A love letter to the eternity

I remembered that several years ago， before the repair of the former residence of Zhu Shenghao in Jiaxing， a friend of mine invited me to that lonely wooden house. Among those high buildings newly built， the old residence of Zhu appeared even smaller and narrower， attracting nobody’s attention. It was dim and dusty inside with spiders’ nets everywhere. Climbing upstairs through an extremely narrow and creaky staircase with the squelch， my friend pointed to an old yellowish desk in front of the window， saying that was the place where Zhu Shenghao translated the complete works of William Shakespeare. Out of the window， a nameless luxuriant tree caught my eyes. I had no idea whether Mr. Zhu also overlooked this tree when he stopped his translation over 70 years ago.

Each of Zhu’s love letters can be a Chinese teaching material for today’s people. We may laugh at Zhu， saying how ridiculous， nauseating， mawkish or sentimental he was， but at a certain moment when quieting down， we can truly feel the bittersweet flowing from the paper. It is probably because we are alike under the skin - the song of praises for love of all times all over the world can always touch the softest part of each person accurately. As to Zhu Shenghao， according to his college schoolmate Jin， he was a “tossing man”. If you do not know the meaning of “tossing”， you may ask your friends in the dialect area of Hangzhou. Zhang Kangkang once wrote a novel named “Tossing Girl”， and this “tossing” proximately equals to “asking extra troubles” in Beijing dialect. However， Zhu’s “tossing” words contained too much of his emotion. For example， there was actually pleasure hiding in his complaints， and innocence contained in his hidden bitterness. He lived in an abundant spiritual world， so although he kept writing in his letters how he must well plan the usage of each coin of his few money， we would never feel he was poor. Among the words depicting a frank， forthright and aspiring Zhu Shenghao flew his tenderness， yearning and deep love for his wife. How beautiful these Chinese are！ Each word is the natural expression of emotions without any fakeness or artificial works， and they are all real spirits.

It is true that his love letters are so soft and tender， full of attachment to his lover that even a subtle word of his lover would set off frenzy in Zhu’s heart. He called Song Qingru and even himself differently in every single letter. Moreover， there were a lot of letters which contained nothing substantial but mischievous and coquetry words from where his feelings poured out. How could she stand that！ However， as long as Zhu Shenghao talked about the dramas of William Shakespeare， his word were like glistening gem stones， reflecting his profound insight and reminding us what a talented writer he was. Zhu Shenghao was extraordinary because he was sensitive to the times， concerned about the situation and worried about the future of China which all contained in his lines. He always missed Qingru， while he also treasured freedom very much. So these love letters to Song Qingru were like written to freedom.

Love is not a castle in the air， and it may appear to be more precious in the daily life of an ordinary couple. I wonder how the sensitive and amorous couple lived through their most difficult time accompanied with poverty and sickness. It is love that gave them warm and power. In dark times， love is the only light for them. Moving frequently due to the war and migration， Zhu had to re-translate those burned and lost translations again and again， and Song Qingru was always the one who supported him in silence.

In 2012， I received the most important birthday gift - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare translated by Zhu Shenghao. Zhu’s powerful or delicate words fully delivered the essence of Shakespeare. Frankly speaking， if 20-year-old as I， I would think Zhu’s love letters are disgusting and keep them at a distance， for I couldn’t understand the depth of love. But now， I prefer to believe that as long as we have experienced this kind of love once， we will get the strength to live through lifelong darkness.