习惯”,都包括在“文化”之内的,并且以为改革这些,很为困难。我想,但倘不将这些改革,则这革命即等于无成,如沙上建塔,顷刻倒坏。中国最初的排满革命,所以易得响应者,因为口号是“光复旧物”,就是“复古”,易于取得保守的人民同意的缘故。但到后来,竟没有历史上定例的开国之初的盛世,只枉然失了一条辫子,就很为大家所不满了。 | |
| 以后较新的改革,就著著失败,改革一两,反动十斤,例如上述的一年日历上不准注阴历,却来了阴阳合历一百二十年。 | |
| 这种合历,欢迎的人们一定是很多的,因为这是风俗和习惯所拥护,所以也有风俗和习惯的后援。别的事也如此,倘不深入民众的大层中,于他们的风俗习惯,加以研究,解剖,分别好坏,立存废的标准,而于存于废,都慎选施行的方法,则无论怎样的改革,都将为习惯的岩石所压碎,或者只在表面上浮游一些时。 | |
| 现在已不是在书斋中,捧书本高谈宗教、法律、文艺、美术……等等的时候了,即使要谈论这些,也必须先知道习惯和风俗,而且有正视这些的黑暗面的勇猛和毅力。因为倘不看清,就无从改革。仅大叫未来的光明,其实是欺骗怠慢的自己和怠慢的听众的。 | |
| === Section 8 === | |
| 【非革命的急进革命论者】 | |
| 倘说,凡大队的革命军,必须一切战士的意识,都十分正确,分明,这才是真的革命军,否则不值一哂。这言论,初看固然是很正当,彻底似的,然而这是不可能的难题,是空洞的高谈,是毒害革命的甜药。 | |
| 譬如在帝国主义的主宰之下,必不容训练大众个个有了“人类之爱”,然后笑嘻嘻地拱手变为“大同世界”一样,在革命者们所反抗的势力之下,也决不容用言论或行动,使大多数人统得到正确的意识。所以每一革命部队的突起,战士大抵不过是反抗现状这一种意思,大略相同,终极目的是极为歧异的。或者为社会,或者为小集团,或者为一个爱人,或者为自己,或者简直为了自杀。然而革命军仍然能够前行。因为在进军的途中,对于敌人,个人主义者所发的子弹,和集团主义者所发的子弹是一样地能够制其死命;任何战士死伤之际,便要减少些军中的战斗力,也两者相等的。但自然,因为终极目的的不同,在行进时,也时时有人退伍,有人落荒,有人颓唐,有人叛变,然而只要无碍于进行,则愈到后来,这队伍也就愈成为纯粹,精锐的队伍了。 | |
| 我先前为叶永蓁君的《小小十年》作序,以为已经为社会尽了些力量,便是这意思。书中的主角,究竟上过前线,当过哨兵,(虽然连放枪的方法也未曾被教,)比起单是抱膝哀歌,握笔愤叹的文豪们来,实在也切实得远了。倘若要现在的战士都是意识正确,而且坚于钢铁之战士,不但是乌托邦的空想,也是出于情理之外的苛求。 | |
| 但后来在《申报》上,却看见了更严厉,更彻底的批评,因是书中的主角的从军,动机是为了自己,所以深加不满。《申报》是最求和平,最不鼓动革命的报纸,初看仿佛是很不相称似的,我在这里要指出貌似彻底的革命者,而其实是极不革命或有害革命的个人主义的论客来,使那批评的灵魂和报纸的躯壳正相适合。 | |
| 其一是颓废者,因为自己没有一定的理想和能力,便流落而求刹那的享乐;一定的享乐,又使他发生厌倦,则时时寻求新刺戟,而这刺戟又须厉害,这才感到畅快。革命便也是那颓废者的新刺戟之一,正如饕餮者餍足了肥甘,味厌了,胃弱了,便要吃胡椒和辣椒之类,使额上出一点小汗,才能送下半碗饭去一般。他于革命文艺,就要彻底的,完全的革命文艺,一有时代的缺陷的反映,就使他皱眉,以为不值一哂。和事实离开是不妨的,只要一个爽快。法国的波特莱尔,谁都知道是颓废的诗人,然而他欢迎革命,待到革命要妨害他的颓废生活的时候,他才憎恶革命了。所以革命前夜的纸张上的革命家,而且是极彻底,极激烈的革命家,临革命时,便能够撕掉他先前的假面,──不自觉的假面。这种史例,是也应该献给一碰小钉子,一有小地位(或小款子),便东窜东京,西走巴黎的成仿吾那样“革命文学家”的。 | |
