I never imagined before that such a title could be anchored in a wise, deep bookish writer like Borges. In our hearts, he has always been such an image - "the pursuit of peace, tranquility and pleasure, away from emotions, sexual desires... And thus gain freedom. ("Borges" by Jensen Wilson, translated by Xu Liqian) In the past few days, after reading the "Biography of Borges" published by east China Normal University Publishing House (by Edwin Williamson, translated by Deng Zhongliang and Hua Jing), I realized that this metaphysical master is also like us who desire secular men, scarred in front of love, and suffered a lot.
Of course, in some other texts and many of his poems, I know that he is keen to chase love, and I can also know a little bit from the fact that he often dedicates a novel or poem to different ladies. What's more, for example, the first edition was dedicated to X, and after some years, perhaps the spark of love had long been extinguished, and when it was published again, he had other favorite objects, and he dedicated it to Y. His way of presenting the problem, like a child, originally gave a toy to a good partner, but they broke up, and he took the toy back and gave it to his newly made playmate. In this gamble-like innocence, there seems to be a hint of loss.
Blog fans know that Borges's first sexual experience was terrible, giving him a lifetime of psychological trauma that will be indelible. According to Argentine custom at the time, when he was nineteen years old, the father had to help his son complete a "rite of passage". So Lao Bo asked Xiao Bo to go to the Qinglou, and he had already arranged everything properly... Old Bo has a lot of skills and experience in this regard, the prostitute with the mission to help Xiao Bo "adult", there is a good chance that old Bo is a good friend of Old Bo, Borges researchers think so - sharing the same woman with his father, how does this call the timid and shy Borges face it? Later in his career, Borges's pure spiritual hunting notes were precisely because of this "physical transaction" that embarrassed him.
There was no doubt that the coming-of-age ceremony was a mess.
But Borges could not live without women, and this unusually strong need may have been inherited from his father. It is always said that "sexual encounters make people sad". Ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, the reality of the book, we have read and seen all kinds of bizarre and sentimental sexual encounter stories. But an affair that happened to Borges's father was more bizarre than bizarre, more sad than sad. The old Borges learned to be mellow and temperamental. When people reach middle age, cracks appear in their emotional lives with their wives. At that time, because of family genetics, vision began to blur. One day on the streets of Geneva, an elegant woman appeared before his eyes, and he immediately wanted to move, and went up to the woman and flirted. As soon as the play began, he was angrily attacked by the other party: "Jorge, can you stop making trouble, why don't you let me be quiet and quiet!" "Oh my God, it turned out that the person being flirted with was his wife, Leonor Josévedo. This is a world-class affair that Borges's mother told her friends about her "avant-garde" husband.
Borges's emotional pursuit is no less than his father, in this "Biography", we see that Borges in different periods is always close to different women, but he is suffering, always being changed and rejected by women again and again. But it is his experience of being infatuated again and again, frustrated and beaten again and again, that brings him unlimited creative passion. In the book "Borges Eighty Memories", interviewer Barnstone asks him, is it true that some failures and mistakes lead people to disaster, while others bring us unexpected good luck? Borges said, yes, but what can be done about all this? All of it – wrong women, wrong behavior... All this, even misfortune, is a tool of the poet. Setbacks, humiliations, and failures are all gifts from Heaven to us, making every moment of life poetic. "I don't think you're going to write anything when you're happy."
Of the women who passed through Borges's life like running water, the one who brought him the most "serious love injury" was Nora Lange. This magical red-haired woman, born into an artistic family, her tasteful mother has long held weekend literary meetings at home, nora has been influenced by literature since childhood, and published the poetry collection "Streets in the Night" before she was twenty years old. Nora combines her demonic nature with an angel, often mischievous, and often exudes tender emotions, which is precisely because of the serious uneasiness and longing caused by her father's early death. Edwin Williamson said that when she was twelve or thirteen years old, she was best at putting on a rain cloth, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, climbing up to the roof and shouting something in various languages that others could not understand, with scolding and screaming! This kind of discourse that no one can understand and invent on their own may be the source of poetry. So the verses after she came down from the roof were full of tenderness and imagination.
