帶回法國的，是微笑

丹妮爾·拉斯特 阿諾德·拉斯特

金秋時(shí)節(jié)，首屆浙江省國際友城媒體合作傳播論壇活動(dòng)在杭州舉行，來自亞洲、歐洲、美洲、非洲等67個(gè)國家的近120位媒體代表走訪了浙江多地，親身感受浙江的人文風(fēng)情和城市發(fā)展?；顒?dòng)結(jié)束后，我們向一些媒體代表發(fā)出邀約，請(qǐng)他們來說說自己眼中的浙江。這些文章將陸續(xù)在本刊發(fā)表。

我們重回中國了。19年前我們?cè)L問北京，游覽紫禁城、長城，還有其他風(fēng)景名勝。這一次，我們來浙江，參加國際友城媒體合作傳播論壇，和來自67個(gè)國家的代表一起通過采風(fēng)了解浙江。

我們很自豪，此行是代表法國雨果之友學(xué)會(huì)。我們這個(gè)學(xué)會(huì)推崇并推廣在中國讀者中享有盛譽(yù)的法國作家維克多·雨果的作品和思想。

能見到生活在萬里之外的人，并與他們探討文化和交流人生見聞，不亦悅乎！

（一）

抵達(dá)杭州后的第一天，我們遇見一位中國教師。他對(duì)雨果作品極有興趣，很想了解中國道教是否對(duì)雨果有過影響，法國研究者是否有興趣對(duì)這個(gè)課題展開研究。就像16世紀(jì)法國著名散文家蒙田一樣，這位教師很愿意與其他人交流思想。而此行我們遇見的人里，很多人有類似的愿望。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們?cè)敢鈱⒆约簢业奈幕?、藝術(shù)、文學(xué)與他人分享，也愿意了解其他國家的作家和藝術(shù)家的作品及其及思想。

我們采風(fēng)團(tuán)一行人來到寧波慈溪市傅家路村，遇見了一位年輕人向我們介紹中國青瓷。元代青瓷是他目前的研究課題，他研究的內(nèi)容之一是青瓷的外文名字celadon的由來。

我們向他介紹說，17世紀(jì)法國作家于爾菲撰寫的一部浪漫小說《阿斯特蕾》中，男主角牧羊人叫做雪拉東（Celadon）。該小說出版于1610年，當(dāng)時(shí)來自龍泉的中國青瓷很受法國人喜愛。青瓷的顏色與牧羊人戴著的淺綠色的絲帶相近，所以用celadon稱呼來自中國的青瓷。再后來，青瓷的法國名字celadon不脛而走，出現(xiàn)在其他國家語言中。對(duì)于我們的解釋，他看起來很滿意。

可以說，這是文化交流的一個(gè)完美案例。我們后來才發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們抵達(dá)村莊時(shí)收到的禮品袋中就有一件瓷器。饋贈(zèng)禮品是中國人的傳統(tǒng)，以表達(dá)好客和熱情。

我們?cè)谂_(tái)州受到作家協(xié)會(huì)的熱烈歡迎，臺(tái)州市圖書館墻上高掛藍(lán)色橫幅，上書“熱烈歡迎法國雨果文學(xué)會(huì)貴賓訪問臺(tái)州”。整個(gè)交流活動(dòng)氣氛非常友好，富有成果。我們與作家們交談了一個(gè)小時(shí)，其中不少人在中國享有盛名。他們向我們介紹了自己已發(fā)表的作品，并很愉快地向我們細(xì)述他們欣賞的法國作家。果不其然，雨果是第一個(gè)被提到的，另外還有加繆、普魯斯特、普雷維爾和尤瑟納爾等蜚聲世界的法國作家。他們對(duì)法國文學(xué)的熟知讓我們印象深刻。他們很善解人意，提出將他們的出版作品郵寄到法國給我們，這樣我們的行李就不會(huì)超重。我們將雨果之友學(xué)會(huì)出版的兩冊(cè)雨果雜志回贈(zèng)給臺(tái)州圖書館。這次交流讓我們?cè)陔x開時(shí)滿懷欣喜。

（二）

中國的確是一個(gè)充滿各種鮮明對(duì)比的國度。城市中高樓林立，有些建筑風(fēng)格很有創(chuàng)新性。

我們到杭州后第一天訪問的浙江廣電集團(tuán)新大樓，擁有最為先進(jìn)的數(shù)字技術(shù)設(shè)備，我們仿佛進(jìn)入科幻電影中。長達(dá)38公里的杭州灣跨海大橋看起來也同樣很現(xiàn)代化，很讓我們驚奇。這條金屬巨龍仿佛自海中騰起，變天塹為通途，氣宇非凡。