| 其一,我还定不出他的名目。要之,是毫无定见,因而觉得世上没有一件对,自己没有一件不对,归根结蒂,还是现状最好的人们。他现为批评家而说话的时候,就随便捞到一种东西以驳诘相反的东西。要驳互助说时用争存说,驳争存说时用互助说;反对和平论时用阶级争斗说,反对斗争时就主张人类之爱。论敌是唯心论者呢,他的立场是唯物论,待到和唯物论者相辩难,他却又化为唯心论者了。要之,是用英尺来量俄里,又用法尺来量密达,而发见无一相合的人。因为别的一切,无一相合,于是永远觉得自己是“允执厥中”,永远得到自己满足。从这些人们的批评的指示,则只要不完全,有缺陷,就不行。但现在的人,的事,那里会有十分完全,并无缺陷的呢,为万全计,就只好毫不动弹。然而这毫不动弹,却也就是一个大错。总之,做人之道,是非常之烦难了,至于做革命家,那当然更不必说。 | |
| 《申报》的批评家对于《小小十年》虽然要求彻底的革命的主角,但于社会科学的翻译,是加以刻毒的冷嘲的,所以那灵魂是后一流,而略带一些颓废者的对于人生的无聊,想吃些辣椒来开开胃的气味。 | |
| === Section 9 === | |
| 【张资平氏的“小说学”】 | |
| 张资平氏据说是“最进步”的“无产阶级作家”,你们还在“萌芽”,还在“拓荒”,他却已在收获了。这就是进步,拔步飞跑,望尘莫及。然而你如果追踪而往呢,就看见他跑进“乐群书店”中。 | |
| 张资平氏先前是三角恋爱小说作家,并且看见女的性欲,比男人还要熬不住,她来找男人,贱人呀贱人,该吃苦。这自然不是无产阶级小说。但作者一转方向,则一人得道,鸡犬飞升,何况神仙的遗蜕呢,《张资平全集》还应该看的。这是收获呀,你明白了没有? | |
| 还有收获哩。《申报》报告,今年的大夏学生,敬请“为青年所崇拜的张资平先生”去教“小说学”了。中国老例,英文先生是一定会教外国史的,国文先生是一定会教伦理学的,何况小说先生,当然满肚子小说学。要不然,他做得出来吗?我们能保得定荷马没有“史诗作法”,沙士比亚没有“戏剧学概论”吗? | |
| 呜呼,听讲的门徒是有福了,从此会知道如何三角,如何恋爱,你想女人吗,不料女人的性欲冲动比你还要强,自己跑来了。朋友,等着罢。但最可怜的是不在上海,只好遥遥“崇拜”,难以身列门墙的青年,竟不能恭听这伟大的“小说学”。现在我将《张资平全集》和“小说学”的精华,提炼在下面,遥献这些崇拜家,算是“望梅止渴”云。 | |
| 那就是── | |
| (二月二十二日。) | |
| === Section 10 === | |
| 【对于左翼作家联盟的意见】 | |
| ──三月二日在左翼作家联盟成立大会讲 | |
| 有许多事情,有人在先已经讲得很详细了,我不必再说。我以为在现在,“左翼”作家是很容易成为“右翼”作家的。为什么呢?第一,倘若不和实际的社会斗争接触,单关在玻璃窗内做文章,研究问题,那是无论怎样的激烈,“左”,都是容易办到的;然而一碰到实际,便即刻要撞碎了。关在房子里,最容易高谈彻底的主义,然而也最容易“右倾”。西洋的叫做“Salon的社会主义者”,便是指这而言。“Salon”是客厅的意思,坐在客厅里谈谈社会主义,高雅得很,漂亮得很,然而并不想到实行的。这种社会主义者,毫不足靠。并且在现在,不带点广义的社会主义的思想的作家或艺术家,就是说工农大众应该做奴隶,应该被虐杀,被剥削的这样的作家或艺术家,是差不多没有了,除非墨索里尼,但墨索里尼并没有写过文艺作品。(当然,这样的作家,也还不能说完全没有,例如中国的新月派诸文学家,以及所说的墨索里尼所宠爱的邓南遮便是。) | |
