Xiao Qian and Wen Jieruo: Bonded by literature
Sisi | Text
"Hey, look, this is the just-published Ulysses, it's good." The 92-year-old Wen Jieruo excitedly showed the latest translation to the guests who came to the house, and the old lady was in good shape, and the wrinkles reached her eyebrows when she laughed, and she could see some mischievous feelings.
That was when Mr. Wen was interviewed by people last year, and in the interview, her favorite conversation was the time she translated "Ulysses" with her husband. "Those four years were the happiest days of my life," she said. ”
Xiao Qian and Wen Jieruo in their later years
One
"I have a quack in my heart who rode a wild horse, who broke the wind and crossed the snow, came to my world, and saved my wandering soul."
Wen Jieruo and Xiao Qian met at the Literary Publishing House, and the intersection before this was limited to Wen Jieruo's reading of Xiao Gan's novel "Valley of Dreams" when she was studying, so she was deeply impressed by him.
When Xiao Qian was transferred here, Wen Jieruo was troubled for a long time by the translation and proofreading problem of "Millionaire", and Xiao Qian had not officially come to work in the publishing house for other work, although the editorial director said that he could contact his secretary if he needed help. But Wen Jieruo has a shy personality and a rather noble character, and it is indeed not easy for her to lower her head and ask others.
After thinking about it, Wen Jieruo, who was serious and responsible for his work, still decided to ask him for this "foreign aid". But in ten days, Xiao Gan sent the school book. After his changes, this blunt and difficult sentence actually became smooth and natural, and after throwing off the translation cavity, it did not look like a translation, but like a creation. Wen Jieruo immediately had a good impression of this capable man, and often consulted him in his later work.
There is an old saying: "With a human mirror, you can understand the gains and losses", when discussing and exchanging academic creations with Xiao Gan, she often introspected herself, this man has talent and experience, and his little cleverness in front of him is simply an axe.
Before meeting Xiao Gan, she always thought that she was admitted to Tsinghua at the age of 19 and worked easily and competently, and she was already the best in the crowd. However, this idea was all shattered and restarted at this moment, and she changed her noble nature and humbly asked "Teacher Xiao" for advice. In the daily text exchange, Wen Jieruo became more and more fond of this talented man.
Over time, respect for ability has evolved into love in getting along day by day.
As the saying goes, loving someone starts with respect. Wen Jieruo's love for Xiao Qian is like this, starting with talent and being loyal to his heart.
Xiao Gan's main job is translation, but other than that, his greatest interest is creation. Xiao Qian is a romantic and sensual person, and his writing is also delicate and affectionate, and even Lin Huiyin once praised Xiao Qian for "writing with feelings". Wen Jieruo, who is in her youth, is naturally easy to fall into the love of this mature man.
Xiao Qian is 17 years older than Wen Jieruo, and he is talented, full of talent, and has rich experience, and his speech is humorous, which makes people feel like a spring breeze, and the charm of a mature man is at a glance. Wen Jieruo believes that few people should be able to resist such a man who is excellent in all aspects.
Moreover, Xiao Qian was born in Mongolia, was originally a vigorous and strong boy, and later was a special commissioner in Britain for Ta Kung Pao, and worked as a war correspondent for several years during World War II. After several years of soaking the corpses of shells, Xiao Gan carried a bloody and wolf nature unique to war. For Wen Jieruo, this wolf nature is like the dashing and proud of the ancient quacks, which deeply attracted her, and even influenced her translation style later.
Wen Jieruo was shy and weak, Xiao Qian was mature and free, and the two people of the opposite sex attracted each other and gradually came together.
Two
"He's smart, humorous, well-written, and funny." Wen Jieruo explained the reason why he liked Xiao Qian in fifteen words.
But there seem to be many reasons to prevent them from being together.
Wen Jieruo and Xiao Qian's first date was bumped into by a colleague, and the first thing that the colleague did after discovering their relationship was to persuade Wen Jieruo to break up, "You look at Xiao Gan's appearance, his hair is also a little bald, doing work exercises, and his stomach is already too strong to bend down." How can you fall in love with someone like that?"
