文/馬克·力文（Mark Levine） 譯/史聰一

“馬克先生，您能為麗江譜歌一曲嗎？”這一請求來自云南省國際關(guān)系辦公室主任的阮朝奇先生。那是2017年8月8日，彼時，我正在出席 “2017年度高層次外國專家休假活動”的一個晚宴，阮先生恰好就坐在我的旁邊。

本次休假活動由國家外國專家局（SAFEA）組織（注：2018年，科學(xué)技術(shù)部與國家外國專家局重組為新的科學(xué)技術(shù)部）。此行共有60名外國專家，我有幸成為其中的一員。而在這些專家中，不乏攜配偶同行者，甚至還有一些專家的孩子也隨行。與他們中的多數(shù)人不盡相同，我之所以收到邀約，是因為此前榮獲了中國政府友誼獎的殊榮。

與本土歌手同唱當(dāng)?shù)孛窀?/h2>

在那次晚宴之上共有8—9桌，每桌有2位中國官員陪同，而阮先生便是列席者之一。對于諸多共同出席的外國人士，阮先生與其同事們都盡可能地去結(jié)識。因為當(dāng)時正巧坐在他的左手邊，于是阮先生便“從我開始”了。

在中國的56個民族（其中94%的人口為漢族，剩下的6%為其他55個少數(shù)民族）之中，僅云南一省內(nèi)便有其中27個少數(shù)民族分布。以納西族為主，共有22個少數(shù)民族生活在麗江這座古城周邊。因此，對于我執(zhí)教中央民族大學(xué)的身份，阮先生及其他與會嘉賓頗感興趣。

除了談及我的教學(xué)內(nèi)容外，我還聊到了自己所創(chuàng)作的歌曲，其中有60余首與中國相關(guān)，我還向他介紹了我在中國的諸多巡演。阮先生于是問我能否為麗江譜歌一曲。我回應(yīng)他：“我需要一些時間，但我樂意為之?！?/p>

在晚宴開始前，一位納西族女歌手進(jìn)行了簡短的音樂演奏，即用納西族方言演唱了數(shù)首當(dāng)?shù)孛窀?。阮先生對我說：“您也應(yīng)該為我們大家登臺獻(xiàn)曲啊?！笔聦嵣?，我也很希望能夠與大家分享自己的音樂作品，但因為缺少吉他的伴奏，我有些猶豫。于是我說：“我的吉他不在身邊！”“我們試試看能否幫您找到一把吉他?！庇谑牵钕壬鷵芡穗娫挘⑴c他的一位同事平靜地交談起來。二十分鐘過后，他對我說：“我們?yōu)槟业搅艘话鸭?。”因為?dāng)天晚宴的舉辦地點正巧在我們所下榻酒店的二層，所以在晚宴的間歇，他安排同事向一位正在一層吧臺休息的獨奏吉他手借到了吉他。

隨即，我來到隔壁的房間調(diào)試吉他，查看其調(diào)弦及音色狀況是否正常。忽然，我聽到有人在呼報我的名字，意識到他們正在對我進(jìn)行入場前的介紹。于是，我隨即登臺，演奏了兩首曲目。第一首歌曲便是絕大多數(shù)中國人耳熟能詳?shù)囊皇字袊枨骸陡覇柭吩诤畏健?，這是電視連續(xù)劇《西游記》的主題曲，根據(jù)中國經(jīng)典同名小說改編。而第二首是我早期所創(chuàng)作的一首曲目：《我可愛的亞洲雙眸》。在第二首歌的演唱過程中，我有一段是用中文進(jìn)行的，因為早在我十年前參加《星光大道》的時候，節(jié)目組便要求我對其中的一部分進(jìn)行中文演唱。

