20250823
Who is worthy of you to wait a lifetime for?
The question seems to be "who is worthy of you to wait for".
And this is the best part of the Chinese literature.
Actually the question is not "who".
I believe talented people can know the difference of who and what.
The point is:
What is worthy to do
Last night I watched a very good show in Hong Kong of the story "尤三姐"
Yue Opera – Yu Sanjie (Third Sister Yu).
Note: 尤三姐 is the character name "Yu Sanjie" (Third Sister Yu) in Yue Opera.
It is more than worthy to watch it.
4/15/2010
Who is worthy of you to wait a lifetietime for?
………………………………*Leechard
("Ask to the end" No. 7730 2010 0415 Thursday)
This is a story that Shakespeare could not write. Not because Shakespeare lacked the power, but because he lacked the tragically inflected cultural background.
This one person is so good that, once you hear his story, you are drawn into a mellow reverie. You feel that only he is worthy. If he does not come for five years, you will wait five years. If he does not come for ten years, you will wait ten years. If he does not come for a hundred years, then in a quiet retreat you would wait for a hundred years, to pass the rest of your life.
Who, exactly, has such immense charm?
This story is worth watching again and again. If, when you read it, you shed no tears, that’s fine—because you are still young. You have not yet known such a sorrows of thought.
And the story is not finished. The person, the one who is worth waiting a hundred years for, suddenly discovers your existence. He suddenly realizes that only you are the most worthy. He suddenly understands that your love is absolute, real. Only when he sees you lying in a pool of blood and then finally, in astonishment beyond words, understands.
Leechard would like to tell popular writers this: do not imitate stories like this. It is not that you lack the power—youthful power is not something anyone can scoff at—but if you do not know the background of the story, if you do not know the cultural focus of the story, then you are likely to turn tragedy into farce.
Where is this story?
Where is the story within “The Dream of the Red Chamber”?
Of course not on the Internet. The so-called complete text of the Dream of the Red Chamber online is all a fake antique from Zhi Yanzhai(脂硯齋), or it is due to my computer limitations—the real edition cannot be found online. They are all just people circulating a fake version to each other. It is unlikely that anyone has the means and resolution to publish online the 120 chapters of the Red Chamber, in movable type.
To tell the truth, I am a little embarrassed: the first time I found this brilliance was when I read a few lines describing Lady You Sanjie:
“Seeing this sister Sanjie simply remove her makeup, shed her outer garments, let her hair down, wearing a bright red jacket, half concealed, half revealed, deliberately exposing the green bodice, a trace of snowy bosom. Underneath green trousers and red shoes, dazzling and vivid; she would rise and sit, be joyful and angry, without the least bit of civility; two pendants hung like a swing, and in the lamplight the willow brows and the coral lips appeared more lush.”
These lines, what is good about them? You might think, “Oh, the “deliberate exposure,” the “trace of snowy bosom,” is wonderful. And there is also a description of her undergarments, which, however, are only green trousers.” What exactly is so good about them?
Armed with this question, me, Leechard, lacking a book at hand, tried to search online again. But in the end he found that the lines he wanted were exactly the ones deleted by Zhi Yanzhai. On the web, those phrases “suddenly rising and sitting, suddenly joyful and angry” are gone. This is the most brilliant dynamic description; without this kind of movement, her half-concealed, emerald-green bodice would have no charm at all.
But this is merely aside. Not the main point. Although, since we must say a bit more: Zhi Yanzhai intended to rewrite her as more wanton, deliberately turning her into someone no better than a prostitute, not that men would be lusting after her, but that she “prostituted” a man—yet he cannot see where the real attraction lies, and his mediocrity is both laughable and lamentable. Yet it is precisely this kind of mediocrity that dominates the entire Internet. Including Hong Kong, Taiwan, the mainland, America—everywhere. Do you find this scary? (That same Zhi Yanzhai even adds a character after “willow brows and emerald around,” turning it into “willow brows and emerald around mist.” The basic knowledge of literature is lacking; adding the word “mist” slows the rhythm of the original. It is indeed sad for children who have not read the original.)
