One day in October, Wu Dao was teaching about 19th-century Romantic literature in class, and when he talked about Keats, he hoped that a classmate would read "Ode to the Nightingale", but no one raised his hand after asking several times. Having been teaching for many years, Wu Dao is not at all surprised by this situation.

He has worked as a teacher in junior high school, technical secondary school and university, and in comparison, junior high school students are the most motivated to answer questions, followed by technical secondary school, and lowest in college, in other words, the older the student, the less likely he is to answer questions.

Despite this, standing on the podium and asking several times, no student responded, which is an embarrassing thing for a teacher after all, and it will also affect the teaching effect, Wu Dao still hopes that some students can stand up and read "Ode to the Nightingale", so he said to the students:

"Reading poetry is a very enjoyable process, like eating a big meal, Keats's "Ode to the Nightingale" can be called a top meal, if no one raises their hand, I have to eat the meal myself."

He looked around the classroom at nearly a hundred students, when a burly boy stood up and said:

"Teacher, I'll read it."

Although Wu Dao had given many lessons to this class of students, he didn't know the names of most of the students, and he said to the boys:

"What's your name and what class are you from?"

"My name is Kan Wenyuan, and I am in the first class."

Wu Dao has not heard much talk about the three words "Kan Wenyuan" recently, and there is a poetry demon in the Chinese department in the college, and his favorite thing is to read and write poetry, because he likes a girl and writes poems to her every day, and several of his poems are also widely circulated in the department. Wu Dao didn't expect Kan Wenyuan to be a student in his class, he said:

"You are Kan Wenyuan, who likes to write poems and is known as a poetry demon?"

Kan Wenyuan hadn't answered yet, and the other students preemptively said:

"That's right, he's the Poet Demon."

"I'm not a poetry demon, Xiangling in "Dream of Red Mansions" is. Let me read Keats's Ode to a Nightingale. Kan Wenyuan said.

There is no original text of "Ode to a Nightingale" in the student's textbook, Wu Dao walked up to Kan Wenyuan and wanted to hand him the poem printed in advance, Kan Wenyuan said:

"I have read Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" many times, and every word is engraved in my head, and I don't have to read the original text."

"Then let's enjoy Keats's Ode to a Nightingale." Wu Dao said.

"Ode to the Nightingale" is a very long poem, Kan Wenyuan can actually recite it, Wu Dao felt a little surprised, but he was very happy, he was very much looking forward to Kan Wenyuan's recitation. Wu Dao returned to the lecture hall, and Kan Wenyuan began to recite:

My heart aches, I feel drowsy, insensitive,

It seems that he has drunk poisonous birds,

……

Kan Wenyuan brought Wu Dao to Keats's world, and he couldn't help but think that Keats was talented, but he only lived to be twenty-six years old before he died, as well as Byron and Shelley, their lives were also very short, and what about Haizi, Luo Yihe, and Gomey?

When Kan Wenyuan recited the entire poem, the students in the class applauded him, and Wu Dao's mind returned to the class, and he also applauded Kan Wenyuan.

After that class, Wu Dao had a very good impression of Kan Wenyuan. A week later, in the foreign literature class, Wu Dao finished the class and was about to leave, Kan Wenyuan walked up to him, handed him a hand-copied book of poems, and said:

"Mr. Wu, this is a poem I wrote, please give your opinions."

"I'll read it well." Wu Dao put away the poetry collection and said.

After Wu Dao returned home, he opened Kan Wenyuan's poetry collection, and he found that Kan Wenyuan's handwriting was not good, and the poems were not excellent, but there was a lot of emotion between the lines, especially the poems he wrote for the girl he liked.

There are several poems that Wu Dao can empathize with, and one of them, called "Hesitation", is written like this:

Why does the cuckoo chirp repeatedly

Same sound

Lord, this is a piece

Silent forests are needed

Let the one who misses

Stay away --

Stay away from my heart

Wu Dao remembered, why wasn't he in a hesitation? He didn't want to forget Si Baifang and Meng Yihong, but after so many years, their images have not become blurred at all, but have become clearer and clearer.

Another week later, when Wu Dao was in a foreign literature class, he deliberately arrived in the classroom a few minutes early, wanting to return the collection of poems to Kan Wenyuan, and said:

"I've read your poems, we'll talk about them in detail after class."

"I specially copied this book of poems and gave it to you, so you don't have to return it to me." Kan Wenyuan said.

Wu Dao felt flattered and put away the poetry collection again.

After the lecture, Kan Wenyuan took the initiative to walk to the front of the lectern. Wu Dao said to him:

"It's almost noon, let's go have a meal together, talk as we eat."

Kan Wenyuan nodded and said "Okay", and the two of them went to a nearby cafeteria together. In the morning, Wu Dao had already thought about inviting Kan Wenyuan to dinner at noon, and said hello to Shi Qingqing, saying that he had a meal at noon and would not go home to eat.

When they arrived at the restaurant, the two of them finished their meals and sat down, Kan Wenyuan looked a little restrained. Wu Dao said:

"Do you want some drink?"

"Don't drink it." Kan Wenyuan said.

