IT’S been a summer of spectacle in London， from the celebrations of the queen’s Diamond Jubilee to the ambitiously named World Shakespeare Festival， and now the grandest show of them all， the 2012 Summer Olympics， which will formally begin tonight with an extravagant opening ceremony orchestrated by the film director Danny Boyle.

對倫敦來說，這是一個被盛典綴滿的夏天。從英女王登基60周年慶典，到命名夸張的世界莎士比亞戲劇節(jié)，當然還有最為璀璨的2012年倫敦夏季奧運會。富麗華美的開幕式將于今夜登場，幕后指導是曾因《貧民窟的百萬富翁》獲得奧斯卡金像獎的英國本土導演丹尼·波爾。

It’s no accident that all this theater is taking place in a Britain staggered by economic meltdown， a controversial austerity budget and a crisis of political legitimacy following the hacking scandal， which exposed the cozy relationship between News Corporation and the nation’s elite. At times of political or economic crisis， the British have always turned to spectacles as a way of projecting — or creating — power.

目下的英國經(jīng)濟不景氣，緊縮的財政預算引發(fā)了各方爭議，還面臨著一場政治合法性危機，因為竊聽丑聞使新聞集團和英國政治精英之間的親密關(guān)系無所遁形。盛典恰在此時紛至沓來，這樣的情形絕非巧合。回顧歷史，在遇到政治或經(jīng)濟困難的時刻，英國人總是會通過舉辦盛典的方式來顯示——或者是重塑——國家的力量。

Shakespeare often explored how spectacle could hide weakness on the British stage. He learned it from the true master of this art: Queen Elizabeth I. At her accession in 1558， she inherited a kingdom sharply divided between Catholics and Protestants and facing the threat of a Spanish invasion. She took to the streets of London in a lavish coronation procession， where she made a show of being moved by her subjects’ love for her， setting the tone for a “Cult of Elizabeth” in the national imagination. “We princes， ” she said， “are set on stages， in the sight and view of all the world. ”

莎士比亞曾經(jīng)頻繁探索，如何在英國的舞臺上通過盛典掩飾虛弱。他從一名精通此術(shù)的大師身上習得真諦，而此人正是英女王伊麗莎白一世。1558年，伊麗莎白一世登基，她所接手的王國正面臨著天主教徒和新教徒之間的尖銳分歧，還面臨著西班牙入侵的威脅。女王決定在倫敦的街道上舉辦奢華的加冕游行，并親臨現(xiàn)場，上演了一場因子民愛戴而深受感動的好戲。有了這樣的基調(diào)，全英民眾開始在腦海中培植“伊麗莎白教”的意識?！拔覀冞@樣的王族，就是活在全世界矚目的舞臺上的，”女王說。

Centuries later， Londoners wearied by the Blitz and five years of world war turned to Shakespeare. Cinematic legend has it that Winston Churchill commissioned a rousing film production of “Henry V， ” starring Laurence Olivier， to coincide with the planned invasion of France. Churchill even instructed tax officials to consider Olivier’s salary tax-free. The Inland Revenue was not pleased. But what’s money compared to British glory?

歷史翻到幾個世紀之后，厭煩了閃電式轟炸和綿延五年的世界大戰(zhàn)的英國人將目光轉(zhuǎn)向了莎士比亞 。電影界的一個傳說是，戰(zhàn)時首相丘吉爾曾在即將強攻法國時下令拍攝了鼓舞人心的影片《亨利五世》，主演是勞倫斯·奧利弗。丘吉爾甚至指示稅務(wù)官員，讓他們考慮對奧利弗的薪水免稅。英國的國內(nèi)稅務(wù)局不樂意了，但什么樣的金錢比得上不列顛的榮譽呢？

When London last staged the Olympics， in 1948， the capital was still scarred by bomb damage， ration cards were required to buy food， and the athletes were housed in the homes of volunteers. But these “Austerity Games” showed the world the city’s resilience at a time when postwar rebuilding had only just begun. In contemporary Britain， austerity may once again be the political reality， but where there’s no bread， there can apparently be circuses.

倫敦上一次舉辦奧運會是在1948年 ，炮彈轟炸在城市里留下的傷疤還歷歷在目。買食物需要配給卡，運動員只能住在志愿者的房子里。但是，在那個戰(zhàn)后重建工作剛剛開始的時候，那屆“艱苦樸素的奧運會”向世界展示了倫敦的韌性。在今天的倫敦，艱苦樸素恐怕會再次成為政治上的現(xiàn)實，但對英國來說，即使在沒有面包的地方，顯然也可以有馬戲團。

In December， Prime Minister David Cameron doubled the budget for the Games’s opening and closing ceremonies， to about $107 million， to “showcase the best of Britain to a massive global TV audience. ” Reports this week from London speak of tension on the set; if tempers are running high， it’s probably because so much is at stake. Critics are questioning the expense of the games， which will cost a total of about $18 billion， with words like “fiasco， ” “disaster” and “complete nightmare. ” Last year， rioters， and the Occupy protesters encamped at St. Paul’s Cathedral， staged their own spectacles of anger and dissent. But Mr. Boyle’s big-budget ceremony， titled “Isles of Wonder” in a nod to a speech by Caliban in “The Tempest， ” will try to deliver exactly what Elizabethan London did so well: theater that resolves the culture’s tensions by entrancing even its furious Calibans with the wonders of this sceptered isle.

