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11月30日 Die StachelschweineNoticed the author?
Arthur Schopenhauer...
Great German philosopher.
Very illuminating and interesting piece of work.
Very good point:
Human beings are indeed like hedgehogs. They are armed with stings, yet they want closeness to keep warm. Thus the dilemma.
 Die Stachelschweine Arthur Schopenhauer
Eine Gesellschaft von Stachelschweinen drängte sich an einem kalten Wintertage nahe zusammen, um einander vor dem Erfrieren zu schützen. Aber bald fühlten sie die gegenseitigen Stacheln; deshalb rücken sie wieder auseinander. Das widerholte sich: immer wenn sie zusammendrängten, um sich zu wärmen, taten ihnen die Stacheln der andreen weh. So wudren sie zwischen zwei Leiden—zwischen Kälte und Schmerz—hin-und hergeworfen. Das geschah oft, bis sie endlich eine mittlere Entfernung voneinander herausfanden, in der sie es am besten aushielten. So treibt das Bedüufnis nach Gesellschaft die Menschen zueinander, weil sie innerlich leer sind und mit sich selbst nichts anfangen können; aber ihre vielen unangenehmen Eigenschaften und unerträglichen Fehler Stoßen sie wieder voneinander ab. Die mittlere Entfernung voneinander, in der sie es miteinander am besten aushalten können, ist die Höflichkeit und gutes Benehmen. Bei dieser Distanz voneinander wird das Bedürfnis nach Erwärmung zwar nicht ganz befriedigt, aber der Stich der Stacheln wird auch nicht empfunden. Wer aber wiel eigene, innere Wärme hat, bleibt liever aus der Gesellschaft weg, denn dann ärgert er sich weder über andere, noch ärgern de sich über ihn.
11月24日 Herr Beethoven and II have not been on the best of terms with Herr Beethoven. But it is not, strictly speaking, entirely his own fault. When I was younger, I read a biography of his intended for children’s reading written by a SOB (do not ask me what this is short for. Nice girls are not supposed to know that.) In order to show what a real superior genius Beethoven is, this SOB used the technique called “contrast”. He used Mozart as Beethoven’s antagonist. Well, I can tolerate that. After all, whether he likes Mozart or not is his own matter of opinion, I cannot interfere with it. But this SOB wrote that Mozart was so impressed with Beethoven that he took him as his pupil. One day, Mozart let Beethoven finished writing half of the score for Don Giovanni. And Beethoven, a revolutionist, disgusted by Mozart’s aristocratic way of living, finally broke his tie with Mozart. None of those happened in history. Mozart only met with Beethoven once, predicted that “This boy would one day make himself known.” And that was the end of their intercourse. From then on, I am decidedly against Herr Beethoven, disliking anything he did, and refusing to listen to his music. I disliked his face, his personality, his words, and his music.
It was by accident a few days ago that I learnt that one particular piece of violin sonata (F Major, “Spring”) I liked was in fact composed by Beethoven. It was so sweet, so serene, and so full of hope and sunshine that I had always taken it for granted that it was done by my idol Mozart. I spent my whole day yesterday listening to Beethoven’s symphonies. They are great, especially the first movement of No. 6 and the fourth and fifth movement of No.9. Not as great as Mozart’s. But great all the same.
I declare: from now on I am going to listen to Beethoven. I will not, of course, be crazy about him as I do Mozart. I will not like his face, his personality, or his words. But his music, I will tolerate. 11月11日 Scattered ThoughtsMy! I have not been here for quite a while, have I? I remember there was a time when I could barely contain myself from coming up and report some trivial little thing every 4 hours. The problem with me now is not that my life has become humdrum and insignificant (at least it is not at all so to ME), but rather I seemed to have lost the power to put things to words this semester. My humor seems to have left me—if I have ever had any, that is. My eloquence—always rather superficial and feeble—gone—though hopefully not gone forever.
But let me not dwell on sad events, shall I? All will be well accordingly. I am sure of it. For these past few weeks I have been watching an early BBC comedy series: Blackadder, staring Rowen Atkinson, Tony Richardson, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, and Stepen Fry. It is absolutely hilarious! The first two episodes are, I grant, rather vulgar, but the third and the fourth (there are altogether 5 episoes, I have not got around to the fifth yet) are wickedly clever.
 Rowen Atkinson—known to many as silly, slightly selfish, but damnably lucky Mr. Bean—plays the title role Edmund Blackadder to perfection: witty, cunning, selfish, hateful, and adorable at the same time. He speaks in this series—and speaks a lot. Those that wonder how come the player of stupid Mr. Bean was graduated from Oxford will see the light from this performance. Hugh Laurie. I do not think I need to introduce him, do I? My, this guy is a genius! Eton and Cambridge graduate, punting athlete, pianist, singer, best-seller writer, wonderful actor. No wonder any one I have known that has watched him perform in one play or another falls for him. In this serious, he plays silly in this series. According to IMDB (the International Movie Data Base), Hugh Laurie frequently portraits “high-class but dim-witted British aristocrat”. Those who are used to see him as the brilliant and eccentric Dr. House are in for a shock to witness him clad in a ridiculously gaudy purple velvet suit playing Prince Regent George who, in the play, has got a brain ‘the size of a sultana”. (PS. I have not started watching House yet, but I think I definitely shall. Heard Hugh Laurie has put on a flawless American accent in that? No surprise. He is a genius!) Blackadder is a treat for the brain. Highly recommended.       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The problem with being a Gemini is that once a person who does not know you too well gets to the fact that you are born under that constellation, they immediately jump to the conclusion that you are a fickle person(You will be surprised at the number of people who still take stock in this astrology nonsense.) Yet however firm and faithful you believe yourself to be, hearing that comment too often makes you doubt your infidelity. Am I fickle? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Watched a documentary on Karl Böhm(my very favorite conductor) the other day. Dearest wish now? To own every recording of Mozart's work he conducted. Was forced to listen to Beethoven two weeks ago by music teacher. OK, I confess I rather liked the fourth movement of his Symphony No. 9—to be exact, the little piece before the chorus set in. I guess I will have to allow that Beethoven does have some brilliance in him. His four lieders (Adelaide, Lichthause, Ich Liebe Dich, and Einsame) are quite touching as well.
But I am not at all fickle on this matter. Mozart outshines Beethoven in every respect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Found a very good German learning program: Deutsch, Warum Nicht? Hopefully it will make my German better. Borrowed the German Edition of Harry Potter IV. I can understand it. Surprise!  |
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