| 第二,倘不明白革命的实际情形,也容易变成“右翼”。革命是痛苦,其中也必然混有污秽和血,决不是如诗人所想像的那般有趣,那般完美;革命尤其是现实的事,需要各种卑贱的,麻烦的工作,决不如诗人所想像的那般浪漫;革命当然有破坏,然而更需要建设,破坏是痛快的,但建设却是麻烦的事。所以对于革命抱着浪漫谛克的幻想的人,一和革命接近,一到革命进行,便容易失望。听说俄国的诗人叶遂宁,当初也非常欢迎十月革命,当时他叫道:“万岁,天上和地上的革命!”又说“我是一个布尔塞维克了!”然而一到革命后,实际上的情形,完全不是他所想像的那么一回事,终于失望,颓废。叶遂宁后来是自杀了的,听说这失望是他的自杀的原因之一。又如毕力涅、爱伦堡,也都是例子。在我们辛亥革命时也有同样的例,那时有许多文人,例如属于“南社”的人们,开初大抵是很革命的,但他们抱着一种幻想,以为只要将满洲人赶出去,便一切都恢复了“汉官威仪”,人们都穿大袖的衣服,峨冠博带,大步地在街上走。谁知赶走满清皇帝以后,民国成立,情形却全不同,所以他们便失望,以后有些人甚至成为新的运动的反动者。但是,我们如果不明白革命的实际情形,也容易和他们一样的。 | |
| 还有,以为诗人或文学家高于一切人,他底工作比一切工作都高贵,也是不正确的观念。举例说,从前海涅以为诗人最高贵,而上帝最公平,诗人在死后,便到上帝那里去,围着上帝坐着,上帝请他吃糖果。在现在,上帝请吃糖果的事,是当然无人相信的了,但以为诗人或文学家,现在为劳动大众革命,将来革命成功,劳动阶级一定从丰报酬,特别优待,请他坐特等车,吃特等饭,或者劳动者捧着牛油面包来献他,说:“我们的诗人,请用吧!”这也是不正确的;因为实际上决不会有这种事,恐怕那时比现在还要苦,不但没有牛油面包,连黑面包都没有也说不定,俄国革命后一二年的情形便是例子。如果不明白这情形,也容易变成“右翼”。事实上,劳动者大众,只要不是梁实秋所说“有出息”者,也决不会特别看重知识阶级者的,如我所译的《溃灭》中的美谛克(知识阶级出身),反而常被矿工等所嘲笑。不待说,知识阶级有知识阶级的事要做,不应特别看轻,然而劳动阶级决无特别例外地优待诗人或文学家的义务。 | |
| 现在,我说一说我们今后应注意的几点。 | |
| 第一,对于旧社会和旧势力的斗争,必须坚决,持久不断,而且注重实力。旧社会的根柢原是非常坚固的,新运动非有更大的力不能动摇它什么。并且旧社会还有它使新势力妥协的好办法,但它自己是决不妥协的。在中国也有过许多新的运动了,却每次都是新的敌不过旧的,那原因大抵是在新的一面没有坚决的广大的目的,要求很小,容易满足。譬如白话文运动,当初旧社会是死力抵抗的,但不久便容许白话文底存在,给它一点可怜地位,在报纸的角头等地方可以看见用白话写的文章了,这是因为在旧社会看来,新的东西并没有什么,并不可怕,所以就让它存在,而新的一面也就满足,以为白话文已得到存在权了。又如一二年来的无产文学运动,也差不多一样,旧社会也容许无产文学,因为无产文学并不厉害,反而他们也来弄无产文学,拿去做装饰,仿佛在客厅里放着许多古董磁器以外,放一个工人用的粗碗,也很别致;而无产文学者呢,他已经在文坛上有个小地位,稿子已经卖得出去了,不必再斗争,批评家也唱着凯旋歌:“无产文学胜利!”但除了个人的胜利,即以无产文学而论,究竟胜利了多少?况且无产文学,是无产阶级解放斗争底一翼,它跟着无产阶级的社会的势力的成长而成长,在无产阶级的社会地位很低的时候,无产文学的文坛地位反而很高,这只是证明无产文学者离开了无产阶级,回到旧社会去罢了。 | |
