Ji Xianlin
His Father’s Absurd Fortunes
In Ji Xianlin’s memory, his father, who passed away when Ji was eleven or twelve years old, left him with nothing but the impression of “absurdity and strangeness.”
Ji Xianlin was born in a place called Guanzhuang Village in northwest Shandong. In his essay “The Eternal Regret” from the Collected Works, he wrote: “Our family was destitute—truly without even a tiny plot of land to stand on.” This extreme poverty forced Ji Xianlin to leave his parents at the mere age of six and live a life of dependency under others’ roofs.
Ji later learned the details of his father’s “absurd and strange” story:
“Our family did experience a fleeting period of wealth. Around the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China era, Uncle Nine used his last fifty cents in Dongbei to buy a one-tenth share of a Hubei flood-relief lottery ticket—and won. The brothers agreed to ‘return home in glory,’ to lift their heads high and exhale their pent-up frustrations. So, they sent the money back home. Uncle Nine stayed in the city, while matters in the countryside were handled entirely by Father. With absurdly exorbitant prices, he bought bricks and tiles to build a house. Again with absurdly exorbitant prices, he acquired a plot of land with a well. For a time, he was radiant with triumph, truly holding his head high. Unfortunately, the prosperity was short-lived. My father, in an absurdly strange manner—much like the magnanimous Song Jiang—lavishly entertained friends from all directions. In the blink of an eye, the newly built tiled house was dismantled to sell bricks and tiles. The land with the well also changed hands. The family reverted to its former state. It was at this time, under such circumstances, that I came into this world… This sudden rise and abrupt fall of our family was as short-lived as morning dew.”
父亲荒唐离奇大起大落
季羡林的记忆里，在他十一二岁时就已离世的父亲，给他这个儿子留下的仅仅是“荒唐离奇”四个字。
季羡林出生在鲁西北一个叫官庄的地方。《文集》中“赋得永久的悔”一文中写道，“家里是贫中之贫，真可以说是贫无立锥之地”。当年贫困的家境，使季羡林不得不在年仅6岁的时候，离开双亲去过寄人篱下的日子。
季羡林是后来才听说了父亲“荒唐离奇”的故事：“我们家确实也‘阔’过一阵。大概在清末民初，九叔在东三省用口袋里剩下的最后五角钱，买了十分之一的湖北水灾奖券，中了奖。兄弟俩商量，要‘富贵而归故乡’，回家扬一下眉，吐一下气一下。于是把钱运回家，九叔仍然留在城里，乡里的事由父亲一手张罗。他用荒唐离奇的价钱，买了砖瓦，盖了房子。又用荒唐离奇的价钱，置了一块带一口水井的田地。一时兴会淋漓，真正扬眉吐气了。可惜好景不长，我父亲又用荒唐离奇的方式，仿佛宋江一样，豁达大度，招待四方朋友。一转瞬间，盖成的瓦房又拆了卖砖，卖瓦。有水井的田地也改变了主人。全家又回归到原来的情况。我就是在这个时候，在这样的情况下降生到人间来的……我们家这一次陡然上升，又陡然下降，只像是昙花一现。”
Mother: The Eternal Regret of a Master Scholar
Ji Xianlin’s time with his mother was scarcely longer than that with his father, yet he carried a lifelong devotion to her: “My eternal regret is leaving my hometown and my mother.”16 His mother, an illiterate woman, “never had a formal name in her lifetime.” Her world was confined to a five-mile radius: “Her home was in another village, five miles away from ours—the longest distance she ever traveled in her life.”17
Though seemingly ordinary, this mother left an indelible mark of tenderness. Ji’s memories of her revolved around food:
- The hierarchy of grains: “Bái de (wheat flour) was the finest, followed by millet or corn cakes, while red sorghum cakes—dreaded for their coarse texture—were the staple.”16
- A mother’s sacrifice: During harvests, young Ji collected leftover wheat from rich households. His mother would grind it into flour to make steamed buns or flatbreads—luxuries she never tasted herself. In lean years, wild vegetables replaced even sorghum cakes.16
Separated from his mother at age six, Ji’s recollections grew hazy: “I cannot recall her face clearly, let alone her smile—as if she never smiled at all.” A neighbor later revealed his mother’s lament: “Had I known sending him away meant losing him forever, I would never have let him go!”16 For decades, his mother “gazed into the distance, waiting for her son’s return—a wait that ended only with her death.
