海外頭條總編審 王 在 軍 （中國）
海外頭條副編審 Wendy溫迪（英國）
海 外 頭 條總 編 火 鳳 凰 （海外）
圖片選自百度
英文誦讀：龔如仲（美國）
中文播音：琬 喬（中國）
《歲月如重——兼談華國鋒》
第一章、第三節(jié)：命運(yùn)的十字路口
文/龔如仲（Ralph）
正如我一再強(qiáng)調(diào)的，我家當(dāng)時(shí)的家境并不富裕，而生性仗義疏財(cái)?shù)母赣H動(dòng)不動(dòng)就把家里吃飯穿衣的錢拿出來救濟(jì)一些從江蘇老家來上海 “哭窮”的村上人，所以家中的日子有時(shí)特別難熬。即使在這種艱難的情況下，大字不識(shí)的父母咬著牙、勒緊褲腰帶，省下錢來供我上學(xué)讀書。無論是小學(xué)還是中學(xué)，我都是在家中寅吃卯糧的情況下完成學(xué)業(yè)的。
可是，就在我初中即將畢業(yè)的那一年，有一天從老家來了個(gè)中年人。聽父親說，他是鄉(xiāng)下出了名的好郎中，不但醫(yī)術(shù)高明，且醫(yī)德頗佳。這郎中來上海的目的是為了配幾味鄉(xiāng)下無法尋覓的好藥。為了節(jié)省食宿費(fèi)，他到了上海后自然就下榻于我的家中。經(jīng)與我接觸了幾天后，郎中突然對(duì)我發(fā)生了興趣。于是他主動(dòng)勸我父親讓我這個(gè)頗具慧根的“好苗子”放棄學(xué)業(yè)，隨他到鄉(xiāng)下學(xué)醫(yī)，將來可以體體面面地當(dāng)郎中，豐衣足食地過日子。父親一聽，怦然心動(dòng)，于是他就和母親商議此事?？赡赣H一聽不干了，她堅(jiān)決反對(duì)讓還是一個(gè)孩子的我，這么小就離開父母“到鄉(xiāng)下去吃苦”。父母爭執(zhí)不下，決定去學(xué)校找我的班主任喻老師作一決斷。
在我父母那一輩人的心目中，老師是他們值得信任的有學(xué)問的人，老師的權(quán)威是毋庸置疑的。好在喻老師眼光長遠(yuǎn)，聽罷我父母的訴說后，她認(rèn)為：雖然我是個(gè)讀書不大用功、生性相當(dāng)頑皮的小男孩，但我中文上的潛質(zhì)還是有的?！靶⌒∧昙o(jì)，就放棄學(xué)業(yè)去鄉(xiāng)下當(dāng)郎中，實(shí)在太可惜”。父親自然心悅誠服地聽從了老師的勸說，放棄了讓我回鄉(xiāng)學(xué)醫(yī)的打算。就這樣，又過了兩年，到了我即將高中畢業(yè)的時(shí)侯，我又一次走到了命運(yùn)的十字路口。
那是一個(gè)禮拜天的下午，父親休息在家。恰巧同住一個(gè)里弄的鄰居、一位名叫劉博誠的老先生突然來我家拜訪。父母見是劉先生光臨，顯得相當(dāng)意外，但又十分高興。原來劉先生不僅是個(gè)極有學(xué)問的舊大學(xué)畢業(yè)的“秀才”，而且還是上海灘上曲藝界的名人。這位專攻揚(yáng)州評(píng)話的劉先生，一部《大明英烈傳》在喜歡聽評(píng)書的廣大人群中久負(fù)盛名。雖說劉先生平日里見到左鄰右舍總是客客氣氣、彬彬有禮，但對(duì)我家之造訪還是頭一回。父母自然對(duì)劉先生端茶遞煙、恭敬有加。
雙方坐定之后，劉先生開了腔。他說他昨天偶過“張瞎子”家大門口，看到門上有副對(duì)聯(lián)寫得不錯(cuò)，一打聽原來對(duì)聯(lián)是龔家的“小把戲”寫的，他有點(diǎn)好奇，所以特意前來證實(shí)一下。“小把戲”在我們江蘇老家是指小孩子（劉先生也是江蘇揚(yáng)州人）。父親一聽馬上把我叫來詢問此事。
原來我家一近鄰張先生是一個(gè)在街道工廠糊紙盒子的盲人。春節(jié)來臨前，張先生請(qǐng)我胡亂給他家寫副對(duì)聯(lián)，說是“貼在門上給人家看看也可圖個(gè)熱鬧”。我當(dāng)時(shí)也是一時(shí)興起，編了副對(duì)聯(lián)交差。我記得上聯(lián)是“朝持明杖閉門去”，下聯(lián)是“暮攜濁酒踏月歸”，橫批是“苦中有樂”。想不到我這副鬧著玩兒的對(duì)子能入劉先生的法眼。
得知對(duì)聯(lián)果然是我所寫，劉先生點(diǎn)頭微笑。接著他又和我聊了一些關(guān)于中國古典小說的話題。好在我從小愛看書，除了熟讀“水滸”、“三國”、“紅樓”、“西游”等名著外，尤其喜歡讀諸如《封神榜》、《四游記》（分東游、南游、西游、北游四個(gè)神鬼故事）、《搜神記》、《大八義》《小五義》之類的神鬼、俠義小說，老少二人談得相當(dāng)投機(jī)。
談到這個(gè)火候，劉先生突然鄭重地對(duì)我父母說道，他在曲藝界火了多年，如今年事已高，一直想找個(gè)能把他的評(píng)書藝術(shù)傳承下去的弟子。找了許久，今天才發(fā)現(xiàn)我是個(gè)“可造之材”。他的意思是，可否讓我放棄考大學(xué)，到他所在的曲藝團(tuán)當(dāng)他的徒弟。