But these are merely digressions. Our real topic is:
Who is worthy of your waiting a lifetime for?
The story tells that in the Jia family, the two cousins Jia Zhen and Jia Lian, together with Jia Zhen’s son Jia Rong, for the sake of devouring You Erjie and You Sanjie’s beauty, scheme to appropriate them. They manage to obtain One Sister You Erjie; they want to win You Sanjie as well. But Sanjie’s temper is fierce, so they cannot easily keep her, and they fear keeping her would be a calamity, so they think about marrying her off. Fearing they might find a husband poorly, Second Sister takes the lead and arranges for her to talk in a whole night. They ask her whom she truly loves.
Those few lines are spoken then. The person she can wait for five years, ten years, a hundred years for. Because the Second Sister tells her that the man is a wanderer who may not come back to the Jia mansion, not even meet them.
Who could it be?
Who is worthy of your waiting a lifetime for?
Jia Lian and the others guess that it must be Jia Baoyu. But they guess wrong. Or perhaps at that time Baoyu’s true nature had not yet appeared. The question is: besides Baoyu, is there any other man with such charm?
Among the hundreds of characters in The Dream of the Red Chamber, is there anyone with such magnetism? Among the billions in the world, is there anyone with such magnetism?
Or consider this: when all of your pursuers beneath the pomegranate skirts are mediocre boors, or even shameless lackeys, and you suddenly see a man who seems to be “a person” among humanity, the surprise, the resolve, are beyond ordinary.
That man is Liu Xianglian. Readers may not know at first that this Liu Xianglian is a wandering street actor or something of that sort; he has no money and no fixed home. Although he is good friends with Baoyu, what is his good side?
Perhaps his only good side is that he once beat up Xue Pan, another family member of the story. Or perhaps it is this beating that attracted You Sanjie?
The story says that Xue Pan, thinking Liu Xianglian a street actor—or at least a male favorite—tries to latch onto him. Liu Xianglian, enraged, would like to kill him; so he devises a plan, pretends to agree, and arranges for a rendezvous beyond the North Gate. Each rides a horse, leaves Jia Mansion, and goes to a desolate place. There Liu Xianglian gives Xue Pan a severe beating.
But our question remains: what is the appeal of Liu Xianglian? Why would You Sanjie, merely based on hearsay, love a man like him?
Who is worthy of your waiting a hundred years for?
Because in this murky, dirty swamp, he is the only one who is truly willing to act. And this is something ordinary people cannot see. Even You Erjie can only barely barter her body to ensure a temporary survival. Sanjie dies too early to see what becomes of You Erjie later. The story is long; this is another thread. But in any case, without Sanjie’s discerning eye, she would never have seen Liu Xianglian.
The story says that Jia Lian, upon learning Sanjie’s mind, kept an eye out for where Liu Xianglian was. But when he found him, it was effortless. He even encountered Liu Xianglian together with Xue Pan. It turns out that later, after setting out, Xue Pan encountered bandits on the road, and Liu Xianglian saved him. But that is not the point.
What matters is this: there is one line that Jia Lian concealed. He saw Liu Xianglian and said that there was a beauty in his family, and asked if he would be willing to marry. He did not tell that Sanjie had actively chosen him; nor did he say that he needed to wait for a hundred years. But Liu Xianglian, moved by a martial-heroic spirit, agreed without hesitation. He even handed over the family’s famed “Swallow-twin Sword” as a token of betrothal.
Perhaps, after he left, at a late hour, Jia Lian would think: why would a man like him, always so lively with desire, be so generous as to give away a precious sword to marry a woman?
Readers of The Dream of the Red Chamber often think this book is too long and slow. They do not realize that at the crucial moment the pace is so rapid that few modern writers can match it. You can hardly catch your breath.