演唱完畢后，我向阮先生表示自己還想再演唱兩首中國云南風(fēng)的歌曲。阮先生顯得非常高興。而當(dāng)我表示自己要與納西族歌手共同登臺演唱時，阮先生越發(fā)欣喜。于是，在征得阮先生的同意后，我便走向納西族女歌手，邀請她與我共同演唱歌曲，她也欣然應(yīng)允。相比于觀眾們在獨唱環(huán)節(jié)的積極回應(yīng)，我們在雙人合唱環(huán)節(jié)的表演則贏得了更多的贊許。對于我能夠演唱當(dāng)?shù)馗枨?，并且還能與當(dāng)?shù)馗枋滞_合唱的舉動，地方官員們同樣表現(xiàn)得異常高興。無獨有偶，許多在場的外國嘉賓與觀眾也同樣對此次演出贊譽(yù)有加，有一些人甚至回應(yīng)道：“終于明白您為什么能夠贏得友誼獎這樣的殊榮了！”

第二天，我們一行人去參觀了當(dāng)?shù)氐穆糜尉包c，其中就包括著名的虎跳峽與玉龍雪山。當(dāng)晚，我們所參觀的最后一處景點便是麗江古城，以及聞名遐邇的納西東巴文化博物館劇場。對于劇場內(nèi)的音樂演奏，我尤其喜歡，因為在兩年前的麗江之旅中，我遺憾地與當(dāng)時劇場的演奏擦肩而過。

作為大研納西古樂會會長，宣科于1981年創(chuàng)立納西族管弦樂團(tuán)，旨在保護(hù)有“音樂活化石”之稱的納西族民樂。如今，納西族管弦樂的表演已然成為麗江本地的標(biāo)志性文化符號，并成為 “必不可少”的當(dāng)?shù)毓?jié)目。

在此次劇場的參觀過程中，我們有幸見到了宣科，他已有89歲高齡。但令人更為驚訝的事情遠(yuǎn)不止此，而是在這個約由15名音樂家所組成的樂團(tuán)內(nèi)，竟然有6位成員比宣科還要年長。出于身體原因，無論是在個人及樂團(tuán)的詳細(xì)介紹層面，還是在登臺演出方面，宣科都受到了不同程度的制約，以至于在長達(dá)45分鐘的演奏過程中，觀眾僅僅在開場階段才能夠目睹他本人顯露身手的二胡演奏。宣科本人能夠講流利的英語，使我一度認(rèn)為這是他在全球范圍內(nèi)巡回演出的過程中所練就的硬功夫。

作者（右二）在麗江了解納西古樂

關(guān)于自創(chuàng)歌曲的投票逸事

行程結(jié)束后，我便啟程返回北京。大約又過了一個月，我將《一個叫做麗江的地方》的歌詞寄給了阮先生。在此之后，我便開始根據(jù)歌詞對曲目進(jìn)行創(chuàng)作。事實上，我一共為這首歌譜曲三首，每一首曲目在曲調(diào)與節(jié)奏上均不相同。這三首歌全部是我在住所內(nèi)簡單錄制的，我也將它們一并寄給阮先生。他向我表示感謝，但卻在而后近四個月的時間內(nèi)杳無音訊。

時至2018年初春，云南省外事辦的一位工作人員與我取得聯(lián)系，并詢問我是否有時間參加即將在6月舉辦的會議。會議致力于國際人才的溝通與交流，分議題可謂是五花八門。會議的發(fā)起點設(shè)定在云南省的省會昆明市，與會后我將啟程前往麗江。就在此次會議開始前的一個月，阮先生再次與我取得聯(lián)系，并直接告知我攜帶吉他前去參會。他表示，希望我能夠出席此次會議，但對我的參會行程會另做安排：阮先生計劃讓我同麗江政府的相關(guān)代表進(jìn)行會面，并希望我能夠?qū)Α兑粋€叫做麗江的地方》的三種不同版本進(jìn)行演奏。他還希望我能夠與政府代表進(jìn)行相互協(xié)商，并從這三個選項中選出一個，作為這首歌的官方版本。

