????一部關(guān)注“隨行夫人”群體生活狀態(tài)的小說，故事設(shè)定在20世紀(jì)80年代末至90年代初七年間的菲律賓馬尼拉和瓦努阿圖維拉港。雖然她們大多都接受過良好的教育，本身富有才華，丈夫的身居高職令她們擁有了優(yōu)渥的物質(zhì)條件和當(dāng)?shù)厝藷o(wú)法企及的傭人服務(wù)，但生活也并沒有想象中的美好幸福。畢竟放棄自己原本的事業(yè)和才能，全心全力支持追隨丈夫異國(guó)他鄉(xiāng)的工作，也讓她們失去了自己的個(gè)人身份，從此只是附屬于丈夫的家屬。主角Diana年近35歲，面臨已婚卻遲遲不孕的焦慮，丈夫Jay得到了夢(mèng)寐以求的亞太發(fā)展信托基金任職的機(jī)會(huì)，于是她放棄了安定的工作，跟隨丈夫來(lái)到馬尼拉，通過看醫(yī)生、練瑜伽、冥想、養(yǎng)金魚等方式放松自己一心備孕。也是通過她的視角，講述了同樣生活在陌生國(guó)度的隨行夫人的眾生相，以及20世紀(jì)90年代的菲律賓的動(dòng)蕩和瓦努阿圖天堂般的風(fēng)土人情。她們?cè)谙硎苊谰懊朗硩u嶼熱情的同時(shí)，也面臨著巨大的情感挑戰(zhàn)和現(xiàn)實(shí)壓力。

????初次看到作者名Nicki Chen，以為是一名華裔作家。查了作者生平后，發(fā)現(xiàn)是土生土長(zhǎng)的美國(guó)人，嫁給了中國(guó)丈夫后改隨夫姓。在致謝部分，作者也提到書中大部分內(nèi)容都提取自她當(dāng)年在菲律賓政變未遂期間和在瓦努阿圖生活的日記和觀察細(xì)節(jié)。因此，現(xiàn)實(shí)中作者本身也曾是一名“隨行夫人”，有著長(zhǎng)達(dá)20余年的旅居異國(guó)他鄉(xiāng)經(jīng)歷。文筆平實(shí)細(xì)膩，除了一些專有名詞需要查閱外，整體生動(dòng)易讀。

????整理讀書筆記時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)通過這本書了解到許多菲律賓和瓦努阿圖的知識(shí)，遠(yuǎn)超預(yù)期，仿佛真的搭乘這本書去了一趟燥熱潮濕的馬尼拉和愜意多彩的維拉港。

?

????????????????????????????? ?

一些印象深刻的段落：

動(dòng)蕩的馬尼拉

Chapter 8

People here lived on political drama. They knew the actors and followed their opinions and their rise and fall from power. Expats who’d lived in the Philippines longer than Jay and Diana said that everyone had been starved for news, gossip, and drama during the fourteen-year dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. When he was chased out of the country and democracy restored, they couldn’t get enough.

People who’d lived through that upheaval always seemed to be expecting something almost as big to happen again. Revolutions, demonstrations, and coups were entertainment, all the more stimulating and fun because they were real and just a little bit dangerous.

這里的人們以政治劇為生。他們了解演員，關(guān)注他們的觀點(diǎn)和權(quán)力興衰。在菲律賓生活得比Jay和Diana更久的外國(guó)人說，在Ferdinand Marcos14年的統(tǒng)治期間，每個(gè)人都對(duì)新聞、八卦和戲劇感到饑渴。當(dāng)他被趕出國(guó)門，恢復(fù)民主時(shí)，他們還意猶未盡。

經(jīng)歷過那場(chǎng)動(dòng)蕩的人們似乎總在期待著同樣大的事情再次發(fā)生。革命、示威和政變是一種娛樂，因?yàn)樗鼈兪钦鎸?shí)的，而且有一點(diǎn)危險(xiǎn)，所以更加刺激和有趣。

Chapter 13

Makati had been back to normal for more than a week now. On the fifth day of the occupation, the government negotiated the departure by bus of 818 foreigners who’d been stranded in hotels and condos. The following day, December seventh, the rebels marched back to their barracks in Fort Bonifacio, and Abby, Saudur, and the boys returned to their house. The occupation of Makati had left ninety-nine people dead, fifty of them civilians. Now, a week after Makati’s return to normal, no one knew whether the rebels would be punished. Most of the officers had slipped away.

