我始终对电影《东京铁塔》里已婚熟女喜美子在舞室练习弗拉门戈舞的那个场景念念不忘。她不美,也并非专业舞女,动作有点僵硬,表情不够妩媚,但是她用舞动的身躯去对抗岁月与生活带给她的伤痕,去领略生活的另一种可能性。那刻,她在我眼中,是坚强的,是不羁的,是坦然的,是美丽的。我一直相信这样没什么不好——去倾听身体发出的信号。在室内感到压抑,无法呼吸之时,那是身体告诉我们要向大自然“索要”新鲜的空气;在脖子酸痛,全身乏力之时,那是身体要求我们停下繁忙的脚步,偷取片刻来休息;在精力充沛之时,去伸展、去舞动、去跳跃。
有人说,当一个人像婴儿那样蜷缩成团的时候,那是生命最舒服的形态,因为那一刻人仿佛回归母体,没有私心,没有杂念,凝神呼吸,倾听身体实实在在的跳动。
而时光仿佛停滞了一般,如此静好。
——Mac
文字难度：★★★
There’s a 1)bronze statue of 2)Shiva on the tall cabinet on the other side of the room. He’s beautiful and 3)androgynous with flowing hair, a palm raised in 4)benediction, and 5)exquisitely sculpted lips curved in a slight smile. I like Shiva. I like the statue of Shiva too. If I had the energy, I’d get up and have a closer look at him. The heat holds me back. My eyes sweep across the room to the other bodies 6)sprawled out across the furniture, and I see that everyone else has the same idea. We’re not going anywhere.
房间另一边有一个高高的壁橱,其上放置着一尊湿婆神青铜雕像。他雌雄同体,美丽动人,头发飘扬,举起一掌以示祝福,精心雕刻的双唇露出了一丝微笑。我喜欢湿婆神,也喜欢湿婆神雕像。如果我有力气,我会起身走近去看看他。滚滚热浪让我退却。我的眼睛扫过整个房间,其他人懒散地摊坐在家具上。我看得出其他人都和我有着同样的想法。我们一动也不想动。
It’s evening, but the sun is still up. Golden rays catch on the brightly colored light bulbs hanging on strings outside the windows, illuminating them from the outside in. Ordinarily it would be beautiful, and ordinarily we’d probably want to hover along the 7)windowsills and watch the sunset, but we’re all so hot and sticky that we’ve been 8)rendered 9)catatonic.
已是夜幕时分了,但太阳还没落下。金黄的光线投射到窗外一根根绳上悬着的那些色彩鲜艳的灯泡上,从外而内地把它们照得通亮。这个时候的景色通常很美,而通常我们也想围在窗台旁观赏日落,但那天我们全都感觉很热,身上粘乎乎的,像患了紧张性精神症一样,整个身子僵住了,动弹不了。
I’m in India for my best friend’s wedding. We’re in Malad, a northern suburb of Mumbai. I’ve only been here for one night and one day. My lungs are still not accustomed to Mumbai air; it’s thick as soup and 10)laced with 11)diesel fumes.
我正身处印度,来这参加我最好朋友的婚礼。我们在位于孟买北郊的马拉德市。我到这才一天一夜。我的肺还没有适应孟买的空气,这里的空气如浓汤一般稠密,还伴有柴油机的气味。
There are preparations for the wedding happening all through the apartment, so when the door opens and the artists 12)strut in, I don’t think anything of it. They’re here, of course, to apply the mehndi, or 13)henna, to the female members of the wedding party. Most specifically, they’re here to work their magic on Nee, to paint the 14)elaborate 15)bridal mehndi that must cover her arms and sometimes even feet. In India, no happy occasion is complete without mehndi. Mehndi has cultural and social significance. It is said that mehndi brings good fortune to a person’s life.
整个屋子里的人都在为婚礼做着各种准备,所以当房门打开,绘画师昂首阔步地走进来时,我也没多想。他们来这里当然是给参加婚宴的女士们绘“曼海蒂”,也就是“汉娜”。明确地说,他们来这里主要是给新娘子妮“施魔法”的,在她的手臂上,有时甚至是脚上精心绘制新娘“曼海蒂”。在印度,所有的欢庆场合里绝对少不了“曼海蒂”。“曼海蒂”有其文化及社会意义。据说“曼海蒂”能给人们的生活带来好运。
You can apply mehndi on every 16)auspicious occasion, child birth, or festival, but applying mehndi in marriage has its own importance. Mehndi is applied to the hands and feet of the would-be bride. A ceremony known as the “Mehndi Ceremony” is made special by songs and dances. People say that the darker the color of henna on the bride’s hand, the more the groom loves her. Women have been applying mehndi to adorn their hands or mark an occasion for ages.
