周退老的最后三本書

沈迦

我提出把詩(shī)稿整理出來(lái)印本小書的想法。老人說(shuō)：“謝謝你！”隨后又補(bǔ)充了一句：“我的東西沒(méi)意思，不值得收藏。我是三腳貓，不會(huì)抓老鼠的?！?/p>

2020年7月16日凌晨，著名學(xué)者、詩(shī)人、書法家周昌樞（別號(hào)退密）駕鶴仙游，其孫女周京女史次日發(fā)出一長(zhǎng)文《他是這樣走完一生的……》，羅列了祖父一生的著述，從1988年油印的第一本詩(shī)集《芳草集》開(kāi)始，到今年春天印行的家族文獻(xiàn)匯編《寧波湖西周家》，共計(jì)28種。最后3種：《立雪：寬齋藏周退密詩(shī)翰》《周退密先生題簽集》及《寧波湖西周家》，都是“物外社”出品，我有幸經(jīng)手。

余生也晚，雖早聞退老大名，也讀過(guò)他的書、買過(guò)他的字，但一直無(wú)緣拜識(shí)，直到2012年秋，經(jīng)海上名宿徐定戡先生哲嗣徐家禎老師的引薦，才有幸踏足老人晚年所居的安亭草閣。當(dāng)時(shí)退老已近百歲，雖杜戶封筆，但依然耳聰目明，聊起往事，記憶清晰。

十余年前，一偶然的機(jī)會(huì)淘到海上老輩畫家沈邁士的一批舊藏，有書畫、有詩(shī)札，其中最大宗的是退老寫于20世紀(jì)七八十年代的一批詩(shī)稿，計(jì)41通47頁(yè)，相當(dāng)部分未收錄于2011年黃山書社出版的《周退密詩(shī)文集》。沈邁士是退老1932年就讀震旦大學(xué)預(yù)科時(shí)的老師，退老從此立雪程門，“談畫論詩(shī)五十年”。

2012年與老人認(rèn)識(shí)后，我陸續(xù)帶這批書畫、詩(shī)札給他看。老人見(jiàn)到自己早年的詩(shī)作頗感慨，他說(shuō)沈邁士晚年住復(fù)興中路553弄1號(hào)，他當(dāng)時(shí)則住31號(hào)，兩人是一條弄堂里的鄰居。這些唱和的詩(shī)稿就是那時(shí)送來(lái)送去的作品，“他住1號(hào)，巷口，我每天總要經(jīng)過(guò)的，送上樓，或投在他家信箱里，有時(shí)也叫保姆送過(guò)去。他也經(jīng)常自己送過(guò)來(lái)，他家不是總有保姆，晚年經(jīng)濟(jì)不好就沒(méi)叫保姆了?！边@些早年詩(shī)作退老自己沒(méi)保存，沒(méi)想到歷經(jīng)劫難的老師卻將它留存起來(lái)。

我近年客居海外，回國(guó)機(jī)會(huì)不多，但每次回滬，都盡量去看望老人。清晰記得安亭草閣臨窗的方桌前，上海早晨的陽(yáng)光斑斑駁駁地灑進(jìn)來(lái)，我與老人對(duì)坐，聽(tīng)他說(shuō)那些陳年舊事。他經(jīng)常說(shuō)起沈邁士，還幾次問(wèn)我沈家后人情況。因了同姓，他相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間都誤以為我與他的老師有親戚關(guān)系。老人對(duì)老師感念甚多，特別對(duì)其在“文革”中的遭遇，屢有唏噓。他說(shuō)沈邁士是世家子弟，祖父沈秉成官至兩江總督，父親沈瑞琳、母親龔韻珊均擅丹青。

2016年年初的一次見(jiàn)面，不知怎的又說(shuō)起沈邁士及這批舊藏。我提出把詩(shī)稿整理出來(lái)，印本小書的想法?！凹瓤勺屓诵蕾p到您的詩(shī)詞、書法，又可增加人們對(duì)沈邁士先生的了解?！崩先苏f(shuō)：“謝謝你！”隨后又補(bǔ)充了一句：“我的東西沒(méi)意思，不值得收藏。我是三腳貓，不會(huì)抓老鼠的?！?/p>