Makati恢復(fù)正常已經(jīng)有一個(gè)多星期了。占領(lǐng)的第五天，政府協(xié)商讓滯留在酒店和公寓里的818名外國(guó)人乘車離開。第二天，12月7日，叛軍開回了他們?cè)赑ort Bonifacio的軍營(yíng)，Abby、Saudur和男孩們回到了他們的房子。攻占Makati造成99人死亡，其中50人是平民?，F(xiàn)在，在Makati恢復(fù)正常的一周后，沒有人知道叛軍是否會(huì)受到懲罰。大多數(shù)官員只是溜走了。

新赫布里底群島英法共管地

Chapter 19

Vanuatu’s quirky history.

“Back in the days of exploration and colonization . . .” He popped a bite of flan de caramelo into his mouth. “. . . the British, French, and Germans were picking off islands in the South Pacific.” He licked the corner of his mouth and continued. “Fiji became a British colony; the French took Tahiti and New Caledonia; and Germany set its sights on Samoa. But who would get the New Hebrides?” He turned to Liza. “That’s the old name for Vanuatu. Anyway, the Germans were coming up fast, and the Brits and the French didn’t want Germany to get it, so, for the first time in their history, they decided to share. And that’s how the New Hebrides became a French-English condominium.”

“I kid you not. That’s why today in Vanuatu you can speak English in the morning and practice your French in the afternoon. And,” he said, “that’s why, even now, I have freshly baked French bread delivered to my doorstep every morning. I tell you—” he turned to Jay “—Vanuatu is an island paradise. You should come and see for yourself.”

“在探險(xiǎn)和殖民時(shí)期......” 他往嘴里塞了一口焦糖餡餅。“......英國(guó)人、法國(guó)人和德國(guó)人在南太平洋上挑選島嶼?！?他舔了舔嘴角，繼續(xù)說道?！办碀?jì)成為英國(guó)的殖民地；法國(guó)人拿下了Tahiti和New Caledonia；德國(guó)把目光投向Samoa。但誰(shuí)會(huì)得到新赫布里底群島呢？” 他轉(zhuǎn)向Liza?！澳鞘峭吲D的舊稱。總之，德國(guó)人很快就來(lái)了，英國(guó)和法國(guó)不想讓德國(guó)得到它，所以，史上第一次，他們決定共享。這就是新赫布里底群島成為英法共管區(qū)的原因?！?/p>

“我不騙你。這是為什么今天在瓦努阿圖，你可以上午說英語(yǔ)，下午練法語(yǔ)。而且，”他說，“這也是為什么，即使是現(xiàn)在，每天早上都有新鮮出爐的法國(guó)面包送到我家門口。我告訴你--” 他轉(zhuǎn)向Jay，“瓦努阿圖是一個(gè)島嶼天堂。你應(yīng)該自己來(lái)看看?！?/p>

Blackbirding 黑鳥行動(dòng)

19 世紀(jì)中葉以來(lái)，blackbirding 或 blackbird catching 指的是強(qiáng)制招募南太平洋島民工作。 來(lái)自南太平洋西部的美拉尼西亞人和密克羅尼西亞人在澳大利亞、斐濟(jì)和薩摩亞的種植園中受到青睞。 來(lái)自南太平洋東部的波利尼西亞人大多被帶到秘魯和夏威夷王國(guó)。 此外，大量島民被帶到歐洲船只上從事捕魚和海軍服務(wù)。 招募過程中常常會(huì)使用欺騙、威脅和暴力。黑鳥被英國(guó)傳教士協(xié)會(huì)和皇家海軍懷疑是奴隸貿(mào)易（參考維基百科）。

Chapter 25

“I figured they were Gurkha soldiers recruited by the British. And they were. What I wanted to know was where they were going. They said they’ll be on our plane to Fiji. From there, they’ll head into the island’s interior for a month and a half of jungle training. Then they’ll fly back to HK.” “Gurkhas are the fiercest fighters on the planet,” he said.