在任何喜庆场合,逢有婴儿出生或是在节日里,你都可以在身上绘上“曼海蒂”,但结婚时绘上的“曼海蒂”有其重要意义。新娘会在其手上和脚上绘上“曼海蒂”。一个名为“曼海蒂仪式”的仪式会伴着歌舞隆重举行。人们说,新娘手上的“汉娜”颜色越深,新郎就会越爱她。一直以来,女人们通过绘“曼海蒂”来装饰她们的手,或是纪念某一特殊场合。
It’s art on a hand.
这是一门手上的艺术。
When the artist gets to me, she silently picks up one of my hands, turns it one way and then the other, takes a tube of henna, pauses, 17)tilts my wrist to the side again, and begins to work. I know, without being asked, to keep my palm 18)flexed and as still as possible. There’s no plan, no contemplation; the pen freely moves where it will. I watch, amazed as the curves begin to form shapes. Elaborate flowers blossom on my skin. Leaves19)snake across my wrist and settle on my forearm. Another artist, who has just finished with one of Nee’s cousins, settles down at my other side and starts working on my right hand. A 20)paisley pattern blooms through the 21)creases of my palm. When everything’s finished, I am warned against doing anything that might disturb or 22)smudge the henna. It will be hours before the color has properly soaked into the skin. My eyes widen. This mehndi business is much more serious than I had imagined.
那位绘画师走到我这边来,她默默地拿起我的一只手,把手的两面翻来翻去,然后拿起一根“汉娜管”,停顿了片刻,把我的手腕倾斜至一边,开始绘图。不需她说,我就知道应该尽可能地保持手掌弯曲,一动不动。她不用设计图,也不加半分思索,那支笔随着她的心意移动着。我注视着那条条曲线开始成形,惊叹不已。精心绘制的花朵在我的皮肤上绽放着。片片叶子蜿蜒而行,从手腕蔓延至我的前臂上。另一位绘画师刚给妮的一位堂姐妹绘好“曼海蒂”,来到了我的另一边,开始在我的右手上作画。一朵涡旋状的花儿沿着我手掌上的褶纹绽放开来。当我的“曼海蒂”完全绘好后,绘画师们让我注意不要做一些可能破坏或是抹花“汉娜”的事。要等颜色完全渗入皮肤得好几个小时。我是大开眼界了。“曼海蒂”这门艺术可远比我想象的要认真严肃,并非儿戏。
We mehndi girls 23)mill about the apartment with outstretched hands, 24)resembling nothing more than well-dressed 25)zombies chattering and laughing. It’s getting late so we head to bed. When I wake, it’s the middle of the night, and the flat is quiet. My arms feel 26)raw and heavy, as if they’ve been 27)coated in oil and cooked. I blink, sit up, and hold them under the dim glow of the 28)mosquito light to see what’s happened to them. Bright orange veins 29)course across my skin, looping into blossoms and leaves. Suddenly thirsty, I roll off the bed and tiptoe out of the room. In the kitchen, I grin and hold up one arm and then the other to examine my beautiful henna flowers. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the clock on the wall. It’s 4am in Mumbai and the air is cool.
我们这些绘了“曼海蒂”的女孩们伸着双手在房间里乱转,像精心打扮的僵尸一般聊天大笑。夜深了,我们上床睡觉。当我醒来时正是夜半时分,屋里一片寂静。我感觉手臂火辣辣,沉沉的,仿佛外面包裹了一层油,被煮熟了一般。我眨眨眼,坐起来,把手伸到灭蚊灯那阴暗的光线中,看看是怎么回事。鲜桔色的纹理在我的皮肤上蔓延,形成一个个的圈,组成了朵朵花儿和片片叶子。我突然感觉口渴,于是爬下床蹑手蹑脚地走出房间。在厨房里,我一边咧嘴笑一边先后伸出两只手臂查看我那些漂亮的“汉娜”花朵。我用余光看了看墙上的钟。在孟买,现在是清晨4点,十分凉爽。
小资料 ★ Mehndi★
Mehndi(曼海蒂)，又可被称作Henna（汉娜）或者Henna Art（汉娜艺术）。Henna其实是指原材料中那种被称作“指甲花”的植物。把汉娜的树叶碾碎成绿色粉末后，混合一些可以增加颜色深度及延长图案在皮肤上的时间的持久物质，磨成褐色浆糊状浆液后，注入尖形小圆锥筒，这样，“汉娜管”的制作就完成了。在印度，中东和北非都有出现专门绘制“曼海蒂”的绘画师。“曼海蒂”被视为一种“临时刺青”。绘制完成后期外观与真正的“刺青”外观无异，但其操作更简单快捷，不伤皮肤，价格便宜，可在皮肤上维持几天乃至数星期之久。作为婚礼传统之一，准新娘出嫁前夕绘上这种临时文身来庆祝。在婚嫁中，新娘的姊妹们有时会以此来为难新郎，要他在众多的“曼海蒂”图案中找到新娘的名字才可以开始婚礼之夜。