2026年1月25日星期日

郑义口琴《桑梓故人》


  正在125年前阿穆尔河上的枪炮声中寻找谁是开衅者,忽然听见近处口琴声。还没确定不是听走了耳儿,老郑义上楼来了,说牛肉没煮熟,但是半生着也都吃了,又说李叔同西方文化背景很深,总把人家的曲子拿来配中文诗句……。我赶紧从阿穆尔河上回来,咀嚼他的生牛肉,又一头懵进李叔同,反应还没到位,老郑义右臂往前一拐,从袖口里抻出一个口琴,说:福斯特的音乐太美太深厚了,我给你吹一段他的歌吧。

  ——我终于从阿穆尔河上回到现实,越过了生的牛肉、李的叔同、西方的音乐、中国的歌词。

  隔一阵子就会这样:傍晚就寝前,郑义会到我的书房来坐几分钟,不是说创作,就是谈音乐,要么说说构思和新发现。今天来,说了一堆开场白,原来是要分享福斯特。难怪他有点语无伦次,还有点腼腆。

  是福斯特的《桑梓故人》,旋律简单、优美,跟很多上乘的音乐一样,一听就入耳,再听就上心,三听就朗朗上口了。绝非那些音响垃圾,听了半天没听出调门和旋律,听完也不知道乐音在哪里,脑子里剩下的是一团乱麻。

  视频就是老郑义为我吹的这段口琴,美国民谣之父斯蒂芬•福斯特Stephen Foster创作的著名歌曲:《桑梓故人》(Old Folks At Home)

  吹完依旧兴致盎然,我们说了一会其他西方歌曲,然后又吹了几首老歌,其中一首是印尼歌曲《美丽的梭罗河》,我试图跟着唱,没怎么合拍,因为完全没练习,下次再发上来吧。

周末安逸。

2026年1月24日凌晨


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Zheng Yi's harmonica rendition of "Old Folks at Home"

Amidst the cannon fire on the Amur River 125 years ago, as I searched for who had started the conflict, I suddenly heard the sound of a harmonica nearby. Before I could confirm it wasn't just my imagination, Old Zhengyi came upstairs, saying the beef wasn't cooked through, but He had eaten it half-done anyway. He also mentioned that Li Shutong had a deep background in Western culture, always taking other people's melodies to set to Chinese poetry... I snapped back from the Amur River, chewing on his raw beef, and plunged headlong into Li Shutong. Before I could process it, Old Zheng Yi bent his right arm forward, pulled a harmonica from his sleeve, and said: “Foster's music is so beautiful and profound. Let me play you one of his tunes.”

—I finally returned from the Amur River to reality, crossing over raw beef, Li Shutong, Western music, and Chinese lyrics.

This happens periodically: in the evenings before bedtime, Zheng Yi would come to my study for a few minutes, either to discuss his writing, talk about music, or share new ideas and discoveries. Today he arrived with a string of opening remarks, only to reveal he'd come to share Foster. No wonder he seemed a bit incoherent and shy.

It was Foster's “Old Folks at Home.” The melody is simple and beautiful—like much fine music, it enters your ears upon first listen, takes root upon second, and becomes effortlessly hummable by the third. Nothing like that audio trash where you listen forever and can't discern the key or melody, leaving you with nothing but a tangled mess in your head.

The video shows Old Zhengyi playing this harmonica piece for me—Stephen Foster's famous song “Old Folks at Home,” composed by the father of American folk music.

After finishing, he was in high spirits. We chatted about other Western tunes, then he played a few more old songs. One was the Indonesian piece “Beautiful Solo River.” I tried singing along but was off-beat—no practice at all. Maybe next time I'll share it.

Have a relaxing weekend.

Early Morning  /Jan. 23, 2026


非毛化

       

        少时挚友A寻找我多年,我犹豫经年之后终于联系上了,却发现不如相忘于江湖。

       大陆家人告知这消息的同时,说A崇毛。我猜想这是反感现实腐败、怀念简朴时代的缘故。不过我犹豫了一两年没敢让家人转告A我的消息,担心联系上之后反而无话可说。半年前联系上了,彼此唏嘘一番之后,果然话不很多,是因为我不愿为了观点伤害友情。

       我珍重友情更甚于政治观点。政治观点可变,友情一旦被背叛,不能挽回。我不会为了某种主义、某个思想或观点而亲故不认。子曰:“父为子隐,子为父隐,直在其中矣”,意思是,父亲犯了事,儿子应该站在父亲的立场,为了父亲去积极地去解决问题(而非隐瞒),这就是正直。我人为这更是人性之可贵。一个为了哪怕是真理或理想,戕害友情或亲情的人是可怕的,这种人构成的社会是非人社会,更别说为了出人头地从背后对朋友捅刀子的人了。可是为了避免争论,必须回避一些重要话题,这导致友情失去了重量,还真的不如相忘于江湖。

       A不仅正派、特立独行、聪慧好学、才华出众,珍视友情,退休前已经是知名画家和画院院长,A尚且崇毛,我能不相信毛业已死了。

       他还在,魂没死。

 
                                                              网络图片

       另一事,我大学同窗们毕业四十年庆典,我进了群,好生欢喜了一阵,后来发现有几个至今赞成毛的,而且不断说些报纸上的话,读之感觉像吃了苍蝇,忍了一阵子我悄悄退群了。

       前不久我伤感地发现,班里制作的全班同窗聚会纪念的视频里,唯独没有我。——是不是后来终于知道我这些年已经出走太远,不合时宜了?

       但其实,同学们在群里对我的回忆让我惊讶地发现,我挺受待见。我远非成绩好的学生,而且开学不久就把系里分配的当班长的任务给赖掉了,还一天到晚逃课到图书馆看课外书,到中文系、哲学系旁听。可是他们没人记得我这些劣迹,倒是其中有同学感谢我的事儿,我全忘了。

       虽然如此,纪念聚会的视频毕竟把我取消了。我是非毛分子,或者异议分子,不知道这是不是取消我的原因。无论如何,经验告诉我,七八级的大学生里,崇毛的至少有百分之十吧。

 

       受过高等教育的人尚且如此,民间百姓呢?看看每年毛薨日,其故乡韶山那万民沸腾的情形,就知道毛依旧近在咫尺,盘踞在大陆很多国民心头。可想而知,中国”去毛化“任重而道远。

       中国“去毛化”是一个从信息到思想、从历史到教育、从思维方式到心灵结构的系统工程,尚未正式启动。

 

       我更难以忽略的是,即便有觉悟的人们,至今依然称1949年以后是“解放后”;称饿死三千万到六千万人的政策性大饥荒是“自然灾害”;称中共窃夺强取的这个国家政体是“我国”,等等。  ——长年累月耳濡目染于虚假历史,绝大部分国民对这一洗脑结果毫无觉察,更谈不到自省。

       这些词语不断在日常生活中重复使用,年复一年,日复一日地确认着谎言、屏蔽住真相、颠覆着历史、拆毁着我们脚下安身立命的基石。

       中共建政近八十年了,大陆写简体字的人们,无论高矮胖瘦、男女老幼、士农工商、官民贫富,谁敢说自己彻底干净地摆脱了毛共的影响和渗透?且不说行为方式曾经被中共机器格式化,若非自觉转型,难以摆脱,只说“语言”这个思维工具,完全清除其污染,注定是至死方休的事。

 

北明记于2026124日华盛顿郊区 举国暴雪前夜