So, Liu Xianglian arrives, retrieves the treasured sword, and says that his own family has already agreed to marry him elsewhere. Jia Lian wants to argue, saying once a betrothal is set, you cannot revoke. Sanjie, who has overheard this exchange, immediately understands that she herself is deemed shameless and not fit to be his wife. She also thinks: if they go out to continue arguing, what is the point? So she rushes out and says, “You do not need to go out to discuss it further; return the betrothal gift.” She then bursts into tears, and with her left hand hands over the male sword in its sheath to Xianglian, while with her right hand she slashes at her own neck with the hidden female sword. The scene is drenched with blood. The author of The Dream of the Red Chamber writes that this was a passage of “striking down peach blossoms.” Once the lines are spoken, it is as if a wide lens suddenly pulls back, taking you away from the scene.
The pace of this moment is unimaginable, happening in the blink of an eye.
She waited for him a hundred years, but before she could finish a single glance, she raised the sword and killed herself. And this is a literary technique far beyond Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet’s death is but a temporary misunderstanding; here, a resolutely pitiable woman sacrifices herself beneath the word “shameless.”
Two tensions cannot be compared.
After thinking it over, it is still hard to imagine another path Sanjie might have taken. The author’s cry of “shameless” remains forever in the eternal depths of the universe, an indelible mark. The author’s two lines of poetry, which move you away from the scene, are to bring you to this point.
As for what Liu Xianglian later experiences—I do not at the moment have a book at hand, and do not wish to read Zhi Yanzhai’s nonsense again, so for a while we must let the imagination roam.
