这是一个历史上精英辈出的文化古城，但“文化大革命”一来很多人照样疯狂。不过个别人由于自身条件的限制，如出身不好，或由于性格使然，如不爱热闹，或因为心有所好，如迷恋书法，总之在时代潮流外有那么一些人没有卷入运动的热闹中，而是经营起了自己的“安乐窝”。窗外的风声雨声，他们偶尔也入耳，但就是没怎么往心里去，专心地画着山水画，学着王羲之的书法，读着莎士比亚的剧本。在激荡的洪流外，他们自得其乐。

When fanaticism raged across the country in the name of the “Great Cultural Revolution”， even a historical hotbed of cultural elites like Shaoxing fell into its near-total grip1. There were however a few folks who managed to stay on the sidelines2. Their immunity to the raging fervor could be explained by a number of reasons， such as family background deemed undesirable in a revolutionary society， an innate disposition to refrain from jumping on any bandwagon3， or a love for art. While aware of the turbulent tides sweeping around them， they somehow found escape in painting landscapes， practicing calligraphy by imitating ancient masters4， or reading Shakespeare.

陶志明就是其中一个。我记不清是怎么认识志明的。不过当时绍兴城自学外语的人屈指可数，相互发现对方并不难。我记得一开始认识时，都是我到他家，因为我在城内没有自己的居所。我们见面总是讨论英语学习，他偏重语音，我更爱语法，在那个几乎全民投入运动的动荡年代，我们的所为堪称另类。志明的英语听力特别好，有一次他对BBC广播上一个词的用法有看法，便查找各种字典，加以求证。现在想来，语言实际运用中的变异很多，仅从字典求证未必能有答案，但其认真的态度令人佩服。有时，我们聊天聊到吃饭的时间，我也偶尔留在他家，和他的家人一起吃饭。

Tao Zhiming was one of such guys. I cannot recall how I got to know him. But since there were only a handful of us trying to teach ourselves English， it really wasn’t that hard to know each other. As I had no regular residence in town， he always invited me to his home， where our conversation topics rarely veered away from learning English. He seemed especially interested in the phonetic aspect， while I was more of a grammar guy.  We were， so to speak， weirdos5 at a time when almost everyone else was fired up with revolutionary zeal. Zhiming had a sharp ear for languages6. Once he heard from the BBC a word used in an unusual way. He thumbed through all the dictionaries in his possession and tried to prove it was used incorrectly. A vain attempt it was， in hindsight7， as dynamic usage of words often defies definition8. His resolve to get to the bottom of anything in doubt9 was however admirable.  Sometimes our conversation went on and on into the evening， and I would occasionally join his family for dinner.

后来我下乡了，但很少有进城的机会。那段时间我们的交流主要是信件。有一次，他说要到我们大队来看我。没多久，他一个人在萧瑟寒冷的冬天，来到我插队的地方。我当时已经在当赤脚医生，不用准点儿出工，时间安排较灵活。依稀记得他在我的住处胡乱吃了点什么，然后我们到大队卫生室附近去聊天，一来那里人也少，二来我也可以兼顾卫生室的工作。当时天很冷，四周有不少稻草，我和他坐在稻草旁，又聊起了英语。他手中拿着一本乔治·艾略特的《亚当·比德》，是供乘船路上消遣用的。