The author of Cambridge as I Know It.

May 2006 issue: Xu Zhimo

What I know about Cambridge (1) Most of the twists and turns in my life have found emotional clues. If nothing else, just study. I went to England to learn from Russell. I was already in the United States when Russell came to China. When the inaccurate news of his death spread, I really didn't have enough tears and made a mourning poem. I'm naturally glad he's not dead. I got rid of the temptation of Dr. Columbia University, bought a transatlantic ticket, and wanted to study hard with this 20th century Rothel. But I didn't know that things had changed until I arrived in England: first, I advocated peace in wartime, and second, I divorced. Russell asked Cambridge to get rid of him. He used to be a researcher at Trinity College and his scholarship was cancelled. After he returned to England, he lived in London, and the husband and wife made a living by selling things. So I didn't fulfill my original wish to learn. After spending half a year in the London School of Economics and Political Science, I met Mr. Dickinson when I felt bored and wanted to change my way. Dickinson is a famous writer, and his two booklets Letters from China and Modern Seminar have won my appreciation. I first met him at the League of Nations Association in London. On that day, Mr. Lin Zongmeng gave a speech. He was the chairman. The second time, I lived in Yu Meng and had tea with him. I will often go to his house in the future. He saw my boredom and advised me to go to Cambridge. He is a researcher at King's College. I wrote to inquire about these two colleges, and I replied that the places were full. Later, Mr. Dickinson agreed to let me go to his college and gave me a special qualification to attend classes at will. From then on, I occupied the scenery of black square scarf and black robe. At first, I rented several cabins in Shaston, a country six miles from Cambridge. My ex-wife, Ms. Zhang Youyi, lives with Yu Guo Shangjun. Every morning I go to school by tram (sometimes by bike) and go home at night. I spent a spring like this, but I was just a stranger in Cambridge and didn't know anyone. Life in Cambridge can be said to be tasteless. I only know a library, several classrooms, and three or two tea shops that eat cheap food. Dickinson is often in London or mainland China, so I don't see him often. That autumn, I went back to Cambridge alone for a whole school year. At that time, I had the opportunity to get close to the real life of Cambridge, and at the same time I slowly "discovered" Cambridge. I have never seen such great happiness. (2) "Loneliness" is an intriguing phenomenon. I sometimes think this is the first condition of any discovery. If you want to see your friend's truth, you must have the opportunity to be alone with him. If you want to find your true self, you must give yourself a separate chance. If you want to see a place (as spiritual as a place), you must have the opportunity to play alone. How many people can I meet in my life? Seriously? How many places can you know? We are all in a hurry and have no chance to be alone. To tell the truth, I don't even know much about my hometown. Cambridge, I think I have a good friendship. I may have a new understanding of Fei Lengcui again. Ah, those mornings, those nights, I was alone in Cambridge! Absolutely lonely. But how difficult is it for a person to write about his favorite object, whether it is a person or a place? You are afraid, you are afraid of destroying it, you are afraid of being annoyed by it, and you are afraid of being too cautious and failing. I want to write about Cambridge now, which is precisely the psychology. I didn't write it, and I know it's not good this time-besides, it was an improvisation. But I can't help writing. The last notice has been sent out. I want to write in two sections: first, the natural scenery of Cambridge as I know it; One is the student life in Cambridge as I know it. I can only write very briefly tonight, and I'll make it up when there is a party later. (3) The spirituality of Cambridge lies in a river; I dare say that He Kang is the most beautiful water in the world. The name of this river is Granta, and there is also a Kan River. There may be a difference between bunk beds, but I don't know. The river twists and turns. Upstream is the famous Byron Pool, where Byron once played. There is an old village called Gransted, and there is an orchard. You can drink tea in the shade of many peaches and plums. Flowers and fruits will fall into your teacup, and little birds will peck at your table. This is a world of difference. This is upstream; Downstream comes down from chesterton, and the river spreads out, which is the place for boating competitions in spring and summer. There is a dam at the boundary between upstream and downstream, and the water is very urgent. Listening to the sound of water under the starlight, listening to the bells near the village, and listening to the sounds of tired cattle and grass by the river are the most mysterious things in my Cambridge experience: the beauty and tranquility of nature, tuned in the tacit understanding of starlight and waves, accidentally drowned your soul. But the essence of He Kang lies in