Mr.Winder climbs a tree

After the national liberation in 1949, Qian Zhongshu and I got an appointment letter from Tsinghua University and returned to our alma mater as teachers. Mr. Wendell was our teacher. It was said that he was quite "emotional" and had some "progressive baggage". Our predecessors, such as Zhou Peiyuan and Ye Qisun, as well as Mr. Wende's old friend, Zhang Xiruo, instructed us both to visit Mr. Wende more often to persuade and counsel him. I did not dare to go because Mr. Wen had the reputation of being a "woman hater". Chung Shu laughed at my words and said that I was so old that I did not even understand the meaning of this word. From then on, I often followed Zhong Shu and went with him, and Mr. Wen and I were very friendly. Because I was more obedient than Zhong Shu, I always obeyed him like a student when he introduced me to any book. Mr. Wen was also not convinced because the salary of the "Soviet expert" was three times higher than his, but after our explanation, he was calmed down. Soon Zhong Shu was seconded to the city to participate in the translation of Mao's Selected Works, so the task of visiting Mr. Wen fell on me alone.

Mr. Wen always came to me for something. One day he came to my house and said that there was a long bamboo ladder near his place that he wanted to borrow, and asked me to help him carry it. He told me that his favorite black cat had gotten into the big tree on the east side of his house and refused to come down. He was going to put a tall ladder under the tree and go up the ladder to catch the cat down. He said that the black cat would become a feral cat if it did not come home.

When the ladder was moved to his yard, I went under the big tree to find a place where the ladder could be placed. The tree grew in a low-lying area, surrounded by large and small rocks and mounds. Near the roots of the tree, overgrown, there are many broken stones and bricks, there is really no place to put this bamboo ladder. Mr. Wen also around the roots of the tree to find a turn, but also did not find a place to put the long ladder. Nearby, the ladder does not have a foothold; far away, not against the tree. This ladder simply useless. We looked up at the black cat high in the tree, Mr. Wen made all kinds of calls, the cat arrogantly ignored.

I blurted out, "If I were a child, I would climb the tree."

I didn't expect this to provoke Mr. Wen to forget his age, or to disregard his age. He was already in his sixties, and he was tall, and not as athletic as he had reckoned himself to be. He said, "You think I can't get up a tree?

I teamed up and said, "This tree is not good to go up." Because the lowest horizontal branch, a good distance higher than Mr. Wen. This is a bad thing to say. Mr. Wen immediately took off his coat and threw it to me, wearing only a white shirt, went to the tree, climbed up one of the largest stones, and jumped from the boulder to the highest mound, jumped, climbed on the branch with one hand, the other hand also hitched, the whole person hanging in the air. I thought he would know what to do, but he actually managed to use both arms to support himself, and then ride on the branch. He reached out and pulled out the glasses case in his shirt pocket and told me to go over and take it. I know Mr. Wen hates mothers-in-law, so I didn't dare to express my fear for him in this situation, and just ran to the tree to catch the glasses case he threw down. He thought the box was stuffed in his breast pocket. He stuck to the branch like a snake and crawled towards the high branch where the cat was sitting. I sweated and waited with bated breath. He slowly climbed over another branch and climbed to the high branch where the cat was sitting. But when the cat saw its owner coming to catch it, it quickly ducked even higher. Mr. Wen climbed higher and higher, the cat rose higher and higher. The higher the branch, the thinner the tree. This tree is very old, thin branches may be very brittle. I dare not speak more, just hold your breath and watch. If Mr. Wen fell from a high place, the consequences are unthinkable. Under the tree is not loose dirt, is a large and small stones, stone cracks are broken stone broken bricks. Fortunately, Mr. Wen could see that the cat was tricky and would never let its owner catch it. He had to admit defeat and still slowly returned from the original path. I didn't dare to say a word, just tilted my head and held my breath. Until he hung again on the branch with both hands, carefully landed on the mound, and jumped off the boulder, full of complacency, asked me to return his glasses case and took his coat, and I went back to his house.

I did not say a word. Until I sat down in front of his window, I began to shake, like malaria, involuntarily teeth fight, shaking so much that the heart hurts. I couldn't help but clasp my hands to my chest, and I couldn't stop shaking. Mr. Wen is waiting for my compliments! Ready to boast! Seeing that I was trembling, he asked me what was wrong and laughed at me, and poured half a cup of hot water for me from the hot water bottle. I took a few sips of hot water, but I was still shaking. I was afraid that he would be angry, so I struggled and said, "Mr. Wen, do you remember the Theory of Emotion by Sir William James?" Mr. Winn had certainly read Henry James's (1843-1916) novels, but he probably had not read his brother William James's (1842-1910) psychology. I have only read a little by chance. According to his doctrine, feelings must be vented. Feelings can be repressed for a long time, but they must be vented before resting. Mr. Wen was just baffled by my shaking, and I easily finished shaking before I blamed him and said, "Do you know how scared I am?" Although he did not catch the cat, but he was very proud of his performance. I finished shaking and hurried home, not talking to him about that theory of feelings.

Mr. Li Shenzhi once said to me, "I think the most terrible thing is to be a 'rightist', and I still have an indescribable fear in my heart." I told him about the theories I had read and my personal experience, and I said that he still had a repressed fear that had not been released.