日記多則0426 2024 (1) ：雜文家高旅（1918~1997）許定銘；The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell (1967–1969),..... Rome in the Ninth Century ByJohn Osborne. Can Paris still deliver on its Olympic promises with only three months to go? What happens to the coins tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain?

許定銘

高旅的《持故小集》

愛讀報章副刊文史專欄的香港文化人，都知道雜文家高旅（1918~1997）。他最為人所知的，是自一九八一年起，在《大公報》副刊上出現的文史專欄《持故小集》。這個專欄他一直寫了十七年，得文八百篇，後編為《持故小集》（北京三聯，1984）、《過年的心路》（香港天地圖書，1990）、《高旅雜文》（香港天地圖書，1996）、《高旅雜文第四集》（香港新華彩印，一九九八）和《高旅雜文第五集》（香港新華彩印，2001）。這五本雜文的出版，分兩個時期，前面的三本，是高旅自己親手所編，後面的兩本，則是高旅辭世後，由他的夫人熊笑年整理的。

這個專欄每週一篇兩千多字的雜文，每每引古證今，發人深省，確能「持之有故，言之成理」，深得吳其敏、羅琅、邵燕祥等文友讚賞，並譽為「港中最高文」。其實，說到了解高旅，當與他亦師亦友，多次共事的聶紺弩為最。他給高旅的信件中，有這樣的讚許：

持故好，博學卓識，有知堂風味，但知堂抄書多，你不抄，勝他。海內以博學知名者為錢鍾書，他只談文藝，你比他天地闊。總之，讀書多，記性好，其用無窮。

高旅的這幾本書，現今坊間仍可買到，有興趣者不妨一讀。

――2012年6月18日

《持故小集》收雜文七十篇，主要是一九八一至八三年的作品。高旅在後記中說，因報紙是固定時間刊行，到截稿時非交稿不可。因此，有些文章是「率性行事、潦草成文」。他自覺這是缺點，其實這正是作家風格，最能表達他的行事作風：不矯揉造作而言之有物。

第二本《持故小集》也收文七十篇，選稿時是在「八九‧六四」之後，年過七十仍熱血沸騰的老人在後記中怒吼：

自「六‧四」血腥慘案之後，問問自己，在這血淚交迸、怒濤洶湧的年代中，做了些什麼事？不能像「抗戰時期」一樣奔走呼號了，不過仍是幾篇雜文，於是想到不如出一本，也算是紀念……（頁349）

據羅琅說，此書原名想叫《看殺人去》，但，幾個老友碰頭茶聚時，覺得是有點「太明顯」了；徵得他同意，選了集內比較含蓄的另一篇《過年的心路》作書名，還由譚秀牧繪了「天空一片陰霾，地上血迹斑斑」的構圖，以示心中鬱結。

一九九五年，《鑪峰文叢》編選時，高旅又從《持故小集》的文章中選了近七十篇，定名為《收爐集》。他自覺已是「八十衰翁」，人生似酒樓之有「歲晚收爐」，該是近「封筆」的時候了。但，一眾好友認為：高旅一生以「雜文」馳譽文壇，建議用《高旅雜文》這塊響噹噹的招牌。

《高旅雜文》和前面兩本略有不同之處是分成《世情篇》、《故誼篇》、《家鄉篇》和《德法篇》數輯，書後還附錄了繙譯的〈高爾基：政治並不是一切〉。除了一貫的時事、歷史雜評以外，本集還加入了旅遊和人物的雜記。

所有心情：

2你和其他 1 人

“To care for what is noble, for what is beautiful, for what is gentle; to allow moments of insight to give wisdom at more mundane times. To see in imagination the society that is to be created, where individuals grow freely, and where hate and greed and envy die because there is nothing to nourish them. These things I believe, and the world, for all its horrors, has left me unshaken.“
— Bertrand Russell, The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell (1967–1969), Volume III: Postscript, p. 890
Image: Bertrand Russell in his private study at his home in Penrhyndeudreath, Gwynedd, United Kingdom (1954).