Wen Jieruo had her own ideas. She is not a silly white sweet who does not want bread in love, she thinks that Xiao Gan is married, and it is indeed quite troublesome to have a child, but this person is learned, English is good, and people are also very funny, she feels that the young men around her are too naïve, and they have not read any books, which is not suitable for her.
In fact, Wen Jieruo can also understand the thoughts of others, in their eyes, there are many reasons why Xiao Qian is not suitable for her. One is age, the second is divorced, and there is a son, and the third is that the gap in life experience is too large, so almost no one is optimistic about their relationship.
However, if Wen Jie is not shackled by the eyes of others, she listens to pertinent advice, but she knows that she should follow her heart to make decisions. No matter how much others say, they can't bear the consequences of making decisions for them. The days are lived by the two of them, and no one else can intervene in anything.
As for Xiao Gan's emotional entanglement, Wen Jieruo just said: "In the past, he abandoned others once, and the next two times he was abandoned, he is actually not that complicated." After figuring this out, Wen Jieruo was finally able to let go of the burden and get along with the person she liked.
It's just that compared to Wen Jieruo's fearlessness, Xiao Qian is a little hesitant.
Xiao Qian has experienced three failed marriages and considers himself a "kite with a broken thread", he has long known that his credibility has disappeared in the eyes of outsiders, and he has long lost his thoughts about love. But at this time, Wen Jieruo entered his world, Wen Jieruo and he had many common ideas and interests in words, and he was also a little moved by this simple and brave girl at first.
It's just that his own emotional experience is really bumpy, and he really didn't have any confidence in going to the end with her at first. Xiao Qian often said: "I often hold a hot heart to look at women", but after meeting Wen Jieruo, he felt that he was lucky after all, this girl was different from the ones he had met before, and he didn't want to let go.
Moreover, the girl also said to him: "The days are ours, not others", which finally made him decide that he wanted to be with her.
After staying in the crowd for so long, I almost forgot that in this world, we are only each other's, not others. I don't have to weigh or hesitate, I'm fearless and invincible.
On April 30, 1954, Wen Jieruo and Xiao Qian got married, and they did not have a wedding, but simply went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a certificate. Wen Jieruo finally made her own decision and married the man she loved.
Xiao Qian was also very satisfied, saying that this was the "beginning of happiness", he waited for forty years, and finally waited for a home, waiting for her.
After marriage, the life of the two is ordinary and busy, the two continue to cooperate in writing at work on weekdays, and there is also the romance of the newlywed in private, Xiao Gan bought an onyx pin for Wen Jieruo, inscribed with the word "Xuezi", which is Wen Jieruo's nickname, which just complements Xiao Gan's nickname "Lezi".
After three years of marriage, the two had two children, and their income became more and more prosperous, and the family lived happily.
Three
Qian Zhongshu once said: "Xiao Gan has good English and talent, but unfortunately he will not protect himself." ”
Wen Jieruo recalled this sentence and agreed very much. The happy days after marriage did not last long, but they were forced to stop due to the fierce political storm of 1957. Xiao Gan was branded as a rightist and criticized for writing a personnel-related article, and Xiao Gan was somewhat unacceptable but could not do anything.
But the storm is much more than that, after Xiao Qian's experience was criticized and released, the two were forced to separate, Wen Jieruo was a little unable to withstand the blow, and their third child unfortunately died in the belly, and this news once again hit the precarious family hard.
Xiao Gan's mental state became worse and worse, and in the ten-year catastrophe, Xiao Gan was once again caught as a target, and Wen Jieruo was criticized together. In the end, Xiao Gan could no longer accept this mental torture.
The literati of that era were a little arrogant and high-spirited, and they couldn't stand the insults of personality, not to mention Xiao Qian with a wolf nature in his bones. At that time, people often committed suicide by throwing themselves into the lake. Xiao Gan walked around the lake every day, looking for opportunities, but later someone guarded the lake and did not let him approach, so he had to think of other methods.