在杭州的最后一晚，我們觀看《印象西湖》演出。布景夢(mèng)幻，色彩燦爛，既有傳統(tǒng)的中國歌曲、膾炙人口的音樂旋律以及戲曲唱段，又有柴可夫斯基的《天鵝湖》片段以及貝多芬第九交響樂《歡樂頌》。舞蹈節(jié)目中，主角倩影倒映在湖面，仿佛電影特效。舞者們時(shí)隱時(shí)現(xiàn)，時(shí)聚時(shí)散，配合天衣無縫，猶如童話一般。這場(chǎng)演出的藝術(shù)指導(dǎo)是張藝謀，即電影杰作《大紅燈籠高高掛》的導(dǎo)演。演出展現(xiàn)的種種優(yōu)美意境，讓我們心悅誠服。場(chǎng)面宏大壯美，華服充滿詩意，有一種讓觀者嘆為觀止的神力。

中國不僅是一個(gè)現(xiàn)代化國家，還是一個(gè)有悠久歷史的國家。此次采風(fēng)行活動(dòng)中，我們常有乘坐時(shí)光機(jī)器的穿越感。在浙北的烏鎮(zhèn)，我們“穿越”到了唐朝末年。烏鎮(zhèn)完全建在水上，真乃“中國的威尼斯”。我們先是乘舟游覽，然后棄舟上岸，在小街小巷穿行。古老的木結(jié)構(gòu)房屋有雕花門窗，整個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)完好地保存了昔時(shí)容貌。更讓我們有穿越感的是寺廟，例如天臺(tái)山國清寺。國清寺建于598年，棲身群山之中，雖然光陰荏苒，卻容顏未變。寺內(nèi)塔群聳峙，林立的佛像面貌各異，有開懷大笑者，有肅穆莊嚴(yán)者，有青春年少者，有耄耋老者。

我們還觀賞了石梁瀑布，水流自天然石梁直下幾十米，很是壯觀。不遠(yuǎn)處有一小寺院，仿佛正在邊上俯瞰水流如何從天而落。從寺院到石梁瀑布并不遠(yuǎn)，沿一條小徑稍走片刻，便進(jìn)入樹林深處。

（三）

在臺(tái)州學(xué)院臨海校區(qū)舉辦的雨果講座，讓我們遇見更多人。一位教師贈(zèng)送給我們兩冊(cè)他出版的關(guān)于自由體詩的新書，并征詢是否有幸能得到我們的出版作品。阿諾德寫過很多書，其中多數(shù)是大部頭，但我們此次中國行特意輕裝而來，并未攜帶厚厚的書。因此，我們回贈(zèng)他一本丹妮爾撰寫的《雨果：有獨(dú)特想法的人》，我們兩人都在書上簽了名。

大學(xué)同學(xué)們的專注也讓我們印象深刻。講座行將結(jié)束，我們問是否還有問題交流。同學(xué)們踴躍提問，其中一人問：雨果《悲慘世界》中的人物冉·阿讓和沙威最后會(huì)不會(huì)化敵為友。我們說不會(huì)，并給出了解釋。

感覺他們還有很多問題要問，但我們因行程匆匆，只得離開。與他們交流的時(shí)間雖然短暫，但很開心。

第二天我們打道回國。中國的現(xiàn)代化程度讓人驚訝，但我們也見識(shí)到了中國的另一面——古老的故事、傳說和悠久的歷史。中國渴望文化交流，認(rèn)同雨果關(guān)于各國人民和文化和諧的夢(mèng)想，這讓我們感動(dòng)。

我們結(jié)交的中國朋友們笑容滿面，這讓我們想起奧地利作曲家弗朗茲·萊哈爾的歌劇作品《微笑的國家》。我們帶回家的，正是這樣的微笑。

（本文圖片提供：拉斯特夫婦）

Here we are again in China. We had visited Beijing and its Forbidden City， the Great Wall， and many other wonders 19 years ago. This time， we have come to discover Zhejiang province at an international forum that brings together representatives from 67 countries. We are proud to represent France with the Society of Friends of Victor Hugo， an association that promotes the work and thought of a writer who is highly regarded by the Chinese.

What a joy to be in contact with people who live thousands of kilometers away and to have cultural and personal exchanges with them！ On the first day， in Hangzhou， we meet a Chinese teacher. He would like to know if it is possible to establish links between Victor Hugo and Taoism， and if French researchers would be open to looking into this subject. Hugo's work is of great interest to him. Like Montaigne， one of our great 16th-century writers， he is eager to "rub and grind his brain against those of others".? This desire is something we feel burning in many of those we meet. We find in them the need to share their culture， their art， their literature， but also to discover writers and artists from other countries， their approaches and their ideas.? When our delegation goes across the village of Cixi - one of our many visits， a young man comes to meet us.? He too seems to feel the need to enrich his knowledge with ours.? He tells us about a famous Chinese ceramic， celadon， green or translucent blue-grey. We understand that he is doing research on this ceramic invented in the Yue region （Siang basin）. He's searching for the origin of the word. We teach him， to his great satisfaction， that the celadons owe their name to a character in? by Honoréd'Urfé （1567-1625）， a shepherd called Celadon， who wears green ribbons. The novel was written in 1610， when the? products of Longquan's Chinese workshops were very popular in France. The colors of Chinese porcelain were then compared to Celadon ribbons. This celadon name for porcelain has been adopted in other languages. This is a great example of the cultural exchange that our Chinese friends are so fond of. We later find that in the bag given to us when we arrived in the village there is a box containing one of these precious ceramics. To offer gifts is also a tradition among the Chinese so that they are able to show their hospitality and their desire to please.

