Old things in the south

Chapter 88
Recalling that I met Ms. Shen Ying in the summer of 1956, I went to my hometown Toufen to attend my cousin's wedding with my mother and my three-year-old daughter Awei.In the morning when the bride was married, I had some free time in the afternoon, so I asked my cousins ​​and brothers and sisters to see if anyone would accompany me to Douhuanping.I wanted to be an uninvited visitor to visit teacher Chen Ling (Shen Ying) who teaches in Dacheng Middle School. I don’t know if she is in school.Everyone was willing to accompany me, because Dacheng Middle School is a well-known private middle school in Toufen, and Teacher Chen is a famous teacher there, and many children of my family also study in this school.So a group of us came to Dacheng Middle School in a mighty way.

When I went to the school and asked where Mr. Chen lived, the school told me that it was in a row of dormitories opposite the school.When we left the school gate, we met a little boy, so we asked him if he knew where Mr. Chen lived, and asked him to lead us there.The boy nodded and led us there with a mysterious smile all the way (I still remember his mysterious smile clearly).When we arrived at this Japanese-style house and saw Shen Ying, she welcomed our group of uninvited guests in surprise and joy. It turned out that it was her son Liang Siming who brought us here.

On a hot day, she was sweating (my first impression of her was that she was constantly wiping sweat), talking to me while cutting watermelon for everyone to eat.Although it is the first time we meet, we are no strangers; writers have always been like this, because everyone has met each other long ago in writing.Especially Shen Ying, she was a writer in the 30s and our predecessor. I knew and read her works when I was a student.

We started dating in 1956, and it has been 30 years since then. Over the past 30 years, we have been in close contact. Although we call her "Mr. Chen", we are a close literary friend.The same goes for her and other literary friends who "write about Shen Ying": For example, she and Liu Fang are fellow villagers in Shandong, talking about nostalgia and eating steamed buns, she talks about Western literature with Zhang Xiuya, Chinese literature with Qi Jun, and life with Luo Lan. Admiring flowers, doing handicrafts, and talking about Japanese literature with Sima Xiuyuan.The relationship with me is even more different. The second hometown she considers, Toufen, is exactly my hometown. She built three huts there, arguing that Mr. Han Wen was also a teacher in Toufen Public School when her father was young. Enlightenment students.When we all get together, we have a lot of topics to talk about, such as writing, translation, literary circles, hobbies, interesting things, exchanging and reporting good articles we have enjoyed, and we are extremely happy!When it was time to eat, no one was willing to leave. No matter whose house they were in, everyone just messed around with food—it was often Liu Fang who ran out to buy steamed buns and stewed vegetables nearby.

This kind of happiness is just like Shen Ying's famous saying - she often said: "I am not the kind of person who seeks great happiness, because it is too difficult, I only want to seek some small happiness."

There were many days of such small and happy reunions. It was during the ten years when she was hired to teach in a girls' middle school in Taipei in 1957, and during the period when she retired from a girls' middle school, her writing and translations were abundant and her publications flourished.

What about now?She lay alone in a nursing home (Nursing House) not far from her son's home in Maryland, mentally and physically declining day by day.I can't write with trembling hands. It was a phenomenon that happened several years ago. In the past two years, my vision has become blurred and my mind is not clear.Originally, Qi Jun talked to her on the phone when he was in the United States. Although it was inconvenient to move, the voice on the phone was still very clear, but recently it has become more and more difficult.Siming’s letter in February this spring also said that my mother was very happy to know that the aunts would write essays to congratulate her on her 80th birthday. To match the publication of our article, Shen Ying also urged and asked her children: "Find it out and send it by registered mail!" Siming sent a letter at the same time as sending the photo, saying: "Mom is in good health, but just confused , I can’t see clearly, and I can’t write with my hands is the saddest thing, I can only follow her as much as possible, and let her pass away peacefully in her old age.” It is said that the nursing home takes good care of it, and regular checkups are carried out. According to the hospital, Shen Ying is in good health. Serious illness is just that people are aging and regressing everywhere.

We know that Shen Ying can't see, so we plan to record our own writing and send it to her for listening!But Siwei recently wrote in a letter saying: "... I hope that after the aunts' articles are published and recorded, my mother can still 'understand' that she is getting more and more confused, and only occasionally speaks a few plain words. She always has a peaceful face, looks around with a smile, and hopes that her heart will be as calm as her appearance, which will make people feel at ease..." Qi Jun also wrote recently, saying: "Shen Ying can't read the manuscript after it is published, and read it to her. I don’t understand, it’s just a little thought from an old friend, it makes me sad to think about it!”

