The Story of Lin Yutang, a Humor Master

Lin Yutang was teaching English at Soochow University Law School. On the first day of school, the bell rang for a long time, but he hasn't come yet. The students are eager to see it. Mr. Lin finally arrived, with a bulging leather bag in his bag. The students think that Mr. Lin has brought a package of information about the lecture. Maybe he got the news late. Who knows, after he boarded the podium, he unhurriedly opened his purse, only to find that it was full of peanuts with shells.

He handed out peanuts to the students and the classroom became a teahouse. But the students didn't dare to eat it. They just looked at him and wondered what medicine he was selling in the gourd. Mr. Lin began to lecture, speaking concise and fluent English, and began to explain his method of eating peanuts. He said: "If you eat peanuts, you must eat them with shells. All the taste and fun are in the shell. The stronger the shell, the better the peanuts. " At this point, he changed the subject and said, "Peanut is also called longevity fruit. Gentlemen, please eat my longevity fruit on your first day of class. May you live forever! No roll call in class in the future. I hope you eat longevity fruit and have a long temper. I am very lucky not to play truant. " The students burst out laughing. Lin Yutang greeted the students with a smile: "Please eat! Please eat! " There is the sound of peeling peanuts in the classroom. When the bell rang, Lin Yutang announced the class was over, picked up his wallet and drifted away.

Lin Yutang hates roll call in class, but his students never miss class. When he is in class, the classroom is always packed, and even students from other classes and schools will attend. Lin Yutang also has a unique skill, that is, "scoring face to face." He never holds any kind of exam in his English class. Before the end of each semester, to evaluate the students' grades, he sat on the podium, holding the student roster and taking turns to call the roll. The students stood up in turn. Like a fortune teller, he looked at the students who stood up and graded. There are very few people who are not sure, not sure, just talk, then do a survey and score. According to his students' memories, Lin Yutang's score of "face-to-face teaching" far exceeded the general written test marking method, and all the students were dissatisfied.

Lin Yutang made numerous speeches in his life, which were always accompanied by cheers and applause. However, a speech was "blasted" off the stage. This may be the only time in his life, but it is not because of the failure of his speech. The 36th annual meeting of the World Pen Club was held in Monton, France. It is Lin Yutang's turn to speak. He asked the chairman to speak for 15 minutes, but the chairman refused stiffly, saying that everyone else spoke for five minutes, so there was no exception. Lin Yutang also said seriously that I would not talk for five minutes. This can be very anxious for Ma Xingye who went with him. Ma Xingye went to the chairman of the conference to discuss and intercede, and the chairman finally agreed 10 minutes; Ma Xingye went to the Secretary General of the General Assembly again. The Secretary-General promised to schedule 10 minutes first. If Lin Yutang hasn't finished speaking after 65,438+00 minutes, he can still speak. Lin Yutang accepted this arrangement.

After Lin Yutang came to power, the audience was silent, and he also spoke with great devotion. Before you know it, 10 minutes. The chairman said that the time was up and asked Lin to finish his speech. Lin Yutang is really angry. He was angry and didn't speak. He walked straight off the stage. The participants were fascinated by the rough handling of the chairman, so they applauded warmly and hoped that Lin Yutang would go on. The chairman also looked embarrassed and had to acquiesce in the welcome of the participants. But Lin Yutang said he wouldn't talk about it again. So, I left this wonderful speech forever.

[Wen Hai Picks up Beads]

Lin Yutang once told a world-famous joke at a rally in Brazil. He said: "The ideal life of a world is to live in the countryside of England, with American water, electricity and gas pipes in the house, a China chef and a Japanese wife ..."

[Intelligent thinking]

Lin Yutang has a novel called Contemporary Red Chamber. Do you know which book this is? Tell the connection between the characters in this book and those in A Dream of Red Mansions.