Hardy and Xu Zhimo:

Xu Zhimo, a famous modern Chinese poet, once said in an article: "I do not shy away from my 'hero worship'." His so-called "heroes" are such figures. In modern times, there are the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, the French writer Romain Rolland, the Italian poet D'Annunzio, and the British Thomas Hardy... His reason: "Mountains, we love to kick high ones; people, why don't we want to get close to big ones?" For these heroes, he not only read and translated their works, but also said, "When I have the strength to climb, "I never let go of an opportunity to climb high." He wanted to see them personally and "see more heroes." This yearning led to a meeting between him and the great British writer Thomas Hardy.

Although Hardy is recognized as one of the important British novelists, his novels "The Return of the Native", "Jude the Obscure", especially his masterpiece "Tess", have won him great reputation , but in his early and later periods, his poems brilliantly demonstrated his "pure philosophy of life." It was these poems that first attracted the Chinese poet Xu Zhimo, who worshiped Hardy as a "hero" who "belongs to any era" throughout his life.

一

In the process of Xu Zhimo's translation of poems, Hardy seems to have the largest number of poems, with dozens of poems. The first time it was published was in 1923. On November 10 of that year, two of Hardy's poems translated by Xu Zhimo were published in the "Novel Monthly". In 1924, he translated and published four more poems by Hardy. In March 1925, the magazine "Yu Si" published his translation of Hardy's poem "In a Hotel"; on May 20, 1926, in the "Morning Post Supplement Poetry", he published "The World-Weary Hardy (Hardy)" )" article. In order to prove his point of view, Xu Zhimo translated four Hardy poems in one breath. At this point, the introduction to translation can come to an end. Because not long after that, in the summer of that year, Xu Zhimo went to Europe, and met his favorite "hero" Thomas Hardy under the introduction of Dickinson, a British scholar and professor at Royal College of Cambridge University.

Before meeting Hardy himself, Xu Zhimo once drew a portrait of Hardy based on the descriptions in some articles and a little imagination: "If you had come to Dorchester a few years earlier, perhaps now, In the special countryside, you may meet the author of "Jude", a kind and amiable old man, wearing shorts and casual clothes, cheerful, with a short face and short jaw, walking leisurely on the street, saying hello , in reply, if you asked him about the famous places in Wessack's novels, he would gladly explain them in detail; turning around, he raised his hand, jumped on his bicycle, rang the bell, and headed towards the crowd. ” is a joyful and happy image. However, this is just imagination after all. What does the real Hardy, this "hero" in the literary world, look like?

To avoid being disturbed, Hardy built a house called Max Gate on the outskirts of Dorchester. Normally, he doesn't see visitors. Therefore, before that, Xu Zhimo asked Professor Dickinson of Cambridge University to write a letter. The letter says that Xu Zhimo is the Chinese translator of Hardy's poems and hopes to meet you. At that time, Professor Dickinson also said to Xu: The old man (referring to Hardy) is in such good spirits, be careful when he takes you for a walk in the Dorchester woods, he seems not to be tired at all. Dickinson was friends with Hardy, and he probably "enjoyed" the tiring treatment of walking with Hardy.

Two

One day in July 1926, the weather was exceptionally good. Carrying Professor Dickinson's letter of introduction, Xu Zhimo set out from London to Dorchester. Arrived around 3pm. After leaving the station, Xu Zhimo did not take a taxi because of the good weather. He only asked for the direction to Max Gate and headed towards his destination happily.

Xu Zhimo rang the doorbell. In the silence, the barking of the dogs in the house seemed harsh. A young maid wearing a white veil and wiping her hair came out and opened the door. After hearing Xu Zhimo's request, the young woman said: "Mr. Hardy is at home," and then added: "But you know that Mr. Hardy never sees guests." "Wait a minute," Xu Zhimo said quickly: "I'm here There is a letter, please pass it in. "Perhaps the maid didn't expect this foreign young man to be so famous, so when she came out of the room, she had the most handsome smile on her face." "Mr. Hardy." I would like to see you. Sir, please come in."

Xu Zhimo walked into the living room and the maid went out. Hardy had not yet arrived, so Xu Zhimo was able to observe the furnishings in the living room: on one wall, there was a portrait of Hardy by the famous painter John Sargent, and on the other wall, there was a portrait of the British poet Shelley. On the bookshelf, there is also a large collection of Shelley. Xu Zhimo felt a little surprised: How could this old man like Shelley so much? From writing to content and form, the gap between the two of them is really big. Just as Xu Zhimo was thinking, there was a rush of footsteps on the stairs outside, accompanied by the sound of a dog's bell.

Hardy opened the door and came in. The old man is really short. For a moment, Xu Zhimo even felt that he was looking over and barely saw him. But the old man, the "hero" in his mind, finally came to him in reality. Before Xu Zhimo could express his admiration, Hardy suddenly pulled him to sit down. He kept saying "sit, sit".

Xu Zhimo didn't allow Xu Zhimo to speak (it seemed that he already knew the visitor's opening remarks), so he asked a series of questions in a rapid tone and a dry and old voice: "Are you from London?" "Is Dickinson your friend?" "Is he okay?" "Are you translating my poem?" "Do you use rhyme in Chinese poetry?" Obviously, there is no need to answer the first few questions in Dickinson's letter. Relevant situations were introduced.

