Author: Qin Luzhi
Hou Baolin once told me about some of the characteristics of people when they are old, which boil down to four sentences: the new can't remember, the old can't forget, they can't take a nap when they sit, and they can't sleep when they lie down. These four sentences must be said in Mandarin to rhyme and have taste.
Earlier, I was young and didn't have any understanding of these four sentences, but now they are really fulfilled without falsehood. I often sit and sit now and involuntarily close my eyes, and I am more likely to be sleepy in the sun in winter; I wake up suddenly, and I have an extra blanket on my body, which my family is afraid of my cold.
Recently, because I was sorting out the old manuscript of "Fifty Years of Gai Called Heavenly Drama" that I had written before, I couldn't help but think of some fragmentary scenes in the early 1950s that often went to Gai's hometown to "visit the door". Once, I went with Hou Baolin. Later I wrote a small feature that was published in the then "Yi Bao". Exactly what was written, I did not cut this thing out for posterity, and it is also very difficult to find it now, forget it.
Gai Mingtian and Yu Zhenting's "Heroic Righteousness"
Gai Lao lived in Baokangli, Huaihai Middle Road in his early years, that is the back door; the front door faces the east of Xing'an Road near Songshan Road, my family also lives in Xing'an Road, in the west near Yandang Road, it is very convenient to cover the old home. When I went, it was always at two o'clock in the afternoon, and The old man had woken up from his nap and talked more energetically. I also met several people I admired in my hometown, one was the Chinese painter Wu Hufan, wearing a black robe, wearing black glasses, and a black hair combed backwards. His family lives on Songshan Road, and he is also very close to his hometown, and he is estimated to be a regular customer. In the guest hall of Gai's hometown hangs a famous couplet: "The English name Gaidai Three Forks, the masterpiece Is Earth-shattering Cross Slope", which was written by Wu Hufan, and the couplet is very cleverly embedded in Gai Lao's real name and stage name. I remember that Wu Hufan always sat on a Taishi chair at the left end of the guest hall, as if he rarely spoke, and when he saw me, he sat for a while and left.
He also met Guan Liang, who wore a suit and was also a close friend of Gai Lao, and painted oil paintings for several famous works of Gai Lao. It is very childishly drawn, like a child's drawing.
To be honest, I don't understand the mystery of this. Perhaps the artist's art has reached an extremely profound point and returned to the basics, showing a kind of childlike interest and revealing the essence of the characters.
Guan Liangzhi's painting of "Wusong Fighting Tiger"
I also saw an old man with white beard and white hair, a large bulge on his forehead, wearing glasses, and I heard that he was dumb, but his ears were not deaf. Elder Gai said to me: Don't underestimate him, his name is Wang Yifang, is the uncle (or uncle) of Wang Xiaofang, the basic actor of the Golden Theater, Wusheng Wang Xiaofang. ), a good kung fu, in the early years of the Guanwai is very famous, the best play is "Iron Cage Mountain", he played the face of Jiang Wei, a "up-and-coming", a sound, but the kung fu is very handsome.
Once, I also met Zhang Yipeng, the famous "Monkey King of Jiangnan", the eldest son of Gai Lao, wearing a gray robe and holding a teacup in his hand, and listening respectfully to what his father said. Gai Mingtian unfortunately broke his leg on the stage around the age of fifty, and the performance contract on the big stage was replaced by Zhang Yipeng, first acting in the traditional old drama, and then acting in the "Journey to the West" on the stage, which was performed for four consecutive years, and the grand situation did not fade. Zhang Yipeng's old drama is most famous for hearing about "Yaguan Lou", the story of Tang Li Cunxiao's capture of Meng Juehai.
Zhang Yipeng's "Yaguan Lou"
Ye Shenglan, a famous young student in the north, is also good at performing this play, and the difference between the style and Zhang Yipeng's performance can also be said to have its own advantages and disadvantages. Zhang Yipeng unfortunately died young in his forties, and When Gai Lao heard the news, he sighed sadly: "The yellow plum has not fallen and the green plum has fallen, and the white-haired person sends the black-haired person (the lyrics of the Peking Opera "Ma On Shan"). Since then, my grandfather has been responsible for the heavy responsibility of cultivating several grandchildren (Zhang Yipeng's son) to continue the family style and dedicate himself to art.
Although I wrote the serial "Fifty Years of Gai Call heavenly drama", although I left newspaper clippings, but in hindsight, I always felt that the content was not rich enough, and I always wanted to take a period of time to live in Gai's hometown, and then ask him to make some supplements. This wish was brewed for a long time, until one Saturday morning in the early winter of 1955, when I came to the "Yannan Jilu" in Jinsha Port, Hangzhou. Don't want To Gai Lao said: "You are late, I will go back to Shanghai tomorrow, there is a mission." The old lady said, "Whether you are here or not, the old man will go to visit a few people in the afternoon, and by the way, he will resign with them, and you will accompany him!" "Who are those people?" I forgot that one of the things I remember was Kuang Yaming, then deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the East China Bureau (later president of Nanjing University), who was recuperating in Hangzhou and staying in a hotel near the lake. When Gai and I went to age, it was already dark, and outside the window of Minister Kuang's room, we seemed to be able to see the quiet water of the lake. Gai Lao and Minister Kuang talked for a while and introduced me, and Minister Kuang probably joked with me: "You have earned a lot of writing fees by Relying on Gai Lao!" Gai Lao listened and quickly covered for me: "No, no, he is very good to me." "That night I slept in the room of "Yannan Jilu". It was an old fashioned large bed with mosquito nets. Before going to bed, Gai Lao came to take care of me, and at night there will be squirrels sneaking in and slamming the door with their paws, you don't have to be afraid... I didn't hear the squirrels slamming the door this night, but the air was unusually cold, and I didn't sleep very calmly. The next morning, he returned to Shanghai with the elderly couple.
Cover called the sky to talk about the play
We in the press and publishing community earlier had a rest house in Hangzhou. I went there once in 1954 and I wanted to go again in 1956. I told the person in charge of the rest house, can you let me be free this time? Some of the group tours were not participated, and the retreat agreed. On days when you don't participate, go see Gai Lao.
This afternoon, I accompanied Elder Gai to listen to the book, and he actually accompanied me to the rest center to visit everyone and take photos with everyone.
The old Shanghai family moved to a bungalow on Donghu Road, and I went more often. I remember that it was a hot afternoon, I went, and the old lady said: "Come just in time, help the old man entertain the guests." "It turned out that this night, Gai Lao was going to invite guests to eat Western food at the Swan Pavilion on Huaihai Road, and let me go first." At that time, the Swan Pavilion had not yet installed air conditioning, and although the second floor was very empty, it was too hot to be done. After a while, Gai Lao came and said humorously, "Hey, it's so warm here..."
One night I went to his house, and the Yellow Couple was there. In the living room of gai's hometown, there is a big drum (like the one in "Scolding Cao"), and the organist is present. Guy insisted that I sing a piece. I sang it, and it was really bad, but Gai Lao said that the taste was still good. Huang Bao was very interested that day, first sang a flower face and then sang a piece of Xiaosheng, which was the section that Zhou Yu sang in "The Gathering of Heroes", "Life is difficult to get together and disperse". Gai Lao did not sing, played drums, accompanied by Hu Qin, and Gai Lao played the song "Deep in the Night".
After the "anti-rightist" period, although I took off my hat, I also disappeared and did not go to my hometown, I was very aware that my identity was different, and I was afraid of bringing bad influence to the elderly with lofty reputation. After that, it was no longer possible to listen to Gai Lao's funny conversation in person.
("Interview with Gai Called Heaven")
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