Literary Master 1983

Chapter 305 The Death of Neruda

In short, the United States instigated the Chilean army to overthrow Allende's democratically elected government. Within 24 hours, the country's rebels easily stormed the presidential palace, demanding that "President Allende surrender," but Allende proved to be a tough nut to crack.

At first he tried to contact the army, but no one answered the phone; then he tried to mobilize the masses, but Allende gave up considering that the masses were unarmed.

When all hope seemed lost, Allende was accompanied only by his presidential guards, a group of people united around him, their bond entirely maintained by his personal charisma. These men were determined to fight Allende to the very end, but of course, they could not withstand the overwhelming number of rebels.

"You must surrender within ten minutes!" the rebels issued their ultimatum.

Allende did not surrender, but when the ten minutes were almost up, he ordered his guards to lay down their weapons and save their lives.

He then walked alone to his death.

Upon hearing the news, Neruda, also in Chile, wept bitterly, wrote an article commemorating Allende, and criticized the rebels. Twelve days later, Neruda died of cancer, or perhaps from "excessive grief."

That's the whole story. Up until 1986, Chile was under warlord rule.

What is Chile like, and where is it headed in the future? These are questions that Chileans need to consider.

Yu Qie only needed to give Neruda justice. Because he knew clearly that Neruda had been poisoned.

For a week, Yu Qie frequently attended gatherings among writers, peddling his ideas to them. "Neruda must have been murdered. How? Poisoning. That's the easiest way to cover up a death."

He spoke with absolute certainty.

Some people believed Yu Qie's account, some did not, but the vast majority expressed helplessness—it was too difficult to exonerate Neruda, especially since you are Chinese.

Vargas Llosa, who was "the top student in his class," was a fan of Neruda.

He was intrigued by Yu Qie's speech and approached him, asking, "Yu, why are you, a Chinese person, trying to exonerate Neruda? This isn't a bridge game; being good at math won't help you! Everyone here is a drag on Márquez!"

"Llosa, what are you saying!" Márquez expressed his dissatisfaction.

Yu Qie laughed and said, "I won with Marquez, although it was very difficult."

"The chances are slim!" Vargas Llosa commented.

“Llosa, even if there’s a mountain in front of me, I’ll move it. You underestimate me.”

“Neruda was a friend of the Chinese, and I also translated his poems. When I came to Colombia, I said to the forty million Colombians that literature is something that transcends the speed of light and can reverse time. Before I was even born, I was destined to be your friend. This includes Neruda. During my translation process, I felt as if he was holding my hand tightly, and I saw his clear eyes.”

Several Latin American writers were present when Yu said these words. They saw Vargas Llosa, "the top student in the class," stammer on the spot, then his face turned red with excitement: "You are one of the most sincere people I have ever met."

"I've decided to tell you everything I know!"

It turns out that when Vargas Llosa was a child, his mother loved reading the poems of Nervo and Neruda, and would often get excited and shed tears. From then on, Neruda became Vargas Llosa's literary idol. After Vargas Llosa grew up, for a period of time he called himself "the Neruda of Peru" because he was just like Neruda, enthusiastic about politics and obsessed with pleasure.

In Paris, Vargas Llosa met Neruda and another great figure, Borges, who told him, "Writing is your way of fighting unhappiness."

Then, Vargas Llosa began to emulate Neruda.

Neruda was a man of exceptional talent, proficient in painting, art, books, antiques, and more. But these things gradually became tiresome to him, and he began to pursue the greatest and most difficult art that a person could do in reality: to make his country and people move forward in the way he desired, and to liberate all his compatriots.

“I am still imitating Mr. Neruda to this day,” Vargas Llosa said. “I believe that one day I will become the president of Peru, or at least a major political figure, and end the current chaos in Peru.”

Indeed, Vargas Llosa is currently a member of the Peruvian Congress, and in three years, he will be one of the two presidential candidates in Peru, after which he will lose the election.

Yu Qie asked, "What kind of person was Neruda?"

Vargas Llosa asked, "What do you Chinese think of Neruda?"

