Casa Grande 主樓

一百多年前，加利福尼亞州出現(xiàn)了兩個最富有的人——斯坦福和赫斯特。斯坦福在失去了唯一的孩子以后，決定建造一所大學(xué)來紀念他。游歷了美國所有的名校以后，斯坦福在哈佛大學(xué)校長的建議下，創(chuàng)辦了斯坦福大學(xué)。

有一個不正經(jīng)的傳說，說的是斯坦福來到了哈佛大學(xué)，他想要捐一筆錢給哈佛大學(xué)，那個時候斯坦?？墒菦]有丁點兒要創(chuàng)辦斯坦福大學(xué)的念頭，他只是想捐點錢給著名的哈佛大學(xué)，可是哈佛大學(xué)的校長并不十分看得起他和他的錢，要知道，在100年前，西部的富翁在多數(shù)人眼里只是一群靠挖金子發(fā)家的暴發(fā)戶，他們優(yōu)雅又虛假地拒絕了斯坦福的捐贈。斯坦福回到加利福尼亞，創(chuàng)立了斯坦福大學(xué)。那將是一所最好的大學(xué)——斯坦福一定是這么想的，遠遠好過哈佛。的確是不正經(jīng)的傳說，聽起來像是某個嫉妒斯坦福的家伙編造的謊言。我當然還是相信第一種說法。還有斯坦福對太太說過的，全加州的孩子都是我們的孩子。

赫斯特顯然要現(xiàn)實得多，他對捐獻和大學(xué)都沒有興趣，他的錢全部都用來建造他夢境中的城堡。當然也因為他的那些古董——所有的古董都應(yīng)該放在真正的古堡里。

赫斯特24歲創(chuàng)辦《舊金山觀察家報》，成為世界上最大的出版帝國的國王。100年以后，《舊金山觀察家報》被華裔企業(yè)家收購，那是一個嚴重傷害了美國主流社會的戲劇性的大新聞，因為赫斯特的確不太喜歡那些中國移民，他管他們叫“黃禍”，而他創(chuàng)辦的報紙卻被他們收購了。

說起來，赫斯特的錢應(yīng)該不比斯坦福的少，可是斯坦福果真建了一所好大學(xué)，就如同斯坦福希望的那樣。而赫氏古堡，富人們以在鄉(xiāng)間建造豪華城堡為時髦的時代，赫氏古堡成為了那些時髦中最豪華的一個。

等待穿梭巴士的間隙，我開始使用紀念章自助機器，塞入兩個25分硬幣和一個1分硬幣，1分硬幣會變成扁扁的紀念章。我做了很多，每一個都不同，圣西蒙的海獸，圣西蒙的花，赫氏古堡和棕櫚樹，赫斯特最愛的海神游泳池，美慧三女神的雕像。

散步道上有一座來自埃及的神像，他們說那是嗜血女神，因為她是保護神，又是毀滅神。也許是真的。赫斯特在事業(yè)最鼎盛時期擁有25萬英畝牧場，26家報紙、13家刊物和8家電臺，當然還有其他更多的，可是他什么都帶不走，什么也都不是他的了，《舊金山觀察家報》賣給了華人，赫氏古堡已經(jīng)是加州政府的了。

傳說赫斯特很喜歡請客，電影明星和政界要人往往坐飛機來赴宴，因為赫氏古堡有自己的機場，也有自己的水利發(fā)電廠和電影院，還有野生動物園，赫斯特愛動物，他飼養(yǎng)長頸鹿、熊、虎、獅子和羚羊等一切可以買得到的動物，那些動物被認為是世界上最幸福的動物。

可是整個赫氏古堡只有一間餐廳，客人們不得不按照規(guī)定的時間前來用餐。暗淡的銀器，天花板上的圣像，畫著《但以理書》故事的法蘭西壁毯，還有長長的餐桌。他們說的，長長的餐桌，一點實用價值都沒有，因為這一頭和那一頭說話非得借用電話不可。但是美國富人就是愛古代，一切都布置得如同盎格魯-撒克遜時代某個國王的城堡。

