Lao She: Thinking of Peking | Commemorating the 120th anniversary of Lao She’s birth

Lao She (February 3, 1899 - August 24, 1966)

Lao She: Thinking of Peiping

If I were asked to write a novel with Peking as the background, I wouldn't be afraid, because I could pick up what I know and avoid what I don't know. But if you ask me to bring Peiping one by one, I have no choice. Peiping is such a big place and has so many things going on. I know so little about it, even though I was born there and didn’t leave until I was twenty-seven. In terms of scenic spots, I have never been to Taoranting. How ridiculous! By analogy, the little I know is only "my Peiping", and my Peking is probably equal to a drop of an ox.

However, I really love Peking. This love is almost impossible to express. I love my mother. How to love? I can't tell. When I wanted to do something to please her, I smiled slightly; when I thought about her health and felt uneasy, I was about to cry. Words are not enough to express my feelings. Only smiling or crying alone is enough to express my heart. I love Peiping almost as much as this. It is easy to praise a certain aspect of this ancient city, but that would underestimate Peking. The Peiping I love is not just a few details, but a whole history that is bonded with my heart. It is a large area and many scenic spots, from the dragonflies in Shichahai after the rain to the Yuquan Mountain in my dream. The shadows of the pagoda are all gathered together. There is me in every small incident, and there is Peiping in every thought I have, but I can't express it.

I really want to become a poet, soaking all the beautiful and beautiful words in my own hard work, and singing out the splendor of Peking like a cuckoo. But I am not a poet, and I will never be able to express my love, a love that is inspired by music and pictures. This is not only a failure to Peiping, but also to myself, because my first knowledge and impressions came from Peiping, it is in my blood, and many parts of my character and temper were given by this ancient city. . I cannot fall in love with Shanghai and Tianjin because I have Peking in my heart. But I can’t tell!

London, Paris, Rome and Constantinople were once known as the four "historical capitals" of Europe. I know a little about London; I have only been to Paris and Rome; I have never been to Constantinople. As far as London, Paris, and Rome are concerned, Paris is more similar to Peking. However, if I were to "live in Paris", I would definitely feel as lonely as if I had no home. Paris, according to me, is too lively. Although there are open and quiet places there, they are too open; unlike Peking, which is complex and has an edge that I can touch - the old city wall with red jujubes growing on it! Facing the water bank, with the city wall behind me, I could sit on the stone and watch the tadpoles in the water or the young dragonflies on the reed leaves. I could sit there happily for a whole day, feeling completely at ease in my heart, with nothing to ask for and nothing to fear, like a child sleeping peacefully in a cradle. . Yes, there are lively places in Peiping, but it is similar to Tai Chi, in that there is stillness in the movement. There are many places in Paris that make people tired, so coffee and wine are necessary for stimulation; in Peiping, mild tea with fragrant tea is enough.

Although the layout of Paris is much more harmonious than that of London and Rome, it is still worse than that of going to Peking. Peiping appears natural amid man-made things, neither too crowded nor too secluded: even the houses in the smallest alleys have yards and trees; the most open places are not far from shopping streets and residential areas. This distribution method can be regarded as - in my experience - the best in the world. The advantage of Peiping is not that everything is completely equipped, but that there are spaces everywhere, allowing people to breathe freely. It is not that there are many beautiful buildings, but that there are free spaces around the buildings, making them beautiful. Every tower and archway can be seen from a long distance. Besides, you can also see Beishan and Xishan from the street!

People who are eager to learn and love antiquities will naturally like Beiping because there are many books and antiquities here. I'm not good at learning, and I don't have the money to buy antiques. But I like Peiping’s many flowers, vegetables, and fruits. Planting flowers and plants is an expensive thing, but "grass flowers" in Peiping are very cheap, and every family has a yard. You can plant a whole yard of flowers for a small amount of money. Even if they don't count, they are still cute. Petunia on the wall, mangosteen and jasmine at the base of the wall save money and trouble and attract fluttering butterflies. As for vegetables, cabbage, lentils, edamame, cucumbers, spinach, etc., most of them are carried directly from outside the city and delivered to your doorstep. After a rain, leek leaves often still have mud spots splashed by the rain. The reds and greens on the vegetable stalls are almost poetically beautiful. Many fruits come from Xishan and Beishan. The sand fruits and crab apples from Xishan, the black dates and persimmons from Beishan are still covered with a layer of white frost when they enter the city. The oranges wrapped in paper from the United States are frosted with those from Beiping. Yu Li is worthy of being killed!

Yes, Peiping is a capital city, and there may be many flowers, vegetables, and fruits grown by oneself, which brings people closer to nature. From the inside, there are no factories that smoke all day long like those in London; from the outside, it is closely connected to gardens, vegetable gardens and countryside. Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, you can indeed see Nanshan leisurely here; a poor person like me may only be able to enjoy a little happiness in Peiping.

Okay, stop talking; I'm going to cry. I really miss Peiping!

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"Four Generations Under One Roof" is Mr. Lao She's masterpiece. It is divided into three parts: "Confusion", "Ignorant Life" and "Famine". It is one of the most representative works in Lao She's creative career. It reflects the lives and struggles of ordinary people in the occupied areas of Peiping during the Anti-Japanese War, and shows the difficult and tortuous roads that ordinary people have traveled in the historical process of the great era.

This full text was back-translated by translator Bi Bingbin (Black Horse) based on the English manuscript of "Four Generations Under One Roof" co-translated by Pu Aide and Lao She. Completes the last sixteen stanzas of the lost third volume of "Famine", authentically presents Lao She's writing style, and surpasses the already published version in terms of the three standards of honesty, elegance and elegance. .

Click to view: What is the "script" of "Four Generations Under One Roof" like?

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