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金庸的剑桥生活

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2006年“十一”前夕,金庸先生离开香港返回英国,开始了他新一学年的读书生涯。刚刚结束的暑假对金庸先生来说挺有意义,因为这是他进剑桥大学就读之后的第一个暑假。他在这个暑假里过得忙而充实,一篇专论唐朝继承法的论文终于让他如期赶写完成,这让他很高兴,因为这是金庸先生在剑桥的主攻课程之一,他攻的就是唐代历史。

自从2005年10月1日离开香港去英国,金庸先生已经当了整整一年的学生。去年此时,有人曾断言金庸到剑桥读博士不过是作秀,认定他不会坚持到底,但金庸先生以自己的行动否定了这些非议。过去一年,他谢绝了一切跟学业无关的应酬,专心致志地在剑桥读书,而且读得很愉快,是个老师和同学公认的“好学生”。

荣誉博士要当正式博士

年逾八旬的金庸先生到英国剑桥大学攻读博士学位,当即引起了广大读者的关注。他缘何去剑桥读博士?他在剑桥读博如何与老师同学相处?剑桥的老师同学又是如何看待金庸读博?笔者通过采访金庸及其老师朋友,了解到不少鲜为人知的故事。

2005年4月11日笔者从金庸先生的秘书吴小姐处了解到,英国剑桥大学已经决定授予金庸先生荣誉文学博士的称号。吴小姐同时告诉笔者:过一段时间,查先生(金庸本名查良镛)要赴英国参加文学博士授予仪式。笔者随即与金庸通了电话,金庸先生证实了以上消息,并告诉笔者:光有荣誉文学博士的称号还不够,他将在剑桥大学历史系正式攻读博士学位,并且已经找好了剑桥大学著名的DavidMcMullen教授为自己辅导。金庸说,当年自己修完大学学业时,正值国家战事不断,无法进一步深造,从而多年来深感自己学问不够,故希望在未来的两年时间中能够静心读书,修完历史学博士课程,拿到剑桥大学的博士学位。

金庸告诉笔者,他到剑桥读博士不是为了赚钱和升职,只为充实知识和人格修养。

2005年6月22日,剑桥大学在导师学院举行仪式,剑桥大学校监菲利浦亲王亲自向金庸颁授荣誉文学博士学位。金庸在典礼上用英语作了演讲,他激动地表示,自己从小就想在剑桥拿学位,这回梦想成真了!因为金庸是获得剑桥大学荣誉文学博士的第一个中国人,所以学院特别为他举行了花园集会表示欢迎,并邀请了在剑桥大学的所有中国学生参加,金庸向来自中国的小师弟、小师妹们致辞说:我本来在浙江大学做教授,但我对学生们说,我没本事做你们的老师,不过是年纪大些,做你们的大师兄好了。如今剑桥大学收我做学生,我首先要删去我的教授头衔。先进师门为大,你们是师兄、师姐,我是师弟,以后请你们多多指教……金庸的谦和致辞博得了阵阵掌声。

唯求学问静心读书

2005年10月1日,金庸偕太太一起离开香港飞赴英国,开始了剑桥大学的读博计划。行前笔者再次与金庸通了电话,他告诉笔者,这次是持续学习,计划用两至三年时间,主要攻读历史,包括世界史、中国唐代史、历史学等硕士和博士课程。为了专心求学,他在读博期间将谢绝一切与学业无关的社会活动邀请。

金庸就读的剑桥大学圣约翰学院,当年著名诗人沃兹沃斯、数学家亚当斯、计算机科学奠基人维尔克斯等名人,都曾在这里求学过。

金庸到剑桥的那天,剑桥的中国学生们在草坪上为他开了场武侠派对。人人穿着长袍马褂,大家玩得十分疯狂,一个穿着武术服装的人还要求金庸在他背上签名。

为了方便学习,金庸夫妇在学校旁租住了一套住房。与金庸在香港的住所相比,他在剑桥的住所显得十分简陋,他们甚至没有打算请保姆,只是请了一位意大利厨师解决一日三餐,以便能吃到意大利式的“中国菜”。金庸表示,既然到剑桥读书,就应该像个读书人,读书生活应该过得清苦一些。

然而金庸毕竟是拥有3亿读者的名人,在剑桥的中国留学生中就有许多的金庸小说迷。因此金庸在上学途中常常会遇到中国留学生上前尊敬地向他打个招呼,希望金庸为他题词签名或者合影留念,但金庸总会以自己是学生而拒绝在上学路上给别人签名题词,并说:我在散步或者在喝咖啡时可以给你们签名(那种场合的金庸依旧是作家金庸)。他甚至谢绝记者采访,他说:剑桥有很好的校风,学校不希望本校的学生浮躁张扬,自己既然来到这所高等学府就读,就应该遵循学校的学风,唯求学问,静心读书。

据曾去剑桥探望金庸的朋友描述:金庸每天斜背着一只书包,书包中装着当天课堂中要用的书和资料。金庸一星期有两次课,他去学校一次,老师来他住所一次,一次两个钟头。除了读书外,金庸还在牛津大学找了一份工作,他是学校汉学研究所的高级研究员。