我在想那些國王富有并且自由，他們有自己的土地和軍隊，獨特的城堡；他們互不相干，也許偶爾互相欺騙；他們發(fā)動戰(zhàn)爭，也聯(lián)姻，像極了我們的春秋戰(zhàn)國，真正的亂世。

可是春秋戰(zhàn)國的城池已經(jīng)一個都沒有了，除了淹城，傳說淹王敗給周成王后逃到了常州，他把自己的城堡建筑在三道水三道城的中央——最安全的設(shè)計，至少他是這么認為的，他再也不要去想戰(zhàn)爭的事情了。淹王把唯一的公主嫁給了留王以后，留國火攻淹城，滅了淹國。

3000年前湮滅了的一個小國，它的城卻保留到了現(xiàn)在，也許是因為那城太獨特了，三道水圍繞的城堡。電影里的英國古堡只有一道水，城門前吊著一座橋，橋不放下來，城就是安全的。如果留王到了英國，所有的城堡都不安全。

餐廳的旁邊是桌球室，桌球室的旁邊是電影館，客人們在晚餐后看電影，如果他們按照規(guī)定的晚上十一點鐘到達電影院的話?；蛘呔鸵恢贝粼谧狼蚴依铮菢硬粫t到。桌球也許是100年前的時髦，像現(xiàn)在的高爾夫球，也許再過100年，高爾夫球也不時髦了，我不能想象將來的時髦是什么。

我能想象所有過去了的好日子，客人們聚集在金碧輝煌的大客廳里等待晚餐，他們端著酒，聊著生意和理想。享樂只是他們的日常生活，不是他們的理想，他們的理想，大概就是在鄉(xiāng)間造城堡，然后用古董裝飾它。也許富人比窮人更容易沮喪，如果他的古董之美及不過另一個富人，他就會沮喪。

那些散發(fā)著濃郁氣味的古董，我真想好好地看看它們，可是我太困了，眼睛都睜不開了，整個上午，都像是在夢游。

我在電影院里睡了一會兒，我的前排坐著兵，每一個都是光頭，他們和我想象中的很不一樣，他們的手都放在背后。真是一件奇怪的事情，赫氏古堡的電影院里怎么會出現(xiàn)兵呢？

古堡一景A view of Hearst Catle

客廳 Grand Room

M ore than a decade ago, two richest men, Mr. Stanford and Mr. Hearst appeared in California. After losing his only child, Mr. Stanford decided to build a university in commemoration of his son. The Stanford University hence was established under the suggestion of President of Harvard after his visiting all the renowned universities in the United States.

According to an improper legend, Mr. Stanford came to Harvard University with a substantial donation as he had no thought of establishing the Stanford University at all. With a pure hope of donating some money to the famous Harvard in mind, Mr.Stanford, himself, and his money haven’t earned much respect from the President of Harvard. As you probably know, the rich people from the West, in the eyes of majority of people, were a group of new-riches by only digging for gold. Hence, they refused the donation of Mr. Stanford gracefully and falsely, who established the Stanford University after returning to California.That would be the best one, much better than Harvard, Mr.Stanford must have thought so. An improper legend indeed, it sounds like a lie made by a guy jealous of Mr. Stanford. I, however,still believe in the story. Mr. Stanford once said to his wife, all kids in California were our children.

Mr. Hearst, however, obviously being much more realistic, has shown no interest in donation and university as all his money was used in building his dream castle. Of course, it was also because of his antiques which should all be put into a real castle.

