The degrees of love

"Is Japan culture so reserved?" Ms. Hepburn asked. "It should be said that this is true for most Asia cultures influenced by Eastern culture. Although the word 'love' exists in their culture, they don't use it lightly in matters of romantic love."

Why? Are you ashamed to say it?

Henry thought for a moment and said, "It should be said that this word represents a very strong emotion in Eastern culture. What If...? two people go from being complete strangers to losing each other, the other half might follow them in death. This kind of strong emotion can be divided into a scale of one to ten."

People in Western cultural spheres might use the word "LOVE" in the third or fourth stage of life. Moreover, it applies to a wide range of people, including parents, siblings, and children.

Therefore, the emotion represented by this word is not so strong. In contrast, in Eastern cultural circles, different words are used to express emotions when facing different people.

"Words like respect, friendship, and care are used, but the word 'love' is more limited to the relationship between men and women. And it feels like it might take a certain level of intimacy, maybe even eight or nine, before that word is uttered in bed."

"They wouldn't even use it in public, in front of their lovers. However, this distinction only existed a century ago, when the exchange between the two cultural circles was not yet complete."

"Nowadays, the distinction isn't so clear anymore. The term 'one-night stand' has become so cheap that men and women can use it casually."

Audrey Hepburn asked curiously, "Then how do they express their feelings? Do Easterners have superpowers, where boys and girls who are attracted to each other can understand each other's feelings without saying a word, as if they've built a bridge of Mind Stone?"

Henry smiled and said, "How could that be? They just prefer to use metaphors, more artistic or abstract ways, to describe their feelings. Like, 'As long as I have him, even if I only have a small place to stand in this world, I will be content.'"

My eyes are raining for him, but my heart is holding an umbrella for him.

You reside quietly in my heart, like the full moon in the night sky.

Audrey Hepburn knew the source of these verses and said with a sweet smile, "Ah, Rabindranath Tagore's poetry."

"Yes, this poet, who was influenced by traditional India culture and harmoniously embraced Western culture, has indeed left behind many literary works worthy of being passed down through generations."

"He's a recognized one of the world's top ten writers. How come you think he's only 'very good'?" Audrey Hepburn laughed.

Henry could only say that this "world" was the world dominated by the British Empire.

Islamic culture and Eastern culture have never been categorized into this "world" unless people from these different cultures actively enter the Western cultural sphere and follow Western rules.

To paraphrase a line from Stephen Chow movie: the referee and the referee are all their people; wanting to win is just wishful thinking!

Seemingly somewhat unconvinced, Ms. Hepburn asked, "Then Henry, tell me, what's your favorite metaphor to use to express emotion? One that allows even those who haven't heard the word 'love' to feel that intense feeling."

"And another thing!" the woman said, stretching out both hands and using all her fingers. She pursed her lips and said, "The intensity of the emotion must be close to what you described as 'ten out of ten'."

After a moment's thought, Henry smiled and said, "Wait a minute, I'm going to get some paper and pen."

Upon returning, he used a fountain pen to write two lines of neat, square characters on a large blank notebook. "Heaven and earth may pass away, but this sorrow will last forever."

"Is this in Chinese?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean?" Audrey Hepburn asked, full of curiosity.

"Even the highest and longest sky, the widest and longest earth, are still tangible things with boundaries. But my regret is endless and will never cease."

"Are you talking about hatred?" Audrey Hepburn asked, her eyes wide.

"The deeper the love, the deeper the hate when that emotion is reversed. Reason, the depth of hate also reflects the depth of the love itself."

"Wow, you can actually say that." Audrey Hepburn looked at the words written on the paper, savoring them carefully, and exclaimed sincerely.

Hepburn then asked, "From what kind of work does this sentence come? Is it from a love story?"

"You could call it a love story, but the kind that ends in tragedy."

"Can you tell me about it?" the woman asked, her big, watery eyes wide.

Those incredibly captivating eyes in the movie—few people wouldn't surrender to being stared at like that. At least Henry couldn't resist.

Henry could only pick up his pen again and write a few large Chinese characters, "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow," by Bai Juyi. He explained, "The author lived approximately 1200 years ago and was a renowned poet of his time. This work describes—"

A characteristic of traditional literature is its use of allusions. A story can be quoted in just a few words, and the story behind the allusion is assumed to be known by everyone, or that the reader must find out for themselves.

Therefore, when explaining the Song of Everlasting Sorrow to Ms. Hepburn, it is also necessary to explain the stories behind these allusions and their function in this context.

It could be a metaphor, or it could be an extraction of a certain spirit from a classical allusion.

Sometimes it's not an allusion, but a metaphor. For example, the line "a pear blossom in spring rain" is used to describe the imperial concubine's tearful and pitiful appearance.

Then Henry sketched with a pencil, vividly depicting the pear blossoms, adding an atmosphere to them with the rain.

Moreover, the "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" itself contains two storylines: one is about Emperor Xuanzong of Tang of Tang and Yang Guifei, and the other is about Emperor Wu of Han and Lady Li. Translating this 840-character narrative poem into English would almost kill all the brain cells of Henry's Super Brain.

The main reason is that Audrey Hepburn was not satisfied with overly straightforward translations that would lose the beauty of the original works. These things were only understood because Henry supplemented them with sketches and lengthy narratives.

Therefore, sometimes a sentence needs to be revised several times, and even poems from European and American literature need to be quoted, in order to satisfy the lady.

At this point, Henry had to admire a literary figure who had lived in America, Mr. Lin Yutang. He actually managed to write the Gay Genius in English and translate those famous poems into English in a style that conformed to European and American poetic forms.

In short, translating "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" took several days, on and off. Without the support of Super Brain with vast knowledge and a long memory, this task would not have been completed so quickly.

During this time, Robert would sometimes come to help by offering his thoughts or suggestions on words.

Then she filled three notebooks, containing constantly revised poems, simple sketches, and the stories behind those allusions, all written down word by word at Audrey Hepburn's request.