论《围城》的起源 英文习作

1998年12月19日早上的七点半
钱钟书先生闭上了双眼 微笑着离开了
十几年后的我  一后生  坐在灯下
细细阅读钱老的著作
深深的被他学贯中西的学问所折服
今天 在这里 钱老不熟识的网络上
秋石作文纪念他 
以示对我最尊敬的钱老的尊敬和怀念
我的生命还很漫长
向后看  是一位又一位学贯中西，博晓古今的学问大师
可向前看呢？  大师还会有么？
虽然我相信后辈定胜过前辈的。   

On origin of “Fortress Besieged”or “Wei-ch’eng,”

Ch’ien Chung-shu has studied in French about one year, and known French civilization deeply. According to hint of novel, the word “Wei-ch’eng,” originated French proverb,“Le mariage est comme une forteresse assiégée; ceux qui sont dehors veulent y entrer, et ceux qui sont dedans veulent en sortir. ” (Marriage is like a fortress besieged: those who are outside want to get in, and those who are outside want to get out.)

In the novel, we can also find some traces about Fortress Besieged. For instance, Ch’u Shen-ming said, “As for Bertie’s marriages and divorces,, I’ve talked with him about them. He quoted an old English saying that marriage is like gilded bird cage. The birds outside want to get in, and the birds inside want to fly out. So you have marriage and divorce, divorce and marriage in endless succession.”

Miss Su said,” There is a French saying similar to that. Instead of a bird cage it is a fortress under siege (forteresse assēgēe). The people outside the city want to break in and the people inside the city want to escape. Right, Hung-chien?”Hung-chien shook his head to indicate he did not know. Hsin-mei said, “You need not ask. You sounded as if you could be wrong.”

Shen-ming said, “Whatever it is a bird cage or a besieged fortress, someone like me who’s detached from everything has no fear of a siege.”

In Arabic, we find these descriptions, “Marriage is like a besieged castle; those who are on the outside wish to get in; and those who are on the inside wish to get out.”

In John Webster’s The White Devil, appeared the same imagery, “'T is just like a summer bird-cage in a garden: the birds that are without despair to get in, and the birds that are within despair and are in a consumption for fear they shall never get out.” 

But famous scholar Mr. Zhao Rui-hong said, “Mr. Ch’ien Chung-shu appreciates French writer Montaigne very much. in Montaigne’s essay, he writes these words,’ Il en advient ce qui se voit aux cages, les oyseaux qui en sont dehors, desesperent d'y entrer; et d'un pareil soing en sortir, ceux qui sont au dedans. ’ (Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out.)”

And so, what is the real origin of “Wei-ch’eng,”? Why did call “Wei-ch’eng,” not “Bird Cage” in the novel?. We ought
to conect with background of novel, at that time, Chinese people was oppugning Japanese aggression and China like a round city. In 1979, Japanese scholar Mr. Zhong Dao-chang-wen visited Mr. Ch’ien in Ch’ien’s home (San Li He in Beijing). When Mr. Zhong Dao-chang-wen ask the origin of “Wei-ch’eng,” Mr. Ch’ien take out the Historical Records from the bookshelf and open the Biography of Lu Zhong-lian and Zou Yang of the Historical Records, and then, let Mr. Zhong Dao-chang-wen see these words: Lu Lian said,” I think all the people of live in Wei-ch’eng want to seek Mr. Ping Yuan’s help. Now when after I observe your face, I consider the people of city don’t want to seek your help, and they want to stay in Wei-ch’eng”.