its middle strength, the famous "back", which is the building of several most famous colleges on both sides. From top to bottom, pembroke, St. Catherine, King, Claire, Trinity and St. John. The most unforgettable passage is the junction of Calea and Wang's Academy, and the beauty of Calea is close to the grandeur of King's Chapel. There are more beautiful and solemn buildings in other places, such as the Louvre on the Seine in Paris, the banks of Rialdo Bridge in Venice, and the emerald-colored Cui Weiwei Bridge. However, the "back" of Cambridge has its particularity, which cannot be easily summarized in one or two sentences. Its artistic conception is beautiful and elegant, which can be said to be beyond painting and lively music. Nothing is more harmonious and symmetrical than this group of buildings! On painting, only Connor's field can be compared; On music, only Chopin's Serenade can match it. Even this can't give you a vague impression. The beauty it gives you is simply a kind of spirituality. If you stand in the shade of the big citrus reticulata tree next to the Wangs College and look out, on the right, across a large shallow lawn, is our alumni residence (fraternity), which is not too early, but its charm is undeniable. Its pale stone wall is full of colorful roses swaying in the spring and summer breeze, and the church moves to the left, and the forest-like pavilion always points to the sky; On the left is Calea, ah! Who said that the incredibly exquisite square court was not the incarnation of St. Caria, and that stone did not shine with her holy spirit? On the back of Calea, the most expensive and luxurious Trinity College in Cambridge, an amazing Byron statue sits on the library building by the river. But at this moment, your attention has already been captured by Calea's three-ring tunnel bridge like magic. Have you ever seen Xiqiao Broken Bridge on the Bai Causeway of West Lake? (It's a pity that they have long been leveled by the automobile company that represents the ugly spirit of modern times, and now they have left this world forever with the desolate Lei Feng. You can't forget the mottled moss on the bridge, the antique wooden fence and the lakes and mountains leaking under the arch of the bridge, can you? Calea doesn't have such a decent canopy, and it's no better than Guanyin Bridge next to Louxian Temple in Lushan Mountain, with a bird's eye view of the Five Old Qifeng and a deep pool waterfall under it. It's just a small bridge with a three-ring hole, and the mouth of the bridge is only covered with fine waves and swaying shadows. Rows of small white stone balls on the bridge are just exaggerated decorations such as herbs and wild flowers on the head of the village girl. But you look intently, more intently, and then you reflect on your state of mind to see if there is any vulgar thought. As long as your aesthetic instinct is immortal, this is your chance to realize pure beauty and magic! But you still have to choose the time to enjoy it. The weather and climate in Britain are extremely bad. Winter is ridiculously bad. When it is foggy and blind, you must be willing to go to hell itself without hesitation. Spring (there is almost no summer in Britain) is even more ridiculous and lovely, especially in the most gradual and gorgeous dusk in April and May, which is really gold. A night by the He Kang River is a tonic for the soul. Ah! At that time, I was very sweet, alone, very sweet and carefree. Night after night, I saw myself leaning against the railing of the bridge and staring at the western sky:-Look at the quiet shadow of the bridge and count the ripples of mother-of-pearl: I leaned against the moss of the stone railing, and the moss cooled my heart; ..... There are several complicated scenes as delicate as gossamer: unforgettable July dusk, the trees in the distance are very quiet, like a mountain shape splashed with ink, lined with soft colors, and the wonderful meaning can only be captured at the edge of Qiu Meng; . On both sides of this river are the most lush lawns, which are evergreen all the year round. Looking from the upstairs of the alumni residence, there will always be more than a dozen oxen and white horses on the grassland on the other side, whether in the morning or in the evening. Their calves and hooves are not in the weeds, and they chew leisurely. The yellow flowers of the stars are turbulent in the wind, so they should be brushed with tail bristles. At both ends of the bridge, there are sloping weeping willows and orange shade to protect the water. It is completely clear, less than four feet deep, with long aquatic plants growing evenly. The lawn on the shore is my pet. In the Qing Dynasty, in the evening, I often went to sit on this natural brocade, sometimes reading and sometimes watching the water. Sometimes I lie on my back and watch the sky leave, and sometimes I embrace the gentleness of the earth. But the river is not only beautiful on both sides, you buy a boat to play. There are more than one kind of boats: ordinary paddle boats, light canoes, and the most chic longboats. The last one is not common in other places: it is about 20 feet long and 3 feet wide. You stand straight at the stern and walk with a long pole. This