Author | Fan Deng Reading · Reading line time
Anchor | Fan Deng Reading · Polaris
Interpret the trailer
Meet · Meet your unknown self in the book.
Good evening to all book lovers, welcome to the reading column "Encounter" produced by Fan Deng Reading.
You may not have heard of Stendhal, but you must have known about his The Red and the Black.
Published in 1830, this work is still recognized as one of the most brilliant artistic jewels in the literary crown, and Stendhal is also known as the "father of the modern novel".
The French writer Stendhal told a story about human nature in the novel "The Red and the Black".
The protagonist, Yu Lian, who comes from a humble background, is eager to change his fate through hard work, but because he cannot control his inner desires, he eventually leads to destruction in self-indulgence.
After reading the book, Hemingway listed it as a must-read, and Maugham praised it as a true masterpiece.
Since its publication more than 190 years ago, the book has been adapted into plays and films, influencing generations of young people.
Jullien's experience tells us that desire is a double-edged sword.
It can motivate people to work hard, and it can also eat back on life.
Only by learning to control the desires of the heart can we live this life well.
Moderate desire, urge people to work hard
Born into a family of carpenters, Jullien was handsome.
However, because he was weak and sick since childhood, he has always been regarded as a burden to life by his family.
His father was in a bad mood, so he gave him two punches at will, and the two brothers often bullied him.
However, Yu Lian's heart ignited a burning desire: in this life, he must stand out from the crowd and let everyone look up to it!
Since that time, he has had many dreams about heroes, and even fantasized that he would be like Napoleon, with the sword in his hand, get rid of poverty and become the master of the world.
As the book goes:
"Looking at his face so white and weak, like a girl, who would have thought that under such a appearance there was an indomitable determination, even if he died nine times, he would have to live a famous life and ask for a flying yellow Tengda."
But at that time, the passage of most ordinary people to the upper class was the church.
In order to squeeze into the church, Jullien put a lot of effort into it.
He studied as hard as he could, even taking advantage of his father's time to take care of the machines and study theological books.
Sometimes I am fascinated by reading books and forget the care of the machine, and I can't avoid a beating from my father.
But even so, Yu Lian endured and always insisted on reading.
Because he knows that only reading can change his destiny!
In this way, driven by inner desire, Jullien memorized a Latin New Testament.
You know, in the society at that time, Latin was a high-level language, and very few people could know it.
This act of Jullien made him famous in the city at once, and the happy days were coming.
The mayor heard about this and decided to hire Yu Lian as a governess and let him teach his children Latin for a salary of 300 francs a year.
This salary was earned by his father for many years, but Jullien easily did it.
From coming from a poor family to working in a mayor's house, Jullien opened up a new world and began to touch high society.
There is a saying that in order to pursue their own happiness, people have the desire to fight for it.
And Jullien is such a person, he strives to make himself better, step by step closer to a happy life.
Moderate desire leads us to face the needs of the heart, to examine the life we are in, so as to continuously stimulate our potential and drive us to become energetic.
Excessive desire, anti-life
The American writer Thoreau once said:
"Only when a person satisfies the basic needs of life, no longer draws on fame, and no longer draws on wealth, he can enjoy life more calmly and more fully."
However, Jullien was not satisfied with such a life.
Coming to the mayor's home, Jullien saw the luxury of the upper class, and the desire in his heart began to swell.
For Lian, working so diligently and earnestly, he was afraid that the glory and wealth he wanted would not be able to reach in his lifetime.
He thought of taking shortcuts and relying on women to ascend to the throne.
At this time, he pinned his hopes on the mayor's wife, Rena, the woman who had a crush on Lian when they first met.
Mrs. Rena has a good face, a noble temperament, and most importantly, she has a voice in the upper class.
Winning the heart of Madame Rena is undoubtedly a ticket to the upper class.
On that dark and windy night, Yu Lian broke into Madame Rena's room and poured out his admiration.
Madame Rena did fall, and the two even spent a sweet night.
Unbeknownst to Jullien at that time, from the moment he provoked Madame Rena, he had gone into the abyss.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for their affairs to be revealed.
Jullien not only lost his job as a governess, but was even hunted down by the mayor.
Fortunately, after successfully escaping from danger, he fled to Paris for further study.
However, at this time, Yu Lian did not know how to converge, and let the desire in his heart swell again.
