The Complete Works of Xu Zhimo's Classical Prose

Chapter 46 Laughing at Life's Hibiscus Bird (18)
Then I remembered another incident. In [-], when the telegram that Tagore was selected for the Nobel Prize was sent to India, the Indians immediately went crazy when they heard it. Children and adults all cheered and celebrated in the street, but the poet At home, he was not only unhappy, but also sighed: "I have never had a leisurely life!" Then the next year, the British government knighted him again, and since then, really, he has never had a leisurely time.His Shandi Nechatton actually became the center of pilgrimage. When he traveled to Europe and America, he was welcomed everywhere. Students from Sweden and Denmark seemed to hold torch and lantern festivals for him. People who listened to his lectures in Germany often listened to him. Ti Wan, the grand occasion of the United States entertaining him may not be inferior to that of the British crown prince.But is this the happiness that poets wish for? Of course I dare not say that poets can be completely exempt from vanity, but most of this kind of crowd agitation is just what Gerd calls unconscious worship, and real poets will never envy them.The most disgusting are the general Western social ladies, their religion is hero worship as usual; the more novel the hero, the more happy they are, the sanctimonious like Tagore, the toga cloth cap, of course tickles their curiosity twice, everyone wants Come and shake hands with this poet saint from the Far East, be affectionate, and say a few nasty words as usual... This is a small retribution that is well-known in modern times. Unspeakable suffering.According to his British friend En Houzhi, he has become more and more tired of the noise recently, and his body is not very able to endure hard work, but even if he doesn't want to, he rarely shows it to the outside, so he came to China this time, Although not embarrassing by social ladies, we who have the opportunity to admire his speeches should be extra sympathetic to him, not to tire him too much when talking, and to save speeches so that he and us can be like family Being with each other, being able to feel as comfortable as in his hometown, that would be worthy of his long-term trek.

July [-]th
原刊1923年9月10日《小说月报》第14卷第9号

Russell speaks again

一
Whenever I read Russell or remember his voice and smile, I think of New York City, especially the 58-story Woolworths.They seem to be two rival symbols of the twentieth century, Mr. Russell and the 58-story building.Russell's thoughts and remarks are like the dusk on the summer sea. From time to time, there are golden snake-like electric fires flashing coldly and fiercely in the purple black clouds. The terrifying lightning flashes loom in front of your head!
Isn't the high-rise towering into the clouds dangerous?Half a thunderbolt could have smashed him into powder, and the green forests and grasses by the Hezhen River trembled tremblingly!But no!The lightning flashes all the time, but the thunder never arrives. The tall buildings still stand in the clouds. The pure golden lightning only illuminates his arrogance and increases his brilliance!
In a recent paper of his called: Leisure and Mechanism (see Dial, For August, 1923), Russell once again radiated a lightning bolt of his intellect, threatening the 58-story building.

We stand on tiptoes and watch the excitement; we feel the speed, light and strength of lightning, and see the firmness and strength of tall buildings.

two

One or two hundred years ago, there was a weirdo in France named Vertai, who was the predecessor of Russell, and Russell was his shadow. He was the same as Russell is today, emitting the most sensitive light of intelligence, intimidating the people at that time. The institutional habits, the 200-story building at that time.He let off half a century of cruel and sharp lightning, forming a big thunderbolt. By 58, the politics of the whole of Europe, including the prison city of Bistia, were smashed together.Russell also has a predecessor, this is his same species, that is, the father-in-law of the great poet Shelley, the husband of Woolton Kraft who wrote "The Rights of Woman", William Goodwin, he is also a worshiper of intelligence and rationality Yes, he also attacked the British system and habits at that time with the light of reason.He is the ancestor of all kinds of modern socialism. Although his thunderbolt was not as violent as the French Revolution, it overturned many idols and knocked down many high-rise buildings.

It is not easy to determine when Russell's thunderbolt will be blasted; but the unstoppable lightning at least proves that there is steaming stuffiness in the air, and sooner or later there must be an outlet. The seeds of the lightning storm are already full. Cloth in the clouds.

three

The object of his dislike the most in recent years, the thing that is most likely to be smashed into dust, is a special phenomenon produced by modern civilization, and a special psychology cultivated by this phenomenon.It is true that he has a very serious protest against the so-called Western civilization; but he is not India's Gandhi, he only opposes part, not the whole.

He is still not forgetful, although he rewards the Chinese for their laziness, praises the Chinese for their cowardice, and envies the Chinese for their poverty, he has not been able to forget about the true European culture. "I would like to go to China to be a poor farmer, eat coarse rice and wear common clothes, but I don't want to sell souls and eat human flesh in the civilized society of Europe and the United States." He expressed this meaning several times.But studying mathematics and science, and boldly criticizing human beings; it is not selling souls, let alone cannibalizing human flesh; therefore, although Russell loves China very much, he is still willing to stay in Europe and preserve him: the nobility of Honorable, this is not an inconsistency between words and deeds, unless We are intentionally unreasonable.