support is a technology. I am too stupid to learn. On the first attempt, it was easy to paddle the boat in the river and bump it around. English people don't laugh easily, but be careful of their silent wrinkles! I don't know how many times the original leisurely order in the river has been disturbed by my reckless layman. I really haven't learned it; Every time I rent a boat and try again, a white-bearded boatman often sarcastically says to me, "Sir, it's so hard to punt. It's exhausting in hot weather. Let's go for a walk in a canoe! " I was willing to obey, and the long pole pushed the boat away a little, and as a result, I cut the waist of the river. How effortless and beautiful it is for you to stand on the bridge and watch others help you! Especially on Sunday, there are several expert girls, wearing white mourning clothes, long skirts fluttering in front of the wind, wearing wide-brimmed tulle hats, and their shadows shaking among the water plants. Look at their posture when they came out of bridge opening, twist up a seemingly weightless long pole, and after a slight squat, the boat floated out of bridge opening. Their agility and lightness are really worth singing. In early summer, when the sun is getting warmer, you can buy a boat, paddle off the bridge, lie in the shade, read your book or dream, the fragrance of Sophora japonica floats on the water, and the sound of fish teases in your ear. Or in the early autumn dusk, the cold light in recent months, looking up at the secluded place. Lively teenagers, carrying their girlfriends on their backs, carrying double oriental red paper lanterns and chatterboxes on the ship's side, are also sailing to uninhabited places, enjoying their wild happiness-who doesn't like to listen to underwater music depicting dreams and spring scenery on the quiet river! People who are used to city life are not easy to know the changes of seasons. When you see the leaves fall, you know it's autumn, when you see the leaves turn green, you know it's spring; Install the stove when it is cold, and dismantle it when it is hot; Take off the cotton robe, put on the double robe, take off the double robe and put on the single robe; That's all. The news of the stars in the sky, the news of the underground soil and the news of the wind blowing in the air are none of our business. Busy, so many things, who has the patience to bear the transfer of stars, the rise and fall of flowers and plants, the change of the situation? At the same time, we complain about our life, pain, boredom, bondage and boredom. Who will admit that being a man is happy? Who doesn't curse life? But the dissatisfied life is mostly because of self-help. I am a believer in life, and I believe that life is never as gloomy and miserable as most of us just push it from our own experiences. Our root cause is forgetfulness. People are born children, just like flowers and birds on branches. Unfortunately, we are civilized people. Our entry into the WTO is as deep as a day, and we are as far away from nature as a day. Can you be happy without flowers and plants in the soil and fish in the water? Can you survive? From nature, we get our life; From nature, we should share our continuous support. Which swaying tree has no wrong roots and only goes deep into endless secret places? We will never be independent. There are happy children who never leave their mothers, and healthy people who are always close to nature. You don't have to swim with deer, you don't have to go back to the "abode of fairies and immortals"; In order to cure the embarrassment of our current life, as long as we don't completely forget nature, there is hope that our symptoms will be alleviated. Roll a few times on the grass, take a bath in the sea, and go to the heights to see the sunrise and the evening scenery-the burden on your shoulders will be relaxed. This is a very superficial truth; Of course. But if I hadn't lived in Cambridge, I wouldn't have such confidence. I have only spent that spring in my life, which is pitiful and has never been wasted. In that spring, my life was natural and I really enjoyed it! Although it happened to be the most painful period in my life. At that time, I had plenty of leisure, freedom and absolute opportunities to be alone. Strange to say, I seem to realize the brightness of the stars and the moon, the green grass, the hospitality of flowers and running water for the first time. Can I forget the gift of early spring? How many mornings, I braved the cold and walked alone in the frosty Woods-listening to birds singing, looking forward to the sunrise, looking for flowers waking up in the soil, and experiencing the most subtle and wonderful spring letter. Ah, that's the new thrush trying its new sound on the endless green branches over there! Ah, this is the first little snowball to earn semi-frozen soil! Ah, isn't this the new lonely wicker? Very quiet, this water-soluble avenue, only the bell of the distant milk delivery car, dotted with the silence around here. Go along this avenue, come to the end, then turn into the path of Woods and walk to the smoky place. Overhead is the shade of elm trees, revealing the bleak dawn; Further on, through this forest, Yuan Ye is flat at present. You can see