要知道，那時(shí)侯的中國剛剛度過極為嚴(yán)重的自然災(zāi)害，平常老百姓的一日三餐都難以保證，生活十分艱辛。父親的每月工資也是勉強(qiáng)支撐著家用。而劉先生說上一天的評(píng)書，其收入足可抵我父親一周的薪水。“藝人多金”的吸引力無疑是巨大的。為了讓我早日學(xué)會(huì)說書、“掙大錢養(yǎng)家”，父母這一回雙雙動(dòng)了心，而懵懂的我自然也是蠢蠢欲動(dòng)。
就在這個(gè)關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻，我高中的班主任葉老師把我從“說書人之路”上拉了回來，奇跡般地改變了我今后的命運(yùn)。
葉老師不僅是中學(xué)語文老師，而且還是上海一位小有名氣的小說家。他的一部小說還被編成“小人書”（即“連環(huán)畫”）。由于我在中學(xué)時(shí)偏愛文科，語文、外語在班上名列前茅（數(shù)、理、化只求及格），所以葉老師對(duì)我另眼相看。當(dāng)葉老師得知我要放棄高考、去當(dāng)一名“說書先生”時(shí)，他大聲責(zé)備我是“胡鬧”。于是他親自來到我家，以一位老師的權(quán)威性說服力，打消了我父母讓我去當(dāng)評(píng)話藝人的念頭。正是由于葉老師的及時(shí)斡旋，我在命運(yùn)的十字路口選擇了繼續(xù)讀書。于是，一年后我成了一名大學(xué)生。
《My Life—Family, Career &VIPs》
Chapter Three: Destiny’s Crossroads
Posted by Ralph Gong
As a young student, I needed financial support badly. But my family was not rich. Besides, my father was such a generous man that he was always ready to give the money away to the needy people, even if the sum was set aside for our family’s necessary daily spending. He would give the money to those “poor village folks” who came to Shanghai, aiming only at asking my father for financial aid. As a consequence, we experienced very difficult days.
Despite all the hardship, my parents, who were themselves illiterate, insisted on supporting me going to school. They understood that only education could enable me to become a useful person in future. They believe, too, that after graduation, I would get a decent job. Thus, our family living standard would also be greatly improved. The reason why I could actually finish both my elementary and high-school education was all due to my parents’ pinching and saving, to tell the truth.
During my school years, something unusual happened when I was still a junior. The incident almost changed the course of my destiny.
One day in the afternoon, a middle-aged man came to my house. My father introduced that gentleman to me, saying that he was a country doctor in our home village. The doctor came to Shanghai to buy several kinds of traditional Chinese medicine which could not be purchased in rural areas. My father continued to tell me that the doctor was very good at both professional experience and moral integrity. The reason why he chose to stay at my home was yet very obvious: he wanted to save money on both boarding and lodging.