會議的開幕儀式在昆明如期舉行，約有1000人出席，其中有近150名外國友人，而其余參會者均為中方的政府官員、商人及媒體代表。而在麗江，我更是受到了當(dāng)?shù)匚幕块T代表的熱烈歡迎。在參觀完麗江本地世襲家族的歷史古宅后，我便返回下榻酒店，去出席一場關(guān)于這首歌曲的相關(guān)會議。

會面者有四名當(dāng)?shù)氐募{西族音樂家與作曲人，三名麗江文化部門的工作人員，以及兩名當(dāng)?shù)孛襟w的記者朋友——他們準(zhǔn)備在《麗江日報》上對此次“歷史性會晤”進(jìn)行后續(xù)報道。除傅涵外，其他人均不懂英語，因此她對歌詞內(nèi)容向各方進(jìn)行闡釋，并為我們的討論進(jìn)行翻譯。

我先介紹了歌曲，并對三首曲目歌詞雖然相同，但卻擁有三種不同的曲風(fēng)進(jìn)行了解釋。隨后，我對三種版本依次進(jìn)行演奏：暫且設(shè)定編號為1、2和3。當(dāng)演奏結(jié)束時，其中一位音樂家詢問我是否能夠?qū)?再次演奏，而另一位音樂家則希望我能夠?qū)?再次進(jìn)行演奏。

身為教師，我曾經(jīng)有過十年的辯論團(tuán)隊教練經(jīng)歷，而在我演奏結(jié)束后，便隨即進(jìn)入了最為激烈的討論環(huán)節(jié)。我充分感受到：這真是一場熱烈的討論。其中一位音樂家建議我將部分歌詞進(jìn)行翻譯，并用納西族方言進(jìn)行演唱；而另外兩位音樂家們則對此持否定意見，并肯定了英語歌詞的必要性：他們表示這并非一首納西族民歌，而是通過一位外國友人的視角對該地區(qū)的一種呈現(xiàn)，所以應(yīng)該使用作詞者的母語進(jìn)行演唱；而最后一位音樂家則主張在演唱過程中加入納西族樂器，但這同樣也引起了其他人的拒絕與反駁。

最后，我們邀請在場的九人分別參與調(diào)查，請他們選出自己最喜歡的版本，并闡明緣由。于是乎，每個人的確選出了最喜愛的版本……但是，其中三位選擇了版本1，三位選擇了版本2——你猜對了，剩下的三位果然不約而同地選擇了版本3。

對于他們而言，我這位外國友人為他們的城市（麗江）寫歌作曲，并從歌曲中講述麗江故事，是一件倍感欣喜的事情。最終，在眾人的支持下，歌曲的三個版本全部得到保留，并且還賦予了我在各種不同場合根據(jù)情況進(jìn)行演繹的權(quán)利。

再見宣科

毫無疑問，這一天的到來令人倍感興奮。然而確切地講，無論是這一天，還是這番激動的心情，都尚未畫上句號。

我與傅涵同文化部門的工作人員共進(jìn)晚餐。在此期間，盡快結(jié)束用餐的催促不絕于耳，但我本人對此卻一頭霧水。

我們一行人來到古城的邊緣，在大約步行了十分鐘后，便抵達(dá)了劇院。此時，距離演出開始還有半個小時，我正優(yōu)哉地觀望著劇場外的照片與標(biāo)語，此時傅涵走上前來，通知我是時候進(jìn)入劇場了。我好奇道：“這是為什么？我們足有半個小時的時間呢！”“宣科正等著見我們呢?！庇谖叶?，這無疑是一個意料之外的驚喜。隨后，我們便跟隨著宣科女兒的腳步進(jìn)入劇場，來到了一個由辦公室與更衣間組合而成的地方——正是在這里，我們見到了宣科，以及幾位與他合作的音樂人。