cottages and early green wheat fields, and there are three or two arrow-shaped hills covering a passage in the distance. The horizon is foggy, and the sharp shadow is the temple near the village. Listen, Xiao Zhong's gentle voice. This area is the plain among the gang, and the terrain is like light waves in the sea, silently undulating; Mountains are invisible, some are evergreen grasslands and fertile fields. Looking up at the mound, Cambridge is just a lush forest and a few pavilions. The charming He Kanghe has disappeared. You can only imagine first-class simplicity with the brocade-like trees. Cottage and Woods are the chess pieces of this website. There are huts that report good news and huts that provide good shade. This morning, it is time to watch cigarettes; The fog gradually rises, uncovering the gray sky (preferably a little later). From near to far, silk-like, wispy, rolled, light, heavy, dark gray, light blue and pale, kitchen smoke gradually rises and disappears in static vitality, as if it were the prayers of people coming to the sky. Chaoyang is rare, and the weather is early spring. But when it comes, getting up early is a great pleasure. For an instant, there was a thick morning tenderness around here. In an instant, your heart also moistened the glory of being born during the day. The clear sky of "spring" victory seems to whisper in your ear. "Spring" your happy soul seems to echo there. Waiting for the scenery on the river, there is news every day this spring. Care about the moss marks on stones, the flowers in rotten grass, the rapidity of water, the growth of aquatic plants, the clouds in the sky and the new bird songs. The timid snowball is the messenger of Tanchun Letter. Lily of the valley and vanilla are the first joyful sounds. Gentle and graceful lotus, exquisite narcissus, lively Crook, hardworking dandelion and daisy-at this time, the spring has been brilliant in the world, and there is no need for diligent exploration. Grand spring conference. This is the time for your outing. Lovely road administration, here is no better than China, which place is not an open avenue? Hiking is fun, but riding a spinning bike is even more fun. Cycling in Cambridge is a common skill. Women, children and the elderly all enjoy the joy of this pair of round dances. I heard in Cambridge that spinning wheels are not afraid of being stolen, just because everyone has their own cars and no one wants to steal them. You can choose a direction, you can go to a passage, follow the breeze of the grass and let the wheels go far away. Making you happy for half a day is a tonic for your soul. There is plenty of shade and beautiful grass on this road, so you can rest anywhere. You love flowers, here is a splendid grassland. You like birds. There are many skilled songbirds here. If you love children, this country is full of amiable children. If you love human feelings, there are many villagers who are not too far away. You can spend the night where you should, with yogurt and tender potatoes for you to eat and a wide variety of fruits for you to taste new. If you love wine, every "hope" in this country will store good new wine for you. If dark beer is too strong, cider and model wine will quench your thirst and moisten your lungs. ..... Take a book, walk ten miles, choose a quiet place, look at the sky, listen to birds, read books, and dream on the grass when you are tired-can you imagine a more suitable way to relax? Lu Fangweng has a poem: "Call a swift horse to welcome the new moon, but enjoy the cool night"; This is the romance of being an official. Although I didn't ride a horse or sit in a sedan chair when I was in Cambridge, I also had my romantic life: I often rode my bike to catch up with Pingyang in the sky at sunset. I can't catch up with the sun. I don't have the absurdity of Kuafu, but I stole the tenderness of the evening scene. I have three or two painting-like experiences, which are still vivid in my mind. Just watching the sunset, we usually only know how to climb mountains or go to sea, but in fact we only need a vast sky, and the sunset glow on the flat ground is sometimes just as magical. Once I rushed to a place with a village fence in my hand and watched the changes in the western world through a wave of wheat. Once, a large flock of sheep came to a wide road and came back from grazing. The huge sun is shining on their backs with Hui Jin, but the sky is dark green. There is only one road and a group of creatures left in this dazzling light, and my heart suddenly feels the oppression of the opposite sex. I really knelt down and faced the golden light of Ran Ran. Once again, this is a more memorable miracle. It is an endless prairie, full of brilliant red poppies, graceful as thousands of golden lights on the grass. The sun shone obliquely from the brown clouds, and it became a strange purple, too transparent to stare at. Suddenly, in my dazzling vision, this meadow became ... don't say you don't believe it! It's been over two years, Cambridge. Who knows my homesickness? I can't think of anything else I just want to be shaken by the late clock in the evening, the uncovered field, leaning on the soft grass alone and watching the first big star appear on the horizon!