母亲：大师一生永久的悔
季羡林与母亲共同生活的日子并不比和父亲的多，但他却始终心怀依恋之情：“我一生永久的悔就是：不该离开故乡，离开母亲。”“我母亲一个字也不识，活了一辈子，连个名字都没有。她家是在另一个庄上，离我们庄五里路。这个五里路就是我母亲毕生所走的最长的距离。”这样一位母亲，似乎是乏善可陈的，但季羡林的心底却始终留有幼年时母爱的温情，“一讲到母亲就会讲到吃的东西来。按照当时的标准，吃‘白的’（指麦子面）最高，其次是吃小米面或棒子面饼子，最次是吃红高粱饼子，颜色是红的。我们终日为伍者只有‘红的’真有点谈‘红’色变了。但我偶尔能吃点‘白的’。一到夏天麦收季节，我到本村或外村富人的地里去‘拾麦’，母亲便把麦子磨成面，蒸成馍馍，或贴成白面饼子，让我解馋。好吃的东西，几乎都与母亲无缘。除了‘红的’以外，其余她都不沾边儿。到了歉年，连这个也吃不上，那就只有吃野菜了。”季羡林在母亲身边只待到六岁，“现在我回忆起来，连母亲的面影都是迷离模糊的，没有一个清晰的轮廓。特别有一点，让我难解而又易解：我无论如何也回忆不起母亲的笑容来，她好像是一辈子都没有笑过。有一次我回家听对面的宁大婶子告诉我，娘经常说：‘早知道送出去回不来，我无论如何也不会放他走的！’简短的一句话里面含着多少辛酸、多少悲伤！母亲不知有多少日日夜夜，眼望远方，盼望自己的儿子回来，然而这个儿子却始终没有归去，一直到母亲离开这个世界。”母亲去世以后，季羡林曾在极度痛苦中写了一幅挽联表达悲切的心情：
一别竟八载，多少次倚闾怅望，眼泪和血流，迢迢玉宇，高处寒否？
为母子一场，只留得面影迷离，入梦浑难辨，茫茫苍天，此恨曷极！
Throughout Ji Xianlin’s life, the shadow of an old dog lingered in his mind at the gate of his parents’ home. This aged canine gripped his heart for a full seventy years.
Seventy years prior, while Ji was studying in the Department of Western Literature at Tsinghua University as a sophomore, he received news of his mother’s death during autumn and returned to his hometown for the funeral. Overwhelmed by grief, he kept vigil nightly beside his mother’s coffin in the empty old house. “Beside the dilapidated wicker gate of the house, there was always a dark shape on the ground—an old dog crouching silently. Whether dogs possess thoughts, I cannot say, but they certainly have emotions. For several days, this old dog was likely plunged into confusion: Why had the mistress who fed me daily suddenly vanished? By day, it would scavenge for food somewhere in the village, then hurry back to lie quietly by the wicker gate. Upon seeing me, the young man, it seemed to sense I was also part of the household—somehow connected to the mistress. Thus, it never barked at me; sometimes even wagging its tail in affection.”
After the funeral arrangements, Ji prepared to leave his hometown. As he departed from that broken-down house, the old dog remained faithfully lying at the gate. Tears streaming down his face, Ji bent down, held its head, and kissed it. “Although I longed to bring it back to my uncle’s home in Jinan, it was utterly impossible. So I left, looking back every few steps, swallowing his tears.”
Thereafter, he would often think of this old dog. “With the mistress gone and the young master departed, how long could it survive scavenging in the village daily? It would never leave that wicker gate; it would lie there forever, though its mind must have been filled with bewilderment. I don’t know how long it remained there—perhaps starving to death in the end.”
Later, Ji kept cats at home. His first cat, named “Tiger” (Hu Zi), lived up to its name with a fierce temperament. Yet it showed profound gentleness toward its master, often sleeping on Ji’s quilt at night. “As soon as I lay down to sleep, Hu Zi and another cat named ‘Mimi’ would leap onto the bed, vying for the spot near my feet, settling heavily there. If I woke at midnight and felt lightness at my feet, I knew neither cat had come, and sleep would elude me.” By day, the two cats would follow Ji on walks, accompanying him up and down hills. This scene even became a famous sight at Yanyuan (Peking University campus), widely celebrated.
Later, Ji acquired four purebred Persian cats brought from his hometown. “They were lively and mischievous, often climbing into my arms or onto my neck.” One kitten, honored with the name “Mao Mao the Fourth,” was captured in a photograph taken in less than half a second by a photographer as it perched on Ji’s neck. Published prominently in the People’s Daily, the photograph drew much praise, and “Mao Mao the Fourth” became a world-famous cat. In his later years, these cats brought Ji profound comfort: “Though I alone remained in our household, could anyone deny this was still a warm and loving home?”