When I am tempted to wish the human race wiped out by some passing comet I think of scientific knowledge and of art; those two things seem to make our existence not wholly futile.
four

Mr. Russell has gone through these years of mortal life, advocating peace during wartime, resisting war; The Soviet revolution, joining the Labor Party, traveling to Borschweig’s country, getting divorced, traveling in China, returning to England, remarrying, having children, and selling papers for a living. of) conclusion.

He is not disappointed in life; human beings are not fundamentally unnecessary, nor are they beyond salvation.Moreover, the method of salvation is determined to be peaceful, not violent: violence can only produce violence. In his view, life is originally a bright mirror, but now it is only covered by dust; so we only need to say that after dust is wiped, life Then the light will be restored.

He believes that as long as there are four basic conditions, life will be bright.

The first is the joy of life and the natural happiness.

The second is the emotion of friendship.

The third is the ability to love beauty and appreciate art.

The fourth is to love pure learning and knowledge.

As long as these four conditions can be extended to the common people, the world will be peaceful and life will be colorful.

五

How can we get the joy of life?He replied that all the phenomena of life are originally happy, not sad; only when there are reasons that hinder happiness, life will lose its original lively rhyme.The kitten chasing her own tail, the magpie chirping, the water flowing, the squirrels and hares chasing in the grass: nature and living things are but one whole joy.Human beings are no exception; a ragged child on the street, that one is not happy.The causes of all kinds of suffering in life are man-made, not natural; removable, not rooted; suffering is an unnatural phenomenon.As long as the obvious and latent primitive instincts can be satisfied and reconciled, life will not be abnormal.The institutions of society are responsible.Scholars in the past did not assume a psychological basis when discussing politics or society; but psychology is the most developed science, and the utilitarian psychological assumption is too shallow.Modern psychology, especially psychoanalysis, has made a great contribution to social science, proving that people are fundamentally selfish animals.Altruists only see the surface, so the ethics of altruism can only force people to be false, but cannot make people naturally good.The secret of the success of several major religions lies in the recognition of this important point: Jesus taught that if you do good deeds, your soul can ascend to heaven; Buddhism says that you can prove Bodhi as a result of your practice; Become a fairy.There is no real self-interest in everything; everything originates from conscious or unconscious self-interested motives.But at the same time, man is good at falsehoods; he often wears very decent clothes to cover up his ugly appearance.The current New Psychology is like a magic mirror; no matter how tight the plantain is wrapped, he always peels it off patiently.Now, although the banana has been peeled close, perhaps the heart of the banana has been peeled.

Therefore, human beings are self-interested. This is what modern politicians and social reformers should recognize and affirm most.The exposure of this truth does not detract from the dignity of human beings, if there are still people who have not forgotten it; nor does it prevent the realization of peace and happiness enjoyed by the whole society.Once you have recognized the facts and reality, you are not afraid of being helpless. The danger lies in concealing or sophistrying the facts and facts.When a patient is sick, it is impossible to have a good doctor.The difference between modern and past generations lies in conscious and unconsciousness; the hope of social science lies in discovering previously neglected, misunderstood, or hidden diseases.After sorting out the illness and enlightening the pulse case, we can look forward to the prescription for the symptom; otherwise, even if there is a lucky chance, we will never get rid of the root cause of the disease.

六

Practically speaking, the health of the body is of course the first condition for the enjoyment of life; those who are sick and have a healthy liver certainly cannot appreciate the natural meaning of life.So sports are important.But this is important and relative. If we put more emphasis on the body, it may hinder the development of intelligence. As Mr. Cai Zimin once said, it is also dangerous for the products of several of our sports schools.The muscles and the brain deserve equal attention.If both men and women have a minimum level of health, natural happiness will have a foundation. In addition, as long as the social system is relatively tight, it will not hinder the satisfaction of the individual instincts of men and women, and the passive state will not cause oppression to cause abnormalities and abnormalities. of the generation.Work is inevitable, but a considerable amount of leisure is also necessary; Russell believes that the future society will not tolerate people who do not work, nor will they tolerate heavy work. According to economists' calculations, each person only needs to work for three or four hours a day. That is to say, in the past when there was plenty, half of the existing productivity was due to the waste of the competitive system.