The story says that Liu Xianglian suddenly awakens and discovers a path, and follows a wandering Daoist who disappeared. This is also a foreshadowing; later, Baoyu’s own awakening also ends in disappearance.
Who is worthy of your waiting a lifetime?
Yes, Liu Xianglian is indeed worthy. But there is someone even more worthy. That is the great nameless author of The Stone Record, that is, The Dream of the Red Chamber: his farsighted vision and ideals deserve a lifetime.
甚麼人值得你為他等候一生？
甚麼人值得你為他等候一生？
…………………………*李察
(問到底 No。7730 2010 0415 Turrsday)
這一個故事，莎士比亞是寫不出的。不是說，莎士比亞沒有那一份功力，而是說，莎士比亞欠缺了那一份悽慘的文化背景。
這一個人，是這樣的好。以至，你只要聽到他的故事，就悠然神往了。你只覺得，唯有他才是值得的。如果他五年不來，你會為他等五年。如果他十年不來，你會為他等十年。如果他一百年不來，那麼，在一間靜靜的靜修室裡，你會為他等候一百年，渡此餘生。
到底是何人，有這樣大的魅力？
這一個故事，是值得你一看再看的。如果你看的時候，沒有淚水，那是不要緊的。因為，那是因為你還年青。你還沒有那一種思慮的苦楚。
而故事尚未有完。那人，那值得你為他等候一百年的人，忽然發覺了你的存在。他忽然發覺，只有你才是最值得的。他忽然才知道，你的愛情，是絕對的，是真的。要等到他親眼看到了，你躺在血泊裡的模樣，他才忽然在驚詫莫明之中，徹悟了，明白了。
李察奉獻給流行作家們一句：切勿仿作類似的故事：不是說你沒有那一份功力，青年人的功力，沒有人可以輕視，而只是說，如果你不知道故事的背景，如果你不知道故事的文化焦點，那麼，就只可能把悲劇，變作為鬧劇。
這故事在那裡？
這出現在《石頭記》中的故事在那裡？
當然不會在網上的。網上的所謂「紅樓夢全文」之類，全部都是脂硯齋的假古董。或者是李察的電腦技術所限，根本就無法在網上，找到一個真本。他們都只是在互相傳抄一個假的東西。大約也沒有人有這樣的財力和決心，把在一七九一年已經出現的、活字印刷的、一百二十回的紅樓夢在網上刊登。
說起來，也有點不好意思：李察第一次發現這精彩，是看到描寫尤三姐的幾句：
只見這三姐索性卸了妝飾，脫了大衣服，鬆鬆的輓個髻兒，身上穿著大紅小襖，半掩半開的，故意露出蔥綠抹胸，一痕雪脯。底下綠褲紅鞋，鮮艷奪目；忽起忽坐，忽喜忽嗔，沒半刻斯文，兩個墜子就和打鞦韆一般，燈光之下越顯得柳眉籠翠，檀口含丹。
這幾句話，好在那裡呢？你或者會想到，噢，那些「故意露出」、「一痕雪脯」之類，是很好的。還有，其中還描寫到了她的底褲。不過是一條「綠褲」而已。
到底好在那裡呢？
就是帶著這一個問題，李察一時手頭無書，就想在網上找來再看一次。但找極都找不到。原來想要找的那幾句，竟然就是被脂硯齋刪去了。網上，是沒有了「忽起忽坐，忽喜忽嗔」那幾句的。這才是最精彩的動態描述，如果沒有了這一種動態，那麼，她的半掩半開蔥綠抹胸之類，就完全沒有吸引力了。
以上只是閒話。是不重要的。雖然，這樣的閒話，還要多說兩句：那脂硯齋存心要把她改寫的更放蕩，存心把她改寫成妓女不如，說不是男人淫了她，而竟是她「嫖了男人」，卻無法看到真正具備吸引力的地方，庸人之可笑，使人興嘆。但是，就是這樣的庸人，竟然雄霸了整個的互聯網。包括了香港台灣大陸美國全部的互聯網。你說可怕不可怕？（那脂硯齋還在「柳眉籠翠」後面加上一個字：變成「柳眉籠翠霧」。連基本的文學常識都沒有，加了這一「霧」字，就是把本來的節奏改慢了。真為沒有看過原著的小朋友們悲哀。）
但是，這些仍只是閒話。因為，我們的正題是：
甚麼人值得你為他等候一生？
故事說到，賈府裡的賈珍和賈璉兩堂兄弟，還有賈珍的兒子賈蓉三人，為了垂涎尤二姐和尤三姐兩姊妹的美色，想方設法。吃了一個尤二姐，還想吃尤三姐。可是，三姐的性格激烈，三人無法埋手，又怕留著她終究是個禍，便思量要把她嫁掉算了。怕胡亂為她找婆家，三姐未必肯接受。便由二姐出馬，盤了她
一夜。問她真心喜歡的是誰。
