沈迦

我提出把詩稿整理出來印本小書的想法。老人說：“謝謝你！”隨后又補充了一句：“我的東西沒意思，不值得收藏。我是三腳貓，不會抓老鼠的?！?/p>

2020年7月16日凌晨，著名學(xué)者、詩人、書法家周昌樞（別號退密）駕鶴仙游，其孫女周京女史次日發(fā)出一長文《他是這樣走完一生的……》，羅列了祖父一生的著述，從1988年油印的第一本詩集《芳草集》開始，到今年春天印行的家族文獻匯編《寧波湖西周家》，共計28種。最后3種：《立雪：寬齋藏周退密詩翰》《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，也讀過他的書、買過他的字，但一直無緣拜識，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，一偶然的機會淘到海上老輩畫家沈邁士的一批舊藏，有書畫、有詩札，其中最大宗的是退老寫于20世紀七八十年代的一批詩稿，計41通47頁，相當(dāng)部分未收錄于2011年黃山書社出版的《周退密詩文集》。沈邁士是退老1932年就讀震旦大學(xué)預(yù)科時的老師，退老從此立雪程門，“談畫論詩五十年”。

2012年與老人認識后，我陸續(xù)帶這批書畫、詩札給他看。老人見到自己早年的詩作頗感慨，他說沈邁士晚年住復(fù)興中路553弄1號，他當(dāng)時則住31號，兩人是一條弄堂里的鄰居。這些唱和的詩稿就是那時送來送去的作品，“他住1號，巷口，我每天總要經(jīng)過的，送上樓，或投在他家信箱里，有時也叫保姆送過去。他也經(jīng)常自己送過來，他家不是總有保姆，晚年經(jīng)濟不好就沒叫保姆了?！边@些早年詩作退老自己沒保存，沒想到歷經(jīng)劫難的老師卻將它留存起來。

我近年客居海外，回國機會不多，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，上海早晨的陽光斑斑駁駁地灑進來，我與老人對坐，聽他說那些陳年舊事。他經(jīng)常說起沈邁士，還幾次問我沈家后人情況。因了同姓，他相當(dāng)長一段時間都誤以為我與他的老師有親戚關(guān)系。老人對老師感念甚多，特別對其在“文革”中的遭遇，屢有唏噓。他說沈邁士是世家子弟，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年年初的一次見面，不知怎的又說起沈邁士及這批舊藏。我提出把詩稿整理出來，印本小書的想法?！凹瓤勺屓诵蕾p到您的詩詞、書法，又可增加人們對沈邁士先生的了解?！崩先苏f：“謝謝你！”隨后又補充了一句：“我的東西沒意思，不值得收藏。我是三腳貓，不會抓老鼠的?！?/p>

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

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

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。他還請了何天健設(shè)計裝幀，鼓搗出了素色布面精裝小開本樣式，還分黃、藍兩色版本，真是既雅致又高冷。

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

對做書的人來說，有讀者喜愛是最大的鼓勵，于是萌發(fā)繼續(xù)做點什么的念頭。周退老擅書法，近幾十年來為書刊題簽甚多，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)前的一個上午，我把這想法透露給老人，他頷首、微笑，并說“我們應(yīng)是前生有緣了”。一百多歲的老人說與我“前生有緣”，一時有受寵若驚之感。我雖數(shù)學(xué)不好，但腦子里還是飛快地心算了下——他生于民國初年，前生應(yīng)在嘉慶道光年間，那時我又在干嘛？

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》，精裝小開本，厚厚一冊，很精美。退老捧讀在手時直說啟老字好，并夸書做得漂亮。我說您的字一樣好，我會努力把您這本題簽集也做得漂漂亮亮！

當(dāng)時我問師母，退老寫過的題簽到底有多少？有清單嗎？師母聞之笑，說寫是寫了很多，但家里什么也沒有。老人性淡泊，平日隨題隨贈，不要說沒有留底稿，連樣書都沒保存。

好在生逢網(wǎng)絡(luò)時代，我于是在自己的微信公眾號“遇見阿雅”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。后來我這小公號堪稱周退老情報中心，各種題簽紛至沓來。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，我發(fā)現(xiàn)最早的書于1978年，為沈祖棻的《涉江詩稿》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，完整覆蓋改革開放的40年。這看似偶然，其實有必然。在該書的《編者小語》中，我這樣寫道：“如果沒有改革開放，就不會有周老這批傳統(tǒng)文化老人的復(fù)出;如果沒有改革開放，就不會有因改革開放而成長起來的一批喜愛、保存并力圖弘揚傳統(tǒng)文化的人。當(dāng)然，也只有繼續(xù)改革開放，中國文化才會在未來顯出更大的魅力與價值?！睂戇@段話時，我是想起沈邁士的遭遇的。書印行后，有人認為我把風(fēng)花雪月的書法題簽與改革開放聯(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)計也由何天健兄操刀，他采取《立雪》的小開本，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冊除少量留贈作者、編者外幾乎秒空?，F(xiàn)在孔夫子舊書網(wǎng)上，有人標價3000元，出乎意料。

《題簽集》印行前后，周京也通過我聯(lián)系“物外社”，請為她參與主編的《寧波湖西周家》做設(shè)計。這是周氏家族文獻匯編，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，不對外發(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。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個經(jīng)辦人各題贈一冊作紀念。周京發(fā)來她爺爺題簽時的視頻，107歲的老人已顯吃力地在扉頁上寫字。3本書的題字，老人花了兩天才完成。當(dāng)時我人在廣州，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。更沒想到的是老人前天突然下世，意外常比計劃先來。

人間繁雜，老人退而仙游了。明天是追悼會，無法回滬送別，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，長逾八尺，以我們仨的名義，敬獻在老人靈右：

題簽百葉、題詩千葉、題書萬葉，物寄憐文字，清和幽遠江湖上;

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.