纪录片《中国美食之旅》 第74期:广东篇(11)（在线收听）

Before I visit my father's family tomorrow,

在明天拜访我父亲家之前

I'm taking a walk in the city's old colonial area, Shamian Island,

我去了这个城市的旧殖民地，沙面岛

which is where my parents did some of their courting

我的父母曾在那里谈恋爱

My father was a GI and he fought in WWII, and he got leave after the war.

我的父亲是个美军士兵，他参加了第二次世界大战，战后他获准休假

And he chose to come here, where he met my mother, and they fell in love.

他选择来到这里，在这里遇到了我的母亲，他们坠入了爱河

My parents emigrated to America as newlyweds,

我的父母婚后移民去了美国

but my father died when I was just eight months old, aged 33.

但父亲在我八个月大时就去世了，那时他才33岁

My mother brought me up alone in Chicago's China Town.

我的母亲一个人在芝加哥的中国城把我带大

My father never existed for me except in photographs.

父亲对我来说像是从未存在过一样，除了在照片上

My mother never talked about him very much, so...

我的母亲从来不多谈论他，所以…

I grew up with him only as an image.

陪伴我长大的只是他的一张照片

My mum never remarried,

我的母亲没有再婚，

and I think she was of the old traditional Chinese school that,

而且我认为她认同中国古代的传统观念

if you have children, then you didn't remarry,

如果你有了孩子，你就不能再婚

and so that feels kind of sad for her.

我为她感到有点难过

Apart from my father and me,

撇开我父亲和我不谈

my mother had two other great loves in her life.

我母亲在她的生命中还有两个最爱

The game of mah jong, and Cantonese opera.

麻将和粤剧

Before we go our separate ways,

在我们分别之前

I want to share this traditional Cantonese art form with Ching.

我想和瀞亿共同欣赏这个广东传统艺术

Cantonese opera dates back to the 16th century and had its heyday in the 1920s.

粤剧起源于16世纪，全盛期是在20世纪20年代

Today, a few Guangzhou restaurants put on daily performances.

如今，一些广州餐馆每天上演粤剧

It's kind of surreal, cos I feel like

这有一点不真实的感觉，因为我觉得

I've just come to a restaurant, but they're performing.

我只是去了一家餐馆，但他们却正在演出

It's really beautiful though, I really love the costumes.

它真的很美，我真的很喜欢这戏服

And it's very old fashioned.

这是个很古老的样式

You see, most of these people are of a certain age here,

你看，这里的人年龄大都相仿

they're not working, they're probably retired.

不用工作，大概都退休了

Before widespread education,

在教育普及之前

Cantonese opera taught morals and messages to its audiences.

粤剧向它的观众教授道德，传递信息

Are they all based on, like, old legends?

而且它们都是基于，好像，古代传说

Yes, legends, very famous stories, tales... Tales, fables.

是的，传说，非常有名的故事，传说…传说，寓言

It's not only what they say, it's what they're gesturing, a lot of gesturing.

不仅仅是唱词，更重要的是姿势，很多姿势

Do you see? It comes from Tai Chi,

你看到了吗，它来自太极拳

like when they go like that, that's very Chinese.

就像他们那样，非常中国

Today, these performances are more like variety shows, put on for the elderly and tourists.

今天，这种表演更像是综艺节目，专为老年人和游客表演

This is the aria from my mum's favourite opera,

这段出自我妈妈最喜欢的一出戏

and, oh, I mean, God knows how many times I've heard this!

我的意思是，天知道我听过多少遍！