Seven

One of the big goals of industrialism is "Success", which is essentially competition, and what competition requires is "Efficiency".Success, competition, quick success, and the combined psychology or outlook on life are the causes of industrialism, the increasing suicide phenomenon, and the increasing mechanization of human nature.There is only one way for us to restore the nature and fun of life, and that is to break the basis of economic and social competition and eliminate the superstition of success and quick results. , and the morality represented by the YMCA.I met with a well-known newspaper manager the day before yesterday. He said that if you want to make a fortune in the newspaper business, it is really not a human thing!There was also a loyal and hardworking bank manager and a loyal and hardworking spinning mill manager who also said in unison that the business is really not done by humans. The busyness of the day is not counted, and the mind is not at peace in the dream at night. For what purpose, we do not know.This is the truth.The competitive commercial society is just a market for Shaw's so-called retail souls.If we turn around quickly, we may be able to escape; don't be superstitious about opening a spinning mill.In other words, to make a fortune, you need to know that the chimney of Yunzaobin's magnificent and magnificent Greater China has not been smoking for a long time.Instead of adoring the recently dead Duke of Northern Rock (whose greatest achievement was to instigate cannibalism and destroy millions of lives, he achieved prestige, money, and immortality) and the ten richest men in America, It is better to listen to Mr. Nie Yuntai's confession talk, and ask him to give a speech on the true meaning of Tolstoy and Gandhi!

Eight

Russell said that since he saw China, he realized that the belief in "progress" and "short effect" is the great misfortune of the modern West.He also realized the benefits of a fixed society, which is the opposite of progress and inertia, or the beauty of laziness, which is the opposite of quick results.He said: "I have hopes of laziness as a gospel."

Laziness is the gospel of the world!We know that the opposite of Russell's so-called "laziness" is not the so-called diligence in our agricultural society. Diligence is a virtue. What should always be rewarded is the unnecessary hurry and disturbance produced by the modern mechanical industrial and commercial society. and hustle and bustle.That is to say, there is great danger and misery in the tendency of modern society to erode and finally deprive people of the leisure which a reasonable life should have.Needless to say laboring workers, even the middle-class society is also in this unfortunate vortex.Russell believed that, for example, in England, the stubbornness, ignorance, jealousy, paranoia, superstition of middle-class society, the cruelty of labor society, stupidity, the habit of drinking, etc., are the result of the loss of natural harmony in the state of life.

nine

So the conditions of modern society are totally incompatible with the natural pleasures of life.The emotion of friendship is an essential element for people to get along with each other, or between countries, and competitionism is the reason that hinders the development of pure sympathy.Again, for example, the fashion of love of beauty and general appreciation of art, such as what was realized in Athens or early Rome, is not tolerated by the industrial and commercial society.The artisans and workmen of former times had an affectionate and innocent interest in the works of their own ingenuity; but now the work of serving machines can only dull the soul, and never reward the creative instinct.We only need to think of Munquist and Liverpool in England; Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York in America; Belly Jia.

Again, we often think that science and industrial civilization are inseparable.Yes, there is a relationship; but it is not inseparable.Without science, there would be no modern civilization; but science has two meanings, which we should recognize: one is pure science, such as the study of natural phenomena, which is accumulated by human beings with intelligence and patience. Russell called "The most god-like thing that men can do".One is the application of science, which is the main cause of industrial civilization.A true scientist has only pure knowledge as his object, he is absolutely not utilitarian, and never asks what the actual relationship between what he seeks and human life is.Mendel (Mendel) cultivated his bean sprouts in his quiet monastery at the beginning. How could he think that today's agricultural and livestock capitalists will use his invention?How did Faraday and Maxwell think of the modern electrical business?
Those gentlemen who devoted their whole lives to expanding the frontiers of human knowledge never imagined that according to the current situation, they would seem to have become sinners of mankind; ([-]) Manufacture sharp weapons to kill others, rewarding the inferiority of self-mutilation of the same kind; ([-]) Equipment mechanical entertainment, but cover up the instinct of art.Let's look again, the United States is the most developed place in applied science, and the least shaken place in capitalism is the United States; the least developed place in pure science is also the United States: the scientific discoveries they are using now are not the achievements of Americans. .So the tendency to utilitarianism is most detrimental to the efforts of a few ingenious minds to seek pure intelligence.We in China have recently been discussing whether science is the gospel of life. Ordinary people even mistake science for actual industry and commerce. They think that if we oppose industrialism, we are opposing science itself. This is wrong.Science is nothing more than systematic learning and thinking, how can this be excluded; as for resisting mechanism and improving spiritual life, it is another matter.

Therefore, a reasonable life, the several elements that should exist, the natural happiness, the emotion of friendship, the reward of love of beauty and creation, and the pursuit of pure knowledge and science are all incompatible with the mechanical social situation.Unless the tendency of mechanism is changed, it is difficult to have hope in life.

Ten

(End of this chapter)