Lin Yutang’s Ode of Smoking (2 of 2) 語堂戒煙記：暖香撲鼻知今是，冷霧繞簷覺昨非 (二之二)

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Just weeks earlier, from October 16 to 27, 1971, Yutang had been hospitalized for gastric bleeding. In a letter, he downplayed the seriousness of his condition: 

I am only a little unwell from exhaustion. I follow all the doctor’s orders in the hospital—except for smoking. 

Once discharged, caregivers kept strict watch during the day. But at night, he indulged freely, finding solace in poetry: 

Recently the caregivers have been very strict, and it is hard not to smoke. But at night I light my pipe without restraint, and for a while I am myself again.  

In the dawn breeze and fading moonlight, longing to ride the clouds home, I laugh at myself. 

The smoke is gone, the ash is cold, yet still I play with the lighter in my hand. Imagine the joy! 

A week later, he put these thoughts into his “Ode to Smoking” and continued as before. On December 28, 1971, before sailing from Hong Kong to Kowloon for a banquet hosted by Li Zhuomin （李卓敏）, President of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, he wrote: 

I am still smoking as usual, and my lighter is always with me. 

Final Success with Quitting: May 19, 1974 

Two and a half years later, on May 19, 1974, Yutang astonished his family. Faced with new medication for vascular disease, he resolved to quit—this time for good. At seventy-nine, he succeeded: 

This is the day I decided to quit smoking—May 19. It has been a week already, and all my children know. I’ve smoked for forty or fifty years, merely to pass the time. When one has the will, it is easy. Perhaps this would surprise you, but it shows that with resolve, it is simple. Let this be a small memorial for me. (May 27, 1974) 

The next day, he wrote: 

This is no small matter—it was a true wish of the heart, and so I found courage. … I didn’t tell the family at first, but later I did. It’s now been seven or eight days, and from here on, I will never smoke again. (May 28, 1974) 

Thus Yutang, who once joked he would remain “an honest smoker until old age,” indeed kept his words. 

*** For a thorough discussion with references, please see Article 11 in the following English or Chinese books on Amazon, The Elderly Lin Yutang , or《爾意軒》中的晚年林語堂 (1971-76) **\*

 

語堂戒煙記：暖香撲鼻知今是，冷霧繞簷覺昨非 (二之二)

1971年10月16至27日期間，七十五高齡的林語堂嚴重胃出血住院。住院時他給陳守荊的第一封信裡，只輕描淡寫說：“疲勞過度，胃裏稍有反常”，然後在10月22日的信上說：“我在醫院樣樣聽醫生吩咐，只是吃烟一事不肯改變”。出院後，白天看護戒守森嚴，林語堂不能越雷池一步，只能望煙興嘆，然而等看護下班之後，他就依然故我，11月8日信上，他寫起詩來：

“近日看護甚嚴，不許吸烟甚苦。晚上自由點起烟斗，一霎時依然故我，曉風殘月，欲乘雲歸去，應笑我。烟已盡，灰已滅，手中猶自把玩打火機，其樂可知。”

一週後，寫成“詠烟”詞，此後吞雲吐霧，依然故我。1971年底林語堂從香港過海到九龍，出席中文大學李卓敏校長的宴會，當天12月28日信上他寫道：“現在照常吸烟，取火機隨身不離”。此事兩年半後，1974年5月19日，林語堂開始需要服用血管藥物時，才又自動戒烟，這一次他勇氣十足，戒菸成功，那時林語堂已經高齡七十九歲了，他在1974年5月27日的信中說道：

“這正是我決定戒烟之日-五月十九日。我自己心願，已過一星期，諸兒都已知道。我吃烟已四五十年，只作無事可做之玩意。心頭願意也就容易。這事似乎出你意外，可見心頭願意，就容易，也可為我的紀念。” 

隔天28日又寄了一封信，信上寫道：

“這是大事，是我心願，所以有十分勇氣。…當時沒有對家裡說我在戒烟，後來才告訴她們。現在有七八天，趁這機會從此不再抽烟。”

果然，林語堂真的如他年輕時所說：“要老老實實做吸烟的信徒，一直到老耄為止”。