Lu Xun will never go out of style.
Whenever you reread Lu Xun, you will re-read something profound, as if the characters in his pen were not more than a hundred years ago, but around us, or perhaps, he is not talking about fictional characters, but the real us.
When he was a young man, he was not afraid of heaven and earth, and there was no worldly leap earth in his eyes, but after facing life and shouldering responsibilities, he learned to weigh the pros and cons and live cautiously.
Because he is an adult, he no longer lives only for himself, and there are still a bunch of people in the family waiting for him to be responsible.
So even in the face of his former playmates, he whispered "master".
This voice of the lord is called the helplessness of life.
He talked about Kong Yiji, read for a few years, and knew a few words, but he didn't live better, he couldn't take off his long shirt, he looked down on his short shirt, he couldn't be high or low, he became a joke in the eyes of others, and he became a useless negative teaching material for reading.
Recently, I re-read "The True Story of Ah Q", only to find that most adults have more or less Ah Q's spirit, and in the face of life's helplessness, they are inevitably like Ah Q, and they need to find a strong reason to make everything seem bearable.
There are always many helplessness in life, and there are many responsibilities that cannot be easily discarded, which is probably the greatest sorrow of adults, they do not only live for themselves, so "spiritual victory" sometimes becomes extremely important, because when something cannot be changed, you have to comfort yourself, accept it, and even love it.
01
Ah Q is a small person, ordinary.
He came from an ordinary background, and he had no inheritance to inherit, not even a sheltered house.
Therefore, Ah Q is a typical "three-no" person, with no house, no car, and no deposit.
He had no home, so he lived in the Tugu Temple in Weizhuang.
He also has no fixed occupation, he can only do short-term work for others, the east needs to run to the east family, the west family needs to run the west family, if everyone doesn't need it, Ah Q has nothing to do.
The things he does are very miscellaneous, when he is harvesting wheat, he cuts wheat, when he is raking rice, he rakes rice, and when there is a boat to support, he props up the boat.
Some work is done for a long time, and Ah Q lives in the boss's house, which is probably a highlight moment for him.
But as soon as he was done, he had to leave.
Therefore, sometimes people think of Ah Q because they need to ask him for help.
This is Ah Q's life.
He worked, not enough to eat by himself, let alone buy a house and a car, he worked for a year, and in the end he made a year-end summary, only a few words, it's good, I didn't let myself starve to death this year.
Except that he was alive, he worked for a year, and there was nothing left.
Fortunately, Ah Q is alone, one person is full, and the whole family is not hungry, otherwise, he will probably live a more miserable life, and there are a few more words to add to the year-end summary: The wife is poor and runs away, and the baby is hungry and thin.
But Ah Q is a bit pretentious, he always thinks that he is amazing, and when others look down on him, he retorts, what are you, we were good before?
Our life is probably a little luckier than Ah Q, because we have endless work to do all year round, and there are endless shifts all year round.
So many people's year-end summary can probably look like this:
I was busy for a year, and I was a house slave, a car slave, and a child slave for a year.
We don't talk about the past, because the previous was really bad, but we will tell ourselves that if we suffer for a few more years, it will always be good.
In fact, there is no end to life, today there is today's suffering, tomorrow tomorrow will have tomorrow's suffering.
02
Ah Q has nothing but himself.
But there is hope.
In Weizhuang, the so-called Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Qian are very broad, and his son is a literary child, and he may be able to show off his talents in the future.
Ah Q still looks down on him and doesn't respect him.
Not because he's so remarkable, but because he thinks:
My son will be much wider.
He pinned his hopes on his descendants, hoping that his son would get ahead in the future and shine on the lintel.
Ah Q also went back to the city a few times and saw some things that the people of Weizhuang had never seen, so how would he educate his son?
Weizhuang called the bench a bench, and Ah Q felt that it was right.
But the people in the city called for a stool, so he would tell his son that it was wrong, that it was ridiculous.
The people of Weizhuang make fried big-headed fish, and they are sprinkled with half-inch-long green onion leaves, but what about the people in the city? They even add finely chopped green onions, and he will educate his son, which is also wrong, and the people in the city are really ridiculous.
