Since women themselves no longer bothered with such springtime senti ments and he, a man, was still afflicted with such thoughts, he felt ridiculous. A woman like Miss Pao, for instance, would never have time for springtime longing, but Miss Su? It would be hard to tell, for she seemed to be the model of the traditional beauty of sentiments. He had promised to visit her, and why shouldn't he visit her once?Although he knew the visit might lead to complications7 he also realized that life was too terribly boring and there were so few ready-made girl friends. He was like an insomniac disregarding the ill effects of sleeping pills and thinking only of the immediate relief.When Fang Hung-chien arrived at the Sus' residence, he imagined Miss Su dashing into the living room, full of laughter and noise, and chiding him for not having come sooner. Instead, her doorman served him tea,informing him, "Miss Sn will be right out."In the Sus' garden, the peach, the pear, and the lilactrees were in full bloom. It was only the end of February by the lunar calendar, but the flowers were already in bloom. He wondered what would be left of the spring scene by the time of the Ch'ing Ming Festival in early April. One of the windows in the living room was open, and the fragrance of flowers baked by the sun was thick enough to stuff one's nose and warm enough to make one drowsy. The fragrance of flowers resembles the odor of garlic and onions: both are scents from plants but smell meaty and not much different from the thick smell of human hair at a summer dance. Among the wall scrolls was a poem by Huang Shan-ku,calligraphed by Shen Tzu-p'ei. The first line read, "Flower scent overcomes man, making him wish to break Zen."He was amused by the line,thinking that if a monk had been affected by the fragrance outside the window, the monk had already violated his principle of total concentra tion and this transgression was similar to a monk's eating meat. After looking at the scrolls and antiques in the room for more than three times, he was struck by the thought that the foot stroke of Shen Tzu-p'ei's character for "man" closely resembled the tiny bound foot of an elderly Peking maidserv ant. The top part of the leg character was stiff and bulky while the bottom part suddenly came to a tiny point and ended.
Some foot that was!Just then Miss Su appeared. Her faint smile was like an overcast sky on a cold dreary day. As she shook his hand, she said, "I haven't seen you for a long time,Mr. Fang. What brought you here today?"
She shook my hand with such warmth at our parting last year but now grasping her hand is like clutching a cold-blooded shark fin. We were on such good terms when we parted, so why this reserve today? Hung-chien won dered. Like a student who has crammed for an examination but finds he has forgotten everything after a night's sleep, Hung-chien could only lie, saying that he hadn't been in town for more than a few days and had made a point of coming to see her. Miss Sn courteously thanked him for "honoring her with a visit," and asked him where he was "making his mark." He stammered that he had not yet found a job, was thinking of going to the interior, and for the time being was helping out at a bank run by a relative.Eyeing him, she asked, "Isn't the bank run by your father-in-law? Mr. Fang, you are really something!When was the wedding? Here I am, an old classmate from years back, and yet you kept your wedding all to yourself and didn't breathe a word about it. You were coming home to get married after you got your Ph.D.,weren't you? That's really a case of having your name on the golden rolls4 and figured candles in the nuptial chamber-what they call double happiness. I haven't had the honor of meeting Mrs. Fang."Fang Hung-chien felt so ashamed that he wished he could hide some where. Remembering the news item in the Shanghai paper, he said quickly that she must have obtained that information from a newspaper. Roundly cursing the paper, he briefly recounted, in the manner of the Spring and Au tumn Chronicles,the full story behind his having an adoptive father-in-law and a fake doctorate. By purchasing a fake degree he was thumbing his nose at the world, he said; by accepting an adoptive relative, he was conforming to tradition, he argued. Then he added, "When I saw that item in the paper, first I thought of you, of how you would ridicule and despise me. I even got into a big row with my so-called father-in-law about the whole news release."
