On the holidays, take a walk like Walzer

Editor's note: Walzer is a writer of modern German-language literature on a par with Muzier and Kafka. He has worked in a variety of jobs, including assistant, office clerk. In 1905, he went to Berlin with his brother, where he studied at a servants' school and wrote at the same time. He said that as long as he saved a little money, he quit his job in order to be able to create without interruptions. In 1913, Walzer left Berlin and returned to Switzerland, where he became "a ridiculed and unsuccessful author". He was alcoholic, insomnia, auditory hallucinations, nightmares, and anxious. On Christmas Day 1956, he died in the snow during a walk.

In contrast to the aspirations of his contemporaries, Walzer chose to use his pen to sculpt the subtleties of the everyday. Because he believes that everyday things are beautiful and plump enough to spark poetry from them. In "Walking", he depicts a sudden walk. One beautiful morning, the desire for a walk came to him, so I put on my hat and left the writing room or the ghost hut and ran down the stairs. On the way, he saw swallows, gentlemen saying goodbye to each other, and a gold-lettered signature bakery...... Walzer's text unfolds along the lines of chance encounters, and the walk becomes an act of freedom.

This holiday season, we might as well take a walk like Walzer.

"Walking"

Compiled by Robert Walzer and compiled by Wang Yukuan

Guangxi Normal University Press, 2023-11

"Walking"

撰文 | [瑞士] 罗伯特·瓦尔泽 翻译 | 王雨宽

All I have to say is this: One beautiful morning, I don't remember what time it was, and the thought of a walk came looking for me, so I put on my hat and left my writing room or ghost hut and ran down the stairs just to get out into the street as quickly as possible. To add, I bumped into a woman in the stairwell, she could be a Spaniard, Peruvian or Creole. Her appearance exudes some pale and withered solemnity. But I had to strictly forbid myself to linger for the Brazilian woman or the woman of unknown origin, not for two seconds, because I couldn't waste time and space.

Today, as I write about all this, I can only remember stepping on an open, bright street, and a romantic sense of adventure evokes joy in my heart. The world unfolded before my eyes in the morning, as beautiful as it had first seen. Everything I saw left a lovely impression on me as friendly, kind, and youthful. Soon, I forgot about the meditative meditation I had spent in my small upstairs room in front of a blank page. All sorrow, all pain, all heavy thoughts seemed to be gone, though I could still clearly feel a certain solemn heaviness, a voice that echoed in front of and behind me. I look forward with joy to all that I might encounter and encounter during my walk.

My steps are unhurried, calm and steady, and as far as I know, when I walk on my own path like this, I am able to express a great deal of my majestic qualities. I like to hide my feelings from others, but I don't bother to panic, I think it's a huge mistake and a deep folly.

People walk along Chowpatty Beach in Mumbai, India, December 18, 2023.

I passed through a wide, bustling square, and within twenty or thirty paces, I came upon Professor Merry, the best of the best. Professor Merry walked with solemn, solemn and noble steps as an unquestionable authority, and he held in his hand a walking cane commonly used by academics, and that invincible cane was planted in my heart with fear, awe, and reverence. Professor Merry had a stern imperial and general's nose, as sharp as a mountain eagle or a goshawk, and his mouth was closed as tightly as a law. His famously scholarly steps are like a solemn statute, and under Professor Merry's thick eyebrows and resolute gaze shimmer the afterglow of world history and long-lost heroic deeds.

His hat is like a ruler who cannot be subverted. A ruler who hides his identity as a ruler is the most arrogant and hard-line ruler. On the whole, however, Professor Merry behaved modestly, and seemed to feel that under no circumstances was necessary to make anyone perceive the status and weight of what he represented, and that even though he seemed very cold and strong, his image made me feel familiar, for I could tell myself that those who laughed neither sweet nor good-looking were often honest and reliable. As we all know, there are scoundrels who are accustomed to playing the good and the good, and they have the terrible gift of being able to smile kindly and well-behaved at the evil deeds they have committed.

