MR. SHENG CHENG (盛成)

Mr. Sheng has told us all about himself in his book Ma Mère. But that was long ago. Lots of things have happened to him since then. He has married, and is now as fond a father as any of us. From being one of the taught, he has now become a teacher for many years among his own people. As private secretary of Chang Chi, he has had a taste of what it is like to be an official. Within the short space of two years, he has seen his country surrender Manchuria, and stage one of the most heroic fights in history in Shanghai. These things have not happened without having their traces on him. If he were to re-write his autobiography now, it would have to be a little different from before. But we doubt whether he'll ever do such a thing. We shall instead do it for him, —not in detail, for which we are not competent, but in the rough, which anybody who has spoken with him and shaken him by the hand can do.

Mr. Sheng looks his age, —the right side of forty. He has a few grey hairs, but his appearance and carriage are those of a man whom Time has only touched up with a light and leisurely hand. He is rather thin and tall, with a slight stoop in his gait. Restless and very much awake, he is most himself when he talks. Then it seems as if he is on the stage. He dramatises what he thinks. It almost appears as if his gestures and bodily movements are more expressive of what he wants to say than the torrent of words that tumble out of his mouth. Is it economics he is talking about? There is certainly logic and a good deal of sense in what he says. But what has the rightness or wrongness of a dramatis persona's economic views got to do with his acting? If the acting is good, we let the economic views take care of themselves. So also with Mr. Sheng. We attend to his expressive gestures and movements when he talks about economics, but we ignore his economics. Is it about Mallarmé, Romain Rolland and André Gide he is excited about? We are impressed by his excitement, but we very soon forget all he has to say about those idols of his. The acting is the thing.

This dramatic quality of Mr. Sheng's character is especially borne out by the manner he reads poetry. It is dramatic rather than recitative. In other words, we get a better idea of what he is reading by looking at him, than by listening to him. The modulations of his voice, his gestures and the swift changes of expression on his face, are those of an actor of poetry, and not of a reader of poetry.

This dramatic quality in Mr. Sheng would lead us to infer that his is a complex character. But strange to say, our first impression of him is of a naive person. His exuberant manner, his buoyancy, and his apparently reckless flow of words are undoubtedly responsible for this impression. But this impression is wrong. Mr. Sheng is a man of the world. He has been through much, and he has seen much and what is more, he has profited much from his experiences. The mind that directs that reckless flow of words is not reckless; it is very sensitive to atmosphere and persons. When it scents danger, it can shut itself up as effectively as an oyster. The flow of words may still go on, but as the ocean round a shut oyster. We get words and words, but not Mr. Sheng Cheng.

What is the real Sheng Cheng like? We don't exactly know. But this we know: he is neither so bad as his enemies make him out to be, nor so good as his friends imagine. He is like fire: its essence is to burn and to give warmth. Doesn't Mr. Sheng do that by his tremendous enthusiasm for causes, —good, bad and indifferent?

[No. 49; Dec. 6, 1934]

盛成先生¹

盛先生在他所著《我的母亲》一书中，把自己的情况全都给我们讲过了。不过，那已经是很久以前了。从那以来，他又经历了很多事情。他已经结婚，现在像我们中的任何人一样，也是个疼爱孩子的父亲了。他从一个受教育的学生变成自己国家的教师也已经多年。作为张继²的私人秘书，他也领略了一点为官的滋味。在短短两年之内，他已经看到自己的国家放弃了东三省，并在上海开展了一场历史上无比英勇的战斗³。这些事情的发生在他的心灵留下了深刻的印迹。如果他现在重写自传，一定会和以前有所不同。但是我们怀疑，他是不是会重写传记。我们将代他来做这件事情——不可能详细，我们也胜任不了；但是粗略的概述，任何一个与他说过话、握过手的人都能写。

盛先生的长相和年龄相当——四十出头，有几丝白发，但是他的容貌和仪态都表明，时光老人只是随意、轻轻触摸了他一下。他身材高而相当瘦，走起路来有点驼背。他生性好动，非常清醒，说起话来最有精神，就像登上了舞台。他能把所想的像演戏似地表演出来，好像他的手势和肢体动作都要比滔滔不绝从他嘴里说出来的话语更能传情达意。他是在谈经济学问题吗？他所谈的确实合乎逻辑、合乎情理。但是，一个剧中人的经济观点的是与非和他的表演又有什么关系呢？只要他表演得好，那他的经济观点如何就无所谓了。对于盛先生，情况也是这样。我们注意到他谈论经济问题时富于表现力的手势和动作，但是我们并不关心他的经济观点。他谈得那么激动的是马拉梅⁴、罗曼·罗兰⁵、安德列·纪德⁶吗？我们对他的兴奋有深刻印象，但是很快就会忘记他为他那几个偶像都说过什么。重要的是表演。

盛先生身上的戏剧特点尤其在他读诗的方式上显得更加突出，那更像是演戏而不是朗诵。换句话说，我们看着他比支着耳朵听更能理解他读了些什么。他嗓音的抑扬顿挫、手势和面部表情的迅速变化，全都属于诗歌表演者，而不属于诗歌朗诵者。

盛先生身上的这种戏剧性特点，会让我们觉得他的个性比较复杂。但是说来奇怪，他给我们的第一印象却是一个天真幼稚的人。给我们形成这种印象的，显然是他那充满活力的态度、轻松愉快的样子和滔滔不绝的话语。但是这样的印象是错误的，盛先生可是个老于世故的人。他经得多，见得广，并且从阅历中受益无穷。指导那滔滔不绝话语的头脑并不鲁莽，对环境、对人感觉都很灵敏，一旦嗅到了危险的气息，就会像牡蛎一样立刻把自己密闭起来。滔滔不绝的话语还会继续下去，但是，那就像一只闭合牡蛎周围的大海。我们得到的是话语，而不是盛成先生。

真正的盛成究竟是什么样的？我们知道得并不确切。但是，我们知道：他既不像他的敌人所描绘的那样坏，也不像他的朋友所想象的那样好。他像一团火，火的本质是燃烧，是发热。无论是好事、坏事或平庸的事情，盛先生不都是以他极大的热情在燃烧、在发热吗？

［第49期，1934年12月6日］