Her expression gradually changing, Miss Su said, "What for? Why nat urally all those insufferable, vulgar businessmen expect a return on their mon ey. You can't expect them to understand that true learning doesn't depend on a degree. Why quarrel with him? After all, this Mr. Chou is your elder and he does treat you well enough. He has the right to put the item in the paper. Anyway, who's going to notice it? Those who do will forget it the moment they turn their backs. You thumb your nose at the big things, yet you take the trivial things so seriously. This contradiction is hilarious!" Fang Hung-chien sincerely admired Miss Su for her eloquence. He re plied, "When you put it that way, I don't feel so guilty anymore. I should have come and told you everything earlier. You are so understanding! What you said about my getting hung up on trivialities is especially perceptive. The world's major issues can always be dealt with in one way or another; it's the minor issues that can't be treated carelessly. Take a corrupt official, for in stance. He would accept millions in bribes but would never steal a man's wallet. I suppose I am not consistent enough in my cynicism." Miss Su felt like saying, That's not true. He doesn't steal the wallet be cause it isn't worth stealing. If there were millions in the wallet and stealing it were as safe as taking bribes, he'd steal it too. But she kept her thoughts to herself, eyeing Hung-chien momentarily; then staring down at the designs on the rug, she said, "It's a good thing that cynicism of yours doesn't apply to everything. Otherwise your friends would always be afraid that while you were humoring them on the outside, you were laughing at them inwardly."
Hung-chien quickly went out of his way to assure her how much he valued friendship. In their conversation,she revealed that her father had al ready gone to Szechwan with the government,that her brother had gone to work in Hong Kong, that her mother, her sister-in-law, and she herself were the only ones at home in Shanghai, and that she was thinking of going to the interior. Fang Hung-chien said perhaps they could again be travel compan ions going to the interior. Then she mentioned she had a cousin who had finished her first two years of college at their almamater in Peking, and that since the university had moved to the interior because of the war, her cousin had quit school and stayed home for six months but was planning to resume her study again. It so happened that the cousin was at the Sus' that day, so Miss Su went in to get her to meet Hung-chien. They all could become travel companions in the future.Miss Su led out a cute little girl of about twenty and introduced her to Fang, "This is my cousin, T'ang Hsiao-fu." On Miss T'ang's charming, well-
proportioned, round face were two shallow dimples; one look at her fresh and natural complexion, which most girls would have had to spend time and money to imitate, was enough to make one drool and forget his thirst, as though her skin were a piece of delicious
fruit. Not especially large, her eyes were lively and gentle, making the big eyes of many women seem like the big talk of politicians-big and useless. A classics scholar, upon seeing her love ly teeth when she smiled, might wonder why both Chinese and Western traditional and modern poets would want to turn into the pin in a woman's hair, the belt around her waist,the mat on which she slept, or even the shoes and socks, that she wore, and not think of transforming themselves into her toothbrush. Her hair unwaved, her eyebrows unplucked, and her lips un adorned by lipstick, she appeared to allow nature to take its own course with regard to her looks and had no wish to amend it in any way. In short, she was one of those rarities of modern civilized society-a genuine girl.
Many city girls who put on all the precocious airs cannot be considered as girls; then there are just as many others who are confused, silly, and sexless, and they too don't deserve to be called women. Fang Hung-chien immediately wanted to impress her, while she called him "elder senior schoolmate," a respectful term of address. "That won't do," he protested. "When you call me 'senior,' I feel like a prehistoric relic. Why do you add the word 'elder'? It's my misfortune to have been born too early. Not being lucky enough to go to school at the same time you did is something I regret. If you call me 'senior' again, you're just deliberately reminding me that I'm old and out of date. That's too cruel."
Miss T'ang said, "Mr. Fang, you are too concerned with insignificant details. Forgive me. I'll first retract the word 'elder.'" At the same time Miss Su said lightheartedly, "Aren't you ashamed? Do you still want us to call you Little Fang like they did on the boat? Hsiao-fu, ignore him.If he can't accept the honor, then simply don't call him anything."Fang Hung-chien noticed that the trace of a smile lingered on Miss T'ang's face when she was not smiling, like the last few notes that float in the air after the music has ceased. Many women can smile just as sweetly, but their smile is only facial muscle calisthenics, as if a drill master were barking the order, "One!" and suddenly the whole face would be wreathed in smiles, then "Two!" and just as suddenly the smile would vanish, leaving a face as blank as the screen in a movie theater before the movie starts.Trying to make conversation, he asked what Miss T'ang's major at col lege was. Miss Su, on the other hand, wouldn't let Miss T'ang tell and insisted that guess.Fang Hung-chien said Miss T'ang's major was literature, which was wrong; he then said it was education, which was also wrong. When he found chemistry and physics were both wrong, he resorted to one of Chang Chi mm's English expressions: "Search me!Don't tell me it's mathematics. That would be too much!"