I smelled the scent of booksellers and bookshops, and at the same time I had a hunch and realized that I would soon arrive and speak of a bakery decorated with pompous gold letters. But before that, I met a pastor or priest. A friendly, dignified-looking urban pharmacist rode or pedaled a bicycle next to me, a prodigian, and a military doctor from the headquarters or regimental headquarters passed by.

An unpretentious pedestrian cannot be ignored or forgotten, after all, he is begging me to mention him kindly. He was a thrift dealer or rag peddler who made a fortune. Boys and girls chase and run freely and unfettered in the daylight. "They should not be restrained," I thought, "and there will come a time when the years of growth will frighten and bind them, but it will be too soon, and God will regret it." "A dog resting by a spring. Swallows appeared before my eyes, chirping in the blue sky. I've also seen one or two hipster girls in exaggerated short skirts and fancy colorful heeled boots, and hopefully they'll stand out like anything else.

A man and his son walk along the shores of Lake Cochiborca in Granada, Nicaragua, June 5, 2023.

Two sun hats or straw hats caught my eye. They were two men's straw hats: under the bright and soft sky, these two hats suddenly appeared before my eyes, and below them were two distinguished gentlemen, who gracefully removed and waved their hats, as if to say good morning to each other. Obviously, in this ritual, the hats themselves carry more weight than their wearers and owners. As an aside, one has to very respectfully implore the author of this article to refrain from mockery and sarcasm, which are in fact inconsequential. He had to be begged to be serious, and hopefully he would know what to do now.

A grand and well-stocked bookshop naturally came into my sight, and I intend to make a brief and quick visit to it out of interest and instinct, so that I do not hesitate to step into the bookshop and display myself with a distinctly urbane demeanor, but I am a little worried about whether I will behave too much like a censor, or a book collector or connoisseur who has come to inquire about the news, rather than a generous buyer and a good customer that bookstores like to see.

In a polite and extremely cautious tone, I carefully inquired about the latest and greatest works in the field of high literature. "May I," I asked timidly, "what is the most solid and serious work of literature at the time? No one knows better than you what I am referring to, a book that is not only loved by readers, but also praised by the fear-driven critics, and whose influence will only grow. You can't believe how much I want to know right away which of the books or works on display is the one that is so beloved. If nothing else, just one look at that book will make me an excited buyer. I longed to know the most popular writers in the literary world, to see his masterpiece to the applause of the innumerable ones, and perhaps to buy the book right away, and these desires were crashing into my limbs and making them rattle. May I respectfully beg you to show me that great success, that I may quench the desire that has taken over my whole body, so that it may no longer disturb me. ”

A man walks along the beach in a horse-drawn carriage in Gaza City, June 14, 2023.

"Willing to help. The bookseller replied. He disappeared like an arrow before my eyes, and in the next second, he returned to the hungry buyer and bookworm with the best-selling, most widely circulated, and timeless book. He carefully held the precious spiritual artifact in the palm of his hand, as if he were holding a holy object. His face was fascinated, his expression radiated with the most sublime awe, and his lips were filled with a smile that only believers and the most pious of hearts would have, and he proudly laid before me the work he had brought. I looked at the book and asked:

"Can you swear this is the most popular book of the year?"

"There is no doubt about it. ”  

"Can you claim that this is the book that must be read?"

"非读不可."

"Is this book really good?"

"This is a redundant and impertinent question. ”

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I said coldly. I left the book in its place, the one that had been circulating so much because it had to be read, and left quietly without saying a word. "Uneducated, ignorant fellow!" Of course, the seller has the right to be angry and angry and has the right to yell at me. However, I shouted at him, and walked calmly and calmly, straight to the nearest large financial institution, and I will soon explain in detail and explain the purpose of my trip.