那幾句話，便是這時候說的。那個人，她可以為他等五年、十年、一百年。因為，二姐告訴他，那人是萍蹤浪跡，未必再來賈府的。碰也未必碰到的。
到底是誰呢？
甚麼人值得你為他等候一生？
賈璉等人猜想，一定是賈寶玉。但他們猜錯了。 或者，那時賈寶玉的真性情尚未出現。而問題是：除了賈寶玉之外，還有那一個男人，有這樣的魅力？
《紅樓夢》裡幾百個人物，有那一個，有這樣大的吸力？全世界幾十億人，有那一個，有這樣大的吸力？
或者，還可以測量的一點是：當你石榴裙下所有的追逐者，全部都是平庸的庸才、甚至是無恥的奴才之時，你偶然看到一個似乎是屬於「人類」的「人才」，那種驚喜、決絕，就絕非等閒了。
那個人，就是柳湘蓮。看小說的人，或者一時未必知道，這柳湘蓮，不過是走江湖的戲子之類，他四處為家，也沒有甚麼錢。雖然他是賈寶玉的好朋友。他有甚麼好處呢？
或者，他唯一的好處，就是曾經把《紅樓夢》的另一世家子薛蟠打了一頓。或者，就是這一場好打，竟吸引了尤三姐？
故事說，那薛蟠以為柳湘蓮是個戲子，當然也是個男色之類，便想也吃一口，纏著柳湘蓮不放。那柳湘蓮被他激得恨不得一下子打死。便化個計兒，裝作答允，相約往北門郊外成事。二人各乘一馬，離開賈府，漸行漸遠，到了人跡全無之處，柳湘蓮便結結實實的把那薛蟠揍了一頓。
但是，我們的問題，仍然存在：到底柳湘蓮的好處何在？這樣的一個人，尤三姐但憑聽來的傳說，為何便死心愛上了他？
到底甚麼人，值得你為他等一百年？
因為，在這污濁的穢水之中，他是唯一肯真正出手的人。而這一點，等閒人是不會看見的。連尤二姐，也只能勉強出賣肉體，換取暫時的生存。而三姐死得也太早，看不到以後二姐怎樣被逼死了。故事太長，這是另外一筆。但無論如何，如果沒有三姐的慧眼，便不會看得見柳湘蓮。
故事說，賈璉知道了三姐的心意，便四處留神，看柳湘蓮到了那裡。但得來卻是全不費功夫。竟然讓他在路上碰著了。還碰到，他竟然跟薛蟠一起。原來，那薛蟠後來因為出門，在路上遇到了強盜，竟被柳湘蓮救了。但這是不重要的。
重要的是：有一句話，那賈璉隱瞞了沒有說。那賈璉看見了柳湘蓮，便說如此這般，家裡有個絕色美人，問他願意不願意相娶。那賈璉沒有說，是三姐主動挑選他的。更沒有說，要等候他一百年等等情節。但是，那柳湘蓮出於一種江湖豪氣，便慨然答允了。還把家傳的「鴛鴦劍」交出，作為訂情的信物。
或者，也是到了他離開之後，深宵裡才想到的，那賈璉之類人物，一向是色迷迷的，何以這樣大方，巴巴的要把一個「絕色」送他？
於是他便去問賈寶玉。寶玉說，她們姊妹二人，是真真的一對「尤物」，何況她又姓尤。這句，把個柳湘蓮說得一盤冰水淋頭。他這才想到，這賈府之內，真是沒有一個人乾淨的。只有那一對石獅子乾淨。但又捨不得那劍，便想回去，索回寶劍退婚。
閱讀《紅樓夢》的人，常常以為，這書太長，太慢。殊不知道，到了緊要關頭，那種快速節奏，現代沒有幾位作家趕得上。你簡直無法喘氣。
話說，柳湘蓮來到，向賈璉討回寶劍，說家裡原來早己訂了他人。那賈璉還想爭辯，說定了便是定了，不能退回等語。湘蓮還想再說，但賈璉說此間說話不便，要出去跟他再講。兩人對話，房裡的尤三姐，早己聽見了。立即便意會到，他一定是聽到風聲，嫌自己是「淫奔無恥」之流，不屑為妻。又想到，倘若讓二人出去繼續爭辯，自己又有何趣味？便立即趕了出來說，「你們不必出去再議，還你的定禮。」一邊淚如雨下，將一把雄劍連鞘用左手遞與湘蓮，右手便把身後暗藏著的雌劍往頸項處一橫。立時便是鮮血遍地。《紅樓夢》的作者說，那是「揉碎桃花」甚麼的兩句詩。詩句一出，像是忽然來了一個闊鏡頭拉開，帶你離開現場了。
這一種節奏之快，事情發生在頃刻之間，無人可能預料。
她等了他一百年，但一眼未看完，便提劍自盡了。而這是莎士比亞遠遠及不上的文學手法。羅密歐為朱麗葉殉情，不過是一種暫時的「誤會」，但這裡，卻是一位決絕的可憐女性，在「無恥」二字底下的犧牲。兩種張力，自是不能相比。
再三思量，也未必想得到，這尤三姐，還有甚麼路好走。而作者的「無恥之尤」的呼聲，便從此留在宇宙的永恆深處，再也抹之不去。作者的兩句詩，帶你離開現場，便是要你來到此處。
至於湘蓮之後所遭遇的絕對震撼，由於李察暫時手頭無書，又不想再看脂硯齋的混帳話，只能讓想像暫時馳騁一會了。
故事說，那湘蓮後來是忽然之間大醒大悟，跟隨了一個「道士」失蹤去了的。這其實也是一個伏筆，以後，賈寶玉的相同徹悟，也是相同失蹤的。
甚麼人值得你為他等候一生？
是的，柳湘蓮固然值得。但更有另一人，更加值得。那便是《石頭記》亦即《紅樓夢》的偉大作者隱名人，他的遠視眼光與理想，值得一生。
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