去年12月，英國首相戴維·卡梅倫將奧運會開閉幕式的預算翻倍，提升至1. 07億美元，為的是“向數(shù)量龐大的全球電視觀眾展現(xiàn)出不列顛最精彩的一面”。但就本周從倫敦發(fā)回的報道來看，這種大手筆似乎引起了社會氣氛的緊張。如果說民眾情緒激動，恐怕是因為英國押的寶太大了?？倲?shù)高達180億美元左右的奧運會開銷受到批評家的質(zhì)疑，批評聲中不乏“慘敗”、“災難”和“徹底的噩夢”這樣的字眼。去年，騷亂者和“占領(lǐng)”運動的抗議者們在圣保羅大教堂扎營抗議，自行上演了一場以憤怒和異議為主題的“盛會”。但波爾導演的這場預算高昂的開幕式以“奇幻之島”為名，借用了莎劇《暴風雨》當中卡利班的說法，旨在做到和伊麗莎白一世當年一模一樣的事情：以戲劇性的場面紓解文化中的沖突，方法則是用這個君主島國的種種奇跡麻醉眾人，甚至是像卡利班這樣的憤怒反對派。

In the midst of the World Shakespeare Festival this summer， archaeologists discovered the remains of the Curtain — Shakespeare’s theater during the building of the Globe， the original “wooden O” of “Henry V” — beneath a construction site in East London. What lies hidden at the foundations of London， it turns out， is theater. The raising of the Curtain offered a timely reminder of another age in which spectacles of power concealed mountains of debt. In the 1590s， both Shakespeare’s company and Queen Elizabeth were in the red， but that made the performance of wealth and power all the more crucial.

今夏的世界莎士比亞戲劇節(jié)期間，考古學家在倫敦東區(qū)的建筑工地下發(fā)現(xiàn)了“帷幕劇場”的遺址，也就是莎翁在“環(huán)球劇場”建造期間（亦即《亨利五世》上演期間）使用的木制環(huán)形劇場。倫敦城的基石竟然是一座劇場。帷幕劇場的重現(xiàn)天光是一個適時的提醒，讓人們想起了另一個力量炫示遮掩如山債務(wù)的時代。在16世紀90年代，莎士比亞劇團和伊麗莎白女王都是負債累累，這倒使得財富和權(quán)勢的展示顯得更為關(guān)鍵了。

What “Henry V” taught British audiences was the power of performance to overcome fear. “Imitate the action of the tiger， ” Henry tells his soldiers when urging them once more unto the breach， “disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage. ” That is， show me your war face; act like a hero and you’ll become one; make history by imitating past glories.

《亨利五世》帶給英國觀眾的啟發(fā)是，表演的力量可以克服恐懼。在催促士兵再一次沖上城墻缺口的時候，亨利五世說道：“模仿老虎的動作，用可怖的怒火遮掩你們溫和的個性?！?這句話的意思就是，將你好戰(zhàn)的一面暴露出來；像英雄那樣行事，你就會成為一名英雄；模仿過去的榮耀可以創(chuàng)造今日的歷史。

Of course， this image of the actor-king is a double-edged sword. Even Elizabeth recognized the portrait of herself in Shakespeare’s portrait of the failed king Richard II， which was staged by her enemies during the Essex Rebellion. “I am Richard II， ” she is believed to have said. “Know ye not that?”

當然，這種國王兼演員的身份是柄雙刃劍。即使是伊麗莎白也從莎翁筆下理查二世的失敗形象當中看到了自己的影子，《理查二世》正是被伊麗莎白在艾塞克斯起義中的死敵搬上舞臺的?！拔揖褪抢聿槎?，”據(jù)信女王曾這樣說過。“你難道不知道嗎？”

Even if the Shakespeare festival confronts Londoners with the unpleasant realization that the most interesting productions of the bard’s plays come dressed in foreign costumes — while their own theater companies have slipped into playing to the tourists who pay the bills — it’s still the empire of culture that colonized those distant lands， mining their traditions to spice up the British imagination.

莎士比亞戲劇節(jié)引起了倫敦市民的不滿，因為劇作家最有意思的劇作竟被別國演員演繹著，而他們本地的劇院正經(jīng)歷票房的下滑，只能給游客們表演些他們愿意付費看的劇目。盡管如此，不列顛仍然是一個文化帝國，它征服了那些遙遠的土地，并利用它們的傳統(tǒng)來刺激本土的想象力。

The British can no longer conquer the world with yeomen’s cries of “God for Harry! England and Saint George!” but the world still tunes in to watch their spectacles with fascination. And more important， so do the British. These spectacles allow them to regain their composure after a season of bad news， but also to compose themselves as the Great Britain we know so well， turning the well-worn face of majesty to the world once more.

不列顛已經(jīng)不能再在帝國義勇軍 “上帝保佑亨利!英格蘭和圣喬治!”的呼聲中征服世界，但全世界仍將目光集中到英國，如癡如醉地觀看他們的盛典。更重要的是，英國人自己也在看。在一系列壞消息之后，這樣的盛典能夠安定民心，還能將英國民眾凝聚成我們所熟悉的大不列顛形象，讓世人再一次看到它那張飽經(jīng)風霜的威嚴面孔。?

Sergei Lobanov-Rostovsky is a professor of English at Kenyon College.