I think it is necessary for me to state in advance that I went there to obtain reliable information about certain financial securities. "Raiding a financial institution," I said to myself as I thought, "it's nice to negotiate the economics and figure out the issues that make me mutter, and obviously there's a lot of benefit." ”

"It's great to have you here in person, and you couldn't have come at the right time. At the counter, a conscientious bank clerk said to me very kindly, and he smiled a little like a prank, but in any case, it was a kind and lively smile. He continued: "As I said earlier, it's good that you came to us personally.

On March 27, 2022, in Tokyo, Japan, local cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and citizens stroll among the flowers to take pictures.

We are about to send you a letter, and now we can inform you in person, which is undoubtedly good news for you, that we have been commissioned by a benevolent association or circle of women, who are evidently very kind to you, concerning a thousand francs, and this is not a loan, but on the contrary, the money will be recorded in your name in the best possible way, and you will certainly prefer it, and we confirm it with you, and if you wish, you may now write down the good news and write it down in your head or as you see fit. We speculate that this money will make you happy, and frankly, you give us the impression that we would like to ask your pardon for being too blunt in saying that we think you seem to be in desperate need of such kind and thoughtful relief at the moment. The money is at your disposal today. We can see that at this moment, a strong burst of joy falls on your face. Your eyes are glowing, the corners of your mouth are smiling, maybe you haven't smiled like this for a long time, the suffocating firewood, rice, oil and salt have taken away your smile, maybe for a long time, you have been immersed in gloomy emotions, allowing all kinds of angry, sad thoughts to cast a haze on your forehead. Rub your hands together when you are happy, and you should be glad that noble and gracious philanthropists are touched by noble ideas, that it is good to help people solve their problems, that they think of a poor and frustrated poet (right, you are a poet?), and that he must be in need of financial assistance. We congratulate you, because there are still people in this world who are willing to think of you with condescension, because not everyone will be indifferent to a poet who is often despised and his existential dilemma. ”

"The money that has accidentally flowed into my hands by donation from the hands of kind-hearted goddesses or women," I said, "I would like to keep it temporarily in your place, which is equipped with a safe which is indispensable for fire and theft, so that the contents may be safeguarded in the best possible way, and from any kind of damage or destruction." You'll even be able to pay interest. Can I please give me a receipt? I thought that I have the right to withdraw a small amount from this large amount at any time according to the circumstances. I want to make it clear that I'm very frugal. I will treat this gift like a man of moderation and purpose, I mean, I understand how to use it sparingly, and for the giver I will send them a letter to express my gratitude sincerely and politely, and I would like to write this letter tomorrow morning, lest it be forgotten by delay. As for the opinion you have just expressed frankly about me, that you think I am poor, even if it is your judgment based on intelligent and accurate observation. But it is enough for me to know my own situation, and I am the one who knows me best. Outwards are often deceiving, sir, and the best course of action is to leave the right to judge a person himself. No one knows himself better than a man who has been through the vicissitudes of life. Although I have been lost thousands of times in fog, ups and downs, and difficulties, I often feel that I have been tragically abandoned. But I think the struggle is beautiful. A man will not be proud of the pastimes and recreations in which he participates. It is only after bravely overcoming adversity and patiently enduring hardships that he can feel joy and pride from the depths of his soul. But I'd better not say anything more. What upright man can never be helpless in life, and what human hopes, blueprints, and dreams can survive the years unscathed? Where can a soul fulfill its longings, fulfill its bold wishes, and make sweet and noble fantasies of happiness come true without any cost?"

A receipt of 1,000 francs was delivered and handed to me, and the depositor and the person associated with the account were none other than me, and I was allowed to add, delete or modify it. Rejoicing in the magic windfall that had fallen from the sky, I walked out of the high, beautiful cash trading room and went under the free sky to continue my walk.

(This is an excerpt from "A Walk: A Collection of Robert Walzer's Short Stories", published with permission from the publisher.) ）