獲老人首肯，我即開(kāi)始編輯箋釋，半年后，將初稿彩色打印一冊(cè)送呈審閱。老人花了幾天時(shí)間通讀全書，改出七八處差錯(cuò)，有的地方還加了注，以讓我看得明白。遞校稿給我時(shí)，他又說(shuō)自己這些不成樣子的東西，勞我如此費(fèi)心費(fèi)力，還打印得這么漂亮，要謝謝我。與老人交往多年，他每次說(shuō)起自己的作品，不論是詩(shī)詞還是書法，都很謙虛。

記得那天我們還對(duì)坐在窗前的方桌上商量了書名，我原題《寬齋存周退密詩(shī)翰》，他改“存”為“藏”。我又問(wèn)書名請(qǐng)誰(shuí)題簽好？本來(lái)老人親自題寫是首選，但他說(shuō)自己手已抖，寫不成字了。他還笑說(shuō)你自己寫最好，現(xiàn)在前輩、平輩都沒(méi)有了。

因居海外，這本書的編排多有拖沓，直至2017年秋才最后定稿，并交方兄韶毅主持的“物外社”印行。方兄在出版界游走多年，自己又是版本迷，他建議此書走文人雅玩性質(zhì)的自印本路線，限量印制、小眾流通。他還請(qǐng)了何天健設(shè)計(jì)裝幀，鼓搗出了素色布面精裝小開(kāi)本樣式，還分黃、藍(lán)兩色版本，真是既雅致又高冷。

這本小眾讀物2018年初印行后受到愛(ài)書者的追捧。退老遠(yuǎn)在澳洲的孫女周京見(jiàn)書后也給予贊揚(yáng)，說(shuō)這是“以爺爺名義面世的書里最漂亮的一本”。

對(duì)做書的人來(lái)說(shuō)，有讀者喜愛(ài)是最大的鼓勵(lì)，于是萌發(fā)繼續(xù)做點(diǎn)什么的念頭。周退老擅書法，近幾十年來(lái)為書刊題簽甚多，編本《周退密先生題簽集》很自然成為新的念想。2018年臨近春節(jié)前的一個(gè)上午，我把這想法透露給老人，他頷首、微笑，并說(shuō)“我們應(yīng)是前生有緣了”。一百多歲的老人說(shuō)與我“前生有緣”，一時(shí)有受寵若驚之感。我雖數(shù)學(xué)不好，但腦子里還是飛快地心算了下——他生于民國(guó)初年，前生應(yīng)在嘉慶道光年間，那時(shí)我又在干嘛？

那天為提議出題簽集，我特意帶去一本中華書局新版的《啟功先生題簽集》，精裝小開(kāi)本，厚厚一冊(cè)，很精美。退老捧讀在手時(shí)直說(shuō)啟老字好，并夸書做得漂亮。我說(shuō)您的字一樣好，我會(huì)努力把您這本題簽集也做得漂漂亮亮！

當(dāng)時(shí)我問(wèn)師母，退老寫過(guò)的題簽到底有多少？有清單嗎？師母聞之笑，說(shuō)寫是寫了很多，但家里什么也沒(méi)有。老人性淡泊，平日隨題隨贈(zèng)，不要說(shuō)沒(méi)有留底稿，連樣書都沒(méi)保存。

好在生逢網(wǎng)絡(luò)時(shí)代，我于是在自己的微信公眾號(hào)“遇見(jiàn)阿雅”上發(fā)起征集。2018年11月13日上傳第一批幾十種題簽封面后，反響比預(yù)期熱烈，不少人留言，提供圖片或線索。后來(lái)我這小公號(hào)堪稱周退老情報(bào)中心，各種題簽紛至沓來(lái)。到2019年6月，已收集到142種，應(yīng)該差不多了。