Such news came frequently, how could one imagine Shen Ying's current condition!
Shen Ying, who was born in 1907, is 79 years old according to the full age, but according to China's imaginary age, she should be 60 years old.Anyway, he is a long-lived person.And she has been writing for 20 years.Shen Ying started writing in her early 50s, when she was a student at Fudan University.She wrote short stories, which attracted the attention of great writers at that time, but she herself didn't like the writing of that era, and she rarely mentioned it in Taiwan.She once wrote to a friend that she "deeply regrets the lack of writing", because those works are childish and imitated, and can only be regarded as historical materials.She thinks that her works after the age of 1967 can count, that is, her works after Taiwan.However, during her decades in Taiwan, she has translated more than created, and there are no novels in her works, mostly prose.Her writing is relaxed and lively, natural, not artificial.Most of her translations are novels.She is very serious about choosing writers' works, and only translates what she likes.Of course, the translated text is as smooth as the creation, so every translated book becomes a bestseller.The most memorable of course is Zweig's "Letter from an Unknown Woman", which has been reprinted continuously after publication.It aroused her great interest in translation. Around 1968 and [-], she actually translated and published nine kinds of books in one go while teaching. At that time, she was also retiring from a female middle school. Work hard on the field of translation!

Speaking of her translation, it should be said that she was greatly influenced by Liang Zongdai. In 1935, she and Liang Zongdai got married in Tianjin. They were married because of mutual admiration for each other's talents.In particular, Liang Zongdai, who is full of literary talent, made Shen Ying admire her seriousness in writing poems and translating. In the future, she was influenced by Liang Zongdai's use of words and selection of works in translation.But in the ten years after their marriage, Shen Ying's translation was blank, because three children were born in a row, and it caught up with the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War.However, she did not expect that after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the relationship between her and Liang Zongdai could no longer be maintained, because Liang Zongdai was unfaithful to her and married a Cantonese actress. She had a strong personality, so she was angry and brought her three young children with her mother. My younger brother, younger brother, and younger sister came to Taiwan and immediately moved into my hometown, Toufen. I taught at Dacheng High School in the mountain village of Douhuanping for seven years before coming to Taipei.She did not divorce Liang Zongdai, she is still Mrs. Liang in name, and Liang Zongdai's younger sister is in Taiwan, and they have always been very good sisters-in-law.

I remember that one year when she was publishing many novels in translation, she suddenly took out a translated poem "The Peak of Everything" by Liang Zongdai, saying that she was going to reprint and publish it. Here comes the translated poem!Not long ago, in an article about Liang Zongdai who passed away last year, he said that Liang completed the translation of "The Peak of Everything" in Yanshan, Japan in 1934, and at this time it was Shen Ying who traveled to Japan and traveled with Liang, and of course completed this work. The translation, with Shen Ying by her side, is a memory and commemorative affection for Shen Ying, no wonder she wants to reprint this book specially!It can also be seen that her feelings for Liang have not completely disappeared. Her children also said that their mother loves and hates their father!It's no wonder that when I asked her children for a photo that must have a photo of their parents together, she urged them to register and send it to me as soon as possible.If Liang Zongdai hadn't passed away across the sea and sky, this year would also be their golden wedding anniversary!

Among the batch of photos I received, some were taken together in 1935 when the 24-year-old couple Ma Sicong and Wang Muli gave a concert in Beiping for the first time and stayed at Shen Ying’s house for a month.Shen Ying thought of the scene of traveling with her old friend in 1935, and now she is alone, how could she not have the mood of "who in the seat is crying the most, Jiangzhou Sima's green shirt is wet"!
Toufen is now a town with a population of 7, and Douhuanping is a mountain village outside Toufen Town, passing through here is the road to Lion Head Mountain.Shen Ying regards this place as her hometown of the spirit of "no family to return to".She built three cottages here after she retired.The reason why she likes this place is not only because of the feelings she has lived here for seven years, not only because of the natural scenery and friendship in the orchard, but also because of a letter from her daughter Siwei who said that she had dreamed of returning to Taiwan, and added a sentence: "I don't know why. Every time I have this kind of dream, it is always the scene in the countryside." It refers to Dou Huanping.That's why she decided to build three huts in that mountain village, so that the children had a spiritual hometown, and she also had a second hometown.

When she lived in Taipei and was busy translating and publishing books, she always thought about going back to the wooden house to spend a few days of leisure. That was the happiest period of her literary life in her life, so she said: "I am really more and more interested in life. The more I love it, I still have a lot of things to do in this world!"

After Shen Ying retired and settled in the United States, she ran around from time to time, but she was also very happy. 1981 was the closest time Shen Ying returned to Taiwan. It was not until 1983 that my body changed a lot and weakened.In the future, I'm afraid she won't have the chance to return to her second hometown in Taiwan. We only hope that after listening to each of our recordings, she can really "experience" those beautiful days when she was with us.

(End of this chapter)