学文网居住地域看来遥不可及，谁想到说见面就在眼前――今春邂逅汪丁丁教授，原是出于意外。
汪丁丁是我心仪已久的一位著名学者、经济学家。大约五六年前，他写过一篇《九上知味观》的文章，我读后觉得颇多见地，很是精彩，便一直剪下保留着。一位学界名人写杭州的一家百年名店，相映成趣，非常难得，而且写的不是偶然去一二次的浮光掠影，竟是去了九次才成文，足见其情有独钟。由于这篇文章当时只发表在一家企业报上，读者面不广，当我于2001年到《文化交流》杂志任职时，便推荐了这篇文章，发表在我们经手的新一期杂志上，引起良好反响，为杂志添了彩，有行家问及：“你们怎么组织到这样名家的文章？”
五年多过去了，一直没有机会与汪教授谋面。今春，汪教授到浙江大学经济学院授课，知味观・味庄董总，也就是他那篇《九上知味观》中所写的主人公得悉我曾推崇过他的文章，便邀在他的店里相聚。汪丁丁教授穿着随意，平易近人，镜片后面透着睿智的目光；他胸前挂着一支粗粗的笔，我猜想大概不会是MP3，也许是写作的特殊爱好之故。他言谈不多，对菜肴也没多少品评。他夫人李老师则侃侃而谈，她对杭州印象很好，还问及报界一些朋友；出于女性的细腻，她给董夫人带去一大束鲜花，说那天是“三八”节，在座几位男士则没有想到。这样一次短暂的相见，自然没什么深谈，但能“一识韩荆州”，很是舒心畅快。
过了大约一周，丁丁教授从网上给我发来一篇文章，令我喜出望外。这篇题为《杭州哈里》的文章，写的是雷迪森大酒店“婆罗湾”餐厅的两位外籍餐饮总监和大厨，上一回写的是“国粹”，这一次则是说“洋餐”，一中一西，各有异趣。为了这篇文章，他给我发了不止五六个电邮，一会儿发来菜肴照片，一会儿告我浙大的六位同人去“婆罗湾”品尝，一会儿介绍去认识阿里和餐饮经理……作为写过几十种专著的教授，为一篇美食时文，这样细致周到，实在令人钦佩。此后，他告诉我将去美国一段时间，回来再见。《杭州阿里》一文在我们杂志发表后，我看到多家报纸也相继刊载，而且登了阿里的大照片，让杭州人认识这位年轻的印度大厨。
这些职业性的交往，对丁丁谈不上有深入的了解。直到近日读了他的一本名为《幽灵自述》，这才向我打开了座绚丽多彩、美不胜收的“丁丁花园”，也触发了我写此文的动因。这本著作是我偶尔在书店看到，因为作者是汪丁丁便欣然买来一读。起先我是随便翻翻的，因为怕太专业而读不懂或者对所说所论没有兴趣，但一读之后欲罢不能，惊叹他读书之多，涉猎之广，立论之精。书中写了他在美国、英国、德国、荷兰、比利时、香港等地所遇所见所感，题材涉及哲学、经济、社会、历史、科技等，且文体多种多样，有专访、随笔、散文、游记、对话、日记等。
汪丁丁既是一个具有深邃思想的学者，也是一位闯荡世界、潇洒自如的博士，像是一个“快乐的王子”。一年当中，他在北京呆几个月，春暖花开时便到杭州，在浙大授课的同时，逛西湖，尝美食，走市场；接着飞到香港又去夏威夷，一二个月后又飞回北京，谁知他下一站又飞到哪里去了呢?从他这本四年前出版的《幽灵自述》看，他可以在华盛顿、纽约、柏林这些大都市穿梭，住“白宫后面不远”的“***饭店’；也会在欧洲莱茵河边的小镇流连忘返，简陋的低价小旅馆也能对付。但不论到哪里，总不忘品尝各地的特色风味和各类咖啡，而且常常能品出韵味，见诸文字，就连夏威夷山谷小镇一家不大的餐馆，也会溶入他的笔端。《大厨安吉亚》就是一篇有趣的文字，厨师给自己的餐馆起了一个别致的店名“大厨的饭桌”，就餐的气氛非常亲切随和，大厨安吉亚烹调的三文鱼“鱼肉炮制外皮微焦酥脆油滋滋红灿灿，内里细腻柔滑香喷喷粉艳艳，三文鱼底色下衬以紫色、白色和绿色的时菜丝，盘子边上围十几粒黑色橄榄……”“每每在我看来，更像是文艺复兴时代色彩富丽的宗教绘画，那块三文鱼好比是披着深红色长袍的大主教，各色菜丝交织成教堂的圆形天顶，墨绿色的厚重餐巾铺在盘子和刀叉的下面，象征着阴谋与爱情。”这实在是把这盘三文鱼立体化、艺术化和历史化了。
与一般学者不同的是，汪丁丁来来往往总是与夫人、孩子一起参与学术采访、旅游活动，共同分享学术研究的兴味和大自然赐予的美色。不像我们一般看到的对一些有成就的学者、科学家的报道那样，总说他们一头扎在事业里，无法抽时间陪妻子上街、购物、散步、旅游等等。汪丁丁不愧是个现代学者，既会工作又会生活、休闲，也会做一个“模范丈夫”。有一次在美国采访诺贝尔奖得主布坎南教授时，他不但和夫人一道去，还一起完成了一篇《贝蒂》的散文。汪丁丁对妻子有一段很生动的描述：“妻子是一个典型的中国女人，小巧，热情，忠诚，恋家，聪明，正直，并且能吃苦。她几乎一辈子都跟着我在世界上闯荡。……妻子的文笔其实很好，这是我母亲说的，我母亲是老资格记者，我非常相信她的文字眼光。”汪丁丁与妻子的琴瑟和谐、配合默契在书中有许多记载，在德国科隆的公园时，他们一同走了两个小时，陶醉在路边的白色无名小草、蘑菇亭和远处的红枫、白桦、黄杨和绿枞的景色之中，“妻子说，她见到了最浪漫的森林，最心旷神怡的草地和最细腻的雨丝。她说希望让我每天坐在林间草地那张木椅里读书和思考，然后享用她为我送来的最可口的饭食。我说在这样幽静和湿润的空气里，思想会像蘑菇一样生长。”这一段话说得多么诗情画意又富有哲理，工作学习原来并不和旅游休闲对立的，“蘑菇”里是会“生”出“思想”来的啊!
