Better an Empty Purse Than an Empty Head

By Yu Dan Translation： Zhu Yaguang

Better an Empty Purse Than an Empty Head

By Yu Dan Translation： Zhu Yaguang

In my childhood, I was fortunate enough to witness many joyous and graceful moments that had nothing to do with money. When I was about 12 or 13, the Cultural Revolution had just came to an end, and my dad went to work in Hefei. On one summer vacation, Mom took me to visit him.

At the dormitory where we stayed, there was a boxy concrete balcony on the outside, with just a square table in the middle, some big rattan chairs around it and nothing else. My dad and his friends, wearing loose T-shirts and waving palm fans, were lying on the chairs. Although their behaviors were exactly the same as other ordinary people, these men of letters had a unique way of enjoying a refined life.

When my dad and his friends attended their usual gathering, they always brought a white paper handheld fan. And then, one man began to recite a poem impromptu, and another person just wrote down the verses on the fan, and the third man drew a picture on the back of the fan,and there was the fourth man who just sat aside silently and focused on engraving a seal. When the calligraphy work was done, they would stamp the fan with the seal. Interestingly, they always took turns to change their role. The man who was capable of writing good poems would often draw, the man who drew the best would carve the seal, and the expert of seal carving would recite a poem. Gradually, they made lots of paper fans together. Later, when their group disbanded and went their separate ways, each of them got one of the fans.

Today, I still remember Uncle Lin, who taught me to recite in Shanghai dialect the verse “It breaks my heart to see blooming trees near the tower. The country torn apart, how could I admire the flower?” He told me, “Dan, you should never forget about the checked tone. Otherwise,you will find it difficult to sing Kun Opera, and neither can you compose classical Chinese poems. Although your dad is better educated than me, I do better recitation than him, because he is a northerner. So you should learn how to recite from your Uncle Lin.”

Even to this day, I still miss that balcony.The charm of that place and the atmosphere of the Chinese scholars are always on my mind.Although my dad and his friends have passed away, I still keep some of their poems in my home.

Uncle Zhang from Shanghai had three sons and no daughters, and he was very fond of me.Uncle Zhang had perfect handwriting, and he once wrote a five-character poem as a gift for my father, and the last two verses translated roughly like this, “You are perfectly enviable for having a lovely daughter in your home.”In Uncle Zhang’s opinion, having a daughter is just like owning the most valuable treasure of the world.

How time flies! Thirty years have gone by. All along the way,I have been brought up under the care, trust, guidance, and enlightenment of many people.In this sense, I am rich. Although I was once hard up for money,I never felt poor. As the saying goes, better an empty purse than an empty head. As long as you are passionate about life and dreams,you can always live a tasteful life.◆

我很慶幸在很小的時候就見過許多沒錢的歡喜和典雅。我十二三歲的時候，“文革”剛剛結束，父親去合肥工作。夏天放暑假，我和母親去看望父親。

我們住的宿舍外面有一個四四方方的水泥陽臺，上面沒有任何裝飾，中間放著一張小方桌，四周擺著幾把大藤椅。我父親和他的朋友們，穿著老頭衫，搖著大蒲扇，靠在藤椅里，表面上看起來尋常極了，但他們畢竟是文人，自有屬于他們的雅致。

他們幾個人經常拿一幅白扇面，第一個人吟一首詩，第二個人提筆把詩題在扇面上，第三個人在扇子的背面揮毫作畫，而另外一個人則在一邊靜靜地刻章。等到書畫作好，再蓋上閑章。他們經常反串，往往是最擅長作詩的去作畫，最擅長作畫的人去治印，治印最好的人去吟詩。就這樣，他們合作做了一把又一把扇子。等到他們各奔東西時，每個人手里都拿著幾個人合作的扇子。

一直到現在，我還記得林叔叔用上海口音的話教我吟誦：“花近高樓傷客心，萬方多難此登臨。”林叔叔告訴我：“小丹，要記住什么是入聲字。不會入聲字，你就唱不了昆曲；不會入聲字，你就不會作古體詩。我學問沒你爸爸好，但是我吟誦比他強，因為他是北方人。所以，吟誦要跟叔叔學。”

直到現在，我都特別懷念那個陽臺。那個地方的情趣，中國文人的氣息，一直都讓我懷念。如今，那些叔叔和我的父親均已作古，但我家一直還留著那些叔叔們寫的詩。

上海的張叔叔有三個兒子，沒有女兒，特別喜歡我。張叔叔的字寫得很漂亮，他寫了一首五律詩送給我父親，結尾兩句是“羨君真敵國，家富一千金”。在張叔叔看來，家里有個女兒，可謂富可敵國。

如今，一晃三十多年過去了。一路走來，我其實是在很多人的關愛、囑托、提攜、濡染下長大的。從這個意義上來講，我很富有，從小就有很多特別奢侈的愛陪伴著長大。我有過沒錢的時候，但沒有覺得窮過。所以，沒錢不可怕，可怕的是精神上的貧窮。只要心懷對生活的熱愛和對夢想的追求，日子依然可以饒有情趣。◆

沒錢有情致

文/于丹 譯/朱亞光

（摘自《此心光明萬物生》長江文藝出版社）

(From A Bright Heart Nurtures Everything, Changjiang Literature& Art Press)