Unit 6B - Cutting Across Cultures
Cutting Across Cultures
Mike Tidwell
Against a worn strip of water buffalo leather, the Vietnamese barber slapped his straight razor back and forth. He paused to tilt my head back, leaving my Adam's apple fully exposed to the blade. Looking up now, I saw the flowers of a flaming mimosa tree, its branches forming the delicate ceiling of this one-man outdoor barber shop. I smelled the incense of a nine-hundred-year-old Confucian temple a hundred feet away. I heard the bright bells of bicycles gliding down the wide Hanoi boulevard.
Yet we'd gotten off to a bad start, this barber and I. I figured he was trying to fleece me when, after I asked how much he charged, he didn't tell me. But he was just being polite in Vietnamese fashion, saying I would pay afterward, as much as I wanted, only if I was happy. When I pressed the issue, he just waved me into his wooden chair. I got in, huffing, our cultures colliding as we attempted to communicate.
"How many fallen yellow leaves do you have?" the barber asked me, still whacking his long, gleaming razor against the leather strap. He was asking my age.
"Thirty-three," I answered.
He asked what country I was from. "America," I said.
"I killed many Americans during the war," he said softly. "Many Americans." Moments later, I felt the razor on my throat.
Only when the barber had finished shaving my face and was putting away his razor did it seem safe to raise the issue of price again. Years of travel had led me to anticipate this tactic: The merchant insists on an enormous, unmovable price after the service is rendered. But I hesitated bringing up the subject again. The barber seemed to read my mind nevertheless.
"We Vietnamese people are not so direct as you. We are easier in our ways," he said. "For us, it is not so hard to trust."
He pulled out his scissors now.
"So will I like this haircut?" I asked with a conspicuous hint of sarcasm.
The barber gave me a bright, scolding laugh, his dark eyes narrowing above wrinkles that suggest he had at least sixty fallen yellow leaves himself.
"I, young friend, am a sculptor. Under my hands, rough stone is turned into a beautiful, delicate statue."
"So it's an art form, hair-cutting?" I asked.
He responded sharply, leaving me temporarily confused. "No, it's not an art form. Few people can really cut hair. It is a high art form."
At this he lapsed into ebullient laughter again—and so did I, my suspicions gradually receding.
He began cutting my hair without once asking what I wanted, a common occurrence in my travels in the developing world. Nor did I try to direct him except to ask that he not cut it too short.
"Why do you cut hair outdoors?" I asked. "Is it too expensive to rent a shop?"
He feigned huge offense. "Not at all," he said, now working the scissors across my bangs. "I have many, many clients. I have plenty of money for a shop. But why be a prisoner of walls? I prefer to be outdoors. I feel the wind and sun every day when I work. I smell the flowers of this tree." He then quoted a line from Ho Chi Minh: "There's nothing as good as freedom and independence. Nothing."
Since his adolescence, the barber told me, all he'd wanted to do was cut hair. It was his one true passion. Even during the war he cut hair for his platoon. "
I was working on someone's hair once when your country sent rockets into our camp. Rockets everywhere. I jumped into a foxhole still holding my scissors and comb."
Now that the war was over, the barber wanted nothing more to do with it. "It was a bad time. I fought to make my country free. Now I just want to do good, to make people beautiful."
As a matter of principle, he said, he never bought any of the tools in Vietnam still widely recycled from old war material. "When I need new scissors, I ask: Was this made from a tank? From a cannon? If so, I don't buy."
My haircut was nearly over now, and the barber suddenly made an announcement. The snipping stopped. "You're the first American whose hair I've cut," he said, swinging around till our eyes met. "I shot at many Americans, but never this. You're my first."
As he finished up, the barber told me he cut fifteen to twenty heads a day, every day, and he never missed work because of illness. Quite a record for a man his age, I thought. What was the secret?
"Never sleep late," he said. "Eat when you're hungry. And always help people. Always love people."