When it comes to educating children, Ah Q will probably be like many people, giving children a lot of prejudice and a lot of traditions.
There is a kind of bird in the world that flies and flies desperately, but still can't fly other birds, so it lays an egg, hatches a little bird, and desperately urges the little bird to fly and fly, and flies desperately.
When the newborn bird is tired of flying, it will probably lay another egg and continue to urge the next generation to fly.
03
The above are all ordinary people's lives, even if it is not Ah Q, if you find a few people, we can all see these in him.
Because, after all, everyone has their own limitations and prejudices, Ah Q has lived in Weizhuang since he was a child, and everything he is accustomed to in Weizhuang will make him feel that these are the right ones.
Just as we are all around us with standard life, getting married at a certain age, buying a car and buying a house, if we don't reflect on it, we will also feel that life should be like this, because everyone else lives like this, and lives well.
But life is not just about these ordinary things, there are always some things in our lives that we can't change, but we have to accept.
Those things make us miserable.
So, we need to find all kinds of reasons to make ourselves comfortable, so that we can better end those things and work hard for those things.
Ah Q has a leper head, so he is always teased by others.
At this time, he estimated the opponent, and if it was soft, he would bully.
If he can't beat it, he glares angrily.
Even so, others didn't let him go, so Ah Q had no choice but to find a way for others to take revenge, so he said:
You're not worthy yet.
It is also an honorable thing to have a leprosy sore.
But thinking about it this way, Ah Q does feel much more comfortable.
Ah Q always comforted himself like this, he was beaten, he said that his son beat Lao Tzu.
He also wanted to resist, but the rebellion ushered in more beatings, and as a senior adult, Ah Q already knew it.
When we grow up, we will also encounter many things, since we can't change them, we will try our best to love them, such as doing jobs we don't like, wanting to leave but not daring to leave, afraid that we won't find a better job, so we tell ourselves that this is life, and everyone is like this.
When children are disobedient, they will also tell themselves that they were born and fell from themselves, because there are some things that we are helpless, so we can only find various reasons to comfort ourselves.
When you meet someone you don't like, you are so greasy that you may even move your hands and feet, you want to pour all the wine in the cup on the other party's face, but you say with a smile on your face, it's all for the money, it's all for those few "pocket fees".
We also want to rebel, but many times, we also know the consequences of rebellion.
Therefore, adults often live involuntarily because of some things, looking forward and backward, because many times, there is a family behind him, there is a social tradition, and standing beside him, there is only a void.
04
Most of the time, Ah Q can comfort himself like this, and the effect is not bad.
After the spiritual victory, he is a happy and energetic Ah Q.
However, Ah Q also had times of failure, and at that time, it was useless to comfort himself, he was unhappy, he was uncomfortable.
Once, Ah Q went to gamble and bet money, and unexpectedly, he won a lot of money.
Copper coins become horned oceans, horned oceans become oceans, and oceans become stacks again.
Ah Q was very happy.
He won.
But he also failed.
Because two more people at the gambling table suddenly fought, the table fell over, all the money fell, and Ah Q also took a few kicks, fell to the ground, and almost fainted.
When Ah Q reacted, the people were gone, the money was gone, and nothing was gone.
Ah Q thoughtfully returned to his residence, but his money was gone, and he could never be found.
said that it was taken by his son, but Ah Q still couldn't be happy, the money was his, after all, it was gone.
Saying that he is a pig and a puppy, he is still unhappy.
In short, his invincible spiritual magic weapon was useless, and all his self-anesthesia and self-consolation were useless.
He stretched out his hand and hit two mouths his face, which was hot and painful.
After the fight, Ah Q finally calmed down.
It seems that he beat Ah Q, who lost the money, and finally satisfied.
So, he fell asleep.
Ah Q's approach, if you think about it carefully, you will also feel very familiar, because in our lives, we will also encounter many similar scenes.
We can console ourselves when we live like normal people.
When we really can't convince ourselves, and we are in pain but don't know how to change, we inevitably want to give ourselves a few slaps.
Even if you don't beat yourself, it's like going out to go crazy, get drunk, wake up like being reborn, complain with your friends once, and it seems that you will vomit out unhappily, and you feel that you have put hope and the future in it.
