Chekhov can also be a rose

◎ Lin Yi

There is something beautiful that, from the moment it appears in the world, is doomed to meet with those who love it.

The seventeenth-century German poet Angelus Celestus wrote: "The rose blossoms for no reason, because it blossoms; it is as carefree in itself and not to be seen." This classical poem, if expressed in modernist terms, is the tongue twister of Gertrude Stein: "A rose is a rose is a rose." "Rose" is anything, an infinite signifier, or literature, borrowed from a certain literary man who loves roses as much as he loves himself, and he is Chekhov.

The biographer who used this as the key was knowledgeable about Chekhov, and was keen, intelligent, and mastered decoding. Gu Chunfang established a biography for Chekhov, the title of the book is "Chekhov's Rose", "rose" is an important image of the book, not only refers to Chekhov's love of nature, close to life, but also refers to Chekhov's rose-like fragrant and prickly life.

If he didn't want to be a writer, Chekhov said he wanted to be a gardener. The whole book ends from Chekhov's horticultural career, from Ilya Ehrenburg's "Reread chekhov", describing the scene of Chekhov working in the garden and vegetable field of Melichov, Chekhov personally took care of the land, bought flower seeds, dug ponds, planted herbs, observed and recorded the growth of plants and the field activities of small animals, he drew nutrients from gardening, calmed his mind, and looked for opportunities to write.

Gu Chunfang said Chekhov had a gardener's heart, calling him "a Russian gardener." In the dense and deep jungle of Russian literature, great writers occupy their places, such as cypresses, such as green pines, such as birch forests, such as wide green fields. Chekhov only wrote short and medium stories, and his works were inferior in size to other writers, but in his garden, Chekhov spent no less thought and effort than others.

The biography is interspersed with chekhov's literary career. Chekhov spent his boyhood in the steppe region, "Python and Rabbit", "In the Forest", "In The Spring" and other works, written about what the teenager saw and heard in 1887 when he traveled south, these early works already had a sense of empathy and compassion with all things, and the beauty of nature gave Chekhov's soul a sense of beauty and the highest moral experience.

Gu Chunfang talked about the novel "In the Canyon" (1900), the mother hugged the innocent, small corpse, this scene, Chekhov did not describe the mother's desperate mood, but turned the pen to write about the surrounding scenery, the cry of the nightingale, the cry of the pond frog. Gu Chunfang said that Chekhov used the infinite vitality between heaven and earth to reflect the death of the human world and the despair of his mother. And my feelings, remembering what Mr. Lu Xun said, are not the same as human sorrows and joys.

This kind of commentary reflects Gu Chunfang's unique understanding of Chekhov. She abandoned the ordinary categories of literary criticism and entered the deepest part of the writer's inner thoughts. Although the form of the academic comprehensive exposition is orderly, it is difficult to speak freely, if it is not to let the reader and the person who write it reach a tacit understanding, why talk about literature? The examination of literature is distant, and the instinctive proximity can best touch the fundamentals. Therefore, this biography pays attention to the psychological lyricism of the blending of scenes, and uses a literary tone to describe the spiritual activities of the master. Speaking of Chekhov's works such as "The House with the Attic", "The Sixth Ward", and "The Man in the Set", Gu Chunfang should emphasize the depiction of the scenes in these works, emphasize the background of their birth, and emphasize that they were completed in Mellihovo.

Chekhov's works incorporate his feelings about life, nature, and love for human beings and all things. Gu Chunfang chose "Seagull" as one of the focuses of the analysis. The idea of Seagull is based on real events. In the spring of 1892, Chekhov and his friend Leviathan were hunting in Melliehovo when an injured sandpiper fell at their feet, his eyes wide with panicked and painful expressions. This little bird was imprinted in Chekhov's heart, and later incarnated as the ill-fated heroine of "The Seagull". Chekhov's feelings for human beings and nature are interconnected.

Another reason to focus on "The Seagull" is because "The Seagull" has a close bond with Chekhov's love affair. Her former girlfriend, Lydia Michnova (Rika), is the prototype for Nina, the teenage girl in The Seagull, who is in an emotional dispute. Chekhov and Rika spent some time together in Melichov and returned to Moscow with frequent correspondence, but soon after, Rika had a passionate relationship with Chekhov's friend Leviathan, so that the relationship between several people became confusing and hurt each other. After that, Rika turned to another of Chekhov's friends, the musician Potabinko, who was abandoned by Portabinko after becoming pregnant. Chekhov is both sympathetic and dismissive of Rika, while feeling remorse and remorse for her fate, believing that it is related to his negligence towards Rika. Chekhov incorporated this complex taste into his creations, and The Seagull was later rehearsed as a theatrical, a great success.

Also because of "The Seagull", Chekhov and actress Kniper became acquainted, fell in love with each other, and became husband and wife. Kniper accompanied Chekhov through his illness-ridden final years. Chekhov was handsome and polite, and was loved by the ladies. Biographies, of course, will tell the story of the Lord's love, marriage, and family life, which are the fundamentals that make up human beings. From adolescence to youth to middle age, Chekhov's several relationships constitute the character image of his works. In Gu Chunfang's conscious description, sometimes these ladies are like roses, beautiful but mean, and sometimes Chekhov himself is like roses, waving cold spikes at women who don't like or are tired. When a rose blooms, the rose wilts.

Gu Chunfang also used the word "rose" to refer to other important women in Chekhov's life. Gu Chunfang said, "Mother is the first rose in Chekhov's life", the mother Yevgenia Yakovletina is quiet and lovely, gentle and virtuous; the younger sister Maria is unmarried, is Chekhov's closest and most trusted assistant, is his "most faithful rose"; Chekhov's greatest regret is the loss of "a precious, yet to open little rose", which is his and Kniper's early death of the fetus. The image of the rose is all over the lines, can every woman be a rose? Obviously, Gu Chunfang first had an idea, and then went to find suitable materials, sometimes slightly reluctant, fortunately, basically appropriate and fresh.

This is a unique literary biography, and the process of the rose blooming coincides roughly with the trend of Chekhov's life. In the garden of literature, we wander, we stroll, expecting more encounters with beauty.