MR. WU CHIH-HUI (吴稚晖)

Mr. Wu Chih-hui has often been compared to the great Dr. Johnson. Indeed, Mr. Wu is in many ways not unlike the author of the Rambler himself.

To begin with, Mr. Wu, like Dr. Johnson, is remarkable for his looks—remarkable of course not in the sense of handsomeness of a well-groomed person, but in the sense of being uncouth and yet that very uncouthness has become an attraction in itself. The "rollings of his huge frame" and the extremely careless manner in which he dresses himself do not repel us, for the simple reason that we have come to accept them as natural with him. For without these characteristics, Mr. Wu would cease to be himself. Besides, God has made him what he is, and we mortals should never question the wisdom of a Being greater than ourselves.

Of Dr. Johnson's capacity for talk, practically every schoolboy has been told. Similarly: Mr. Wu is justly famous as a conversationalist. He, too, loves "to fold his legs and have his talk out." Macaulay said of Dr. Johnson that "when at a loss for good reasons, he had recourse to sophistry; and when heated by altercation, he made unsparing use of sarcasm and invective." The same is true of the veteran Kuomintang leader. Moreover, although Mr. Wu has a spontaneous sense of humour, it is seldom as subtle as that of the compiler of the Dictionary of the English Language. In fact, it may be said that Mr. Wu's humour is of the unconscious kind. It is the humour of a Benvenuto Cellini, who provokes laughter unintentionally and is a dispenser of fun in spite of himself.

Dr. Johnson was a Tory, and Toryism, as somebody defined it, is less a political than a social creed. "Its rockbottom principle is the acceptance of the state of life unto which, in the language of the catechism, it has pleased God to call us." In this sense, however, Mr. Wu is not, and can never be, a Tory. He is, on the contrary, a Whig, nay, a radical revolutionist. He is well known not only for his atheism, but also for his anarchistic convictions. It must be said, however, that the years have brought him wisdom, and he is now more moderate at least in his views of politics. He has in fact become an ardent supporter of the Kuomintang government, and may yet follow in the foot-steps of General Chiang Kai-shek and become also a pillar of the Southern Methodist Church.

[No. 37; Sep. 13, 1934]

吴稚晖先生¹

吴稚晖先生常被比作那位了不起的约翰逊博士²。确实，吴先生在许多方面也都和这位《漫步者》的作者十分相似。

首先，吴先生和约翰逊博士一样也以相貌闻名。当然，相貌之闻名并不是因为衣冠楚楚、潇洒英俊，而是由于土气。然而，那种土气本身已经变成为一种魅力。他那“硕大身躯的一摇一摆”，他那不修边幅，都不会令我们厌恶，因为我们已经把这些看成他自然而然的一部分。没有这些特点，吴先生就不再是他自己了。何况，上帝已经把他造就成这个样子，我们这些凡夫俗子永远也不该怀疑一个比我们伟大得多的神明的智慧。

约翰逊博士的口才，是每一个小学生都听说过的。同样，吴先生也正以健谈享有盛誉。他同样喜欢“盘起腿来发表长篇大论的演说”。麦考利曾经说，约翰逊博士“在找不到正当的理由时就会诉诸诡辩；在争论得兴起时也毫不吝惜冷嘲热讽和破口叫骂”。这位国民党的元老也不相上下。此外，尽管吴先生有一种自然的幽默感，却很难能像那位《英语辞典》编纂者那样含蓄。其实，可以说，吴先生的幽默属于不自觉的那种。那是一种切利尼³式的幽默，并不刻意逗人笑，而人们不由自主会觉得好笑。

约翰逊博士是一名托利党人⁴。托利主义，就像有人说过的那样，与其说是政治主张，还不如说是一种社会信仰。“其根本原则是接受我们身处其中的生活现状，用教理问答手册的语言说就是，如系天意。”从这种意义上说，吴先生不是，也绝不可能是一名托利党人。恰恰相反，他是一名辉格党人⁵，岂止，甚至是一名激进的革命党人。他不仅仅是个著名的无神论者，还是一个尽人皆知的无政府主义者。不过，应该说，经历过的风霜给他带来了智慧，他至少在政治观点上已经变得温和了。事实上，他已经成为国民党政府的热情支持者，可能还会追随蒋介石将军的步武，成为基督教监理会⁶的中坚信徒。

［第37期，1934年9月13日］