05
Sometimes I often feel that Ah Q is around us, or even us at a certain moment.
Ah Q offended Mrs. Zhao, was severely repaired, and slapped in the mouth.
Ah Q walked out of Mrs. Zhao's house and lay down indignantly.
Later I thought:
"The current world is too unspeakable, and the son beats Lao Tzu ......"
So, the majestic Mrs. Zhao became Ah Q's son, and he himself became proud.
I got up and went to the hotel singing.
When he was happy and wanted to open it, he felt that Mrs. Zhao was superior.
But it's also strange to say that since Ah Q was repaired by Mrs. Zhao, he has become more famous, why is this happening? Because Mrs. Zhao is a celebrity, rich and powerful, whatever he says, it must be right, he is willing to condescend to repair Ah Q, that is, he can afford Ah Q.
And Ah Q was repaired, because he didn't hide his mouth and said that he was also surnamed Zhao and was from Mrs. Zhao's family.
Although everyone saw that Ah Q was beaten, I am afraid that this thing is wrong, but what if it is true?
Therefore, it is better to respect some steady, at least, it will not offend people.
You see, people complain about work, work deprives them of their lives, deprives them of their freedom, makes them work overtime, but work gives them money after all.
They use the money to buy back what they lost, and they use the money to buy what they like.
So I felt that this work was still very good.
Just like Ah Q was beaten, but he still felt that Mrs. Zhao was superior and must be respected.
Lu Xun said that the Chinese have two more periods:
The era when you want to be a slave but can't.
Temporarily stabilized the era of slaves.
Thinking of the pain of wanting to be slaves but not being able to, they would rather be able to stabilize the pain of slaves for the time being.
06
Kindness though is the slogan of this world.
But in human nature, in fact, bullying the soft and fearing the hard is the norm, unless a person has a very high cultivation, otherwise this is inevitable.
You see Ah Q, he is the biggest loser of that era, he is already the target of bullying in this society, but when he meets weaker people, he also bullies others.
Say what you would not do to others as you would have them do unto you, for some people, there is no such thing.
They are better than not winning, stronger than not winning, comparing them with the weaker, and then looking for a pitiful sense of superiority.
Mrs. Qian's eldest son entered the foreign school and cut his braids.
But when I came back, I didn't know why, but I made a fake braid for myself.
The braids are fake, and they simply lose their qualifications to be human.
That's what Ah Q thinks, so he "hates it".
Ah Q called him a fake foreign devil, but he only dared to secretly call in his heart, and he didn't dare to announce it at all.
Once, Ah Q was really angry, and when he thought about it, he said it softly, and Ah Q was beaten several times for this.
He did not dare to resist, he did not dare to take revenge.
But he was unhappy, and at this time, the little nun in the retreat came, and Ah Q found an outlet for his unhappiness:
I don't know why I'm so bad today, it's because I met you!
He spat at the nun and touched her freshly shaved scalp, saying obscene words that caused the people around him to laugh, and Ah Q himself laughed proudly.
He won.
The little nun cursed with a crying voice:
"This Ah Q who has no children and grandchildren!"
Ah Q listened and smiled very proudly.
"Hahaha!"
The people who watched the hilarity also laughed.
"Hahaha!"
Ah Q has won, the weakness of human nature has triumphed, and the higher humanity has failed, and it has been defeated.
But this is probably not just a story from more than 100 years ago.
Such stories are still happening today.
It will continue to happen in the future.
07
There is also a particularly important period in Ah Q's life, and he wants to change his fate.
So, he wanted to revolutionize.
Does Q understand revolution?
No, he didn't understand it at all, he only knew that some people were afraid of the revolutionary party, because the revolutionary party was going to the city, and all those old men had taken refuge in the countryside.
Originally, Ah Q had seen the Revolutionary Party beheaded, and he felt that the Revolutionary Party was a rebellion, and he hated it.
But now, even the old man is afraid, and Ah Q is fascinated again.
Ah Q thought:
"Revolution or not, the lives of these mothers are too hateful......! Even I, too, will surrender to the revolutionary party. ”
He couldn't help but shout:
Rebellion, rebellion.
The people of Weizhuang all looked at him with a frightened look.