Another very friendly and fruitful exchange was also held with an association of writers from Taizhou who welcomed us to the city library， with a large blue banner stretched out across a wall： "Welcome to the distinguished guests of the Society of Friends of Victor Hugo". We talked for an hour with these writers， most of whom are well known in China. They explained to us what theyve been publishing and were very happy to talk to us about French authors they appreciate： Victor Hugo， of course， but also Albert Camus， Marcel Proust， Jacques Prévert， and Marguerite Yourcenar.? We were impressed by their extensive knowledge of our literature. So as not to overburden our baggage， they were kind enough to send these publications to us by post. For our part， we gave the library two copies of our magazine， . This warm exchange made us happy as we left.

China really is the country of contrasts. The cities we cross seem like forests of skyscrapers， with often inventive architecture. The radio and television station in Hangzhou City， which we were shown on the first day， is equipped with all the latest digital techniques and we were impressed by the equipment and facilities， much of which seemed to come out of a science-fiction film. The same amazing modernity could be seen with the 38-km bridge that crosses the bay of Hangzhou. This large metal snake， which looks like it has emerged from the sea， allows something extraordinary to happen： its crossing links two distant shores in record time.

For our last evening in Hangzhou， we were offered a show on the West Lake. Dreamlike settings with sparkling colors， traditional Chinese songs， popular melodies or operatic arias that alternate with an extract from Tchaikovsky's? and last movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Ode to Joy， virtuoso dancers whose prowess is reflected on the water， special effects that give the impression that certain characters appear or disappear magically – all happily blend together and follow on from one other in a harmonious and fairytale ensemble. The artistic director， Zhang Yimou， is the director of a masterpiece of cinema： . We find in this show everything that seduced us in this work： a great formal beauty， sumptuous poetic costumes， and a magical power to fascinate.

China is not only a modern country; it is also a country of history. At times we have the impression of having borrowed the time machine of the English author H.G. Wells. In the small town of Wuzhen， in the north of Zhejiang province， we are transported to the end of the Tang dynasty. Entirely built on the banks of the canals， this city is a Chinese Venice. We started the tour by boat and then walked through the narrow streets， where crafts predominate， especially silk painting. The 9th-century houses are made of wood， with artistically carved doors and windows， and the whole city has been preserved and maintained as it was. Even more radically out of time are the ancient temples， such as Guoqing Temple， located in the Tiantai district.? Perched in the mountains and built in 598， it seems to have escaped the passing of each century， with its pagodas rising in a large garden and its rows of Buddhas， all with different faces： from the laughing to the most serious， from the youngest to the oldest.

We were also able to discover a natural landscape that was entirely protected： the Shiliang waterfall.? This waterfall， which falls from a height of several tens of meters， flows under a natural arch， next to a small temple that seems to contemplate its movements. Its access only required a short walk and we found ourselves in the heart of a forest， facing one of its secret beauties.

A lecture on Hugo on the Linhai campus， part of Taizhou University， allowed us to meet other people. A teacher offered each of us a book that he has just published on free verse. He was keen to receive publications from us. To spare our arms and suitcases， Arnaud did not bring any of his books， most of which are quite heavy. We offered him a short biography of Hugo by Danièle： ， published by Portaparole， which we both signed for him.

The students' engagement was impressive. At the end of our conference， we asked if they had any questions. They came quick and fast. One of the students wanted to know if Jean Valjean and Javert （characters in ） couldnt， in the end， join forces. We answered no. Javert stands for order， law， and respect for rules in a very rigid way. Jean Valjean， convicted of stealing a loaf of bread and sentenced to the galleys， has a very different outlook. He knows that one must take into account what makes a human being， what he has experienced， and the circumstances in which he acts. When Javert discovers the generosity of Jean Valjean， a former convict， he cannot bear to live any longer， realizing that all his certainties are crumbling. A student was， for her part， very surprised by what we told about a poem entitled ： Hugo asks us to forgive the wicked， even the tyrants. We explained that when someone who has misbehaved is in the position of a victim， Hugo defends him， no matter what he has done. We felt that these students would have liked to ask other questions， but our schedule was busy. We therefore had to leave， but happy to have been able to share some time with these young people.

The next day we returned to our country.? China has surprised us with its modernity， but we have also met a China full of old tales， legends and History. The Chinese moved us with their thirst for interaction and seemed to us to share with Victor Hugo the dream of harmony between peoples and cultures. We found many of our Chinese friends smiling， and we have very often been received by them with the kind smile that inspired the Austrian composer Franz Lehar's operetta . As we left， we took that smile home with us.

We thank Bradley Stephens for his corrections of the English text.