Mr. Lou, as I knew him, used to be a man good at asking questions. He asked so many questions about others, and himself, about physics, and metaphysics, so that I was wondering what kind of a place he might reside in. We hadn’t talked to each other for a long time and my interest in those intellectual enquiries of him seems to wilt. After all, the ups and downs of the world are too many for us to grin and bear.
The old home is gone but can be felt in certain ways. However harsh the real world is, it is real existence in our life. It’s better to employ beauties from the past to make this world better than to simply miss the good old days. Neverland will never be back but life is so real. Why not think it this way: the so-called old home is never to disappear; it exists in the past, in the present days and in the future. This is the genuine Neverland.
When I saw Lou’s paintings again, I was overtaken by surprise. Green trees and blue mountains, nice people and flying birds, dreamlike water villages… everything is not what they used to be. With the clumsy stokes and simple colors, Lou’s paintings practically resemble those children’s drawings hung on the blackboard in the back of the classroom. I called to ask him how everything was going and was told that he didn’t go out much but spent most of the day reading or drinking tea, and painting only occasionally. As for his future planning, Lou said jokingly that he would move to the countryside to seek peace and quiet.
Lou’s hometown was Shangyu (Zhejiang province), a south Yangtze city of exquisite elegance which I used to pass by but didn’t stop to appreciate. Now, Lou lives in Hangzhou, a dreamland of many. However, in his eyes, Hangzhou is too noisy a place for him to enjoy life. Come to think of it, there is a justification for this feeling.
With his acumen and nicety, Lou sees more misfortunes in life than others do and feels rather depressed. The world is changing fast and our life has been greatly changed by various machines. Utilitarianism and pragmatism prevail and bring about unbalance in the minds of men. While the world’s beliefs and values are declining, however convenient the traffic is, worries sit uneasily on Lou’s conscience. That explained why he has persisted in enquiring all the time: to seek self-detachment and solace to his soul. Now that sorrows are hard to call away, he chose to abandon them.
He began to recall the early joys in his memory: the small county where he was born and raised, and his lively childhood life in there. He rests his soul on child’s simplicity and bases his hopes on the old day dreams, where there are both remote fantasies and real feelings of loss. However, the old days are gone never to return while the realities are still harsh and depressing. In this sense, the Neverland has got its name: an old home that was lost forever, the nostalgia that is gone never to return.