Ah Q felt that the whole person was comfortable, as if he had drunk snow water in June.
The purpose of his participation in the revolution:
I have what I want, and I am who I like.
Because Ah Q shouted rebellion in his mouth, he didn't know anything and didn't do anything, but he was still arrested.
Ah Q is dead.
But he regretted that he couldn't write his name before he died, and even if he drew a circle, he didn't draw a circle.
Ah Q wants revolution, and many of us also want to change our fate, but we don't actually understand fate at all, and the fate we change is the same, but like Ah Q, "whatever you want is what", so they want more money, thinking that their fate will change when they have money.
In fact, many people's fate has not changed, and they still live badly, but let money take their lives, turn around and sell themselves to money, and become slaves of money.
This is a lifetime.
08
After being caught, there was a detail.
It's worth mentioning.
Ah Q saw those "big guys", his legs unconsciously weakened, and people told him not to kneel, but he still knelt down.
The man said disdainfully:
Slavery.
What is Slave Sex?
What I understand is that a person thinks of himself as inferior under authority or some kind of more powerful external force.
I remember that Lu Yao said in the novel "Life" that after Gao Jialin's job was replaced, he was angry and wanted an explanation, but his parents felt that the other party had hands and eyes to the sky, not only should not be resentful, but should be accompanied by a smiling face.
This is probably also a kind of servility.
Servility is unreasonable, it is about who is stronger, and whoever is strong obeys whom.
Ah Q was not very upset that he was put in a cell.
He felt that between the world and the world of life, there were about those who sometimes had to go to prison and sometimes draw circles on paper, but only the circles were not round, which was a stain on Ah Q.
But after a while, he was relieved, "Sun Tzu just drew a very round circle." ”
So, he slept soundly.
The next day, Ah Q was taken to the execution ground.
He died, but his spirit has been passed down from generation to generation, and it can be seen again in many people, and even people who laugh at themselves with this seem to be not a few.
I probably can't help but take Ah Q with me, so that he can live with me and live together in this world.
09
Reading "The True Story of Ah Q" again, I found that the most ironic thing about this story is not the tragic ending of Ah Q, but the fact that Ah Q always deceives himself when he encounters difficulties, and has no hope or behavior of a slave to change.
Of course, we can probably find a lot of reasons for Ah Q that cannot be changed, such as the limitations of the times, such as the traditional concept is too strong, the society is too backward, and he himself is uneducated and unaware of these things.
We can even say that if Ah Q had changed and become self-reliant, instead of blindly enduring what life had brought him.
Then he is probably not Ah Q, but "Old Q".
Back to reality, in fact, many times we are like this, obviously life is not what we like, but we don't want to change, because some changes mean that we will lose a lot, we may lose a stable job, lose a comfortable life, and let ourselves devote ourselves to an uncertainty.
Uncertainty, the unknown, is a scary thing that can be daunting.
As a result, people find all kinds of reasons to convince themselves to accept their lives without changing or taking risks.
However, it is precisely this idea that makes us "reincarnate" in the same thing forever.
We are constantly mentally numbing ourselves to allow ourselves to accept certain "troubles and pains" of life and say that that is life.
What is life, in fact?
Life is what we use our lives to live, and apart from this, there is nothing called life, and some are just our imagination of life.
10
Some people complain about life and their incompetence, but they do nothing when it comes to changing themselves.
Today I am mentally victorious, and I feel that everything is fine in life and that I can endure anything.
But in the dead of night, when they get along with themselves, they find that it is still unbearable, but what they think of is not to change, but to find a reason to bear.
But they just don't want to make big adjustments.
If you don't do what you haven't done, you can't live a different life.
But sometimes when I think about it, what kind of life they live is completely their own business, whether it is pain or complaining, it is all their own, what does it have to do with us?
Let them go about their lives and not have to be like crazy people trying to wake them up.
No, they were awake, everyone was awake, they were awake to shape themselves and shape themselves into what they are now.
They are awake now, and their choices and actions now determine their future lives.
That's it.
Bless you, all.
When you're fooling your life, fooling your life, your life is fooling you, and your life is fooling you.
Text|Not interesting soul & plain shoes