| 第二,我以为战线应该扩大。在前年和去年,文学上的战争是有的,但那范围实在太小,一切旧文学旧思想都不为新派的人所注意,反而弄成了在一角里新文学者和新文学者的斗争,旧派的人倒能够闲舒地在旁边观战。 | |
| 第三,我们应当造出大群的新的战士。因为现在人手实在太少了,譬如我们有好几种杂志,单行本的书也出版得不少,但做文章的总同是这几个人,所以内容就不能不单薄。一个人做事不专,这样弄一点,那样弄一点,既要翻译,又要做小说,还要做批评,并且也要做诗,这怎么弄得好呢?这都因为人太少的缘故,如果人多了,则翻译的可以专翻译,创作的可以专创作,批评的专批评;对敌人应战,也军势雄厚,容易克服。关于这点,我可带便地说一件事。前年创造社和太阳社向我进攻的时候,那力量实在单薄,到后来连我都觉得有点无聊,没有意思反攻了,因为我后来看出了敌军在演“空城计”。那时候我的敌军是专事于吹擂,不务于招兵练将的;攻击我的文章当然很多,然而一看就知道都是化名,骂来骂去都是同样的几句话。我那时就等待有一个能操马克斯主义批评的枪法的人来狙击我的,然而他终于没有出现。在我倒是一向就注意新的青年战士底养成的,曾经弄过好几个文学团体,不过效果也很小。但我们今后却必须注意这点。 | |
| 我们急于要造出大群的新的战士,但同时,在文学战线上的人还要“韧”。所谓韧,就是不要像前清做八股文的“敲门砖”似的办法。前清的八股文,原是“进学”做官的工具,只要能做“起承转合”,藉以进了“秀才举人”,便可丢掉八股文,一生中再也用不到它了,所以叫做“敲门砖”,犹之用一块砖敲门,门一敲进,砖就可抛弃了,不必再将它带在身边。这种办法,直到现在,也还有许多人在使用,我们常常看见有些人出了一二本诗集或小说集以后,他们便永远不见了,到那里去了呢?是因为出了一本或二本书,有了一点小名或大名,得到了教授或别的什么位置,功成名遂,不必再写诗写小说了,所以永远不见了。这样,所以在中国无论文学或科学都没有东西,然而在我们是要有东西的,因为这于我们有用。(卢那卡尔斯基是甚至主张保存俄国的农民美术,因为可以造出来卖给外国人,在经济上有帮助。我以为如果我们文学或科学上有东西拿得出去给别人,则甚至于脱离帝国主义的压迫的政治运动上也有帮助。)但要在文化上有成绩,则非韧不可。 | |
| 最后,我以为联合战线是以有共同目的为必要条件的。我记得好象曾听到过这样一句话:“反动派且已经有联合战线了,而我们还没有团结起来!”其实他们也并未有有意的联合战线,只因为他们的目的相同,所以行动就一致,在我们看来就好象联合战线。而我们战线不能统一,就证明我们的目的不能一致,或者只为了小团体,或者还其实只为了个人,如果目的都在工农大众,那当然战线也就统一了。 | |
| === Section 11 === | |
| 【我们要批评家】 | |
| 看大概的情形(我们这里得不到确凿的统计),从去年以来,挂着“革命的”的招牌的创作小说的读者已经减少,出版界的趋势,已在转向社会科学了。这不能不说是好现象。最初,青年的读者迷于广告式批评的符咒,以为读了“革命的”创作,便有出路,自己和社会,都可以得救,于是随手拈来,大口吞下,不料许多许多是并不是滋养品,是新袋子里的酸酒,红纸包里的烂肉,那结果,是吃得胸口痒痒的,好象要呕吐。 | |
| 得了这一种苦楚的教训之后,转而去求医于根本的,切实的社会科学,自然,是一个正当的前进。 | |
| 然而,大部分是因为市场的需要,社会科学的译著又蜂起云涌了,较为可看的和很要不得的都杂陈在书摊上,开始寻求正确的知识的读者们已经在惶惑。然而新的批评家不开口,类似批评家之流便趁势一笔抹杀:“阿狗阿猫”。 | |
