1705928650
1705928651
“2月26日。——顺利做成一些事情总是让人心满意足。不久之前，嫘祖庙住持来拜见我，求我别革他的职。我告诉他，我和他的事情毫不相关，我也不想管一些闲人闲事。他走的时候带着哭腔说他永远不会回来了。他来之前就应该了解到，在我向朝廷呈上弹劾他的奏折之后，他应该变成一个完全不同的人，一个好人，这样才有机会得到我的帮助，保住乌纱帽。”
1705928652
1705928653
“2月27日。——今天，我面见了皇上和皇太后。年轻的皇上，现在已经成年，我希望他能成就一番事业，当他回想起自己的成长时也能非常高兴。我相信，不管是天之骄子，还是平头百姓，都希望世人能够认为他们已经长大成人。”
1705928654
1705928655
“太后穿着三天前的那身漂亮衣裳出现了，三天前她赋予了我这个不寻常的使命。太后解释说，她这是为了表达她对我代她向嫘祖敬献祭文的感谢。一篇主要由我撰写的祭文，经过精心的装饰，已经在几个时辰前送到了太后那里，供太后御览。”
1705928656
1705928657
“‘这真的是你亲笔写的吗，中堂大人？恐怕科场的状元都写不出如此美妙的文章啊。’太后高兴地说道。”
1705928658
1705928659
“皇上笑了笑，但没有说什么。”
1705928660
1705928661
“对太后所说的话，我回应说，如果实话实说，我不能说这篇祭文是我写的。我告诉太后，那一个多时辰里的祭文都是太后的，是在太后的激励下写出来的，是太后自己内心的想法。”
1705928662
1705928663
“‘但圣明的太后，’我说，‘您最卑微的仆人，罪臣我，在您的祭文后面也献上了自己短小的祭文。臣恳请太后大慈大悲，准许臣将自己的拙作献给太后。太后在嫘祖面前能言善辩、舌灿莲花，相比之下，微臣的祭文就像一个书生的拙劣尝试。”
1705928664
1705928665
“‘中堂大人，你实在是忠心耿耿，慷慨大方。’太后说，‘把你自己的那份呈上来吧，我要看看到底它是不是和我的那篇一样精美。’”
1705928666
1705928667
“我随身带着一份，但是书法非常一般，是写在极其普通的银纸上，我边道歉，边把它呈给了太后。”
1705928668
1705928669
“但她只随便扫了一眼，就还给了我。”
1705928670
1705928671
“‘中堂大人太过谦虚了，’她说。‘用大字将它誊写在五层皇家丝绢上了，再呈给我。’”
1705928672
1705928673
接下来的这段日记没有注明时间，但很明显是数周后，李鸿章在天津衙门写的。这篇文稿藏在一个铁皮盒子里，还有很多类似的盒子，所有盒子里装的文稿记录的都是皇帝成年后宣布联合掌政的相关事件。这份文稿写在银纸上，经常性的折叠使其破损得非常厉害，翻看次数很多使其被弄脏，甚至还有几行字迹模糊了。很明显，这就是他呈给慈禧的那份文稿，她把它还给李鸿章是表示她认为李鸿章的确太过谦虚。十分有趣的是，这份银纸手稿的内容实质上都是关于文学和宗教的论述，从某种意义上说主要是作者的个人文学观和宗教观的表达，手稿上明显的有很多手指印，而那些有重大政治意义的手稿，大部分都很干净，没有被弄脏。
1705928674
1705928675
A HUMBLE MAN’S VOICE To Thee, O Ancestor of the Silken World, a humble man, with face to earth, which thou didst bless and make glad, asks of thee in all the humility of his soul to hear his prayer of praise and petition. To Thee, O Ancestor of a Noble Work, it is not given that thou shouldst hearken unto my words, for in the celestial world of the Seven Springs a million millions of them that drew from thee on earth the breath of their souls and the food of their bodies are now thy meekest servants and subjects; and the voices of their praise must ring so loud and sweet to thine ears that these rough words of mine are but as jarring sounds of discord. To Thee, O Gladsome Queen of a Gladsome Art, it cannot be known that one so poor and miserable as I doth even in thy loved land exist, much less that thy most degraded petitioner did in all his days honour and praise thy name, sing thy glories, pray for them that prayed to thee, thought by day and dreamed by night of all the vast goodness thou didst bestow upon this Flowery Land. But, O Transcendent Lady of the Ancient Sin, I, thy miserable petitioner, did, when a boy, labour among the trees of the mulberry, feed with tender care the creatures thou didst teach to spin, threaded from their shells the divine gleams which thou taughtest to produce, wove with mine own hands the silken strands of thy invention, and made into great widths and breadths the shimmering fabric which is the glory of the world. Yet, Yuen Fi, Goddess of the Golden Weave, all, all the words of this most humble man are true; as true as ever lowly one did vouch to speak to one exalted high. And now, Yuen Fi, Lady of the Blessed Silk, I crave that thou wilt think of me in thy celestial sphere; that to the holy ones forgathered there, thou wilt but speak a kindly word and say that here upon the sordid earth, which thou alone didst beautify, there lives a humble man of poor renown, who, in all the hours of all his days did strive and toil by sweat of face and tire of brain to do thy bidding in the silken fields; who … [Lines obliterated] My prayer, O Heavenly One, O Goddess Rare, though I would speak to thee the whole night through, in pain I do make brief; for well I know that in that High Beyond this voice of mine can hold no charm. But now again of thee I fain would ask: that in this hour of darkest night a newer blessing thou wilt give to all that work in arts of thine; bless them that harvest in the fields, bless thou the silkworms’ rounded home, bless them that toil at factory loom, bless them that mart thy precious weave, bless them that sail the far salt seas and take thy goods to foreign shore; bless them that on their bodies fair—in Indies and the far beyond, the lands of Europe and the West, in every isle, in every clime, in cold and heat, in shine and rain, in mountain home and valley mild, in palace rich and humble cot,— where’er, O Mighty Sun-Loved Queen, thy name is thought or heard or sung, send down thy blessings like the dew!
