一《中国简报》我一生曾经有两度被人当作“西人”。1947年我在上海《大公报》上以塔塔木林这一笔名,故意用半通不通的文字写过几篇《红毛长谈》。当时有些读者真以为那是出自洋人之手,纷纷写信或打电话给报馆,询问作者的国籍。戏剧家田汉甚至上了我的当。他在上海另一家报纸上撰文,对我那篇醉翁之意不在酒的《中国舞台的歧途》郑重其事地作出回应。其实,我只不过是在借用一副陌生的面具(我为这篇赝作编造的国籍是挪威),说点当时想说 A “China Briefing” I have been twice as “Western” in my life. In 1947 I titled Tata Mulin in Shanghai’s Ta Kung Pao. I deliberately wrote a few “Long Rouges” with half-closed words. At that time, some readers really thought it was from the hands of foreigners, have written or called the newspaper to ask the author’s nationality. Tian Han, a dramatist, even took my place. In an article published in another Shanghai newspaper, he responded with solemnity to my “astray on the Chinese stage,” where he did not want to drink alcohol. Actually, I just used an unfamiliar mask (the nationality I made for this piece of fiction is Norway), and said at the time I wanted to say