編輯這百多種題簽時(shí)，我發(fā)現(xiàn)最早的書于1978年，為沈祖棻的《涉江詩(shī)稿》所題，最晚的書于2018年為《鄭逸梅遺印集》所題。前后跨度竟然正好40年，完整覆蓋改革開(kāi)放的40年。這看似偶然，其實(shí)有必然。在該書的《編者小語(yǔ)》中，我這樣寫道：“如果沒(méi)有改革開(kāi)放，就不會(huì)有周老這批傳統(tǒng)文化老人的復(fù)出;如果沒(méi)有改革開(kāi)放，就不會(huì)有因改革開(kāi)放而成長(zhǎng)起來(lái)的一批喜愛(ài)、保存并力圖弘揚(yáng)傳統(tǒng)文化的人。當(dāng)然，也只有繼續(xù)改革開(kāi)放，中國(guó)文化才會(huì)在未來(lái)顯出更大的魅力與價(jià)值。”寫這段話時(shí)，我是想起沈邁士的遭遇的。書印行后，有人認(rèn)為我把風(fēng)花雪月的書法題簽與改革開(kāi)放聯(lián)在一起，故作高調(diào)。但陳子善老師讀書后卻在微博上稱贊我這句話“真是深得我心”。

《立雪：寬齋藏周退密詩(shī)翰》已“立”在前，《周退密先生題簽集》自然由方兄繼續(xù)擔(dān)任策劃人，設(shè)計(jì)也由何天健兄操刀，他采取《立雪》的小開(kāi)本，但改直式為橫式，兩書既成系列又顯區(qū)別。裝幀很成功，發(fā)行也很成功，500冊(cè)除少量留贈(zèng)作者、編者外幾乎秒空?，F(xiàn)在孔夫子舊書網(wǎng)上，有人標(biāo)價(jià)3000元，出乎意料。

《題簽集》印行前后，周京也通過(guò)我聯(lián)系“物外社”，請(qǐng)為她參與主編的《寧波湖西周家》做設(shè)計(jì)。這是周氏家族文獻(xiàn)匯編，其中有不少退老回憶先人、舊居、故鄉(xiāng)的文章。

《寧波湖西周家》只印200冊(cè)，不對(duì)外發(fā)售，但“物外社”待之如正規(guī)大書，裝幀、印制都極講究。書稿編排幾經(jīng)周折，最后清樣并下廠已是2020年1月，農(nóng)歷年關(guān)不遠(yuǎn)。方兄親自到廠督戰(zhàn)，終趕在印刷工人年假前將書印出，并趕裝了60本，于17日交付快遞。老人收到書后贊精美，還分別給我們這3個(gè)經(jīng)辦人各題贈(zèng)一冊(cè)作紀(jì)念。周京發(fā)來(lái)她爺爺題簽時(shí)的視頻，107歲的老人已顯吃力地在扉頁(yè)上寫字。3本書的題字，老人花了兩天才完成。當(dāng)時(shí)我人在廣州，答應(yīng)春節(jié)后返滬即登門取書并致謝。不料1月23日荊楚疫起，武漢封城，隨后我也匆匆去國(guó)。更沒(méi)想到的是老人前天突然下世，意外常比計(jì)劃先來(lái)。

人間繁雜，老人退而仙游了。明天是追悼會(huì)，無(wú)法回滬送別，昨斟酌了一日，撰寫了副挽聯(lián)，嵌入“題簽”、“立雪”、“物外”幾字，記我們與老人的一段文字因緣，在他漫長(zhǎng)人生的最后歲月，我們有幸參與了他最后3本書的編印工作。挽聯(lián)由方兄親筆手書，長(zhǎng)逾八尺，以我們仨的名義，敬獻(xiàn)在老人靈右：

題簽百葉、題詩(shī)千葉、題書萬(wàn)葉，物寄憐文字，清和幽遠(yuǎn)江湖上;

立雪程門、立行蘇門、立德孔門，外游嘯云煙，散澹隱淪天地間。

2020年7月18日于溫哥華

The Last Three Books of Zhou Tuimi

By Shen Jia

A scholar of Chinese classics， poet， calligrapher， and teacher of the French language， Zhou Tuimi （1914-2020） passed away on July 16， at the age of 107 （computed in the traditional Chinese way）.

