Ji Xianlin, the reluctant master季羡林：不愿做大师的大师

导读：季羡林，人们尊他为“国学大师”(master of Chinese culture)、“学界泰斗”、“国宝”。对于这三顶桂冠，他拒绝了；他忠实于包办的婚姻，也有过异国的恋情……真实的季羡林是个什么样的人呢？
Ji Xianlin, the reluctant master
季羡林：不愿做大师的大师
FROM China Daily
PUBLISHED: 2009-07-13
http://www.i21st.cn/story/557.html
Youku：直击国学大师悼唁现场 社会各界哭痛缅怀季羡林

China Daily： Ji Xianlin strolls on Peking University's campus, his workplace for 63 years, in October, 1997.

XINHUA： A student mourns Ji Xianlin at a memorial service Sunday in the auditorium at Peking University.

XINHUA： A large portrait of renowned Chinese scholar Ji Xianlin is shown in a mourning hall set up at Peking University in Beijing July 12, 2009.
7月11日，被誉为“国学大师”的季羡林先生因心脏病发作病逝，享年97岁。
Ji Xianlin, dubbed by many as the "master of Chinese culture" had died of heart attack. He was 97.
季老生前曾多次表示，希望媒体不再称自己为“国学大师”。但即便如此，人们仍尊称他为“大师”。
Ji repeatedly asked the media to stop calling him a "maestro in traditional Chinese culture" but despite the protests, the "master" title stuck.
听到季老病逝的消息，北京师范大学文学院教授赵仁珪先生非常悲痛。他说：“季老的过世意味着一个时代的结束。如今，像他这样的大师越来越少了。”
"Ji`s leaving is the ending of an era," says Zhao Rengui, professor of Beijing Normal University. "There are fewer and fewer masters accomplished like him nowadays."
1930年，一名来自山东临清的寒门之子--季羡林，考上了清华大学，专业是西方文学。
Son to an impoverished rural family in Linqing, Shandong province, Ji was admitted to Tsinghua University in 1930 and majored in Western literature.
5年后，他以交换生身份前往德国哥廷根大学深造，主修梵文和极为生僻的巴利语等古代语言。
Five years later he went to Gottingen University in Germany as an exchange student, majoring in Sanskrit and lesser-known ancient languages like Pali.
就这样，季羡林在德国度过了10年左右的时间，并于1941年拿到博士学位。
He would spend more than 10 years in Germany and received his PhD in 1941.
在此期间，除了学位，他还在德国结识了朋友的房东之女--Irmgard。由于季羡林当时买不起打字机，Irmgard就帮他打论文。渐渐地，两人日久生情。然而，由于季羡林在国内已有妻室，于是他痛下决心结束这段感情，于1946年毅然回国。
In Germany, Ji met Irmgard, his friend`s landlord`s daughter, who helped him type his dissertation, because he could not afford a typewriter. The two soon fell in love but Ji was already married in China and made the hard decision to give up the relationship and returned to China in 1946.
同年，季羡林就任北京大学教授，不久后在该校创建了东方学研究院。
In 1946 he became a professor at Peking University and soon founded the department of Eastern languages in the university.
季羡林一生共出版了11本学术著作，发表200多篇论文，作品涉及10多个学术领域，其中包括中国文化研究、比较文学和梵文等。
Ji published 11 academic books and over 200 papers in more than 10 academic fields, including Chinese cultural research, comparative literature, and Sanskrit.
季羡林认为，“文化交流是人类进步的主要动力之一。人类必须互相学习，取长补短，才能不断前进，而人类进步的最终目标必然是某一种形式的大同之域。”
Ji maintained that "Cultural exchange is the main drive for humankind`s progress. Only by learning from each other`s strong points to make up for shortcomings can people constantly progress, the ultimate target of which is to achieve a kind of Great Harmony."
除学术成就之外，赵仁珪先生说：“季老最值得我们尊敬的一点就是，他总是敢于说实话。”
"One thing about Ji that deserves our admiration is that he never fears to tell the truth. He speaks out what he thinks," says Zhao.
1998年，季羡林出版了《牛棚杂忆》一书，记录自己在文革期间（1966--1976年）的经历，讲述对那段历史的沉思。
In 1998, Ji published Memoirs from the Cowshed (Niupeng Zayi), a resonating book recording his experience in the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) and reflection on the turmoil.
书中，他这样写道：“这是一本用血泪换来的小书。很高兴自己有生之年能够完成它，这是我留给后代的最好的礼物。”
"This small book is written with tears and blood," he wrote. "It is my biggest joy to finish it when I am alive. It is the best gift I can give to the young generations."
季羡林曾说：“我坚信，真实地记录这样一场灾难就好比为我们伟大的祖国树了面镜子。经常照镜自省将让我们受益匪浅。”
"I have a strong faith that if the process of such a disaster is truthfully recorded, it will be a mirror for our great nationality", he once said. "To look at ourselves in the mirror often will be very beneficial."
不止于此，季先生广受爱戴的原因还在于他谦逊的个性。
Ji won affection from general public also for his unassuming personality and humility.
20年前，一个初来报到的北大新生忙着入学注册，在校园里遇到一位老人（季老），于是就让他帮忙看行李。
Twenty years ago, a freshman, busily going through enrollment procedures on his first day at Peking University, ran into an old man on campus. In a frantic rush, he asked his senior to look after his luggage.
几个小时后，当那名新生终于想起自己的行李跑回来时，老人还在炎炎烈日下一边看书一边帮忙看行李。而他正是北大副校长季羡林先生。
When he remembered his luggage hours later he rushed back and found the old man sitting by his bags in the searing sun and reading a book. The old man was the vice-president of Peking University.
回想到这件事，季羡林对好友--记者唐师曾说：“对一个刚来北京的学生来说，行李是他最贵重的‘家当’了，我必须对得起他的信任。”
"For a new student to Beijing, the luggage was his most precious belonging. I must treat his trust seriously," Ji recalled the story to his friend, journalist Tang Shizeng.
季羡林在北大任教63年，期间曾多次力劝校方免去自己"大师"的头衔。为了尊重季老的决定，北大宣布季羡林先生辞世的消息时称其为“资深教授”。
Peking University, where Ji worked for 63 years, announced Ji`s passing in a statement calling him a "senior professor" instead of "master", a title Ji urged the nation`s top university to remove many times.
(Translator & Editor: Sylvie AND 小胡)
阅读工具
master of Chinese culture 国学大师
era 时代
accomplish 完成
Sanskrit  梵文
typewriter 打字机
comparative literature 比较文学
cowshed  牛棚
unassuming  谦逊的, 不装腔作势的