Not only is Borges caught up in Nora's love network, but many young literati have expressed their love to Nora with poetry and actions, and some people say that she "has a pair of dream-like eyes, full of tragic emotion and sweet; some say that she is an angel, and say no, she is an archangel, who can use magic to summon the night that flashes with light, so that life and death can walk together like a pair of sisters." (The Great Biography of Borges)
In addition to these literary juniors, there is also an elderly circle veteran who is also fascinated by Nora, but this Jun is a playboy, as long as he meets a beautiful girl, he will not let go easily, because he also has all kinds of capital to pursue women - demeanor, talent, wealth and status. We'll talk about this old guy later.
Borges ran to Nora Lange's house when he had nothing to do. Borges was twenty-five or six years old at the time. In the literary gathering, there is poetry, there is music, and nora's milonga dance, which is the most fascinating literary scene. Although Borges is usually somewhat pedantic and restrained, in a relaxed and familiar environment, he speaks amazingly, humorously, and any topic can be surprisingly brilliant in his narration. Nora once wrote: "The arrival of Georgie (Borges's nickname) suddenly brightened the night. Naturally, Nora, who was several years younger than Borges, became her righteous female disciple. Through the hints in Nora's poems, we can see that their feelings have also developed to an unprecedented intimacy. Before that, Borges experienced a failure of love, which came from the pressure of his own family and from his own indecision. Luckily, the relay race was like that, and now he had a real muse, Nora Lange.
But the good times were short-lived, and just as Nora was emerging as Borges's female disciple, she was about to change her mind. At a literary salon that Borges had taken her to, a man had easily swept Nora away. He was the attractive old man mentioned above, named Oliverio Girondo. At that time, he published a book called "Twenty Poems Read on the Tram", which caused a sensation in the literary world. Girondo saw the world with his sharp eyes and gave a sharp attack to the world. This collection of poems, erotic, explicit, violent, straight to the subject, people dare not look directly, but it has stirred the hearts of countless young people, and there is no way to escape.
This Girondo, who made Borges a little "afraid", was his literary rival, not only did they have differences in literary concepts, but each led a literary camp, and earlier because Girondo set up a publishing house, the name infringed the magazine founded by Borges, causing various contradictions and disputes. Although they were both of noble birth, Borges belonged to the urban middle class, and Girondo's family was an elite ruling class. Their personalities are very different, Borges is introverted, gentle, and humble; Girondo is strong, arrogant, and tough. So it was clear that Girondo had the upper hand.
Nora is effortlessly "sucked" by Girondo, like in a novel or movie. I don't know if it was a coincidence or a mystery, at the dinner after the event, Nora found herself sitting next to Girondo, and at first she was attracted by the man's sexy and deep voice, so nervous that she knocked over the red wine on the table. Girondo whispered in her ear, causing Noro to pull his heart abnormally, and was instantly electrified: "Blood will flow between us." ”
Not surprisingly, Nora Lange fell in love with the literary leader, who was fifteen years older than her, and left poor Borges on the spot and followed Girondo home. You can imagine how painful and desolate Borges's heart will be. If the opponent is any other, Borges will be much less hurt, how can it be expected that this nemesis. It was a real misfortune and shame, as if God had made a vicious joke.
Visiting Nora Lange's family was Borges's happiest time and his most memorable event, all of which remained in the poem given to their sisters.
Ordinary
The grille door in the garden opens
Obedience is like a sheet
Frequent habits often add pages of inquiry
And once inside, our eyes
No need to look at those
Something that is certain in memory.
I know habits and minds well
And that kind of hidden jargon
Every group of people is weaving them;
I don't need to talk
I don't have to pretend to be privileged; people around me know me well.
They know my worries and weaknesses.
This is the highest acquisition.
God may give it to us:
There is no wonder and no victory
It is simply to be simply accepted
As part of an undeniable reality,
Like those stones and grass.