Xiao Gan thought very thoughtfully, he first drank half a bottle of erguotou for himself, and then swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills, and was afraid that he would not die thoroughly, and also found a copper-headed lamp, intending to take it and put it in the water tank and die of electrocution.
It's a pity that God doesn't take him. The second pot head accelerated the effect of the sleeping pill, and before he reached the water tank, he lost consciousness and collapsed in the doorway.
Wen Jieruo is still afraid when she thinks back to this day, if not for a street activist passing by the door and sending him to the hospital in time, otherwise she really didn't know how to live alone.
After Xiao Gan "died" once, he could better understand the desire for "life", and he decided not to do stupid things anymore. After the rescue, the first thing he did was comfort his wife. Xiao Gan took the bun, looked at Wen Jieruo at the other end of the cafeteria, and silently promised her: I will never look for death again.
Wen Jieruo's hanging heart finally fell after hearing his reply.
Four
In these difficult years, the situation was turbulent, and if Xiao Qian and Wen Jie had to be separated for a long time, their lives would not be easy. In the hardest time, Xiao Qian and his son could only shrink into a bucket room of less than ten square meters, while Wen Jieruo slept in the office every day in a "bed" made of eight chairs.
This kind of life lasted for ten years.
After a long time, finally waiting for the end of the ten years of turmoil, Wen Jieruo and Xiao Gan's treatment finally gradually improved. In 1979, Xiao and Wen's family moved to a house near the moat, and then Xiao Qian served as the director of the Central Museum of Culture and History and other important positions, and gradually became active in literary forums, and Wen Jieruo also participated in many literary exchange activities.
"Translate a heirloom work and compose a heirloom story".
The two who resumed their translation work also gradually regained their original intention of writing work. Soon, a "big job" found them. Li Jingduan, the president of Yilin Publishing House, came to visit with the heavy "Ulysses", and Xiao Qian did not want to take this job at first, for a simple reason. The two of them are old, and he is worried that his wife's body will not be able to stand such a big project.
But Wen Jieruo wanted to try it very much, although considering the difficulty of this work, she still couldn't help Li Jingduan's persuasion, so she first took part of the translation alone and asked Xiao Gan to help her proofread. At first, Xiao Qian was still dissatisfied with her unauthorized translation, but then she became serious in the process of proofreading, and finally agreed to translate with Wen Jieruo.
The subject matter of "Ulysses" is special and the content is obscure. Over the past four years, they worked an average of fifteen or six hours a day, flipped through major books, and consulted more than a dozen people before finally completing the translation work. But in Wen Jieruo's memories, such a hard and busy four years were the happiest time in her life.
During this time, they worked together every day with a clear division of labor. Sometimes they argue over the translation of a word, and sometimes they hand over a cup of tea when the other person is tired. They are each other's most important working partners and indispensable life partners.
Ulysses is an extremely important translation of Wen Jieruo and Xiao Qian's lifetime, and it is still one of the main translations in China. And the story of Wen Jieruo and Xiao Qian's translation of this work was also passed down as a good story in later generations.
"I just want to weave a handful of silk and make a cup of honey. The wheel of history depends on all ambitious Chinese to advance, and we hope to do our best to achieve this. ”
On February 11, 1999, Xiao Qian, who had devoted his life to literary translation, died in Beijing. After her husband died, Wen Jieruo did not feel that Xiao Qian had left him. In the time since then, she has continued her translation work, and has also begun to edit and organize Xiao Gan's book translation collections, often reminiscing and chatting with guests about their husband and wife life. As far as Wen Jieruo was concerned, Xiao Qian had never left her.
Wen Jieruo and Xiao Qian's love has gone through prejudice, life and separation, and death, and now this lovely old man has lived his lover in his heart, continues to live, and is immortal for years.
Author | Sisi
Proofreading | Erxin