此前，我們與宣科因文化部門領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的引薦而相識。而在先前的訪問活動中，我了解到宣科能夠熟練地掌握英語，不需要任何人來擔(dān)任翻譯。在我看來，宣科能夠做到這一切絕非因為其曾周游列國，而是另有原因。果不其然，我隨后便得知：宣科的父親是麗江第一位能夠講英語的本地人。至于宣科本人，則在童年時期求學(xué)于德國教會學(xué)校，并從那時起開始學(xué)習(xí)英文。

我向宣科介紹了自創(chuàng)的歌曲，同時對自己隨行準(zhǔn)備了歌詞副本感到慶幸，并讓宣科一并過目。在此期間，我特意提到了歌曲創(chuàng)作中與宣科及劇場有關(guān)的內(nèi)容，能夠感受到的是他本人的那份愜意與欣喜。

在大家探討的過程中，我還提到了俄國作家顧彼得（Peter Goullart）的著作《被遺忘的王國》，因為我曾在其中了解了一些關(guān)于麗江的情況。在1942年至1949年間，顧彼得曾被中國工業(yè)合作社（Gung Ho，即工合組織）委派至麗江擔(dān)任代表。聽到這里，宣科顯得十分高興，因為他不僅和顧彼得是老相識，其父親還曾在顧彼得身邊擔(dān)任秘書一職。他向我們講述了一些關(guān)于顧彼得故居的事情，包括故居所處的位置，以及彼時那里的忙碌情形。

在《被遺忘的王國》一書中，顧彼得曾對麗江名稱的由來做出如下解釋：

在漢語中，麗江的字面含義為“美麗的河流”。而這一河段則被稱為金沙江，也就是眾所周知的長江（分流段），在其東西兩段的沖刷下，形成了麗江環(huán)流，而麗江古城便坐落在這座沖積平原之上。無論從何處觀望，麗江與古城的距離皆為25公里，但要抵達(dá)河流北部的環(huán)頂之處確需時日。因此，無論是對于這條河流本身，還是對這座古城而言，麗江（美麗的河流）這個名字都當(dāng)之無愧。而與中國絕大多數(shù)城鎮(zhèn)不同，城墻在麗江古城曾無處尋覓。而作為一個縣城，麗江在人口稀少的云南省內(nèi)卻占據(jù)著廣闊的地域。（馬克·力文：1948年出生于美國洛杉磯，社會學(xué)博士、專欄作家、鄉(xiāng)村音樂人，現(xiàn)任中央民族大學(xué)教授。2005年來中國，創(chuàng)作了許多反映中國的歌曲，并與傅涵成立“秀外慧中”音樂組合，2014年獲中國政府友誼獎。）

“Mark, can you write a song about LiJiang?” This request is coming from Mr. Ruan Chaoqi, the Director of the Office of International Relations in Yunnan Province. It is August 8, 2017 and I am sitting next to him at a banquet on the first evening of the “Vacation of High-Level Foreign Experts in LiJiang 2017.”

The vacation has been organized by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) which is responsible for authorizing the employment of foreign experts in China. [NOTE:As of 2018, SAFEA has been incorporated into the Ministry of Science and Technology.] I am one of about 60 experts, some of whom are accompanied by their spouse and in a few instances,by their children. My invitation, as is the case with many others,the result of my having won the Chinese National Friendship Award.

Sing Local Song with Local Singer

At the banquet Mr. Ruan is one of two Chinese of ficials sitting at each of the 8-9 tables. He and his colleagues at each table are focused on getting to know the many foreigners at their tables.Sitting just to his left, he starts with me.

Of the 56 Chinese ethnic groups (the 94% majority Han and the 55 minorities), 27 can be found in Yunnan Province. Although the main minority in LiJiang is the Naxi, 22 of nationalities are present in or nearby this ancient city. As a result, Mr. Ruan and the others have particular interest in the fact that I teach at Minzu University.

