The Beijing Winter Olympics are in full swing, and in the literary world, the historic ice and snow sports have long been presented by writers in various ways. In addition to being a fascinating sport, skiing, ice skating and sledding are also carried out in a unique and ingenious way to shape the characters and advance the plot of the book.
"He jumped from the side of the carriage, jumped on the hard snow shell, came to a bounce spin and crouched down, holding up his ski poles, and slid down the hill with a smoke."
- Hemingway, "Cross-Country Skiing"
Hemingway is probably the writer who best fits the temperament of ice and snow. At the age of 25, he published the short story "Cross-Country Skiing," which tells an almost "minimalist" story: two teenagers, Nick and George, on skiing. The novel describes two skiing processes, the first of which is that George skates first and Nick then, and the second in which the skiing sequence is reversed, and then the two go to the cabin in the valley to drink and rest. In the end, the two teenagers meet to ski together next time, but Nick is full of reluctance to say that the agreement is difficult to achieve.
Known as the "tough guy writer," Hemingway had a soft spot for ice and snow scenes
At this point, neither Nick nor George's family background nor the clear relationship between them is explained. Hemingway continued to write in the same way as his "iceberg theory"—the novel focuses on the details of the teenagers' skiing, and Nick and George collaborate to complete the preparations for the ski, "waxing the skis, tucking the tip of the boot into the iron clip on the ski, and fastening the clip... Nick used his skis to press down the highest strand of wire from the fence, and George jumped over it." Nick would also share his skiing experience with George, advising him to slide left to avoid the fence at the bottom of the valley.
Hemingway skis in Switzerland
In the minutiae of these skiing events, the reader struggles to grasp the limited information that Hemingway reveals about the "tip of the iceberg": Nick loves skiing and has a richer skiing experience, while George is curious and impatient, and seems to be skiing for the first time. Also, in Nick's real world, skiing again became a luxury. "Cross-country Skiing" tells a story of skiing, but it seems that it is not here, after the endless snowy mountains is the adventure of the teenager today and the uncertain tomorrow.
"He walked toward the iceberg, and from there came the sonorous sound of chains as the sleigh slipped down or was dragged up, the rumble of the sliding sled and the happy voices of people."
--Lev Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
In Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina", skating is the best portrayal of the undulating state of mind - Levin, a large landowner from the countryside, who loves his friend's wife and sister Kitty for many years, but Levin has an introverted personality, is not good at words, and is deeply inferior in the face of the lively and charming Kitty. The burning love gave him the courage to propose, but the inferiority complex made him retreat from time to time – it was like the scene where he went to the ice rink to meet Kitty:
Illustration of Anna Karenina
Levin came to the rink and recognized Kitty from a distance, his eyes following Kitty's not-so-skilled skater figure, envious and jealous of those who skated on the ice rink with him, "They are all selected lucky people in Levin's eyes, because they are all here, close to her." But all the skaters seemed to overtake her indifferently, catch up with her, even talk to her, and enjoy themselves, enjoying the wonderful ice and sunny weather unrelated to her. ”
Levin and Kitty in the film of the same name
At this time, Kitty saw Levin, who was hesitating at the edge of the ice rink, and generously invited him to skate side by side, which made Levin ecstatic, and the previous anxiety disappeared, only happiness steamed. But when he showed a little admiration, Kitty's face turned cloudy... The speed and sudden fall of skating are just like Levin's undulating heart, and the relationship between skaters from time to time is like the various changes in the emotions between Levin and Kitty.
"The sleigh was getting smoother and gentler, the roar of the wind and the rustle of the slippery wood were no longer so terrible, and it was no longer difficult to breathe, and we finally slid to the foot of the mountain."
- Chekhov's "Teasing"
Another work that expresses emotional pushing and pulling through skiing comes from Chekhov's short story "Teasing", and under the repeated begging and insistence of "I", Nadya, a young girl who is afraid of sledding, finally agrees to slide down the slope with "me" in a light sleigh. The sleigh glides at a high speed, and the wind roars across the faces of the two men, "Like a devil clutching us with its iron claws, roaring and dragging us into hell." At the peak of the sleigh's speed, "I" whispered in Nadya's ear, "I love you"...
Portrait of Chekhov
The sleigh slowed down, and the terrified Nadya doubted her ears: What did he say? Or an illusion in the wind? Under such hesitation, the two sat on the sleigh again, and the "I" trick was repeated. Time and time again, day after day, Nadya, who was once afraid of sledding, actually began to take the initiative to ask for a sled, but that sentence stayed in the wind, like a heart that could not tell whether it was love, temptation, ambiguity or teasing, and it became a mystery forever.
"It wasn't enough to spend such a sunny day on ice, we skated until late at night... We, who are stuck in this movement, have forgotten our serious work. ”
- Goethe, "Poetry and Truth"
This is the text about skating described by the literary hero Goethe in his autobiography "Poetry and Truth". Goethe is well known for his poetry and literature, and his study of the natural sciences is also well known, but in addition to these identities, Goethe was also an avid athlete, specializing in many sports such as fencing and horseback riding, especially skating.
Illustration depicting Goethe skating
Goethe's love of skating can be seen in his surviving notes, letterheads, and poems. He also elaborated on many reasons, such as skating is not easy to fatigue, but will make the mood stretch, mood is high, and even to some extent has the function of "anti-aging": "Skating makes us contact with the freshest childhood, it allows young people to fully enjoy the agility of the body, can resist the premature arrival of shaky old age." 」
Goethe's manuscript
In addition, for Goethe, the sport he had loved for more than twenty years also prompted him to complete his writing as planned, and even promoted his literary creation, which he once wrote in his diary: "The reason why my creative plan was realized more quickly was due to this sport." From today's point of view, skating can be called Goethe's "drafting tool".
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