猫猫狗狗心灵的安慰
在季羡林的脑海中，始终留有父母家门前一条老狗的影子，这条老狗揪住了季羡林的心，整整有七十年。
七十年前，季羡林正在清华大学读西洋文学系二年级。就在那年秋天，他得到母亲病逝的消息，回乡奔丧。极度悲痛的季羡林，每天晚上在家徒四壁的老屋为母亲的棺材守灵。“老屋的破篱笆门旁地上总有一团黑东西，是一条老狗，静静地卧在那里。狗们有没有思想，我说不准，但感情确是有的。这一条老狗几天来大概是陷入困惑中：天天喂我的女主人怎么忽然不见了？它白天到村里什么地方偷一点东西吃，立即回到家里来，静静地卧在篱笆门旁。见了我这个小伙子，它似乎感到我也是这家的主人，同女主人有点什么关系，因此见到了我并不咬我，有时候还摇摇尾巴，表示亲昵。”
母亲的丧事处理完，季羡林就要离开故乡。在他离开那一座破房子时，那条老狗仍然忠诚地趴在篱笆门口。季羡林当时泪流满面，俯下身，抱住了它的头，亲了一口，“虽然很想把它抱回济南叔父家，但那是绝对办不到的，所以只好一步三回首地离开，眼泪向肚子里流”。
此后，他总是不时想到这一条老狗，“女主人没了，少主人也离开了，它每天到村内找点东西吃，究竟能够找多久呢？它决不会离开那个篱笆门口的，它会永远趴在那里的，尽管脑袋里也会充满了疑问。它究竟趴了多久，我不知道，也许最终是饿死的。”
季羡林后来在家里养猫，养第一只猫叫虎子，脾气真像老虎，极为暴烈。但它对主人却十分温顺，晚上经常睡在季羡林的被子上。“晚上，我一上床躺下，虎子就和另外一只名叫猫咪的猫，连忙跳上床来，争夺我脚头上那一块地盘，沉沉地压在那里。如果我半夜里醒来，觉得脚头上轻轻的，我知道，两只猫都没有来，这时我往往难再入睡。”在白天，两只猫会跟随季羡林出去散步，上山下山，这样的情景甚至曾经成为燕园中一道着名的风景线，名传遐迩。
后来，季羡林又养了四只纯种的、从家乡带来的波斯猫，“它们活泼、顽皮，经常挤入我的怀中，爬上我的脖子”。其中一只尊号“毛毛四世”的小猫，在爬上季羡林脖子的时候，正巧被一位摄影家在不到半秒钟的时间内抢拍了一个镜头。照片赫然登在《人民日报》上，受到了许多人的赞扬，而“毛毛四世”也成为蜚声猫坛的一只世界名猫。晚年季羡林因这些猫而感受到安慰，“虽然我们家只剩下我一个孤家寡人，你难道能说这不是一个温馨的家吗”？
biography of Ji Xianlin:
Professor Ji Xianlin (1911–2009) was an esteemed Peking University professor, Chairman of the Council of the China Academy of Chinese Culture, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese linguist, literary translator, and expert in Sanskrit and Pali. Born in Qingping County (present-day Linqing), Shandong Province in 1911, he enrolled in the Department of Western Languages at Tsinghua University in 1930. In 1935, he was admitted as an exchange postgraduate student to Tsinghua University and went to Germany for further study. At the University of Göttingen, he studied ancient Indian languages including Sanskrit, Pali, and Tocharian. He received his Doctorate in Philosophy in 1941.
Returning to China in 1946, he served as a professor at Peking University and concurrently as Professor and Head of the Department of Oriental Languages and Literature. He devoted himself long-term to the research and translation of Sanskrit literature, making significant contributions to the study of the language of primitive Buddhism, the semantics of Tocharian, and Sanskrit literature itself.
His major translated works and writings include:
The Language Problem of Primitive Buddhism
A Brief History of India
Impressions of India (Tianzhu Xinying)
Langrun Collection (Langrun Ji)
Collected Prose of Ji Xianlin
His translations encompass:
Shakuntala
Vikramorvashiyam (Urvashi Won By Valour)
Ramayana
Collection of Short Stories by Anna Seghers
Panchatantra (The Five Principles)
His essay collections include:
The Eternal Regret (Fude Yongjiu de Hui)
He also served as the chief editor of:
The Collection of Books Listed in the Catalogue of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries (Siku Quanshu Cunmu Congshu)
链接：国学大师季羡林
北京大学教授、中国文化书院院务委员会主席、中科院院士、中国语言学家、文学翻译家，梵文、巴利文专家。生于1911年，山东清平（今临清）县人。1930年考入清华大学西语系，1935年考取清华大学交换研究生，赴德国留学，在哥廷根大学学习梵文、巴利文、吐火罗文等印度古代语言。1941年获哲学博士学位。1946年回国，历任北京大学教授兼东方语言文学系教授、系主任。他曾长期致力于梵文文学的研究和翻译，对原始佛教语言、吐火罗语的语义、梵文文学等研究均作出重要贡献。主要译着有《原始佛教的语言问题》、《印度简史》、《天竺心影》、《朗润集》、《季羡林散文集》等，翻译了：《沙恭达罗》、《优哩婆湿》、《罗摩衍那》、《安娜·西格斯短篇小说集》、《五卷书》等，散文集有：《赋得永久的悔》。主编有《四库全书存目丛书》。