宋以朗写赵四小姐 张爱玲很开心
她身着深红色的绒线围巾，如同大多数女大学生一样普通，然而手中的那盒月饼却满载着深深的友情。两人悠然走在电车铁轨上，谈笑间，一辆巨大的电车呼啸而来，宛如一座庞大的房子迎面而来。随着电车上的铃声当当响起，一个深沉的声音仿佛在空中回荡：“我找到的人最好，最好，最好。”这幕场景如电影般描绘出生活的片段，引人遐想。这便是张爱玲小说《少帅》中的一幕。
近日，备受瞩目的张爱玲小说《少帅》的繁体版由台湾文化集团正式出版。这本小说由张爱玲遗产执行人宋以朗先生精心编辑整理，并由青年译者郑远涛倾情翻译。
《少帅》一书以张学良与赵四小姐的爱情故事为蓝本，展现了张爱玲深厚的文学造诣。为了创作这部小说，张爱玲曾于1961年赴台湾寻找张学良的踪迹，虽然未能如愿，但她对这段爱情的执着却体现在了这部作品之中。虽然原计划写十章，但最终只完成了七章，引发了关于作品是否完整的争议。然而宋以朗先生明确表示，《少帅》是一部完整的小说，每一章都充满了张爱玲的才华与情感。
宋以朗先生还强调了阅读的乐趣，他表示：“我希望读者在阅读《少帅》之前不要受到外界的影响，亲自去感受书中的故事和情感。”他还透露，《少帅》的出版过程是一段精心编排的历程，旨在弥补之前的遗憾。这本书分为四个部分，其中包括序言、英文稿、中文翻译版以及评论分析。其中评论分析部分更是长达47000字，涵盖了关于作品的详细解读和文学分析。
对于《少帅》是否属于未完稿的问题，宋以朗先生表示这本书已经完成了。张爱玲最初设想的是写十章，而现在出版的七章已经构成了一个完整的故事。在这七章中，张爱玲通过细腻的笔触展现了张学良与赵四小姐之间的爱情以及新旧时代交替的矛盾。结局中赵四小姐和张学良的婚姻问题得到解决，体现了张爱玲对于实力不对称的爱情的思考。这部作品的核心问题不仅仅是爱情，更是如何在维护旧社会的同时进入一个新社会，如何解决两者之间的矛盾。而这七章也是张爱玲给美国出版社看的完整稿件，足以体现她的文学才华和影响力。
《少帅》一书的出版无疑是文学界的一大盛事。这本书不仅展现了张爱玲的才华和情感，也引发了人们对于爱情、历史和时代的思考。让我们共同期待其简体版的出版，再次感受张爱玲的文学魅力。In 1936, after the "Xi'an Incident," Zhang Xuexin was kept under house arrest for a long time until he was released in his ninth decade. Not much is there to tell about it.
What about the next three chapters? Would they cover the events before and after the "Xi'an Incident"? One of her letters offers a speculation that this novel tells a story similar to "倾城之恋" (A Ruined City Love Story). What does she mean? She suggests that people might think Zhang Xuexin is a playboy. Despite his romantic relationship with Zhao Sissie, they fear he will eventually stray due to his power and privilege. If this is the case, Zhao Sissie's future seems uncertain. However, due to the "Xi'an Incident," Zhang Xuexin was confined, unable to leave, thus forced to stay with Zhao Sissie for life.
Nandu's Zhang Ailing seems particularly interested in asymmetric male-female relationships, but why? Although Song Yilong hasn't explicitly stated this, if we were to speculate, it could be due to her childhood admiration for the love story of Edward VII of England and a divorced American woman. Despite societal opposition, Edward VII gave up his throne and settled in France with his beloved. This sacrifice of power for love might have been what fascinated Zhang Ailing.
In terms of literature, how does this book fit into Zhang Ailing's overall oeuvre? If it is regarded as an English novel, it can be seen as part of Zhang Ailing's attempt to establish herself in the English market after moving to the United States, along with "Lei Feng Pagoda" and "The Book of Changes." However, these three books failed in part due to their complex character relationships, which did not resonate with European and American readers. This is one of the reasons why "Dream of the Red Mansions" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" did not gain popularity in the West; the attempt to write a kind of English that is both Chinese and foreign did not yield much success. For instance, while the Chinese phrase "a fish in water enjoying its happiness" cannot be translated literally into "a fish is happy in the water," which doesn't capture the original meaning and may confuse foreign readers.
Due to these two external reasons, no matter how well-written Zhang Ailing's novels or how well-arranged their stories are, they remain unread. "Lei Feng Pagoda," "The Book of Changes," and even "Shaoshuai" face the same fate. It's as if understanding Zhang Ailing as an author is incomplete without reading "Little Round Ball." The book "Shaoshuai" also holds a special place, with one interpretation suggesting it as part of her "autobiographical trilogy" along with "Lei Feng Pagoda" and "The Book of Changes." The author (Feng Xiqian) emphasizes that one should focus on the protagonist's mindset rather than external historical events. While writing "Shaoshuai," Zhang Ailing initially felt it challenging as she had never known Zhao Sissie personally, but as she progressed, she found it increasingly easier and even enjoyable. She didn't know what Zhao thought, but she knew what she herself felt when she first fell in love. In essence, it was a story about herself.