Mr. Hearst became the king of the world’s largest publishing empire after establishing theSan Francisco Observerat the age of 24. 100 years later, it was purchased by an American-Chinese,a dramatic story seriously hurting the US mainstream society,because Mr. Hearst did not love those Chinese immigrants, calling them the Yellow Peril, but his newspaper was purchased by them.Talking about money, Mr. Hearst should be as rich as Mr.Stanford. But the Stanford, as expected by Mr. Stanford, became a great university. Meanwhile, the Hearst Castle became the most luxurious one amongst all the fashionables during the age when rich people considering builded luxurious castles in the countryside as a vogue.

I began to make commemorative medals from self-service machines when I was waiting for the shuttle bus. As I put two quarter coins and a dollar coin, the latter was turned into a flat medal. I made a lot of them, each different, sea animals and flowers in San Simeon, the Hearst Castle and palm trees, Mr.Hearst’s most favorite Neptune Pool and statue of the Three Graces.

People say the statue from Egypt on the walkway is a bloodthirsty goddess, as she is the goddess of both protection and destruction.Mr. Hearst owned 250,000-acre ranch, 26 newspapers, 13 magazines and 8 radio stations in the most prosperous period of his career. Of course, there were more, but he could not take anything with him as they now belong to others, theSan Francisco Observerwas sold to the Chinese immigrants and the Hearst Castle is now the property of California government.

It was said that Mr. Hearst loved inviting people, and movie stars and political figures all attended the banquets by plane, as the Hearst Castle has its own airport, water power plant and theaters,and even a wild animal zoo. He was passionate about animals as he had a giraffe, a bear, a tiger, a lion and an antelope and all the other animals one could buy, who were considered the happiest animals in the world.

There was only one dining room in the Hearst Castle, and guests had to come to dinner at the specified time. The dull silver, icons painted on the ceiling, the French tapestry with painted story from the Book of Daniel and the long table, guests complained that the extra-long table was of no actual value at all, as people on both sides almost had to talk through telephones. But the American rich people just loved the ancient age, everything had to be arranged like some king’s castle in the Anglo-Saxon time.

In my opinion, those kings were wealthy with freedom, they had their own land and army and unique castles. They were independent from each other with occasional deceits, war and marriage, just like the Spring and Autumn Period in our history, days with true turbulence.But all the cities of the Spring and Autumn Period were gone, except for the Yancheng City.It was said that King Yan of the state fled to Changzhou after being defeated by Emperor Cheng during the Zhou Dynasty, building his castle at the center of three moats and three circle of cities, the most secure design according to the King himself at least. He would not have to think about the war any more. The Liu state defeated and destroyed the City by fire after the King married the only princess to the King of Liu.

The city of a small state, which vanished 3,000-year ago, is still preserved to the present time, probably due to the uniqueness of the city as three moats circled around the architecture. There is only one moat around British castles in movies, and the cities remain safe as long as the drawbridge remains hung up. If it were kept in the UK, all castles were not in a safe condition.

A billiard room stood close to the dining room as a theater hall was next to it, and guests could watch movies after dinner if they arrived at the theater hall 11:00PM according to the rules, or they could prefer to stay in the billiard room the whole evening. Billiard was probably most fashionable a hundred year ago, just like golf at present, which might not be the vogue in the time of a century. I just cannot imagine the fashions in the future.

I could imagine the good old days in the past: all guests gathered in the magnificent living room for dinner, holding wine in hands and talking about business and ideals. Pleasure was only their daily life, but not their ideal, which was probably to build castles in the countryside with decoration of antiques. It was highly probable that the rich were more likely to be depressed than the poor if the beauty of his antiques was inferior to those of another rich man.

I wish I could take a closer look at those antiques with strong smells. But I just felt too sleepy to open my eyes, as for me, the whole morning was like sleepwalking.

I took a nap in the theater for a while, while sitting in front of me were a group of soldiers,everyone of whom was bareheaded. They were much different from what I imagined as their hands were put on the back. It was so weird to see soldiers appear in the theater of the Hearst Castle.

海王星池 The Neptune Pool