Later, the person who often visited Nora's house became Oliverio Girondo. Abandoned by love, Borges feels like Adam has been expelled from the Garden of Eden. But in the long years to come, Borges still loved his goddess unabatedly, and whenever he had the opportunity, he continued to attack, hoping to one day regain the favor of love. As mentioned earlier, Girondo is a playboy who makes his home all over the world and often leaves Nora to travel around the world to collect flowers and hunt flowers, which makes Nora very miserable, but no matter what, she still can't leave him. In this way, Borges felt really hopeless, so he began to pursue Nora's sister. Her sister was very sympathetic to Borges and often helped him solve his problems, but when it came to marriage, no, she also ruthlessly rejected this "great frustrated person". This same frustration of being expelled from the Garden of Eden was a recurring theme that Borges wrote about until his later years.
Olivier Girondo's abilities and connections are so great that only such a big man can conquer Nora Lange, who is a combination of angels and demons. On a sea trip from Buenos Aires to Norway, Nora wrote a love adventure novel, Forty-Five Days and Thirty Seafarers. On the occasion of the novel's publication, Girondeau planned a lavish book launch for her. All guests attending the press conference must dress up as seamen as requested by Girondo. Nora is surrounded by seafarers like a beautiful siren, while Girondor is the "captain". The group photo of the seafarers at the press conference was published in the headlines of various newspapers in Buenos Aires. Even if Borges tries his best to avoid it, he will certainly hear and see such a literary event. As you can imagine, he was depressed and desperate.
Among the guests dressed as crew members were two literary moguls who were and are more well-known than Borges at the time and now— García Lorca and Pablo Neruda. So we know that Borges did not have any good feelings for these two in his life, and even had some hostile intentions. Although he was so excited and enthusiastic to read Lorca's poetry when he was young. But, no way, jealousy can kill everything.
Neruda and Lorca are not only good friends of Girondo, they also have a very good relationship with Nora, and even have some ambiguity. In the "Biography", it is written that Neruda and Nora were very compatible, and often showed their admiration for each other in public. They run and sing in the streets.
Nora shouted: Pabru, tonight I'm going to sleep with you.
Neruda responded: I will be very happy.
On another occasion the three of them quietly left the party scene at night to climb a tall tower. Neruda and Nora embraced passionately at the top of the tower, and he told Lorca to go down and set up the sentry, but the whistlekeeper was more excited than the thief, and accidentally broke his legs and lay in a hotel in a foreign country with his leggings tied for several weeks, which annoyed Lorga.
If Garcia wei is angry, then Borges, who was seriously injured by "love", even had a dead heart.
This article is excerpted from "Sadness Like a Sexual Encounter (Revised Edition)", written by Zhong Lifeng
The folk poet Zhong Lifeng, who is loved by literary and artistic youth, has taken a new revision and set off again!
Li Wan's preface, Li Jian | Wang Feng| Zhou Yunpeng| old wolf| Zhang Chu| Xu Zhiyuan | Poetic recommendation
"Sad like a sexual encounter (revised version)" + folk sail satchel (Jingdong exclusive customization)
Zhong Lifeng
Here is the intersection of literature and music: as the veteran music critic Li Wan said in the preface, his "words are filled with the beat and rhythm of music" and "the songs are full of literary clues", and when reading, you must feel it with his music.
Here is the intersection of inspiration and lens: Fellini's white horse, Hitchcock's train, Fassbinder's sensitivity and genius behind a series of childhood nightmares... Bringing the reader into the lens of an old black-and-white film in poetic language is not a film review in the usual sense, it is a moment of inspiration with one after another.
There is a brisk and profound intersection here: the book is full of caprice, flashes, fantasies, adventures, digressions, runs, jumps, joys, flights, lost, forgetting, as short as a three-minute cold bath, clean, subtle, zen; at the same time like Borges's garden, shining, staggered, a labyrinth, a constantly bifurcated trip, testing your intellect and interest.
There is a folk-style plucked lyric and a waltz jumping narrative, which is both a soft singing on paper without a soundtrack and a short journey through the flow of scenery.
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