Hemingway and Mao
"You are not as good as a stranger to love me" is a common saying in intimate relationships: the wife was carrying a big suitcase at the train station and struggled to go up the steps. A strange man came over to help her carry the box up. She thought to herself: Her husband said that she was busy with work and couldn't pick me up. She was not as good as a stranger to love me. The elderly mother wanted to transfer the house to her son, and talked about her private affairs with the real estate agent, and talked about how her son married a wife and forgot her mother. The real estate agent patiently listened to her for an afternoon. She thought to herself: Her son never wanted to listen to her, and she was not as good as a stranger to love me.
Hemingway's short story " Cat in the Rain" tells a very simple story: a young American couple traveled to Italy and stayed in a seaside hotel. One rainy afternoon, my wife saw a cat curled up outside the window under the coffee table to hide from the rain; she went to find the cat in the rain, but the cat walked away. The wife returned in vain and told her husband how much she wanted the cat. After listening for a while, the husband who was reading a book in bed, letting his wife "stop talking" and focus on the book in his hand. The wife was still worried. At this time, the gentle and considerate hotel owner asked the waitress to send her a cat.
Many comments about "Cat in the Rain" point to the discord between husband and wife - the wife's wishes are not valued by the husband, the husband is not as concerned as a stranger (the hotel owner) and the articles are metaphor for the wife's female consciousness awakening, etc. However, in my opinion, it is better to understand this novel by going beyond the topic of relationship between men and women. It’s not that the above interpretation is inevitable - after all, when we encounter any couple on vacation, we can guess that they are in harmony; when any woman encounters something troubles, we can say that she has the need to awaken - I mean, the novel describes a more common state.
"Cat in the Rain" is that a woman wants a cat. In Hemingway's other short story, A Clean and Bright Room, it describes men's small needs for life. This man drinks every night, but don't go to the noisy bar, he wants a clean and bright room. "The Legend of Wittgenstein: Genius is Responsibility" records the disgust of young people Wittgenstein for trivial daily life. One afternoon, Wittgenstein wanted to go to Russell to talk about serious philosophical issues, but unexpectedly, Russell took him to see Whitehead's son's rowing competition. Russell praised it as a "passionate afternoon", but Wittgenstein said, "The way we spend this afternoon is so corrupt, we shouldn't live like this", "Nothing is tolerated except creating great works or appreciating other people's great works." At this time, the young Wittgenstein had just turned from mechanics to and became a student of the famous Russell. Russell agreed to have the talent for philosophy. He immersed himself in great thinking and could not relax himself and accept worldly happiness. This state has been continuously detrimental to his health, causing him to almost collapse his mental state and have a clear tendency to commit suicide. Appreciating great works and becoming great characters can make life show a sense of sublimity. However, the world is not composed of magnificent things with extremely high purity, and the daily trivialities contain the energy to heal people's hearts. After all, all kinds of small wishes will make people feel happy when they are satisfied, which is what we call "little happiness"; even if they cannot be satisfied, it is not a big flaw.
In "Cat in the Rain", when the wife's little wish of wanting a cat was not satisfied, she looked in the mirror and had various thoughts - "I also want to eat with my own silverware, I want to light a candle. I also want spring now, I want to comb my hair in the mirror, I want a kitten, I want a few new clothes." The husband was a little impatient when he heard her muttering like this - "Oh, stop, find some books and newspapers." The husband seemed to have a heavy tone here, but between husband and wife, one person was unwilling to listen to another person's nagging, and saying "Shut down", was actually nothing. Looking at the whole article, the relationship between husband and wife is considered good.At first, the husband took the initiative to say that he wanted to catch the cat for his wife, but later he expressed concern that his wife did not catch the cat. The wife fiddled with her hair, and the husband kept watching with concern, and said that the wife with short hair looked very good.
There is nothing to blame for the husband here. The husband can't put down the books in his hand, brave the rain, and try every means to buy cats, silverware, and candles in a strange city... In this specific situation, the wife's wishes do not need to be met immediately. These wishes are on a whim and are likely to stop thinking about this in a while. Even if the wife did not get the cat she was longing for at the end of the novel, she would just think about it more. The husband doesn't have to do more at this time.
Strangers sometimes seem to pay more attention to their wishes than their relatives, which is very common. Because strangers may only know your wish for the rest of their lives, it is not difficult to satisfy your wish. On the contrary, in daily life with your loved ones, you may have all kinds of wishes that may not all need to be met immediately; your loved ones will inevitably ignore some of your wishes.
In the article, when his wife went out to catch a cat on a rainy day and returned home in disappointment, passing by the enthusiastic hotel owner's office, "The boss harassed her from the desk. The wife felt a little bored and embarrassed. The boss made her feel very bored, and at the same time she felt it was really amazing. She felt extremely amazing in an instant." (The original English text "The padrone made her feel very small and at the same time really important.") Hemingway's brushstrokes keenly capture that women produce two opposing emotions at this moment "small and important". How can a person feel both small and important?
The wife wants a cat, which is an ordinary woman’s small wish at the moment; when this small wish is treated solemnly by another person, the woman feels tight inside (tight inside). On the other hand, her husband only cared about a little, no more, and finally had a little indifferent attitude, and treated this small wish just right. In daily life, when a small wish that arises in our hearts is treated solemnly by someone who doesn’t understand the situation, a sensitive and rich person will ask himself: Is it because he is too pretentious, attracting too many attentions, and attracting unnecessary care from strangers?
In fact, the sense of self-esteem that needs to be supported by people's eyes is insignificant. When others are in the process of fulfilling their wishes, they will feel that they are important; and need to be valued by others, this is itself a manifestation of their insignificance. (When a truly great person does a great cause, there is no need to rely on the eyes of others to satisfy himself.)
After her husband asked her to "stop", the wife continued to mutter: "I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't grow long hair and have no fun, I can always have a cat." It seems that a "stop" can't stop my wife's wish. I want to buy a bouquet of flowers, a delicate cup, and a blanket with special patterns... These seemingly insignificant daily life do have the pleasure of life.
First at the end of the novel, the waitress brought a big tortoiseshell cat :
It was pressed against her, twisting downwards to get out.
Excerpt from the topic of husband and wife relationship. This short article by Hemingway is delicate and soft, like the long hair on the cat's tail, gently soothes the tip of a person's small heart with subtle strokes.
Author: Tingyun
Editor: Qian Yutong