In addition to talking about me teaching my introduction includes the fact that I have written nearly six dozen songs about China and I tell him of many performances around the country. Mr. Ruan’s response is the question I open with about writing a song about LiJiang. “I’ll need a little time, but I will be happy to write one.”

Near the beginning of the dinner, there is a brief musicalperformance by a Naxi woman singer who sings a couple local songs in the Naxi dialect. During this performance, Mr. Ruan says, “You should sing for us.” I am also interested sharing my music but generally hesitant to do so without being able to accompany my singing with my guitar. I note that “I do not have my guitar.” “Let me see if I can find you one.” He calls over and quietly speaks with one of his colleagues who returns about 20 minutes later to report that he had gotten me a guitar.Our dinner is on the second floor of the hotel where we are staying and he had arranged to borrow one from a solo guitarist who was on a break from his set playing in the empty bar on the first fl oor.

I go to an adjacent room to see the guitar and to check its tuning. Suddenly I hear my name and realize that I am being introduced. I come out and perform two songs. The first is a Chinese song that is familiar to most of the Chinese in attendance, “Gan Wen Lu Zai Hefang” which was the theme song from the TV show “Journey to the West” based on the classic Chinese novel of the same name. For my second song, I choose one of my early songs, “My Lovely Asian Eyes,” which includes one chorus that I sing in Chinese as was required when I sang it on the “Star Avenue” TV show almost a decade ago.

After singing these I speak to Mr. Ruan and tell him that I would like to sing two more Chinese songs, both of which are from Yunnan Province. He is happy to hear that and even happier when I tell him I would like to sing them with the Naxi singer. Getting his agreement, I approach the singer with my request and she agrees. While I got a positive response to my initial solo performance, the response to this duet was even greater. The local officials were very happy that I sang some local songs and did it with a local performer. Similarly, the foreigners were impressed and a few responded, “It is clear why you received the Friendship Award.”

The following day were toured some local scenic spots including Tiger Leaping Gorge and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. That evening was topped off by a visit to the history LiJiang Old Town and the famous Naxi Museum Theater. I was particularly excited about the musical performance as this is something that I missed on my earlier visit to LiJiang two years earlier.

Xuan Ke President of the Dayan Naxi Music Association and founded the famous Naxi Orchestra in 1981 to protect the disappearing music that is known as “l(fā)iving music fossil.” Naxi Orchestra performances have become a trademark of Lijiang with their “must see” (and hear) program.

At the time of this visit to the theater, Xuan Ke is 89 years old.That was quite amazing, but even more amazing is that ofthe 15 or so musicians in the orchestra, there are six who are older than he is. Xuan Ke’s health limited his performance to presenting a detailed introduction of both himself and the orchestra and performing, on the er-hu, only on the opening number out of the 45-minute concert. He speaks in flawless English which at the time I believe was the result of his worldwide travel to perform.

A Polling for My Song

I return to Beijing after our tour and about a month later I send Mr. Ruan the lyrics to “A Place that’s Called LiJiang.” After that I work on melodies to go with the lyrics and actually come up with three versions that are different in key and tempo. I do a simple home recording of all three and send them to Mr. Ruan as well. He thanks me but I don’t hear any more from him for about four months.

In the early spring of 2018 I am contacted by a member of his staff in the provincial Foreign Affairs Office who asks about my availability to attend a conference that will be held in the June. The conference, focusing on the exchange of international personnel with a variety of subtopics, is to begin in the capital city of Kunming and then I will then go to LiJiang. A month or so before the conference is to begin Mr. Ruan contacts me directly and tells me to bring my guitar. He says that he wants me to attend this conference but there is something else that he has in mind. He is planning for me to meet with representativesfrom the LiJiang government and wants me to perform all three versions of “A Place That’s Called LiJiang.” He wants us to discuss them and decide which should be the of ficial version.

