“工作著是美麗的”，這是著名女作家陳學昭的一部小說的書名，也成了她創(chuàng)造的流行語。今年是陳學昭誕生一百周年，本文寫了她與領袖毛澤東交往的鮮為人知的故事，以此作為對這位已逝女作家的紀念。

陳學昭原名陳淑英，浙江省海寧人，她從小受到良好的教育，特別喜愛讀《昭明文選》，故最初寫作便署名“學昭”。

1923年上?！稌r報》舉行征文大賽，陳學昭撰寫的《我所希望的新女性》一舉獲得乙等獎。該報主筆戈公振見這位17歲的小姑娘如此有銳氣，獎掖有加，好生勉勵，并介紹她擔任天津《大公報》駐歐特派記者。由此，她在1927年便去法國，在法國足足住了七年，外語很好。因而周恩來在抗戰(zhàn)勝利后曾對她說：“你將來的工作崗位在國外?！?/p>

陳學昭以她的勤奮寫作、正直而獨特的人格魅力，使她在上世紀20年代便與魯迅、茅盾、瞿秋白等許多名家建立了聯(lián)系，并成為魯迅家里的常客，受到魯迅的器重。上世紀20年代，她就出版了散文集《倦旅》《寸草心》《煙霞伴侶》《如夢》《憶巴黎》以及長篇小說《南風的夢》等，那時她還只是個20多歲的文氣姑娘。以后，散文集《陜北訪問記》《漫走解放區(qū)》、長篇小說《工作著是美麗的》《春茶》(上下冊)等又陸續(xù)出版，并且翻譯過屠格涅夫、巴爾扎克等人的作品。

抗戰(zhàn)一開始陳學昭就有去延安的打算，只因孩子尚幼無法脫身，直到1938年夏她才以重慶《國訊旬刊》特約記者的身份，與做醫(yī)生的丈夫何穆一起去了延安。她在延安除了參觀訪問以外，還受到領袖毛澤東的接見。

一天午飯前，她得到了通知：“午后二時去見毛主席?！钡搅讼挛缍c，陳學昭在一個通信員的帶領下，下了山，走了許多彎彎曲曲的路，到了毛澤東的住處：鳳凰山麓。門口的衛(wèi)兵客氣地將她領了進去，剛走進門，便見毛澤東站了起來：“歡迎你來延安?！?/p>

毛澤東一邊跟她握手，一邊做了個請陳學昭坐下的手勢。陳學昭便在寫字臺對面一張接待賓客的椅子上坐下。

或許是一位女作家的特有細膩，陳學昭以十分快捷的速度，對毛澤東的住處觀察了一番：屋子很整潔，墻上掛著一幅全國地圖，靠窗是一只白木寫字臺，或許木料不好，臺面已經凹進；臺面上鋪著一張暗花花紋的漆布，也已開始破裂。桌上堆著一些書籍、文件?？繅Ρ谶€有一只行軍床，并有幾張只有靠背沒有扶手的椅子。

坐在她面前的毛澤東穿一套青布單軍裝，上衣的鈕扣沒扣上，顯得很隨便的樣子，但頭發(fā)卻是整飾過的。那年毛澤東已四十五歲，陳學昭則不過三十二歲。在未見毛澤東之前，她只聽說毛主席喜歡說笑話、打比方，每次對抗大或別的學校學生做報告時，總有些笑話和比方夾在當中。但今天與她談話，卻沒有任何笑話和比方。她只感到他很禮貌，很客氣，也很溫和文雅，而且很質樸，闊大的額角和銳利的眼光，不時透露出他的智慧。聯(lián)想到她前些日子在延安的采訪和所見所聞，此時的她不由得有點肅然起敬。

“毛先生，我的幾個主要問題，已用書面形式提出，請李富春轉給您了?！?/p>

毛澤東點點頭，沉靜地說：“我已經看到了?！?/p>

“我只想簡單地問一個問題?！标悓W昭知道毛澤東很忙，不想把談話拉得很長而耽擱了他的時間。

“請說吧。”

“如果西安一旦不幸失守，延安與西南的交通隔斷了，糧食發(fā)生問題怎么辦呢?”

毛澤東微笑著，用一種沉重而又十分有力的話音回答道：“有辦法，靠老百姓么!我們還可以打游擊。”

聽毛澤東談到打游擊，她便接著問道：“抗戰(zhàn)自去年爆發(fā)以來，也有一年了，八路軍在前方作戰(zhàn)取得了哪些成績?”

“這個——”毛澤東遲疑了一下然后說，“我可以給你介紹去見李秘書長。那邊能設法找到你所要知道的種種情況?！?/p>

“可以?！标悓W昭點點頭。

接著毛澤東就提起筆來在陳學昭的名片上寫了去見李六如先生等幾個字。因為李六如那時擔任毛澤東的秘書長。寫畢，他又特意補充說：“就是在這里不遠，有一個衛(wèi)兵站著的那個屋子里?！?/p>

“謝謝!”陳學昭接過名片站起來說：“我暫告辭了。”

“如果有什么問題，還可以再來?！泵珴蓶|也站了起來，伸出了他的大手與陳學昭握別。

這次陳學昭在延安共住了近兩個月，然后與丈夫一起回到重慶。

陳學昭與丈夫何穆回到重慶后，丈夫開了個私人診所，但由于物價昂貴、特務橫行，度日艱難，再加上他們的孩子患病夭亡，心情十分壓抑和痛楚，于是夫婦倆又想到了延安。他們在返回重慶一年之后，又于1940年冬重返革命圣地。