On July 17， his granddaughter Zhou Jing published a long obituary in commemoration of the scholars life journey. Listed in the obituary are 28 books published in his name. I was instrumental in publishing the last three. I had heard of the masters name and read his books and brought some of his calligraphic works into my collection before I met him for the first time in the autumn of 2012. That year， Zhou was nearly 100 years old. Though he was contented with not taking part in social affairs and not writing any more， he could see and hear clearly. His memory of the past was sharp.

A number of years before I met Zhou， I purchased at a second-hand market a batch of paintings， calligraphy works and poem manuscripts， which had been in the collection of Shen Maishi （1891-1986）， an old-generation painter in Shanghai. Among the precious collectables were 47 pages of a manuscript of 41 poems in the handwriting of Zhou Tuimi. Many of them were not included in the? published in 2011. Shen Maishi was a teacher under whom Zhou studied in a preparatory course of Aurora University， the predecessor of present-day Fudan University， in Shanghai in 1932. Their friendship lasted 50 years.

After I met Zhou in 2012， I brought the batch of paintings， calligraphic works and poems by Zhou to Zhou. He marveled at the resurfacing of these works. He said he and Shen Maishi were neighbors in the same lane not far from each other. They wrote poems to each other. Zhou walked past the neighbors home every day. Whenever he wrote a poem， he stuffed it into the friends mailbox or asked his own nurse to deliver it for him. Shen sometimes walked over to deliver a poem. Zhou didnt file these poems of his for keeping. He was surprised and delighted that Shen had preserved these poems.

In early 2016， I visited Zhou. Shen Maishi and the poems which I had purchased in a secondhand market somehow managed to surface in our conversation. I proposed to put the poems and handwritings into a book so that readers could know more about Shen and about Zhous poems and calligraphy. Zhou appreciated the idea but dismissed modestly that his poems were worth reading. I started the work.

Half a year later， I presented a copy printed in color to Zhou for proofreading. He spent a few days reading it and made some corrections. He also provided a number of footnotes. For some reasons， it was not until early 2018 that the book was published. The limited edition presented two different cover designs. It caused a sensation among friends and relatives.

A few days before the Spring Festival in 2018， I proposed to Zhou to put all his calligraphic writings of book titles together into a book. He agreed happily and commented， “You and I must have been good friends in our previous lives.” He was born in the second decade of 20th century and his previous life， if there was one， must have been in the first half of the 19th century. What was I doing back then？ I couldnt help but wonder.

Zhou didnt know exactly how many book titles he inscribed for various publications. Nor did he keep any inscription he handwrote. Nor did he keep any book whose title he handwrote. So I started a public campaign to collect such titles in my WeChat account. The feedback was more than I had expected. Many people responded in short messages. Some sent me pictures. Some provided me with clues. In early November I published about dozens I had obtained in the campaign. By June 2019 the book titles written by Zhou Tuimi added up to 142. I thought that was it.

As I sorted these book titles out， I found that the first in the collection was dated 1978 and the last one occurred in 2018. The forty years covered the four decades of Chinas epoch-making reform and opening up to the outside world. I discussed the significance of this in the foreword. The limited edition was 500 copies only. They sold out almost in seconds！ A copy now on a secondhand book website is priced 3，000 yuan.

After this publication， Zhou Jing contacted me. She wanted me to design a family book she was in charge of putting together. That book was designed to compile the documents of the family which originally came from a lake residence in Ningbo.

Sixty copies of the family document compilation were printed in a rush before the Spring Festival in January 2020. Zhou signed a copy for me. And I watched the video in which the 107-year-old scholar signed three books for three of us who saw the publishing job through from beginning to the end. I was in Guangzhou. I promised I would soon go back to Shanghai to get the signed copy for me. But Wuhan locked down on January 23 and the pandemic spread. I left China and went back home in Vancouver.