This time, he took aim at the Marquis's daughter Lamour, the aristocratic girl of a prominent family.
Miss Larmor had already had a marriage contract, but in the end she could not withstand Yu Lian's crazy pursuit and fell deeply in love with him.
It wasn't long before Miss Larmor had Jullien's child, and the Marquis reluctantly agreed to their marriage.
Yu Lian, on the other hand, thus obtained the title of real estate and nobility, and was even arranged to be an official in the army, and suddenly squeezed into the upper class.
Seeing that the life of glory and wealth is coming, he does not want to let Yu Lian lose his reputation with a subsequent whistle-blowing letter.
The letter, written by Madame Rena, told them about their date and accused Jullien of hypocrisy and cunning.
At this time, Yu Lian had been lost in his mind by desire, and his life was completely out of control.
When he saw that his future had been ruined, he was so angry that he rushed directly into the church and fired two shots at Madame Rena.
As a result, Jullien was imprisoned and even sent to the guillotine.
The English writer Shakespeare said:
"Desire is like charcoal, and it must be cooled. Otherwise, the fire will scorch the soul. ”
Yu Lian is exactly like this, because he did not control the desires in his heart, but let the desires become more and more intense, and as a result, his life was also eaten by desires.
He was originally a promising young man, but he coveted the life of a drunkard and a fan, and vainly wanted to achieve a counterattack in life through shortcuts.
However, all the shortcuts in the world, seemingly flat, are actually rugged, and even behind them are abysses.
In the face of ever-expanding desires, people easily lose themselves and eventually become slaves to wealth and power.
True wisdom is to know how to live a minimalist life
The tragedy of Jullien's fate is lamentable, but there are also sad things about poor people.
He had two chances to change his destiny. Unfortunately, he was obsessed.
The first time was when he was a teacher at the mayor's house.
Lady Rena's maid, Alyssa, inherited an inheritance and fell in love with him at first sight, even wanting to marry him.
If he can actively embrace this love, run a marriage and family with his maid, and live his life steadily, life will definitely flourish.
But in Yu Lian's heart, he could not accept such a bland life at all, what he wanted was a turbulent life.
From the moment he turned to the married Lady Rena, eager to change his fate by conquering this woman, he was doomed to a tragic life.
The second time, it was his friend Fu Kai who invited him to become a timber partner.
At that time, the timber business was very profitable, and with a few years of hard work, it would earn several thousand francs and thus live a prosperous life.
But Jullien despised this way, he felt that this way of making money was too slow to even cross social classes.
He thought that if he pursued Miss Larmor, he would be able to enjoy all the glory and wealth with the other party's prominent family.
But he did not know that his behavior violated the interests of the nobility, was jealous and hated by others, and finally caused trouble.
Yu Lian was trapped in his inner obsession, bent on pursuing glory and wealth, but he could not see the reality clearly, and was blinded by desire.
There is a saying in the Book of Rites: Pride cannot be long, and desire must not be indulged.
When we are in a difficult situation, we often long to change the status quo and get the life we want.
On the road to the pursuit of happiness, our behavior is easily driven by desire, and even violates our original intentions.
But in fact, the real wealth of life is not to have money and status, but to be rich and happy in the heart.
Only by learning to live a minimalist life and not being a slave to desire can life become calm and calm.
Write at the end
In the "Zengguang Xianwen", it is said: "Liangtian Qianqian can only eat three meals a day, and the Ten Thousand Rooms in Guangsha only sleep on a three-foot bed." ”
Even if you have a thousand fields, you will eat only three meals a day; even if you have ten thousand large houses, you will sleep three feet a day.
There are not many things that are really needed in life, blindly pursuing too many material enjoyment, but it is easy to become a burden to us, so as not to feel the beauty of life.
Jullien's story is tragic, a lifelong desire to change his destiny, but in the end he becomes a slave to desire.
He told us from his own experience that desire is not terrible, what is terrible is life controlled by desire.
In this life, even in adversity, people must stick to their bottom line. Only by learning to control the desires of the heart can we embrace a positive and free life.
Click "Watching" and encourage the book friends.
Author | Reading line time
Column Director | Come slowly
Typography | Zheng to the north
Image | The picture in this article comes from the official stills of "The Red and the Black", which was invaded and deleted
Music | Take a walk around Beijing