1705928676
1705928677
编者特注——多年之后，当李鸿章在清帝国地位一人之下万人之上时，即官居四大学士之首的文华殿大学士的几年间，李鸿章在其日记中最明显的位置先后三次提到了他亲自下令，要求大量印制，广泛传播慈禧太后老佛爷撰写的《嫘祖颂》，要让清帝国的所有子民不仅要更加了解蚕神，还要了解嫘祖发明的养蚕缫丝之技艺，大力鼓励养蚕缫丝业的发展，以图国富民安。
1705928678
1705928679
在对宫廷史料的调查中我们发现《嫘祖颂》的创作者是慈禧太后。此外，由于慈禧太后非常在意自己的文学能力，而且，朝野上下都认可她的文学能力，因此，也没有人会怀疑慈禧太后创作《嫘祖颂》的真实性。
1705928680
1705928681
可以肯定的是，李鸿章在其一生中从未公开声称《嫘祖颂》的作者其实是他，而是尽心尽力下令印制传播，在一个李鸿章发布的命令中，他宣称《嫘祖颂》是“最伟大的太后老佛爷献给蚕神嫘祖的不朽真言”。
1705928682
1705928683
在对李总督的日记，以及大量的公开文件、书信和其他文稿的仔细整理和翻译中，我们发现除了之前提到的那篇祭文外，并没有其他与“祭文”或“颂歌”相关的文稿。毋庸置疑的是，李鸿章就是《嫘祖颂》的作者，把这篇祭文放在这里也是非常合适的。加上研究者和译者在李鸿章的手稿中并未找到任何《嫘祖颂》的复制品。将这首“颂歌”译成英文后可能要占十到十二页的篇幅。在东方学者宣布《嫘祖颂》具有很高的文学价值之后，欧美国家中许多对李鸿章感兴趣的学者对李鸿章有了另一个更重要的评价：晚年的李鸿章不仅仅是一个伟大的政治家、外交官和清帝国最富有的人，他还是一个学富五车、孜孜不倦的学者。
1705928684
1705928685
1705928686
1705928687
1705928689
李鸿章全传 5. 在饥荒时期
1705928690
1705928691
“1877年11月30日。——没有人希望今年的饥荒再次发生，即使是他仇恨这片土地上除自己外的所有人。即使是我能再活上几十年，那些我在北方多地所见的充满饥饿与绝望的可怕画面，恐怕都无法从我的脑子里消除。朝廷还未得到受灾详情和具体受灾人数的报告，但据我估计大概有七百万老百姓已经被活活饿死。”
1705928692
1705928693
“在这种时候人们都希望自己是掌握国家财富的大臣，或是拥有巨额财富的富商，这样他们就可以为那些饥饿的人们提供食物。”
1705928694
1705928695
“在这些艰难岁月里，只要我能够承受得了，我的钱库都会尽可能打开。但所买到的食物根本不够，就像拿一小把谷子去喂一大群乌鸦。尽管这样，听说在这可怕的几个月里，有成千上万灾民因为我提供的食物而能勉强吃饱，这让我十分欣慰。听我手下的人报告说仅在天津城里就有一到两千灾民靠我提供的玉米和蔬菜维生，同时我还努力救助着几个临近村庄的五千灾民。我母亲的生活虽然不会受这些灾情的影响，但她却每天都在乞求上天保佑让这些灾民早日渡过难关。母亲说佛祖和人民不会忘记，我对这些穷苦灾民的贡献。”
1705928696
1705928697
李鸿章在这个时期写下了这样的诗篇：
1705928698
1705928699
THE SAD SIGHT OF THE HUNGRY T would please me, gods, if you would spare Mine eyes from all this hungry stare That fills the face and eyes of men Who search for food o’er hill and glen. Their eyes are orbs of dullest fire, As if the flame would mount up higher; But in the darkness of their glow We know the fuel ‘s burning low. Such looks, O gods, are not from thee! No, they ‘re the stares of misery! They speak of hunger’s frightful hold On lips a-dry and stomachs cold. Bread, bread! they cry, these weary men, With wives and children from the glen! O, they would toil the live-long day But for a meal, their lives to stay. But where is it in all the land? Unless the gods with gen’rous hand Send sweet some rice and strengthening corn To these vast crowds to hunger born! For months the awful famine beast Has roamed the lands both North and East, And smiled as he on landscape read The gruesome figures of the dead. IN THE TIME OF FAMINE 87 His black claws clutched the stalwart man, The very headmen of each clan, The elder sons and younger ones, Nor e’en the baby’s cradle shuns. In all the fields along the road, In each and every mean abode, He stops to grin in hellish way At famished forms turned quick to clay. The greater are the awful pains, And if the tears do fall as rains, This monster demon smiles the more While passing by each hungry door. He crosses now the bone-dry streams, And listens to the frantic screams Of those who on the mountain high Are doomed this awful death to die. In valley and on sandy plain The beast appears, again, again! In city and in village street, Where’er you go, the beast you meet! A million now have bowed to him, This famine monster, black and grim! O, gods, we ask, remove the brand Of this vile demon’s bony hand!
[
上一页 ]
[ :1.70592865e+09 ]
[
下一页 ]