The initial meeting in Kunming sees about 1000 people in attendance. About 150 of these are foreigners and the rest are Chinese business people, government officials or media representatives. In LiJiang, we are greeted by representatives of the Culture Department of LiJiang. After a visit to the historic home of an old ruling family in LiJiang, we return to our hotel for the anticipated meeting about the song.

Gathered together are four local Naxi musicians/composers,three staff members from the LiJiang Culture Department and two local media personnel to report on this historic meeting which they did in a subsequent article in the LiJiang Daily newspaper. None of them speak English and Fu Han is there to both explain the lyrics of the song and interpret our discussion.I then introduce the song and explain that although the lyrics are the same, there are three different versions. I perform the three versions in sequence: 1, 2 and 3. When I am done, one of the musicians asks me to perform the second version again.Then another asks be to perform the third version again.

I have spent 10 years as a debate coach and teacher and what followed my performance was a most active debate between those who were there, with the musicians being the most activite participants. One suggested that I should translate part of the lyrics and sing it in the Naxi language. Two others disagree and say it should all be in English. They say, it is not a Naxi song but about the area through the eyes of a foreigner and it should also be through the foreigner’s words. Another musician suggests that we could add in a Naxi musical instrument, but that is rebutted and rejected by the others, as well.

We then do a polling of each of the nine attendees and ask them to identify which version they prefer and to give their reasons why. Everyone has a favorite BUT … three people preferred version 1, three people preferred version 2 and, yes, that means the remaining three preferred version 3.

They are all happy that this foreigner had written a song about their city and very pleased with the story that it tells. Finally,I was encouraged to keep all three and decide which I want to perform on each individual occasion.

Meet Xuan Ke Again

It is a most exciting day, but neither the day nor the excitement were over yet.Fu Han and I go for dinner with the Culture Department staff. I am told to eat quickly but I didn’t know why. We are supposed to hook up with the Director of the Culture Department and go to the Naxi Theater for a performance.What a great surprise!

We get to the edge of the Old Town and walk about ten minutes to the theater. We arrive 30 minutes before the performance and I am leisurely looking at the photos and the signs outside when Fu Han tells me that we have to go inside. I asked, “Why?We still have 30 minutes.” “Xuan Ke is waiting to meet us.”An even bigger surprise. We are taken into the theater by Xuan Ke’s daughter and led into a small combination of fice and dressing room where we see Xuan Ke and a few of his fellow musicians.We are introduced by the leader of the Culture Department. As I learned in my earlier visit Xuan Ke’s English was very good and no translator is required. My guess that this was do to his international travels was not the reason for this. Xu Ke explains that his father was the first Chinese English speaker in LiJiang and Xuan Ke, himself, had learned English as a child in a German missionary school.

I tell Xuan Ke about my song and hand him a copy of the lyrics which I fortunately still have on me after our meeting. I make note of the fact that I talk about him and the theater in the song and he is very pleased to hear that.

During the course of our discussion I also mention that I had learned some about LiJiang from having read famous book about the city called Forgotten Kingdom, by the Russian, Peter Goullart. From 1942 to 1949, Goullart was the representative of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives (Gung Ho) in LiJiang. Xuan Ke is also happy to hear this, not only because he knew Goullart but because his father was Goullart’s secretary. He tells us some about Goullart’s house, the location and what a busy place it used to be.

Peter Goullart gave an explanation of the meaning of the name of Lijiang in Forgotten Kingdom.

The name Lijiang means in Chinese the Beautiful River. This refers to the great River of the Golden Sand, more popularly known as the Yangtze, which fl ows to the west and east of the town and forms the vast loop in which Lijiang is situated. The river is only twenty-five miles from the city in either direction, but it takes days to reach the apex of the loop in the north. … The epithet Beautiful River was more than deserved by both the river and town. Unlike most Chinese cities,Lijiang had no wall. It was a large place as towns go in the sparsely populated Yunnan province.

「責(zé)任編輯：管貞」