| 到这里,我们所需要的,就只得还是几个坚实的,明白的,真懂得社会科学及其文艺理论的批评家。 | |
| 批评家的发生,在中国已经好久了,每一个文学团体中,大抵总有一套文学的人物。至少,是一个诗人,一个小说家,还有一个尽职于宣传本团体的光荣和功绩的批评家。这些团体,都说是志在改革,向旧的堡垒取攻势的,然而还在中途,就在旧的堡垒之下纷纷自己扭打起来,扭得大家乏力了,这才放开了手,因为不过是“扭”而已矣,所以大创是没有的,仅仅喘着气。一面喘着气,一面各自以为胜利,唱着凯歌。旧堡垒上简直无须守兵,只要袖手俯首,看这些新的敌人自己所唱的喜剧就够。他无声,但他胜利了。 | |
| 这两年中,虽然没有极出色的创作,然而据我所见,印成本子的,如李守章的《跋涉的人们》,台静农的《地之子》,叶永蓁的《小小十年》前半部,柔石的《二月》及《旧时代之死》,魏金枝的《七封信的自传》,刘一梦的《失业以后》,总还是优秀之作。可惜我们的有名的批评家,梁实秋先生还在和陈西滢相呼应,这里可以不提;成仿吾先生是怀念了创造社过去的光荣之后,摇身一变而成为“石厚生”,接着又流星似的消失了;钱杏邨先生近来又只在《拓荒者》上,搀着藏原惟人,一段又一段的,在和茅盾扭结。每一个文学团体以外的作品,在这样忙碌或萧闲的战场,便都被“打发”或默杀了。 | |
| 这回的读书界的趋向社会科学,是一个好的、正当的转机,不惟有益于别方面,即对于文艺,也可催促它向正确,前进的路。但在出品的杂乱和旁观者的冷笑中,是极容易凋谢的,所以现在所首先需要的,也还是—— | |
| 几个坚实的、明白的、真懂得社会科学及其文艺理论的批评家。 | |
| === Section 12 === | |
| 【好政府主义】 | |
| 梁实秋先生这回在《新月》的《零星》上,也赞成“不满于现状”了,但他以为“现在有智识的人(尤其是夙来有‘前驱者’、‘权威’、‘先进’的徽号的人),他们的责任不仅仅是冷讥热嘲地发表一点‘不满于现状’的杂感而已,他们应该更进一步的诚诚恳恳地去求一个积极医治‘现状’的药方”。 | |
| 为什么呢?因为有病就须下药,“三民主义是一副药,──梁先生说,——共产主义也是一副药,国家主义也是一副药,无政府主义也是一副药,好政府主义也是一副药”,现在你“把所有的药方都褒贬得一文不值,都挖苦得不留余地,……这可是什么心理呢?” | |
| 这种心理,实在是应该责难的。但在实际上,我却还未曾见过这样的杂感,譬如说,同一作者,而以为三民主义者是违背了英美的自由,共产主义者又收受了俄国的卢布,国家主义太狭,无政府主义又太空……。所以梁先生的《零星》,是将他所见的杂感的罪状夸大了。 | |
| 其实是,指摘一种主义的理由的缺点,或因此而生的弊病,虽是并非某一主义者,原也无所不可的。有如被压榨得痛了,就要叫喊,原不必在想出更好的主义之前,就定要咬住牙关。但自然,能有更好的主张,便更成一个样子。 | |
| 不过我以为梁先生所谦逊地放在末尾的“好政府主义”,却还得更谦逊地放在例外的,因为自三民主义以至无政府主义,无论它性质的寒温如何,所开的究竟还是药名,如石膏、肉桂之类,──至于服后的利弊,那是另一个问题。独有“好政府主义”这“一副药”,他在药方上所开的却不是药名,而是“好药料”三个大字,以及一些唠唠叨叨的名医架子的“主张”。不错,谁也不能说医病应该用坏药料,但这张药方,是不必医生才配摇头,谁也会将他“褒贬得一文不值”(“褒”是“称赞”之意,用在这里,不但“不通”,也证明了不识“褒”字,但这是梁先生的原文,所以姑仍其旧)的。 | |
