瑞士的狂欢节
(2006-02-28 14:13:01)
下一个
一个初来乍到的朋友打电话给我,向我打听我们这一带狂欢节的化妆舞会的日程,因为在电视里看到了报道,很想见识一下。可惜狂欢的季节已经接近尾声,只好约到明年了。其实这里的狂欢节就是对成人来说,都是非常吸引人的,尤其是某些本地的人,其中有属于专门的化妆俱乐部的成员,寂静了一年,这个季节就是真性出动的时候,酒精、发疯和过瘾都是属于合法的。我个人觉得这样的节日对于沉闷保守的瑞士人来说,尤其具有特殊的意味,大可以伸展一下手脚。比如说,盖瑞一年到头都是很忙的,根本没有时间关心镇子上发生的事情,也没有时间和年轻时的老朋友聚会。每年二月的第三个星期六晚上他会固定地参加狂欢节为成年男人组织的节目,——其实就是一伙男人去附近所有的酒吧和餐馆轮流喝酒,胡乱地高谈阔论,讲诉一年来发生的事件等等,到凌晨五点多,才各自满身酒气地散去。狂欢节期间的收音机里常常能听到采访成人听众对狂欢节的感受,大都是表现得非常热衷,语气兴奋。当然,除了这些,也有很大成分是对传统的怀念和继承,还有民族的骄傲吧。
我第一次去看这样的活动时,肚子里怀着孩子。那是人生里极为寂寞的一段时期。刚刚来到陌生的瑞士定居。那时侯非常不理解男人结婚了之后,为什么还会每个星期有一两个晚上必须出去酒吧里喝酒到凌晨。可是我只有盖瑞,几乎没有朋友。还不认识任何华人。站在人群里,如同看一场热闹的演出,散场后,在盖瑞的陪伴下走回家。看着清冷潮湿的夜空,想起小的时候过年,大院里的孩子们拿出积攒的压岁钱去买焰火和鞭炮,跑到楼房外的空地里去放;在楼梯间点燃了火柴照路;和小伙伴约了去广场看舞龙,然后溜到人民公园翻墙进去玩。怀念故乡和童年,心里隐藏着寂静的忧伤。我们的传统没有瑞士人的传统保留得那么完美,也没有特地为孩子组织的娱乐活动,可是节日的快乐,即使是在精神和物质生活最贫苦的时候,也还能给以后的生命留下无法忘怀的痕迹。在怀念里,我对盖瑞说我非常盼望孩子的出生,这样的场面和声音,孩子会感到新鲜和欢喜。我要让孩子幸福地成长。那时候,还不清楚孩子会给自己带来什么。记得有一个星期一,独自一个人去Marktstrasse街看儿童狂欢节,看到非常多天使般天真可爱的面孔,色彩艳丽斑斓的服饰。快乐幸福的气氛,会让人觉得这里对孩子来说充满了天堂般的温情。
所以,这样美丽的拉亨的狂欢节,应该让所有的人知道。
上个星期天是Hori Butzi星期天,下午在湖边的健身馆组织了Party,我们夫妻俩带孩子去了。主题是西部印地安人部落的一些游戏,比如寻宝、射箭、投斧头和掷马蹄。小孩们装扮得多数是印地安人或西部牛仔的样子,跟着玩。是要记分的,几个项目做完,把成绩单交上去,属于竞赛。彤彤去年得了第三名,今年我们估计没戏了,居然在颁奖的时候她又获得第三名,奖品是一块浴巾和游泳场的儿童免费门票。彤彤站在桌子上领奖,欢喜得很,羞涩地微笑。
最近在网上贴出那么多的照片,是前三个星期的一次儿童狂欢节活动的纪录。在瑞士的这六年里,每年都会去看热闹的,却以这次拍摄的照片最多。那么多浓郁的色彩,铺天盖地的彩色碎纸片和孩子的欢乐的叫声,在古老窄小的街道里,一年又一年地上演,哄大了一代代的拉亨人,包括我的先生盖瑞。可以想像,几十年前这里有过和这些照片上非常相似的情景,只是人们的面孔有所不同。我的女儿如我所料,和他的父亲小时候一样,从小就是一个不折不扣的狂欢节迷。从前都是扮成可爱的公主,今年成了戴尖帽子的小巫婆。可是小巫婆也会忘记自己的角色,和别的孩子用碎纸屑打仗;小巫婆也会聚精会神地观看打扮成某个形象的大人表演节目;小巫婆也会去向大人扮的巫婆讨面包和糖果。不管是什么,开心就好。身边陪着的大人也开心。
狂欢节在拉亨是每年的一月六日拉开序幕。这天的晚上九点,空气里有新鲜的雪的温度,成千上百的人裹着棉衣去镇子中心的主要街道等候狂欢的游行队伍。听到凝重喧闹的铃铛在风里震动的声音,就是肩挑牛铃的农夫先遣队在缓缓地走来了。有打着大旗的领头人,手举火把的笑面人。这个笑面人的形象是本地的一个先人发明的,所以几乎是拉亨狂欢节的招牌标志。另外一个本地的特色形象是罗里,有木偶戏剧里的面谱,惯例是手持串满面包圈的木棍,路过孩子面前的时候、或者是被要面包的孩子包围的时候,会带领孩子不停地原地跳,孩子口里必须拼命地高叫“罗里”,原则上叫得和跳得最卖劲的孩子会得到一个面包圈。不过我们家的彤彤小时候还不会叫、也矮得会被人群淹没的时候,也还能幸运地得到面包圈,——那是因为扮罗里的某个人是我们平日熟识的朋友的缘故,也或者,某些善良的罗里常常会懂得照顾弱小的孩子,特地给年幼的孩子面包圈。紧跟在农夫先遣队后的是四个手舞长鞭的汉子,四米多长的鞭子在头顶的空中不停甩动,发出炮仗一样清脆的响声。马上又是各种面目丑陋的巫婆、罗里、牛头鬼怪、小丑,手里提着装满面包糖果的篮子或者拿着家伙,来给寒冷的夜色里等候的孩子分发好吃的。接着,装扮怪异、形如兽人或者干脆是黑白骷髅头的乐队,大张旗鼓地奏乐走过。还有某些童话传说中的人物,容貌比较不吓人的,比如米老鼠、唐老鸭、globi(一个鹦鹉人系列故事的主角)等等,只是印象里从来没有公主王子之类的那种特别美丽的角色。不过在夜色里的路灯下,这长长的狂欢游行充满了童话的诱惑。彤彤每年那个晚上都要去等在街边的。两岁的时候是在我怀里抱着看热闹。三岁四岁时主动开始要求我给她装扮成公主,那样更有参与的感觉,快乐也就更多。
接下来的两个月时间,有固定的狂欢节活动日程表。印刷出的广告册分发到每家每户。我每次都保存下来,有选择地带孩子去参加。参加的时候也不再象怀孕时那样仅仅抱着旁观者的心情。孩子的到来改变了我的生活角色和习惯,甚至作为一个女人的心理。随着她的成长,我积极和被动地融入了瑞士人的世界。狂欢节期间,作为妈妈,身不由己会被卷入那种文化和喧闹的氛围,街道上的熟人也比几年前多了很多。有时心血来潮,也打扮一番,和女儿一起上阵,权当好玩。一切变得很自然。
有时候,在散去人群的街道上站着,看狂欢的残局,觉得这些是现代生活里唯一保留得比较彻底和天真的童话。是冬天里上演的一场戏剧,那种华美和喧哗带来的短暂的惊艳和纵情,着实让人沉醉。
有谁知道呢,也许人生一世,就是为了到这世间来狂欢一次。那些众多的经历,就是苦涩或者甜美的各种美酒,尝过了,然后告别。
but it is a beautiful country, you just need to find your way for your life here. I enjoy it.
