紀念陶本一先生

        紀念陶先生

      (https://kuaibao.qq.com/s/20180906B0D51300?refer=spider)

 

昨晚傳來令人極其難過的消息，陶先生在與各種疾病搏鬥了二十年後離開了我們……一顆璀璨的恒星已經黯淡下來，對於那些生命中受到這位貴族影響的人們，他們的生命之光將因此永遠遜色。而我們所有的人永遠失去了一位具有罕見的品質的人傑，他的品質像一顆耀眼的明星在黑暗漩渦中地閃亮著，照亮了許多人生命的旅途。

陶先生愛惜人才。他之所以喜歡人才，從不是因為功利主義的原因。他既不功利也不擺權威，而是毫無保留地幫助無數年輕人實現了他們的目標。他是一位真正的貴族，懷有一個近乎儒生天真般的遠大誌向，夢想著實現自己的偉大夢想，而他自己也許還沒有意識到自己是這樣的貴族之人。

他注定要成為貴族，一位超越日常工作的貴族。他可能出生普通，但他從來都不普通。即使在生病期間，他也總是衣著適當，穿著整齊。.他總是像戲劇中的演員那樣在說話，但是他幾乎從不虛偽，從不戲劇化，總是含有節製。他關懷他人的需求，但他從未像管家那樣沉迷於細緻和不必要的細節，因為他始終是一個有遠見的人。他可以替你看到你自己的夢想和潛力，並且他會始終不遺餘力地支持您。他確實是一個有遠見的人，雖然他本人也許沒有意識到自己夢想之宏偉，但作為夢想的守護者，他幫助許多人實現了許多夢想。

對於這樣一個有貴族氣質和賦予大家恩典的人，沒有人希望從上帝那裡失去這樣的天賦，但是死亡最終會把我們所有人帶走。作為一個有勇氣的人，他從不懼怕死亡。他最喜歡的愛好是聽古典音樂，聽到他的妻子回信告訴我說， 在他離世之前，他聽了我轉發給他的所有古典作品，我感到巨大的安慰。他甚至在他的病榻上還讓我感悟到古典音樂的含義，因為有了陶先生，我終於懂得古典音樂原為天外之音。 我知道，陶先生他已經與我共享了我所理解的我們存在的意義，每當我想起這些，我就感到無比地欣慰。

在電影《角鬥士》中，馬庫斯·奧雷留斯說：“死亡向我們所有人微笑。一個人所能做的就是向死亡回笑。”陶先生，您向我展示了您對死亡的微笑，當我與死亡之神麵對麵對視之時，我將跟隨您的腳步，一直微笑著再次見到您，希望您在我敲門之際能再次認出我來。

安息吧，陶先生--等到我們再次見麵。用角鬥士的話來說，“我們將再次見麵，但請您再等等。”

寫於2020年7月26日在康涅狄格州的家中

 

 

In memory of Mr. Tao

Last night came the very sad news that Mr. Tao had left us, after battling various diseases for two decades... A shining star has dimmed down and for those whose lives have been impacted by this noble man, their lives are forever diminished as a result. We have forever lost a man of rare qualities, qualities that you don't find often, if any at all, in the dark whirlpool of temptation, greed, and corruption, which have engulfed much of the country that he has lived in. 

Mr. Tao loved talents, for reasons beyond utilitarian.  He helped countless young people to achieve  without a clear intention of recompense or reward. A true noble man with almost a nerdy aspiration to dream big dreams and to achieve grandeur that he himself may not have clearly defined.

He was destined to be a nobleman, above and beyond the daily grinds. He probably had an ordinary birth but he was never ordinary. He always dressed sharp and distinguished and he was always well groomed, even during his illness. He always spoke like an actor in a drama, yet he was never dramatic nor ever insincere,  but always kind and temperate..He was always thoughtful and considerate of others' needs, yet he was never bogged down to  meticulous and unnecessary details like a butler because he was always a visionary. He could see your own dreams and possibilities out there for you and he would  always put himself out on a limb to fully support you without any reservations. He was indeed a man with vision; he himself may not have seen the greatness of his own vision, but like a guardian of dreams, he had helped to make many dreams come true.

A man of nobility and grace that Mr. Tao was, no one was ready to lose such a gift from the Almighty, yet death takes us all in the end. Yet as a man of courage he was never afraid of death. His favorite hobby was listening to classical music and I was lucky to hear from his wife that he had heard the classical works I forwarded to him. The fact is even in his death bed he taught me the meaning of classical music, for I finally saw that classical music is truly the voice from beyond and I took great comfort in knowing that he had shared with me what I understood to be the meaning of our very existence, only so eloquently expressed by music.

In the movie The Gladiator Marcus Aurelius said, “Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back. ... " Mr. Tao, you showed me your smile at death and I shall follow your foot steps as I come face to face with the Grim Reaper. I shall smile all the way to meet you again and I hope you can recognize me when I knock on the door.

Rest in peace, my dear Sir, until we meet again. In the words of the Gladiator,  "We shall meet again, but not yet."

Written on July 26, 2020 at my Connecticut home