| 倘这医生羞恼成怒,喝道:“你嘲笑我的好药料主义,就开出你的药方来!”那就更是大可笑的“现状”之一,即使并不根据什么主义,也会生出杂感来的。杂感之无穷无尽,正因为这样的“现状”太多的缘故。 | |
| (一九三○年四月十七日。) | |
| === Section 13 === | |
| 【“丧家的”“资本家的乏走狗”】 | |
| 梁实秋先生为了《拓荒者》上称他为“资本家的走狗”,就做了一篇自云《我不生气》的文章。先据《拓荒者》第二期第六七二页上的定义,“觉得我自己便有点象是无产阶级里的一个”之后,再下“走狗”的定义,为“大凡做走狗的都是想讨主子的欢心因而得到一点恩惠”,于是又因而发生疑问道── | |
| “《拓荒者》说我是资本家的走狗,是那一个资本家,还是所有的资本家?我还不知道我的主子是谁,我若知道,我一定要带着几分杂志去到主子面前表功,或者还许得到几个金镑或卢布的赏赉呢。……我只知道不断的劳动下去,便可以赚到钱来维持生计,如何可以到资本家的帐房去领金镑,如何可以到××党去领卢布,这一套本领,我可怎么能知道呢?……” | |
| 这正是“资本家的走狗”的活写真。凡走狗,虽或为一个资本家所豢养,其实是属于所有的资本家的,所以它遇见所有的阔人都驯良,遇见所有的穷人都狂吠。不知道谁是它的主子,正是它遇见所有阔人都驯良的原因,也就是属于所有的资本家的证据。即使无人豢养,饿的精瘦,变成野狗了,但还是遇见所有的阔人都驯良,遇见所有的穷人都狂吠的,不过这时它就愈不明白谁是主子了。 | |
| 梁先生既然自叙他怎样辛苦,好象“无产阶级”(即梁先生先前之所谓“劣败者”),又不知道“主子是谁”,那是属于后一类的了,为确当计,还得添几个字,称为“丧家的”“资本家的走狗”。 | |
| 然而这名目还有些缺点。梁先生究竟是有智识的教授,所以和平常的不同。他终于不讲“文学是有阶级性的吗?”了,在《答鲁迅先生》那一篇里,很巧妙地插进电杆上写“武装保护苏联”,敲碎报馆玻璃那些句子去,在上文所引的一段里又写出“到××党去领卢布”字样来,那故意暗藏的两个×,是令人立刻可以悟出的“共产”这两字,指示着凡主张“文学有阶级性”,得罪了梁先生的人,都是在做“拥护苏联”,或“去领卢布”的勾当,和段祺瑞的卫兵枪杀学生,《晨报》却道学生为了几个卢布送命,自由大同盟上有我的名字,《革命日报》的通信上便说为“金光灿烂的卢布所买收”,都是同一手段。在梁先生,也许以为给主子嗅出匪类(“学匪”),也就是一种“批评”,然而这职业,比起“刽子手”来,也就更加下贱了。 | |
| 我还记得,“国共合作”时代,通信和演说,称赞苏联,是极时髦的,现在可不同了,报章所载,则电杆上写字和“××党”,捕房正在捉得非常起劲,那么,为将自己的论敌指为“拥护苏联”或“××党”,自然也就髦得合时,或者还许会得到主子的“一点恩惠”了。但倘说梁先生意在要得“恩惠”或“金镑”,是冤枉的,决没有这回事,不过想借此助一臂之力,以济其“文艺批评”之穷罢了。所以从“文艺批评”方面看来,就还得在“走狗”之上,加上一个形容字:“乏”。 | |
| (一九三○年四月十九日。) | |
| === Section 14 === | |
| 【“进化和退化”小引】 | |
| 这是译者从十年来所译的将近百篇的文字中,选出不很专门,大家可看之作,集在一处,希望流传较广的本子。一以见最近的进化学说的情形,二以见中国人将来的运命。 | |
| 进化学说之于中国,输入是颇早的,远在严复的译述赫胥黎《天演论》。但终于也不过留下一个空泛的名词,欧洲大战时代,又大为论客所误解,到了现在,连名目也奄奄一息了。其间学说几经迁流,兑佛黎斯的突变说兴而又衰,兰麻克的环境说废而复振,我们生息于自然中,而于此等自然大法的研究,大抵未尝加意。此书首尾的各两篇,即由新兰麻克主义立论,可以窥见大概,略弥缺憾的。 | |
