The Wine-Lover

By Zhang Xiuyun

Feng Zikai, a painter and essayist who is known for his indifference towards fame and wealth, loved drinking liquor. In my mind, such an unworldly artist as himself would not lose control and get drunk. According to relative records, I am right. Feng could drink for a long time even with very little snacks, but he never got drunk.

One of his drawings may convey his attitude towards drinking. In a clean yard with bamboo, there are three friends sitting around a small table, beneath a blooming plum tree with the hostess coming from the cottage to bring them dishes of food. The name of the painting is Friends Sit on Three Sides of a Table, Leaving the Fourth for Plum Blossom. Drinking in such environment would be slow and temperate, and the alcohol would only be company to the conversation, just like the part that tea plays at a ladies’ party.

Most of Feng’s drinking buddies drank in an artistic way as well. In an essay, Feng described a person that he met beside the West Lake of Hangzhou, capital of China’s Zhejiang Province. The guy was fishing for shrimp with rice as bait. After he caught a few, he stopped and went to a nearby inn where he ordered some yellow rice wine to go with his captures. Feng saw the man boiling the shrimps in some hot water (which was used for heating the wine, as is a folk custom in the region), and then eating them with soy sauce while drinking. “When I saw him eat a single shrimp for a long time while slowly drinking,” wrote Feng, “I immediately knew that he was a wine-lover.”

酒 徒

文/张秀云

丰子恺是个喜欢喝酒的人，也是个性情恬淡的人。我一直觉得，恬淡的人爱酒，一定能够把握得住分寸，不会喝到东倒西歪，现场直播。事实也确实是这样，丰子恺嗜酒，就一根螃蟹腿可喝半天，但从不会喝醉。

他画过一幅漫画：青竹茅檐的干净小院里，一树盛开的梅花下，三个人围一张小桌坐定，女主人正端着杯盏送过来，此画取名为“小桌呼朋三面坐，留将一面与梅花”。这应该是他喝酒的常态。如此花下闲饮，适合低声细语、浅斟慢酌。这般喝酒就图个情致，如女人聊天时喝阿婆茶一样，润润喉咙，边聊边喝，喝到筋骨通透，有了三两分醉意，便可作罢。

丰子恺的酒友也多是这般有情致趣味的。他写过西湖边上的一个人，初相识时，就见那人拿米饭粒子在湖边钓虾，面对山光水影，淡定地坐在那儿，从容垂钓。钓上三四只便收手，拿到旁边的酒馆里去，要一斤黄酒，拿烫酒的开水把虾烫熟，蘸酱油下酒。丰子恺说：“我看他吃菜很省，一只虾要吃很久，由此可知此人是个酒徒。”

根据他的判断，所谓酒徒，当然就是嗜酒却从不沉溺的人，喜而不过，恋而不迷，依而不赖，懂得自控。这样的人，也必然是有情调、有趣味的。后来，随着两人交往的深入，印证丰子恺判断不误，那人果真心性不俗，是一个摆摊刻字的先生，还恰好喜读丰子恺的散文。

按照丰先生的标准，这个世界上多的是酒鬼，少的是酒徒。酒徒很少会出现在闹哄哄的饭店里，不会一大伙人推杯换盏、猜拳行令，不会醉到不省人事，更不会借酒发疯。

According to Feng, a wine-lover loves wine with reasonable limits. Such a person knows both how to enjoy things and how to control oneself. This is what Feng called “artistic drinking.” Later the shrimp fisher and Feng became friends. He made a living doing handiwork by carving stamps, and also happened to be a loyal reader of Feng’s essays.

However, there are many more drunkards than wine-lovers in the world. One who could be called wine-lover by Feng would not visit a crowded bar, and seldom a noisy restaurant, nor would he drink with a large group of guys. He would not pass out drunk, much less would he do any crazy things.

A wine-lover may drink with several real friends, or drink alone watching the moon. What serves the liquor may be some shrimps, a pickled turnip, natural scenery, or a glimpse of the good old days. He would know where to stop. He would like to be both tipsy and sober; that was the state of the legendary immortals.

I met a wine-lover myself, at an island village in Baiyangdian Lake. It was summer, when the lotus flowers on the lake were dyed obscure by the setting sun and the fragrance of lotus flowers permeated throughout the small village. I took my child’s hand, watching the twilight sky and listening to Beijing Opera music coming from somewhere beyond the lotuses.

“This is The Lucky Purse sung by Chi Xiaoqiu,” said someone abruptly beside me. I was startled and turned back to see a middleaged man, wearing white silk pants and a white tank top, sitting on the steps and drinking alone from a small bottle. Half of a bag of fried peanuts was next to his hand, and it seemed that the guy had been drinking for quite a while.

I was impressed by his knowledge of Beijing Opera. “That’s the role of Qingyi... well, Cheng school.” He kept drinking while singing along with the music. The sun was setting, while the moon rose in the eastern sky. I wanted to stay there and talk about the schools of opera with the man, but it was getting dark and I had to head back.

I walked a few steps away and then turned my head back to look at the singing drinker again. This was definitely a wine-lover, I thought, and Mr. Feng would have been very glad to meet him. (From Kunshan Daily, April 15, 2019. Translation: Wang Xiaoke)

酒徒喝酒，可以是三两知己把盏清谈，也可以是一个人对月独酌；下酒菜可以是几只青虾，也可以是一根腌萝卜。或者，什么也不要，只就着天光云影，就着一两寸过去的、未来的时光，就可以喝得心神熨帖。酒徒最能把握度，微醺即止，此时当是心智清醒而神魂浅漾，飘飘然风骨若神仙，与酒鬼的丧失理性、撒泼上吊等，别于宵壤。

那年夏天，我在白洋淀的湖心村见到的一个人，当属酒徒之流。那个黄昏，白洋淀一望无际的荷花被晚霞染得迷离恍惚，只有十几户人家的湖心岛上浓浓地溢满荷香。“春秋亭外雨风暴，何处悲声破寂寥……”我牵着孩子，一边听荷花深处传来的京剧，一边看荷花尽头西坠的红日，正出神间，忽听旁边一个声音响起：“《锁麟囊》呀，这是迟小秋唱的。”惊得一回头，只见一个白绸裤白背心的中年男人正坐在旁边的台阶上对荷独饮，神态悠然，是半斤装的小瓶。他手边放着半袋子油炸花生米，看样子，已经喝了很久。

我很吃惊，这个人很内行，连唱腔流派都能分辨出来，一定是资深票友。“程派青衣呀。”他一边继续就着花生米喝酒，一边跟着唱起来。夕阳正在下沉，东边白白的弯月亮已经升起来。我真想停下来，跟他聊聊京剧，聊聊程派，但孤岛人稀，天色已晚，只好转身离开。

走了几步，回头看，他还在喝着酒，还在眯着眼唱戏。我想，这个人是酒徒无疑了，丰先生若在，定会大喜。 （摘自《昆山日报》2019年4月15日）