金庸先生也有“分心”的例外:那是在2005年10月17日巴金先生去世时,笔者通过查太太采访了金庸。金庸先生对巴金这颗中国文坛巨星的陨落表示痛惜,并希望通过笔者和《文汇报》向巴金先生的家人表示哀悼。第二天下午,笔者就收到了金庸先生的悼念文稿《正直精神永为激励》。

充当半个古文老师

金庸先生与徐志摩先生是表兄弟,凑巧得很,诗人徐志摩曾经于1922年也在剑桥大学当过学生,徐志摩把对剑桥的倾心留在了他的经典诗篇《再别康桥》中。但金庸先生对徐志摩这位表兄的剑桥生活却不恭维。他认为徐志摩在剑桥没有拿到毕业证书,却留下了不少逸闻轶事。在他描写剑桥的诗文里,常见的是草绿而很少闻到书香。

金庸的课并不多,每周两次他从不缺课。他的唐代史导师DavidMcMullen教授是道地的“中国通”,不仅普通话说得好,尤其精通中国的历史、文学和古汉语。与金庸先生一起上课的也有硕士班的同学,他们都比较年轻,有北京大学毕业的,有南开大学毕业的,中国学生很多,同时还有些韩国学生和英国学生。但韩国和英国的学生中文不是太好,有一次,McMullen教授上课时请大家完成古文句读,即给古文点标点,这些外国学生对深奥的古文感到难懂,点句阅读自然困难。有学生去向教授求助,教授就让他们去问金庸,教授指着金庸说:“他可以当你们的半个老师。”每到这种时候,金庸便会露出孩童似的笑容,并为同学指点起来。金庸不仅给同学指点古汉语,而且常常给同学讲故事,故事讲得十分生动。

金庸曾对比自己小差不多60岁的同学说:“我姓查,名良镛,金庸是我的笔名。有人看我的小说,说我无所不知。其实,我不可能‘无所不知’;我只写所知,不写不知,非知不可,当去查书。我既然姓查,就要把握住这个‘查’字,用功读书,化去这个‘庸’字。有人公开批评我学问不好,我相当重视,我唯一补救的办法是让自己的学问好一点。”这,或许就是金庸先生到剑桥就读的真实原因。

有也人问金庸在剑桥大学读到了什么好书,金庸表示,读到好书并不重要,重要的是学到了英国与中国完全不同的研究学问的方式,“中国人写文章大致有个方向,高屋建瓴地写,英国教授则要求写文章每一句话都要有根据,要拿出证据,否则不成立,做学术必须有根有据。”

金庸还谈到,自己当过记者也从过政,但没有真正的快乐。现在则感觉到自己学问太差。金庸表示。他与牛津大学、剑桥大学的教授们聊天时发现,自己的水平和他们差得远,就是与浙江大学的教授比也差得远。金庸表示,自己真是希望有很好的学问。做学问可以自己得益,可以有快乐,学问不够则是自己人生的一大缺陷。

“虽然王朔先生说我是四大俗之一,我并不在乎,我写通俗小说,俗字是免不了的。但是有人公开批评我学问不好,我就相当地重视了。学问不好是事实,唯一补救的办法是令自己的学问好一点,不是好过别人,而是今天好过昨天的自己,只要自己用功,每天都可进步。”

金庸在剑桥的表现获得了校方的好评。理查德校长表示,剑桥只招收最聪明的学生,不但要聪明,而且一定要十分有趣。剑桥的中国留学生是整个大学里最有趣、最活跃的一群人。这群人里给她印象最深刻的,则是进入剑桥攻读博士学位的金庸。“我们授予他荣誉文学博士头衔,他还嫌不够,一个八十多岁的老头子千里迢迢跑到剑桥来读博士!”

办理多种入学证明

剑桥大学是世界一流的名牌大学,每年招生人数不多,学位不到1000个,而申请人却通常有数万人。金庸向剑桥大学提出攻读博士的申请,剑桥大学开始没有同意。因为校方已经向金庸授予荣誉博士称号,荣誉博士比普通博士的学位高,但在金庸先生诚恳要求下,剑桥大学决定考虑他的要求,但金庸必须履行许多必要的入学手续。

出生证明:校方首先要求金庸呈交“出世纸”。但金庸先生出生时的1924年中国还没有“出世纸”制度,后来金庸先生在香港某律师行填写了宣誓书,声明自己的出生时间和出生地。

大学证明:校方要求呈交初小、高小、初中、高中会考及大学的成绩单,还有大学毕业证书等。这些东西金庸都没有,他只好呈交了大批荣誉博士、荣誉教授等证书,同时说明自己在上海念大学时适逢内战时期,学校提早放假,证书自然没有。