| 但最要紧的是末两篇。沙漠之逐渐南徙,营养之已难支持,都是中国人极重要,极切身的问题,倘不解决,所得的将是一个灭亡的结局。可以解中国古史难以探索的原因,可以破中国人最能耐苦的谬说,还不过是副次的收获罢了。林木伐尽,水泽湮枯,将来的一滴水,将和血液等价,倘这事能为现在和将来的青年所记忆,那么,这书所得的酬报,也就非常之大了。 | |
| 然而自然科学的范围,所说就到这里为止,那给与的解答,也只是治水和造林。这是一看好象极简单、容易的事,其实却并不如此的。我可以引史沫得列女士在《中国乡村生活断片》中的两段话作证── | |
| “她(使女)说,明天她要到南苑去运动狱吏释放她的亲属。这人,同六十个别的乡人,男女都有,在三月以前被捕和收监,因为当别的生活资料都没有了以后,他们曾经砍过树枝或剥过树皮。他们这样做,并非出于捣乱,因为他们可以卖掉木头来买粮食。”…… | |
| “南苑的人民,没有收成,没有粮食,没有工做,就让有这两亩田又有什么用处?……一遇到些少的扰乱,就把整千的人投到灾民的队伍里去。……南苑在那时(军阀混战时)除了树木之外什么都没有了,当乡民一对着树木动手的时候,警察就把他们捉住并且监禁起来。”(《萌芽月刊》五期一七七页。) | |
| 所以这样的树木保护法,结果是增加剥树皮,掘草根的人民,反而促进沙漠的出现。但这书以自然科学为范围,所以没有顾及了。接着这自然科学所论的事实之后,更进一步地来加以解决的,则有社会科学在。 | |
| (一九三○年五月五日) | |
| === Section 15 === | |
| 【做古文和做好人的秘诀】 | |
| ──夜记之五 | |
| 从去年以来一年半之间,凡有对于我们的所谓批评文字中,最使我觉得气闷的滑稽的,是常燕生先生在一种月刊叫作《长夜》的上面,摆出公正脸孔,说我的作品至少还有十年生命的话。记得前几年,《狂飚》停刊时,同时这位常燕生先生也曾有文章发表,大意说《狂飚》攻击鲁迅,现在书店不愿出版了,安知(!)不是鲁迅运动了书店老板,加以迫害?于是接着大大地颂扬北洋军阀度量之宽宏。我还有些记性,所以在这回的公正脸孔上,仍然隐隐看见刺着那一篇锻炼文字;一面又想起陈源教授的批评法:先举一些美点,以显示其公平,然而接着是许多大罪状──由公平的衡量而得的大罪状。将功折罪,归根结蒂,终于是“学匪”,理应枭首挂在“正人君子”的旗下示众。所以我的经验是:毁或无妨,誉倒可怕,有时候是极其“汲汲乎殆哉”的。更何况这位常燕生先生满身五色旗气味,即令真心许我以作品的不灭,在我也好象宣统皇帝忽然龙心大悦,钦许我死后谥为“文忠”一般。于满肚气闷中的滑稽之余,仍只好诚惶诚恐,特别脱帽鞠躬,敬谢不敏之至了。 | |
| 但在同是《长夜》的另一本上,有一篇刘大杰先生的文章──这些文章,似乎《中国的文艺论战》上都未收载──我却很感激的读毕了,这或者就因为正如作者所说,和我素不相知,并无私人恩怨,夹杂其间的缘故。然而尤使我觉得有益的,是作者替我设法,以为在这样四面围剿之中,不如放下刀笔,暂且出洋;并且给我忠告,说是在一个人的生活史上留下几张白纸,也并无什么紧要。在仅仅一个人的生活史上,有了几张白纸,或者全本都是白纸,或者竟全本涂成黑纸,地球也决不会因此炸裂,我是早知道的。这回意外地所得的益处,是三十年来,若有所悟,而还是说不出简明扼要的纲领的做古文和做好人的方法,因此恍然抓住了辔头了。 | |
| 其口诀曰:要做古文,做好人,必须做了一通,仍旧等于一张的白纸。 | |