these days we just have had a lot of snow, have never seen so high snow before in my life. but the sky is sometimes very blue and sunny, I made a picture of it yesterday, so fresh and lovely.
But in a lot of cases, the reality is out of control, different from any movies or any novels. it is not because we are chinese and pessimastic. some people suffer a lot to wait till the result comes out, long and suppressed, this experience is carved in their life. --it is a glass of bitter wein. you can easily forget a glass of fine wein, but not the very bitter one. yet, it is not sure that this kind of experience is not precious. it is a kind of romance as well.I think I am quite such a typical person out of what you have mentioned as "pessimistic nation".
but I try to have a good life, to enjoy.....I find it is quite effective to find other commitments to make oneself busy to enjoy the life and reduce the feeling of depressure, to be involved in the events around, to have more friends, these are all helpful.
The other day I read a news on Wenxuecity, in which it says that from a foreigner's observation Chinese in general are a pessimistic nation. He gave an example most Chinese would naturally accept and love a tragic ending in movies or TV series. It seemed to him that a great movie of a beautiful love story commonly ended in a sad loss rather than a happy unity.He reckons the reason Chinese are not romantic and optimistic enough compare to Westerners is to blame the past dark Chinese history. Life of Chinese in old days were way too sad and pressured. And that automatically generated the practical and money oriented modern Chinese nowadays. Let's firstly hold our urge to argue his point of view, just think about if he made certain sense. I think he did.
I've got a conservative and good educated girlfriend who has been a single mom for more than 10 years. Only recently she thinks she is ready for a realtionship. She went to a date with a Aussie manager from Canberra. Afterwards she started to worry distance is going to be a problem as she lives in Sydney. It quickly got to the point that she wants to quit it. I tried to reason to her that it's not necessary to be so practical. If two people fall in love they'll make efforts to be together. After all Canberra is only 4 hours drive away. And it shouldn't be too hard for him a experienced manager to find a job in Sydney and then move in with her. She listened to me thank God. Things seem to start to fall in line for her. I am so happy for her.
Wish everyone a good life! Life is too short.... You can't really waste a single day, can you?