For the last question, Xu Zhimo, who is also a poet, answered very well: "We (China) used to have only rhymed prose and no blank poetry, but recently..." Hardy interrupted him suddenly , said he didn’t want to hear “recently”. Hardy was certainly in favor of rhyme. He gave an analogy: If you throw a stone into the middle of a lake, circles of water will ripple out. The rhyme is ripples, which is indispensable. Hardy went on to say: Lyrical poetry is the essence of literary essence and an unbreakable diamond. No matter how small it is, its brilliance is indelible. I don't take my novel seriously, nothing is as difficult as writing a good little poem. "Poetry must be a living thing." He also made this conclusion: practicing words is better than learning to write poems; poetry is the secret of words.

While talking to each other, Xu Zhimo was also observing this "old hero" in his mind. Hardy's face is like an equilateral triangle with pointed downwards, and his cheekbones seem to be very wide; his eyes are not big, but they are deep, making it difficult to see the color and expression. As is often seen in published photos or portraits, Hardy's most obvious mark is the loose cheekbones hanging down on both sides of his mouth. The top of his head is completely bald, except for some gray hair on his temples. Looking at it as a whole, his wrinkled and mottled face is like an old rock...

Hardy asked Xu Zhimo: What's going on with your writing? Extremely difficult, isn't it? Hardy even said: Why don't you lose it (Chinese characters) and use English or French instead, wouldn't it be more convenient? Xu Zhimo was shocked by these words. He thought, Hardy can be said to be a genius poet who knows all languages, but he wants us to throw away words that have been used for thousands of years! It's incredible. The relationship was so important that Xu Zhimo couldn't help but argue with Hardy. Hardy may not have said it very seriously, so they discussed it with each other for a few words, and the master did not insist on his opinion too much.

Because it was already afternoon when Xu Zhimo arrived, and the conversation lasted for nearly an hour, it was a bit late. At this time, Hardy's big dog looked like a governor, running over and crawling on Xu Zhimo's body, panting and scratching. Hardy looked at Xu Zhimo, who was a little nervous and embarrassed, called the dog away, and said, let's go for a walk in the garden. Xu Zhimo understood that the host was about to see off guests. He thought to himself that after spending so much effort to visit, he must leave some souvenirs. He caught up with Hardy and expressed his request. Hardy turned around and saw Xu Zhimo holding a camera in his hand, so he quickened his pace. He said, I don’t like taking pictures. One time Americans came to take pictures of me and caused me a lot of trouble. From then on I stopped allowing visitors to take photos. As if he knew the visitor's next request, Hardy shut up first: I don't sign for people either, you know? As he spoke, he quickened his pace, as if he was afraid that Xu Zhimo would force him. When he reached the flower garden, Hardy stopped and said loudly: Come here, there are flowers here, I will pick two as a souvenir for you. OK? He picked two small flowers, one red and one white, and gave them to Xu Zhimo: "You can put them on your clothes." He said urgently: You can catch the six o'clock train now. Forgive me for not accompanying you anymore. Goodbye, goodbye... Old Man Hardy raised his hand and went straight in.

Three

According to secular thinking, Hardy is so stingy that he didn’t even invite the guests to have a cup of tea. But at that time, Xu Zhimo was filled with gratitude. What's not satisfying about having such a rare opportunity to meet a hero? In Xu Zhimo's view, Hardy is a figure like Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Goethe, and Byron. Being able to see him is a blessing. Do you still care if you have a cup of tea?

Shortly after returning to China, Xu Zhimo translated a poem written by the old poet not long ago: "Hardy's Narrative on his Eighty-Sixth Birthday" to express his admiration for this great man. In January 1928, Hardy, who Xu Zhimo believed should live to be 100 years old, passed away. When the news came, one can imagine Xu Zhimo’s mood. He immediately wrote a long commemorative text titled "Thomas Hardy". In the article, in addition to introducing the grand commemorative activities in Britain after Hardy's death, he also gave a very high evaluation to Hardy's achievements in all aspects:

"In the past four years, we have successively lost this era. The two great philosophers, France's Francesco France and Britain's Hardy, are not only a loss to the literary world, because they each lead their own galaxy and each radiates their own brilliance. They are clearly the leaders of mankind since the late nineteenth century. Twin cities in the ideological world, their lives and deaths are worthy of eternal remembrance. I say 'human beings' because in the realm of thought and spirit we cannot distinguish between nation and country... We miss them just as we miss creation. The Lord of all feels that the praise that words can express is superfluous. We only need to remember their kindness in solemn silence. "

Outside of the commemorative article. , Xu Zhimo quickly translated three Hardy's poems: "To the Moon", "A Week", and "Wenya Gorge". The first two poems, together with commemorative articles, were published in "Crescent" magazine, Volume 1, Issue 1, on March 10, 1928; "Wen Yaxia" (a narrative poem with a strong lyrical color. More than 150 lines in total) was published In the third anniversary supplement of "Modern Review" in June 1928.

Hardy, who does not enjoy the highest reputation for poetry, has become the singer with the most translated poems by the Chinese poet Xu Zhimo; (not only the above example, but also cited in the "New Biography of Xu Zhimo" published in Taiwan Among the great "heroes" in the world, Hardy is still the one who has been described, introduced and commemorated by Xu Zhimo most in articles. But judging from the time, the two of them met for less than an hour.

Of course, Xu Zhimo is an admirer of cultural greats. However, there is no doubt that they have a spiritual connection. Admiring real "heroes" is undoubtedly the result of approaching the light and hoping that one's heart can be illuminated by the sun. This is perhaps the most cordial and convenient way for human beings to pursue kindness and wisdom.