语言证明:剑桥大学要求,入学者须有合格人士证明其能读写某种外语。于是,金庸就请牛津大学圣安东尼学院院长高亭爵士、剑桥大学DavidMc Mullen教授予以书面证明:金庸能读、写中国古文,并无困难。这两封信由证明人直接寄往剑大研究生入学评审委员会。接下来的一关是英语,金庸是“外国学生”,必须证明他能听、写英文,通常办法是考英国的雅思或美国的托福,但负责审核的教授们改请金庸提交一篇发表过的英文文章,金庸便交了一篇他在牛津大学出版社出版的讲香港回归问题的英文文章。剑桥大学教授们的结论是:即便这篇文章不算很好,英语老式了一点,但用于念博士生课程已经合格了。由此,他的入学最终获得教授们的全票通过。

经济证明:金庸入学最后一关是必须证明申请人的经济能力可以使他完成学业,金庸请英国银行的总经理写信,证明他的财务信用绝对良好。再请香港银行家李国宝签字保证,负责担保金庸绝不拖欠学校一分一毫,金庸同时又提供了一张足够一年用度的英镑现金支票作为担保。这次入学,金庸在申请上足足花了3个月时间。

Louis Cha in Cambridge

By Wan Runlong, our special reporter

The University of Cambridge hesitated.

After conferring an honorary doctorate upon Hong Kong-based novelist, journalist and publisher Louis Cha in June 2005, the university learned that the 81-year-old man wished to take up four-year Cambridge courses for a doctorate of literature for the true sense of the name.

The hesitation was understandable. Louis Cha is a celebrated Chinese martial-art novelist with a legendary 300-million following in all Chinese-speaking areas. While working as editor-in-chief for years before retirement at Hong Kong-based Ming Pao, which he co-founded and became one of Hong Kong’s most highly rated press under his leadership, Cha wrote editorials and serialized stories of his martial art heroes. He is a recipient of various academic and governmental honors. He was dean of the Arts Academy at Zhejiang University.

And Cambridge found it difficult to find a teacher for Cha. Cha contacted David McMullen, a Cambridge professor who was an expert in Tang Dynasty (618-907) history. David McMullen was hesitant at first, thinking he had nothing to teach Cha. After the university mulled over the issue and decided to enroll the man born in 1924, the enrolment procedure, however, posed a difficulty for Cha who grew up and studied in China through chaotic years.

Cha did not have a birth certificate to demonstrate that he was born in 1924 in Haining in east China’s coastal Zhejiang Province. In that year the birth certificate system was not yet adopted in China. With the help of a law firm in Hong Kong, Cha produced an affidavit that stated his year of birth and the place of birth.

Cha did not have transcripts from primary school up to university. Instead, he presented a heap of certificates of honorary doctorates and honorary professorships. There were various reasons for the lack of the transcripts. Cha explained, for example, that he did not receive a transcript from a Shanghai-based university because the school moved up the vacation when the civil war broke out.

Cha approached two Cambridge scholars to avow for his foreign language proficiency. In his case, the foreign language was Chinese, which is his mother tongue. The two scholars sent reference letters to the enrolment evaluation committee, saying that Cha was able to read and write the archaic Chinese language with ease. To demonstrate the English listening comprehension and writing capabilities, Cha was not asked to sit for an ordinary English test such as IELTS or TOEFL which is a must for younger scholars. Instead, he was asked to present a published article for evaluation. Cha, officially involved in the preparations for the 1997 return of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China, presented a paper on this subject published by Oxford University Press. The professors on the committee examined it and concluded that the article, written in a slightly outmoded style, was good enough, though not excellent, to demonstrate that Cha had the language proficiency for doctorate courses.

The last requirement was that Cha must demonstrate he was financially capable for the four-year courses. The CEO of Bank of England and a Hong Kong banker wrote separate reference letters to avouch for his financial conditions and Cha deposited a cash check as a guarantee for his first year expenditures.

The whole procedure lasted three months before Cha was finally accepted and enrolled.

In October, 2005, Louis Cha at 81 started his doctorate study at Cambridge. After a welcome ceremony at St John’s College organized by Chinese students wearing traditional Chinese gowns to honor the arrival of their new fellow student, Cha settle down to a quiet student life.

Cha and his wife rented an apartment near the campus and hired an Italian chef to cook for them. Cha has classes twice a week, one on the campus and one at his apartment. While pursuing his oriental studies at Cambridge, Cha also works as a senior researcher at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Oxford University. Cha declines to autograph for fans or pose for pictures with them on his way to the campus. If he is found taking a walk or drinking coffee off campus, he is willing to oblige them with their requests. After all, Cha is proud of being a celebrated novelist. But Cha willingly abides by college rules and keeps a low profile as a student on the campus.

While talking about his motivation on one occasion, Cha remarked that he did not mind when he was publicly criticized as a writer of popular novels since he did write popular novels, which some say do not have literary value. He sat up and took notice when he was criticized publicly as not knowledgeable. Cha said that it was true he was not knowledgeable enough and the remedy was to study. By taking up Cambridge courses, Cha does not seek to be better than others, but tries to be better today than yesterday. He is confident that he can make progress everyday. In retrospect, he says he did not feel true happiness as a writer, journalist, and politician. Now he desires to find happiness in knowledge. He does not allow himself to be unknowledgeable.

The university authorities think highly of Cha as a student. Cambridge enrolls smartest and most interesting students. The Chinese student population there is most active and most interesting. The most impressive is Louis Cha.

(Translated by David)