| 从前教我们作文的先生,并不传授什么《马氏文通》、《文章作法》之流,一天到晚,只是读、做,读、做;做得不好,又读,又做。他却决不说坏处在那里,作文要怎样。一条暗胡同,一任你自己去摸索,走得通与否,大家听天由命。但偶然之间,也会不知怎么一来──真是“偶然之间”而且“不知怎么一来”,──卷子上的文章,居然被涂改的少下去,留下的,而且有密圈的处所多起来了。于是学生满心欢喜,就照这样──真是自己也莫名其妙,不过是“照这样”──做下去,年深月久之后,先生就不再删改你的文章了,只在篇末批些“有书有笔,不蔓不枝”之类,到这时候,即可以算作“通”。──自然,请高等批评家梁实秋先生来说,恐怕是不通的,但我是就世俗一般而言,所以也姑且从俗。 | |
| 这一类文章,立意当然要清楚的,什么意见,倒在其次。譬如说,做《工欲善其事,必先利其器论》罢,从正面说,发挥“其器不利,则工事不善”固可,即从反面说,偏以为“工以技为先,技不纯,则器虽利,而事亦不善”也无不可。就是关于皇帝的事,说“天皇圣明,臣罪当诛”固可,即说皇帝不好,一刀杀掉也无不可的,因为我们的孟夫子有言在先,“闻诛独夫纣矣,未闻弑君也”,现在我们圣人之徒,也正是这一个意思儿。但总之,要从头到底,一层一层说下去,弄得明明白白,还是天皇圣明呢,还是一刀杀掉,或者如果都不赞成,那也可以临末声明:“虽穷淫虐之威,而究有君臣之分,君子不为已甚,窃以为放诸四裔可矣”的,这样的做法,大概先生也未必不以为然,因为“中庸”也是我们古圣贤的教训。 | |
| 然而,以上是清朝末年的话,如果在清朝初年,倘有什么人去一告密,那可会“灭族”也说不定的,连主张“放诸四裔”也不行,这时他不和你来谈什么孟子孔子了。现在革命方才成功,情形大概也和清朝开国之初相仿。(不完) | |
| 这是《夜记》之五的小半篇。《夜记》这东西,是我于一九二七年起,想将偶然的感想,在灯下记出,留为一集的,那年就发表了两篇。到得上海,有感于屠戮之凶,又做了一篇半,题为《虐杀》,先讲些日本幕府的磔杀耶教徒,俄国皇帝的酷待革命党之类的事。但不久就遇到了大骂人道主义的风潮,我也就借此偷懒。不再写下去,现在连稿子也不见了。 | |
| 到得前年,柔石要到一个书店去做杂志的编辑,来托我做点随随便便,看起来不大头痛的文章。这一夜我就又想到做《夜记》,立了这样的题目。大意是想说,中国的作文和做人,都要古已有之,但不可直钞整篇,而须东拉西扯,补缀得看不出缝,这才算是上上大吉。所以做了一大通,还是等于没有做,而批评者则谓之好文章或好人。社会上的一切,什么也没有进步的病根就在此。当夜没有做完,睡觉去了。第二天柔石来访,将写下来的给他看,他皱皱眉头,以为说得太噜苏一点,且怕过占了篇幅。于是我就约他另译一篇短文,将这放下了。 | |
| 现在去柔石的遇害,已经一年有余了,偶然从乱纸里检出这稿子来,真不胜其悲痛。我想将全文补完,而终于做不到,刚要下笔,又立刻想到别的事情上去了。所谓“人琴俱亡”者,大约也就是这模样的罢。现在只将这半篇附录在这里,以作柔石的记念。 | |
| 一九三二年四月二十六日之夜,记。 | |
| == German Translation (Deutsche Ubersetzung) == | |
| Translation not yet begun. See Call for Translators. | |
| == English Translation == | |
| Translation not yet begun. See Call for Translators. | |
| == Notes == | |