兩年以后，延安文藝座談會召開。陳學昭被邀請參加了會議，并聆聽了毛澤東的講話。

1945年7月，黃炎培、傅斯年、趙超構等來延安訪問，毛澤東親自去延安機場迎接。由于陳學昭是從國統(tǒng)區(qū)到延安的有影響的女作家，所以也安排她去機場迎接，于是她和毛澤東又相遇了。

陳學昭此時在中央黨校擔任文化教員，所以毛澤東一邊和她握手，一邊微笑著對她說：“你又是文學家，又是教育家!”這一夸獎，她頓時感到一陣心熱，也很不好意思。

中華人民共和國成立后，陳學昭到浙江杭州工作，在杭州大學任教。

1955年，獲得諾貝爾文學獎的法國作家保羅·薩德和伴侶特波娃訪問中國，陳學昭因曾留學法國，懂得法語，中央便派她陪同。國慶前夕，薩德和伴侶一起在北京參加國宴。當時薩德夫婦的席位離毛澤東的席位很近，于是陳學昭便把他倆領到了毛澤東的座位前。毛澤東聽了陳學昭的介紹，馬上站起身子和薩德夫婦熱烈握手，陳學昭在旁做翻譯。這是陳學昭與毛澤東的最后一次見面。

陳學昭外表秀氣，但她生性耿直，不肯說假話。她80歲壽辰時，陳云曾親筆書寫條幅贈送她，內容是白居易的《放言》詩：

周公恐懼流言日，王莽謙恭未篡時。

向使當初身便死，一生真?zhèn)螐驼l知。

People

Working is Beautiful

By Sun Qin'an

Working is Beautiful is a novel written by Chen Xuezhao (1906-1991)， a prominent female writer of the early 20th-century China. Today， the title has become a catch phrase. The year 2006 is the female writer’s centenary. This is written in her memory.

Chen was from Haining， Zhejiang Province. She received fine education in her childhood years. Of all the literary classics she studied， Chen took a particular liking for Zhaoming Anthology of Literary Masterpieces， compiled by Prince Zhaoming (501-531) in the Southern Dynasty (420-589A.D.). When she first tried her hand at writing， she chose to name herself Xuezhao， meaning she was a student cultivated on the basis of the ancient anthology.

In 1923， Time， a Shanghai-based newspaper， sponsored a nationwide essay competition. Chen’s writing entitled What I See in New Women won the second prize. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper was so impressed by the dashing spirit of the 17-year-old Chen that he recommended her to work as a journalist for Tianjin-based Ta Kung Pao to cover events in Europe. She later went to France in 1927 and stayed there for 7 years.

Chen was a prolific writer. In the 1920s， she established contacts with Lu Xun， Mao Dun， and Qu Qiubai， all literary masters of the time. She was a regular visitor to Lu Xun’s house and the master thought highly of her. In the 1920s， Chen in her 20s published six collections of essays and a regular novel entitled Dream of South Wind. Later she published another two collections of essays and two novels.

When the Resistance War against Japanese Invaders broke in 1937， Chen planned to go to Yan’an， the headquarter base of Chinese communists. But she was unable to make it because her baby was too young and too weak. In 1938， she visited Yan’an for the first time as a special reporter for a Chongqing-based newspaper.

It was during her visit to Yan’an， she first met Mao Zedong. During the brief interview， the revolutionary leader answered some of the questions and welcomed her back if she had more to ask.

Chen and her husband stayed in Yan’an for nearly two months before they returned to Chongqing， the war-time capital of the country.

In the winter of 1940 the couple came back to Yan’an. Their baby had died and the private clinic the husband operated in Chongqing had been bankrupt due to the nasty inflation and harassments of KMT agents. They joined the revolution in the same year.

Chen was invited to attend the landmark Yan’an Forum on Art and Literature in 1942. Mao delivered a keynote speech， in which he addressed urgent issues concerning how art and literature should serve the revolution.

In July 1945， Mao Zedong was to meet an important delegation from the KTM government at the Yan’an airport. Chen Xuezhao， an influential writer from the area under the rule of the Kuomintang Government， was invited to meet the delegation. It was at the airport that Chen and Mao met again. Chen then worked as a teacher at the Central Party School. Mao shook hands with her， saying， Ograve;Now you are not only a woman of letters but also an educator.”

After the liberation in 1949， Chen came to teach at Hangzhou University.

In 1955， French novelist Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and his lifelong companion Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)， came to visit China. As Chen spoke fluent French， she was engaged as an interpreter to accompany the French guests. The French couple and Chen were invited to attend the state banquet in celebration of the National Day. As they were seated quite near Mao Zedong， Chen introduced the French writers to Mao. Hearing Chen’s introduction， Mao stood up and shook hands warmly with the two visiting French. Chen interpreted for them. It was the last time Chen and Mao met.

Refined in appearance， Chen was honest and upright by nature. She refused to lie in that political ambiance. At her 80th birthday， Chen Yun， a top-ranking state leader， sent her an inscription in celebration of her birthday.

(Translated by David)