"How can a poet not drink alcohol? Let's have two beers. ”

Wu Dao went to the counter to buy two bottles of beer, opened it and gave Kan Wenyuan a bottle, and then sat down again. Wu Dao said:

"Let's talk while we eat, let's have a drink first."

"Okay."

The two of them drank a glass of wine and ate a little food, Kan Wenyuan said:

"Mr. Wu, have you read my poems?"

"I read it, and it's better than what I wrote."

"Do you like to write poetry too?"

"I like to read poetry, but I rarely write poetry. May I ask, have you ever shown this book of poems to other teachers? ”

"Teacher of our academy, I only gave it to you."

"Why?"

"Because I found out that you are different from other teachers."

"What's the difference?"

"Other teachers lack artistry and don't dare to tell the truth, only you live a real life and really like literature."

"Actually, I don't live a real life, and my true self has long been lost. When I first started working, I thought about taking on the responsibility of an intellectual, but then I realized that I couldn't change anything, and now all I can do is tell less lies. Not to mention that, when did you start writing poetry? ”

"I didn't start writing until the second semester of my freshman year, and to tell you the truth, I didn't read a few books before I went to college, not even 'Dream of Red Mansions', and even fewer poems."

"Then you have written to the current level, which is already very good, and there is still a lot of room for improvement in the future. Whose poems do you like to read? ”

"I like the poems of Index Finger, Beidao and Mu Dan, and I have read some abroad, not many."

"Have you read Haizi's poems?"

"I've read a few songs, but I don't feel anything, I think it's too ethereal."

"The poems of the index finger and Kitajima are also very good, but in terms of artistic height, they are not as good as Haizi. Mudan was a great poet with a very different style from Haizi. Mu Dan's poems are lofty and profound, and Haizi's poems are fresh and smart. In the future, you can read more Hai Zi's poems, your poems are generally more emotional, but not spiritual, reading Hai Zi's poems can help you improve your writing. ”

"You're right."

"I've heard a lot of your stories before, including you writing poems to pursue love, and most of the poems in your poetry collection are love poems, I guess they are all written for that girl, right?"

"Yes, it's all written for her."

"How are you now, has she accepted your pursuit?"

"She never accepted me, and I still write poems to her every day. I now feel like I'm probably not going to make it. ”

"Pursue boldly, don't give up, even if you fail in the end, you will not have regrets. I was left with too many regrets. Although emotional things can't be forced, as long as you persevere, maybe one day it will turn around, the story of Shen Congwen's pursuit of Zhang Zhaohe, you know? ”

"Yes, so I haven't given up yet."

"How did you and that girl meet, is she from the Chinese department?"

"I met while reading in the library, and she was a student of foreign languages. Mr. Wu, in addition to poetry, I have another confusion I want to ask you. ”

"What's the matter?"

"I was transferred to Fangzhou College, and I want to take the postgraduate examination again."

"It's a good thing to go to graduate school, Fangzhou College is indeed not a good school, and there are many students who have been transferred. Which school do you want to go to? ”

"I want to be admitted to Peking University."

"The Chinese Department of Peking University is very difficult to examine, why do you want to take the Peking University exam?"

"Peking University is the birthplace of the May Fourth Movement and has played a very important role in the transformation of modern China, and I think young people should be like the May Fourth period, so I am full of yearning for Peking University."

In addition to historical traditions, Peking University is also a place where poets are produced, the most famous are the three poets of Peking University, Haizi, Xichuan, Luo Yihe, as well as Gomai, Zang Di, Jiang Tao, Xidu and so on. I have been to Peking University twice, and I have seen a wandering poet by the Weiming Lake, and his poems are very well written. You also like to write poetry, and Peking University is indeed your best choice. ”

"Hearing you say this, I yearn for Peking University even more. It's just that I still have a puzzle. ”

"What is it?"

"I want to be admitted to Peking University, but no one thinks that I can succeed, and I am also worried about failure, and I am worried that my four years of hard work will be in vain. If you change to another school, you may be able to get into it easily. ”

"That's a real problem. But think about it from another angle, are you worried about failure in your pursuit of the girl you like, and are you worried that your efforts will not be rewarded? ”

"Nope."

"It's the same with the graduate school entrance examination."

"I understand, no matter what the result is, I'm going to try it once."

"The worst result is that you can't pass the test, you can't pass the test this year, and you can change schools to take the test in the future. What major are you going to take? ”

"I want to take the modern literature exam."

"Actually, when I was admitted to graduate school, I also took the Chinese Modern Literature exam, but after I entered the school, I transferred to the foreign literature major because I didn't have a suitable tutor. Have you thought about which tutor to apply for? ”

"Not yet."

"I can give you a reference. There is a teacher in the Chinese Department of Peking University who is called Xiao Dongpo, have you heard of it? ”

"Nope."

"He is a famous talent in the Chinese Department of Peking University, and he writes both old and new style poems very well, and is as open-minded as Su Dongpo, and like him, he likes to drink and does not drink much. You can search online and you'll be able to find him. He is now a tutor in modern literature, and you like to write poetry, so if you can get into his discipleship, it should be the best choice. ”

"Hearing you say that, he's the best choice."

"You can try to write to him and maybe get a reply from him. The address is written in the Chinese Department of Peking University, and the specific street, house number, zip code and so on can be found on the Internet. ”

"Okay."