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“‘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。’”
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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。
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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!
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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。
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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。
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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”。
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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。
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李鸿章全传 5. 在饥荒时期
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“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。”
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“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。”
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“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。”
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李鸿章在这个时期写下了这样的诗篇：
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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!
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李鸿章全传 6. 献身农业
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在翻译过来的李鸿章日记中，这位总督四十几处提到了农业。他认为农业本身应该作为一种独特科学得到重视。虽然李鸿章一直强调，自己最大的爱好是文学。但他奉献到赞颂农业中的精力比投入到文学中的要多。这一点从下面这些段落可以得到令人满意的印证，这些文字是1879年李鸿章在天津所留：
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“一位颐和园的官员在读过我赞扬神农的辞赋后说，我在骨子里更像是一位山野农夫，而不是一个文人雅士。因为他告诉我，在读到我的作品之前，他对伟大的神农从未有如此高的评价（我相信，这不是阿谀奉承）。但他继续说，如果我更加专注于文学，我肯定就写不出如此优美的颂文。他还问我为什么把孔孟之道放在一边，而去关注其他。”
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“他的一番话让我十分开心。我解释说真正的文学并不需要关注其本身。因为文学的最高目的是以大脑和笔墨纸砚为武器，来歌颂那些自己无法开口说话的其他人类艺术和科学，如果文学仅仅只是关注其本身就会显得自私狭隘。”
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“随着我们对这个问题讨论的深入，我试图解释，伟大的哲学家和文学家都竭尽心力创作出了他们的不朽著作，我任何提升他们声望的尝试，不仅是浪费时间，还可能遭受这些人的嫌弃，因为他们可能会认为我只是个无名小辈。但说到伟大的神农，我怎么可能忽视他的美德和他为八方百姓带来的福祉呢？”
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“于是他满意地走了，我却有几分遗憾。因为，他十分愉快地看完了这篇辞赋，却没有注意它的装裱。它是用卷轴装裱着的，还在上面画上了精美的装饰画，我要把它一副一副挂在墙上。”
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“但我还有其他的抄写本，今天晚上，我要把这篇我十分引以为傲的作品读给家人听，我会从中得到很大的乐趣。”
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这篇被李鸿章称为《神农赋》的辞赋，我们没有找到其原稿，却在天津和广州找到了几份不同的抄写本，每份上标注的日期都不同。其中有一份在广州找到的精美抄写本，标注的日期是1869年10月12日。下面就是这份精美抄写本的内容：
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