当然，汪丁丁的主业是经济学教授，而且是一位哲学家和文人。他不但写过《我思考的经济学》《知识印象(经济学家随笔)》《经济学与自由》等众多经济学著作，还写过《回家的路》《网络幽灵与苏格拉底的对话》等充满哲理的篇章，他完全有资格说：“我或许是中国人里面最喜欢哲学问题的经济学家，但我始终认为我本质上是一个哲学家而不是一个经济学家。”他的同辈学者说他：“汪丁丁的笔下，除了黑格尔、康德、罗素、休谟等人的大段论述，还有方程式，他经常被问道：到底读了多少书?”“他的文章，引用大师们的著述，可谓炉火纯青，随心所欲，不逾矩。”“经济学家能写出那样漂亮的文章，真是读者的幸事。”他得过数学理学学士学位、“数学与系统科学”理学硕士学位和美国夏威夷大学经济学博士，受过严格的学术训练，当过香港大学教授、德国杜依斯堡大学的客座教授，还有北大、浙大的教授……总之，汪丁丁是写不完的，还是用以《非常道》一书蜚声学界的余世存的一段话作结束语：
“汪丁丁几乎是一个说不尽的话题，他的学问思想、他的传奇经历、他的人格魅力等等，都是。”
My Acquaintance with Wang Dingding
By Cheng Fang
I met Professor Wang Dingding this spring by chance. For years, I had wished to meet him. I admire him, a prominent scholar and economist. About five or six years ago I read a story he wrote about the Zhiweiguan Restaurant in Hangzhou. I read it in a newsletter printed and distributed by a business enterprise. I was deeply impressed by the story and saved it, thinking it was quite rare for a scholar to write about a restaurant after nine visits. In 2001, I recommended the story to the Cultural Dialogue where I was working. The story was published and readers responded to it favorably. Some industrial insiders even asked me how we had managed to find articles by such a famous scholar.
Five years had passed and I did not have the opportunity to meet him. In the spring of 2006, Wang came to give lectures at the College of Economics at Zhejiang University. I finally met him at the Zhiweiguan restaurant. On that day, he was casually dressed and looked amiable and unassuming, the eyes sparkling intelligently behind the spectacles. He was a brilliant conversationalist.
A week later, he sent me a story about two foreigners working at the food & beverage department at the Hangzhou Radisson Hotel. I was overjoyed, for it was more than I had expected. His first story had been about a Chinese restaurant and this one was about exotic foreign food in Hangzhou. He sent me five emails, providing background information. He recommended me to meet the Indian chef there, thus making my editing work extremely easy. The story was well received by the readers and a few local media reprinted it.
The meeting and correspondences with the professor were just professional associations. I couldn say I knew much about Wang. But things changed after I read a book by him. I happened to spot the book in a bookstore and picked it up. It grabbed my attention. It is a collection of his essays and travel notes and what I read was about philosophy, economics, society, history, science, etc, and he is versatile in terms of styles.
Now I can say I know a little more about him. He is a busy scholar. He stays in Beijing for a few months before coming to Hangzhou in the spring time. While giving lectures at Zhejiang University, he tours the West Lake and enjoys gourmand food. Then he will fly to Hong Kong and to Hawaii. Then he will come back to Beijing. Who knows where he will go after that?
Unlike other scholars who devote heart and soul to work, Wang Dingding always finds time for his family. As a matter of fact, he tours the world with his wife. It is a pleasant life experience for the couple.
Though a professor of economics with a number of books under his belt, Wang Dingding tends to believe that he is a philosopher by nature. His peers comment that he often cites philosophers such as Hegel, Kant, Russell, and Hume in his writings. One of the most frequently asked questions he often faces is how many books he has read.
(Translated by David)