After a few days of staying with us, the doctor seemed to show a lot of interest in me. Finally, he made a suggestion to my father that I should quit my school and follow him to our hometown to be his apprentice. He promised to my father that after a few years of training in medical skills with him, I would become a promising country doctor who could earn a decent life for himself and his family. Upon hearing the suggestion of the doctor, my father’s heart went pit-a-pat. To have a decent life for the family was his long-time burning desire. But he knew that before making a decision, he must get my mother’s consent. He pulled my mother aside and started to discuss this matter with her. To his surprise, my mother did not agree. She did not feel comfortable on letting me, still a teenage boy, go and become a doctor’s apprentice, settling down in the countryside.
Since neither of them could convince the other, my parents decided to visit Teacher Yu, who was my class advisor.
In those days, people had high respect for teachers because they were all well-educated, noble and wise. After listening to my father and mother, Teacher Yu gave them a piece of advice for them to see things on the long run. Teacher Yu told them that even though I was somewhat naughty and not making enough efforts for studying, I had great potentials in Chinese literature. It would be a great pity if I quit school immediately and go to the countryside for the sake of learning the traditional Chinese medicine.
Doubtlessly, my father was convinced by Teacher Yu and agreed to let me continue my schooling. Several months later, I smoothly completed my junior school and was promoted as a senior school student.
Two years had elapsed quickly since and graduation was only one year away. At that critical moment, again something unexpected happened. My destiny was once again caught at a crossroads.
It was a Sunday afternoon. My father was at home enjoying his day-off. An old gentleman named Liu Bocheng, our next door neighbor, unexpectedly came to our house. My father and mother were very surprised and also excited to see Mr. Liu visiting them in person. Mr. Liu was a famous figure in and beyond our community. He was not only a knowledgeable man who graduated from a good university in Shanghai, but also a well-known story-teller in Shanghai.
In old China, there were two major styles of story-telling. One was called “Northern Style”, with its artists actively displaying their story-telling talents in North China, Beijing and Northeast China in particular, using standard Mandarin as their language. The other one was called “Southern Style”, with its story-tellers performing mostly in tea-houses in Shanghai and Jiangsu Province. Their language was a dialect from Yangzhou, a historical cultural city in Jiangsu Province. Mr. Liu was a veteran “Southern Style” artist, telling stories in the funny Yangzhou dialect. He could tell a lot of stories, and one of his masterpieces was “Heroes in Early Ming Dynasty” (Ming dynasty: 1368-1644). He could tell the story so vividly and attractively that the teahouse he was working at was always packed with audience at his presence.
Our community residents all knew that Mr. Liu was very polite and gentle. He would send greetings to his neighbors who were about to pass by, but he rarely visited any family around. It was his first visit to our house. Naturally, my parents showed their great respect by politely inviting him to be seated, and offered him with a cigarette and a cup of tea.
After exchanging greetings, Mr. Liu opened his mouth and said to my parents that the other day, he occasionally noticed a pair of Spring Festival couplets on the door of Blind Zhang’s house. Blind Zhang, with the family name Zhang, got this nickname from his uneducated but well-meant neighbors. Mr. Liu was very impressed by the antithetical couplets because “it was written well”. Out of curiosity, Mr. Liu asked Blind Zhang who wrote this pair of couplets for him. Zhang told Liu that it was done by the “l(fā)ittle guy of the Gong family”. To try to find out if what Blind Zhang said was true, Mr. Liu decided to visit my home.
Learning the purpose of Liu’s visit, my father immediately asked me to come to meet the guest.
It WAS my writing. Our neighbor Blind Zhang was a paper-box-pasting worker at a local street factory. Even though he was blind, he hoped to have a pair of Chinese Spring Festival couplets be pasted on his house door. “By doing this, it would create some festival happiness atmosphere”, he said to me.
As is well-known, according to the Chinese tradition, almost every household would like to paste antithetical couplets on the house doors on the eve of the Spring Festival. This tradition started in the beginning of Ming Dynasty, about 650 years ago. Blind Zhang asked me to do this for him by adding up: “It could also give my neighbors a chance to share the good luck with me”. The older generation believed that both high spirit and good luck would be brought by the Spring Festival couplets. The Chinese traditional Spring Festival couplets are usually written by a writing brush soaked with black ink on a piece of large-sized red paper. The content is usually to express luck and happiness.
As per his request, I wrote the following antithetical couplets for Blind Zhang:
“Closing the door and going to work with walking stick, what a wonderful morning;
Having the wine and coming back home under moonlight, what a romantic night!”
The horizontal scroll for the antithetical couplets was “Bittersweet”.