"Passionate, loyal, loves life, and exceptionally talented..."

Vargas Llosa laughed and said, "That's not what impressed me the most. In Paris, I met Neruda, and I found his most obvious trait to be pride."

"pride?"

"Yes. He became famous at a young age, was exceptionally talented, and women loved and pitied him. He was the president's close ally. How could he not be proud?"

This was something Yu Qie hadn't expected.

But upon closer inspection, it's not surprising.

Because of the public's fondness for romance literature, Neruda is mostly seen as a lovelorn poet who wrote many love poems. The public enjoys these stories; emperors, generals, kings… can all become love-struck dreamers.

That's why many people couldn't believe it when they learned that Neruda had a mistress.

Love is so fleeting, while forgetting is so long.

"If I wake up crying, it's because I dreamt I was a lost child, wandering through the leaves of the night, searching for your hand."

"Because of you, when I stand beside a garden where flowers are just beginning to bloom, the fragrance of spring causes me pain."

……

These are all love poems written by Neruda.

However, these works are only Neruda's early works.

The fact is that Neruda had distinctly different poetic styles at different stages of his life. It is impossible for Neruda to be a time traveler who could switch styles like Yuche, resulting in novels that did not reflect his true state of mind.

In his later years, he had matured considerably, and he had even found some peace and had seen through the illusions of the world.

In his later years, Neruda published an autobiography called "I Admit I Have Been Through Many Tribulations," and I found a first edition of this autobiography to read.

After reading it, I came to the conclusion that Neruda could not have died from heartbreak.

Which type of person truly dies of heartbreak?

Zha Haisheng, a poet from mainland China.

Before his death, he wrote the poem "Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms," which clearly expresses his hope for life. But generally speaking, the more a person lacks something, the more they need to emphasize it. Before writing that poem, Cha Haisheng had been dumped by his girlfriend, was extremely poor, and was also practicing qigong haphazardly.

Neruda was different. He won the Nobel Prize, his wife was not only loyal to him but also tolerated his philandering to some extent. Neruda was not short of money, and he was also strong and tall (at least 175 cm in the last century). There was no reason for him to die of heartbreak.

The book "I Admit I've Been Through All the Ups and Downs" means, "Come and see, I've really been awesome in my life."

Therefore, Neruda's death was suspicious. The answer doesn't come from Yuche, but from Neruda's own poetry.

Is relying solely on literary research a bit of a stretch?
Of course, but this can be considered a point of doubt.

Zha Haisheng is still alive today. In the original timeline, after Zha Haisheng committed suicide by lying on the railway tracks, some art theorists easily deduced from his poems that he suffered from depression and mental illness, just like those experts who looked at Van Gogh's paintings and asserted that Van Gogh had a mental illness... Later, as related theories and research developed, people discovered that Zha Haisheng did indeed have symptoms of schizophrenia, and then it was discovered that Van Gogh suffered from bipolar disorder.

The anniversary of the World Day for the diagnosis of bipolar disorder is Van Gogh's birthday.

Literary research can precede the truth.

Yu Qie published his research in local journals and made every effort to find more materials to corroborate his findings.

Vargas Llosa's statement is one piece of evidence.

In a research paper titled "The Death of Neruda," Yu Qie wrote at the beginning, "Contrary to what most people think, Neruda was not sensitive and fragile. He was very proud, which means he loved himself and affirmed himself."

"At the age of 69, Neruda was one of the most important figures in the country and had long fought on the front lines of the revolution. His true profession was that of a revolutionary. He had seen more ugliness and tragedy than most people have in their entire lives. He lived through the entire Second World War, witnessed many concentration camps, and worked hard for the treatment of these people."

“Neruda, 69, is a veteran diplomat, a member of parliament, and a presidential candidate. It is not easy for someone like him to give up his life because of sadness.”

“I think there are a lot of questions about this popular claim in Chile. People have exaggerated the romantic aspects of Neruda as a poet, when he was already a mature politician.”

“In fact, I think this statement contains some deliberate manipulation.”

