Recently, I saw online media spreading a precious interview with Fu Cong, son of Fu Lei , from the Grand Theater, which brought my thoughts back to my youth and middle age.
1979 I accompanied my elderly father to the Longhua Funeral Home to attend the memorial service of Fu Lei and his wife. Fu Cong made a special trip to return to China to take care of his parents' funeral. On the way to Longhua, my father spoke without saying a word and was in a heavy mood. When our father and daughter walked into the solemn and frugal hall, brothers Fu Cong and Fu Min shook hands in front of their father in a cordial and tight manner, but did not let go for a long time, and called Uncle Mao and Uncle Mao in kind and sadness. My father used to be a regular visitor to their family. Fu Cong's piano sound was accompanied by the chat and laughter of the two scholars, one was full of passion and the other was rigorous and upright...
Father and Fu Lei met in 1947 by Qian Zhongshu . At that time, Fu Lei and his wife went to Beijing for the first time (it was also called Beiping at that time). My father was there, so they had no choice but to be their guide. My father accompanied them to Dong'an Market, Wangfujing Street , antique shop, Beihai Park, etc. My father was born in Beijing and studied in Beijing when he was in his teens. He rode his bicycle through the streets and alleys in the north and south. After his father returned to Shanghai in 1948, Fu Lei hosted a banquet in Paris New Village, Huaihai Road.
1949 Fu Lei moved to his new residence in Jiangsu Road. One day he called his father to come to visit. Fu Lei took out a special five-paired leather to treat his father. Although my father never drinks medicinal wine, the Wujiapi tastes mellow. My father said: China has had the habit of comparing people with wine since ancient times. Fu Lei's behavior is like the fine wine he treasures - Wujiapi. My younger brother Huaikang told me: "When I was five or six years younger, my father often took me to Fu Lei's house by tricycle at night. They chatted very late and were in high spirits. I often drowsy and often took tricycle home with sleepiness. When I passed Jing'an Temple, I saw a clock..."
After the founding of New China, Russian talents were scarce. For this reason, many schools rushed to ask my father to teach. Fu Lei recommended his father to teach in Guanghua. Hu Sheng hired his father to work in Beijing Compilation and Translation Bureau through Shen Zhiyuan, but his father chose to be introduced by Mayor Chen Yi to teach in Fudan. As early as in the Anti-Japanese War in northern Jiangsu, Chen Yi had learned about his father's situation from his classmate Wang Tongzhao, and he was good at both Chinese and foreign languages. My father chose Fudan Foreign Languages Department to take up his post.
After my father went to Fudan to teach, he would proofread a large number of Russian books for New Literature and Art Publishing House every night. Dai Ji'an, the Russian editor of the publisher, often went to Model Village to deliver manuscripts, and the manuscripts were forced to be forced. Dai later became a famous editor of translation Publishing House. After I entered the translation, I became a colleague. Editor Dai also talked about relishing the scene of his father making a quick move in his appointment... My father asked him to translate Vaderfu's short stories when he first started. My father thought that his writing style was clumsy and mixed with white texts, so he asked Fu Lei to review it. Fu Lei used a red fountain pen to polish and modify his father's translation. What's interesting is that in the future, he asked his father's friends why he was not surprised to be effective... He said that his father was so elegant! My father also often said that he had a habit of cleaning up dirt and clothing for people (Voltaire). My father repeatedly taught us children during his lifetime: "Learn, learn, ask questions! Compete with others fairly." When I was translating the Soviet work "The Biography of Zorge" (also known as "The Struggle with the Third Reich"), I encountered some difficult place names and sentences to ask my father for advice, and he replied one by one, and some of them also looked up dictionaries and materials. I often hear my father's phone number 373100 outside the second floor of the Model Village. The mantra in communication with old Belarus and his teachers and friends "How can I see it?" He talked with Russian friends for the longest time and pondered the translation text... On May 24, 1986, my father wrote me four long letters on paper, one of which was: "People should increase their knowledge and go out more. Go to Nantong to know more about the affairs of the family, go to Guilin to appreciate the world's best scenery, and review Liu Zongyuan's travel sketches. It is of great benefit to the broad-minded literary cultivation. You may not be able to become a scholar if you stay in a room by turning books (dictionary). Uncle Qian and his wife are both running around abroad, making friends with celebrities and enjoying famous places, so they have to read books and take notes and become great scholars."
Fu Lei gave his translated Balzac novels to his father, such as "Old Man Gao", "Oeni Grandet", " Aunt Beetle ", "Uncle Bons", etc., as well as "John Christopher" and "Between" by Roman Rolland , as well as "Biographies of Beethoven" by early translations, "Biographies of Michelangelo" and "Biographies of Tolstoy". Their interactions are more about exchanges of translation experiences and interesting anecdotes. The father often says: Lei's extraordinary lies in his appropriate and appropriate wording, sometimes even quite ingenious, which is a masterpiece! His father admired Fu Lei's bold innovation. His translation called the king "King" and was his "exclusive first". Fu Lei was from Pudong, Shanghai. In order to make the translation popular, he repeatedly pondered Lao She's authentic Jingbai and referred to some Mandarin dictionaries. He never relaxed about some details and backgrounds of the characters in the book. In order to solve the doubts, he did not hesitate to write a letter to his foreign friends and original author Romain Rolland thousands of miles away to ask the Shanghai Library and Xujiahui Library 's French reference books are searched, and it must be reasonable and no doubt that it will be correct. My father said that Fu Lei's translation was also imitated by Bai Juyi's method of "an old woman can understand", and often read the translation to Mrs. Song (Mother Song Tifen) who lives on his second floor to hear what is difficult to understand and what is in trouble. If so, I will modify it over and over again. This rigorous and meticulous attitude made my father admire him! Fu Lei collected the problems in the translation of novels around 1949 and wrote ten thousand words The leader in charge of the cultural department was praised by a leader and sent a message to the cultural and educational translation community to study and discuss in summer, which caused complaints. After ten thousand words, a storm caused. My father and Fu Lei joked: Your big number (the character Nu'an) should be changed by one third, and the word "you" to "mou", and "ang" to "forgive".
1973, my father came to Shanghai to reunite with his children. When he accidentally walked on the sidewalk in front of Fu Lei's former residence on Jiangsu Road, "I couldn't help but feel sad and sad. Facing the blood-red sunny spots on the gray and white walls, the dull tone of dusk are set off. The past is like smoke and the sky is falling, passing by the misty dust, sometimes mixed with rain and wind, slapping on my cheeks, making me suddenly think of this honest friend who is straightforward and knowledgeable." After attending Fu Lei's memorial service, my father wrote a poem to commemorate his old friend:
Sorrowful listening to the flute next door, sneering at the empty sigh of the bird of prey, hiding in a low voice, hiding at the place where the chatter and laughing , the setting sun stands outside the door.
September 25, 2020
Source丨Wenhui Penhui
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