I did not expect that the antithetical couplets I presented could draw Mr. Liu’s attention. In my eyes, Mr. Liu was a great scholar at that time, who could hardly notice the writing of a little school boy’s.
Upon hearing the truth that it was me who wrote the couplets, Mr. Liu nodded his head and smiled. He began a long chat on the themes of some Chinese classical and mythical novels with me, which turned out to be an incredible joy for me…
Thank goodness to my deep interest and knowledge, we had a great conversation. I was a person who was obsessed with reading Chinese classical and mythical novels. With such famous novels as “Journey to the West” (the story on how the Monkey King helped Master Monk XuanZhuang get the scripture from the Western Heaven in Tang Dynasty, about 1400 years ago), “Water Margins” (on how 105 heroes and 3 heroines fought against the suppressing Song Dynasty, about 1000 years ago), “the Romance of Three Kingdoms” (on how the warlords of the three kingdoms Wei, Wu and Shu fought against each other, about 1800 years ago), “the Story of Chinese Gods” (novel on how the related generals and ministers battled hard and finally became Gods, based on myths approximately back to the years between 1056 to 1046 BC) and so on and so forth. Mr. Liu was very surprised at and extremely pleased about my knowledge towards those novels. After our long chatting, he was determined to take me as his student who could take up his mantle of story-telling in the future. It was supposed to be a big honor handpicked by a master.
Mr. Liu said to my parents: “I have been in the story-telling business for many years. Now I am a well-known story-telling artist. I’m also getting older and older. I really hope to find a suitable apprentice to pass on my story-telling skills. I have not yet found anyone qualified until today. I have a strong feeling that your son has great potentials to be trained as an excellent story-teller. Please let your son be my student. With me, he will enjoy a bright future! But the precondition of making this happen is that your son has to quit his schooling at once.”
At that time, China had just experienced the most difficult time of three-year-long “Natural Disasters”. People’s life was still very poor. The monthly income of my father could barely maintain our family’s daily expenses. In comparison, what Mr. Liu earned with just one day’s story-telling was equivalent to my father’s weekly salary. The reality of “easy money-making for artists” was for sure very attractive to my parents. And my mother did not say no this time. As there was no different opinion between my dad and mom, I was about to quit school and become Mr. Liu’s student.
Yet just at that critical moment, Teacher Ye, my class advisor, came to my home for a routine visit. After being informed of the plan of my quitting school for the sake of following a story-teller as his apprentice, Teacher Ye was somewhat shocked. But controlling his moods and speaking in a friendly tone, he blamed my parents for being short-sighted.
Another course-changing plan was thus suspended. Using a teacher’s “authoritative persuasion”, Teacher Ye succeeded in convincing my parents to give up their idea. My teacher pulled me back again from a crossroads. One year later, I graduated from my senior high-school, passed my university entrance exam and became a university student.
【作者簡介】龔如仲 (Ralph) , 中國對(duì)外經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易大學(xué)英語系畢業(yè)。曾任鐵道部援建坦贊鐵路工作組總部英語翻譯, 中國國際廣播電臺(tái)英語部播音員、記者, 外貿(mào)部中國輕工業(yè)品進(jìn)出口總公司駐美國公司總裁, 澳大利亞利富集團(tuán)駐美國公司總裁, 外貿(mào)部中國基地總公司駐美國公司總裁, 美國TA國際有限公司駐北京辦事處首席代表。
有關(guān)作品: 中國電影出版社出版翻譯作品美國動(dòng)畫電影小說《忍者神龜》（Ninja Turtles) 。
臺(tái)灣采薇出版社出版、發(fā)行《歲月如重---兼談華國鋒》（此書已被香港中文大學(xué)圖書館、美國紐約市市立圖書館、澳大利亞國家圖書館正式收藏）《東西南北中國人---細(xì)談如何在大陸做生意》《悠然時(shí)光》《如仲詩語》《My Life--Family, Career & VIPs》
中國國際廣播出版社出版、發(fā)行《悠然齋詩文選》《花兒在身邊開放》。
中華詩詞學(xué)會(huì)會(huì)員、中國經(jīng)典文學(xué)網(wǎng)特約作家、臺(tái)灣采薇出版社資深顧問、奧地利英文網(wǎng)Sinopress特聘專欄作家、歐華新移民作家協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)員、加拿大高校文學(xué)社周同題作者、海外華英總顧問，北美翰苑社長兼總編。
琬喬：朗誦愛好者，喜歡用聲音傳遞世間一切美好與熱愛！