In other words, Yuche believes that Neruda's death from grief was deliberately orchestrated by the later government to conceal the truth.

This matter is easy to verify. The earliest report on Neruda's death came from a Chilean official report. The report stated that Neruda died of "prostate cancer," but later, perhaps because this disease was not easy for the world to believe, the cause of Neruda's death was changed to "dying of heartbreak."

This "romantic cause of death" immediately aroused public sympathy, and the media reported on it extensively. To some extent, the public was also an accomplice in preventing Neruda from being exonerated—because they believed that Neruda was a fragile poet.

They were unwilling to believe in Neruda's strong side as a revolutionary.

I'll stop here for now and continue searching for more evidence.

He remembered that Gong Xue was still in the United States, so he sent his thoughts to her. He told her, "Once a person dies, everything is over. The public is willing to believe what they want to believe."

"If you were to go into seclusion because of rumors and gossip, it would be like Neruda dying, and your merits and demerits would be judged entirely by others."

“Only a few intelligent people can discover the truth in historical records and then exclaim, ‘Many things I once thought were not like that.’”

The letter was sent to Gong Xue. A week later, Gong Xue managed to call Yu Qie: "Yu Qie! Is that you? Yu Qie!"

How did you find my phone number?

“I sought help from the embassy.”

Gong Xue was extremely excited.

Yu Qie could only repeatedly say, "I am Yu Qie, I am here."

Gong Xue continued, "I won't stay in America forever. I'll go back this year. The reason I came to America is because... because..."

She wanted to say "because I thought you were in America," but changed her mind halfway through, asking, "Yuqie, will you come to America again?"

"There are no direct flights from Colombia to China, so I definitely need to go to the United States."

"That's good, that's good!" Gong Xue said.

Gong Xue then began to talk about her current difficulties, mainly the problem of accommodation. "After I arrived at this relative's house, a distant cousin started pursuing me like crazy. He is a senior executive of an American company, and I don't want to be with him! It would be very awkward for me to stay here permanently."

Yu Qie suddenly remembered that Gong Xue had come to the United States, and it was rumored that a Chinese executive had played a significant role in it. This executive happened to meet Gong Xue during a difficult time, showed her concern and care, and then became her boyfriend. Later, they got married and had children.

More than ten years later, Gong Xue was unwilling to give up her acting career and returned to acting.

But now Gong Xue has changed her mind.

Gong Xue lives in Los Angeles, USA, and she doesn't have many US dollars left. Yu Qie has designated a place for her in Boston, USA. The distance between the two is like the distance from Kashgar to Mohe, spanning the entire United States. It's too far.

Yu apologized, "I've been so busy lately that I've forgotten about your situation. I don't know anyone in Los Angeles... um... I have a Spanish agent who works in literature, but I don't want to bother her too much! You can wait at the embassy for a while, and I'll lend you ten thousand US dollars."

Gong Xue repeatedly declined, saying that she couldn't afford to repay so much money.

Yu Qie persisted, and couldn't help but laugh out loud: "How is it possible that a double Best Actress won't be able to pay back ten thousand US dollars? You might be very rich."

Gong Xue could only agree and hung up the phone.

A day later, she called again.

"what's up?"

“You asked me to read the biographical novel ‘Ruan Lingyu,’ but I asked everyone and no one had ever heard of it.”

After checking, Yu Qie discovered that this novel, which should have been written a few years ago, had never been written.

The original author, Shen Ji, is a writer and researcher of literature and history. However, he was obsessed with reading Yu Qie's novels for several years and was preparing to write a biography of Yu Qie!
This is really funny.

Yu Qie had no choice but to have Gong Xue watch movies about Ruan Lingyu and publish her own thoughts and feelings in mainland magazines. In the public eye, Ruan Lingyu was a fragile actress who died because of rumors, and Gong Xue mentioning her would easily evoke public sympathy for her.

Gong Xue's residence has also been found; it's near the consulate.

Yu Qie also quickly published his research paper in a local Colombian newspaper, titled "The Death of Neruda," in which he attempted to reconstruct the true cause of Neruda's death.

(End of this chapter)