Miss T'ang then told him. It was actually quite a common subject-polit ical science.Miss Su said, "It's still too much. In the future she will be our ruler, a lady official."Fang Hung-chien said, "Women are natural political animals. Political tactics, such as saying yes and
meaning no, retreating in order to advance, are what they know from birth. For a woman to study political science is really developing the innate through the acquired; it is as superfluous as adding flowers to embroidery. In Europe when I attended Professor Ernest
Peyg mann's lectures, he said men have the capacity for creative thought and wom en for social activity.Thus, men's work in society should be turned over to women, so that men can seclude themselves at home to think at leisure, invent new science, and produce new art. I think that makes a lot of sense. Women don't need to study politics, but if present-day politicians want to succeed, they should all imitate women. In politics roles are being reversed." Miss Su said, "You're just purposely spouting weird ideas. You like that sort of thing."Fang Hung-chien said, "Miss T'ang, your cousin really doesn't appreciate the respect I'm showing her. I speak of women participating in government, yet she turns around and laughs at me for purposely spouting weird ideas! You be the judge as to who's right. As the old saying goes, 'The house must first be put in order before the kingdom can be ruled and the country paci fied.'How many men, may I ask, can take care of domestic chores? They rely on women to manage the house, yet they go around boasting about how great men will run the country and bring peace. If they can't be bothered with trivial little domestic chores, then it's just like building a house by first positioning a roof in midair. There are several advantages in handing over the state and society completely to women. At least it would reduce the chances of war. Maybe diplomacy would become more complicated and there would be more secret treaties,but women's biological limitation would make them shun war. And even if a war started, since women aren't as mechanically minded as men, they would probably use simple weapons and apply basic military maneuvers such as pulling out the hair, scratching the face, and pinching the body. In such cases damage would be insignificant. At any rate, the new women today have already balked at raising a lot of children. By that time they'll be so busy managing the affairs of the state that they'll have even less time to procreate.With the population down, wars probably won't even occur."
Miss T'ang sensed that Fang Hung-chien was saying all that to attract her attention. Laughing to herself,she said, "I can't tell whether Mr. Fang is insulting politics or women. At the least, it's not complimentary."Miss Su said, "Oh, great, you spend all day beating around the bush try ing to flatter her and she not only doesn't appreciate it, she doesn't even understand it. I suggest you save your breath.""It's not that I don't appreciate what he said," said Miss T'ang. "I am truly grateful that Mr. Fang is willing to show off his eloquence. If I were studying mathematics, I bet he would have some other viewpoints and say that women are natural calculating animals."Miss Su said, "Maybe he would say that if someone like you wanted to study mathematics, he'd stop hating mathematics from then on. Anyway, no matter how you put it or how ridiculous the arguments get, it's all just talk. I never knew he had such a glib tongue. I guess I found that out on the boat returning home.
When we were classmates in college, his face would turn scarlet whenever he saw us co-eds from a distance and get redder the closer he came. It was so red that we'd get hot and uncomfortable all over just looking at his face. We used to call him 'The Thermometer'
behind his back since his facial coloring indicated his relative distance from girls. It was so much fun.I never would have thought that once he'd gone abroad he'd get so thick- skinned and brazen-faced. Maybe hegot his training from running around with girl friends like Miss Pao.""What rubbish!" said Hung-chien nervously. "What's the point of bring ing all that up? You co-eds are really something! You act serious in a person's presence, but as soon as his back is turned, you tear him apart. You really have no sense of decency!"When Miss Su saw how distressed he had become, her displeasure at see ing him show off in front of Miss T'ang completely vanished. She said with a smile, "Look how upset you are! You yourself are probably guilty of fancy talk in front of people while belittling them behind their backs."At that moment a tall, thirtyish, imposing-looking man walked in.
Your Position: 首页 >> Chinese Readings >> Selected Works >> Modern and Contemporary Works >> Fortress Besieged >> 正文
Google Search
Week Review
- The Emperor and the Concubine:A Legendary Romance
Tang women were the most fortu
Latest Update