FRANCE 24 English 

The #EiffelTower was supposed to greet the world’s #athletes in a fresh coat of golden shimmer, the River #Seine would be swimmable for the first time in 100 years and #Paris was going to host the first-ever off-stadium opening ceremony in #Olympic history.

The hopes and expectations for the 2024 Games were grand and spectacular. But with just three months to go will Paris be able to deliver on its promises? FRANCE 24 takes a look

FRANCE24.COM

Can Paris still deliver on its Olympic promises with only three months to go?
The Eiffel Tower was supposed to greet the world’s athletes in a fresh coat of golden shimmer, the River Seine would be swimmable for the first time in 100 years and Paris was going to host the first-ever off-stadium opening ceremony in Olympic history. The hopes and expectations for the 2024 Game...

*****

https://hcplace.blogspot.com/....../what-happens-to......

HCPLACE.BLOGSPOT.COM

What happens to the coins tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain?

Trevi Fountain Fontana di Trevi Fountain Design Nicola Salvi Construction 1732–1762 ; 262 years ago Height 26.3 metres (86 ft) Length 49 met...

What happens to the coins tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain?

Trevi Fountain Fontana di Trevi
Fountain
Design	Nicola Salvi
Construction	1732–1762; 262 years ago
Height	26.3 metres (86 ft)
Length	49 metres (161 ft)
Surface	Travertine stone
Location	Rome, Italy
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap

What happens to the coins tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain?

For hundreds of years, visitors to the Italian capital have gone to the famous landmark to make a wish.

Coins collected from the Trevi Fountain in Rome. [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters]

Published On 7 Mar 20247 Mar 2024

As visitors’ coins splash into Rome’s majestic Trevi Fountain carrying wishes for love, good health or a return to the Eternal City, they provide practical help to people the tourists will never meet.

For hundreds of years, when in Rome, visitors have flocked to the fountain to make a wish, following a storied ritual. Few gave their coins a second thought.

Today, coins pile up for several days before they are fished out and taken to the Rome division of the worldwide Catholic charity Caritas, which counts the bucketfuls of change and uses them to fund a food bank, soup kitchen and welfare projects.

In 2022, Caritas collected 1.4 million euros ($1.5m) from the fountain and it expects to have gathered even more in 2023. The Italian capital is one of the world’s most visited cities with 21 million tourists.

Signs around the fountain explain that the change will go to charity – a thought that pleases many of the tourists posing by the landmark.

“I wanted to make a wish which is dear to my heart,” said Yula Cole from Brazil after throwing in a coin. “But I also know that this coin is not just staying there but will help needy people. I made a wish but hopefully this money will help other people’s wishes too.”

Day and night, throngs of people crowd around the fountain posing for photos. Legend says that if you throw a coin by the right hand over the left shoulder into the fountain, you will return to Rome. People eagerly add their own personal wishes.

“I am tossing a coin as they say if you toss a coin you come back to Rome and also because I want to make the wish to find love,” said Carola from Chile.

The Trevi Fountain, completed in 1762, covers one side of Palazzo Poli in central Rome with its statues of Tritons guiding the shell chariot of the god Oceanus, illustrating the theme of the taming of the waters.

It is where Italian film director Federico Fellini set one of the most famous scenes in cinema in La Dolce Vita, with Anita Ekberg wading into the fountain after midnight and beckoning Marcello Mastroianni to join her.

 https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/3/7/what-happens-to-the-coins-tossed-into-romes-trevi-fountain

British School at Rome, the BSR 

We are delighted to share the excellent news that the Premio Daria Borghese, awarded annually to the best book on Rome written by a non-Italian published in the preceding year, has been won by BSR Honorary Fellow Professor John Osborne for his wonderful book Rome in the Ninth Century. John’s book is published by Cambridge University Press in the BSR’s own series and we are very proud to be associated with this achievement! The prize will be awarded on 11 May in Rome, and will be accepted on John’s behalf in his absence by our Director Abigail Brundin. The book will be presented for the prize by Professor Julian Gardner. Warmest congratulations John!

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