“我猜他們是英國(guó)人招募的廓爾喀士兵。他們確實(shí)是。我想知道的是他們要去哪里。他們說他們將乘坐我們的飛機(jī)前往斐濟(jì)。從那里，他們將進(jìn)入該島的內(nèi)陸地區(qū)，進(jìn)行為期一個(gè)半月的叢林訓(xùn)練。然后他們將飛回香港?！?“廓爾喀人是地球上最兇猛的戰(zhàn)士”他說。

瓦努阿圖的民族構(gòu)成

Chapter 26

the various factions in the country—the ni-Vanuatu from Tanna and Santo, the ranchers and plantation owners and shopkeepers, the French-speaking Vietnamese, and the rich Chinese, some of whom spoke English and some French.

這個(gè)國(guó)家的各個(gè)派別--來(lái)自塔納和桑托的瓦努阿圖人、牧場(chǎng)主、種植園主和店主、講法語(yǔ)的越南人，以及富有的中國(guó)人，其中一些人講英語(yǔ)，一些人講法語(yǔ)。

！！瓦努阿圖人的英文竟然是ni-Vanuatu!!

瓦努阿圖人的語(yǔ)言：比斯拉馬語(yǔ)

Chapter 32

Bislama.

從 1863 年開始，島民招募（blackbirding）成為歐洲商人的一項(xiàng)主要活動(dòng)。 貿(mào)易商招募島民（通常違背他們的意愿）在澳大利亞東北部的斐濟(jì)和昆士蘭的甘蔗田、新喀里多尼亞的鎳礦和西薩摩亞的椰子種植園工作。 由于無(wú)法用自己的語(yǔ)言與其他工人交流，被招募或被俘的工人使用一種簡(jiǎn)單的英語(yǔ)溝通，到本世紀(jì)初整個(gè)太平洋地區(qū)的水手們都在使用。 多年后，當(dāng)工人們返回家鄉(xiāng)（通常被送回錯(cuò)誤的島嶼）時(shí)，他們繼續(xù)使用這種英語(yǔ)，并開始演變成自己的語(yǔ)言，一種他們稱之為Bislama的克里奧爾語(yǔ)。

火山和巫醫(yī)

Chapter 41

“They have witchdoctors in Vanuatu,” she said. “In the villages.”

“What made you think about witchdoctors?”

“This morning Lourdes told me about a woman who hired one to put a spell on her husband’s mistress. The poor girl developed a disgusting rash that no one was able to cure.” Abby shivered. “Lourdes says the best witchdoctors are from Ambrim. Clevas, they call them. Their power comes from fire and brimstone. The island of Ambrim has more than its share of Vanuatu’s active volcanoes.” She laughed and tossed her head as though to dismiss the craziness of witchdoctors and spells.

“在瓦努阿圖有巫醫(yī)，”她說?！霸诖謇?。”

“你怎么想到了巫醫(yī)？”

“今天早上，Lourdes告訴我一個(gè)女人雇了一個(gè)巫醫(yī)給她丈夫的情婦下咒。那個(gè)可憐的女孩長(zhǎng)了惡心的皮疹，沒人能治愈?！盇bby打了個(gè)寒顫?！癓ourdes說最好的巫醫(yī)來(lái)自Ambrim，被稱為Clevas。他們的力量來(lái)自于火和硫磺石。在瓦努阿圖的活火山中，Ambrim島所占比例較高?！彼α诵Γα怂︻^，仿佛在否定巫醫(yī)和法術(shù)的瘋狂。

最后用書中的“隨行夫人守則”對(duì)全書情節(jié)做個(gè)概括吧：

They all had their ups and downs, their complaints and struggles. But when they were together in a group, they tried not to talk about them. It was like an unspoken creed, the “expat-wife rule”: smile, share the small good things, joke about the problems, even if your jokes are sarcastic and mean. And if you must complain, let it be to your husband or best friend. Everyone knew that unhappiness could spread like an infestation of lice. ? --chapter 24

她們都有自己的酸甜苦辣，抱怨掙扎。但是當(dāng)她們?cè)谝黄饡r(shí)，她們盡量不談?wù)撨@些。這就像一個(gè)不言而喻的信條，即 “隨行夫人守則”：微笑，分享細(xì)微美好，問題一笑置之，哪怕你的笑話刻薄諷刺。如果你一定要抱怨，就向你的丈夫或最好的朋友抱怨吧。每個(gè)人都知道，不開心會(huì)像虱子一樣傳播。