Then he added, "I pray, too. I go to the pagoda twice a month and incense and pray for the peace and happiness of all the people in the world. I never leave anyone out. I've prayed for you all your life."
Shortly thereafter, he pulled his barber's sheet off me as if from a masterpiece. If not totally a new man, I felt like I was refurbished.
"What do I pay you if I'm very, very happy?" I asked, now quite won over by the original gentleman's arrangement.
"Nothing," he said with unbreakable finality. "That you are happy is big enough payment for me." I protested effusively, of course, even tried leaving the money tucked in the mimosa tree. But it was no good.
"You owe me nothing," he said.
We parted company with a handshake. As I walked away, it struck me that cutting a traveler's hair must be nearly as interesting for the barber as for the traveler. Perhaps I had given him a minor amusement, a new, small way of thinking about himself. He, meanwhile, had given me something much more than a haircut.
For my haircut not only changed the way I look—but also the way I see.
参考译文——跨文化理发
跨文化理发
迈克·蒂德韦尔
越南理发师在一条旧水牛皮带上来来回回地磨他的剃刀，然后停下来把我的头向后扳，我的喉结完全暴露在了他的刀刃之下。我仰头看见了含羞草怒放的花，花枝搭成了这个理发店精致的天花板，理发店是室外的，且只有一个理发师。我嗅着百尺外九百年孔子庙的焚香，听着河内宽阔的林荫道上自行车铃清脆地响过。
但我们，这个理发师和我，开始的交流并不顺利。我问他修脸理发多少钱，他没有回答我，我猜他是想敲我一笔。但他说理完以后再付，到时候满意的话，愿意给多少就给多少——这只是越南方式的礼貌。我再追问时，他只是挥手示意我坐到木制椅子上。我坐在上面怒气冲冲。在试图沟通的过程中，我们的文化发生了碰撞。
“你有多少片落下的黄叶子啦？”理发师一边问我，一边还在皮带上使劲磨他的又长又亮的剃刀。他是在问我的年龄。
“三十三。”我答道。
他问我从哪个国家来的。“美国。”我说。
“在那场战争中我杀了很多美国人他轻柔地说，“很多。”过了一会儿，我感觉到剃刀压在了我的喉咙上。
当他给我刮完脸，把剃刀拿开之后，我才觉得可以安全地和他讨论价格问题了。多年的旅行使我能够预料到他们的招数：商贩们在服务之后，会要一个谢绝还价的高价。可我犹豫着，不知道是否该继续询问价钱。然而理发师好像看透了我的心思。
“我们越南人不像你们那么直接。我们的相处方式更简单。”他说，“对我们来说，信任别人没那么难。”
现在他拿出了剪子。
“那么我会喜欢你剪的发型吗？”我带着明显的讽刺意味问道。
理发师对我灿烂地笑了，笑意中带着几分责备。他的黑眼睛眯缝起来，聚起一堆皱纹，他至少有六十岁了。
“年轻人，我是一个雕塑家呢，在我手下，粗糙的石头会变成精美的雕像。”
“所以理发是一种艺术形式喽？”我问道。
他的反应很强烈，让我一时有些糊涂。“不，理发不是一种艺术形式，很少有人真正会剪发，这是一种很高的艺术形式。”
他又发出了一串串的笑声，我也笑了，我的怀疑慢慢被消除。
他开始给我理发，一次也没有问我想要什么样的发型。在发展中国家，这种事很常见。我也没去指挥他该怎么剪，只让他别把头发剪得太短了。
“你为什么在室外理发呢，租个店面很贵吗？”我问他。
他假装做出被冒犯了的样子。“才不贵呢。”他说着并开始剪我的刘海。“我有很多很多的顾客，我的钱足够买下一个店，但为什么要被禁锢在几堵墙内呢？我喜欢在户外，每天工作的时候，我能感受到风和太阳，还能闻到这棵树的花香。”然后他引用了胡志明的一句话：“没有什么像自由和独立一样好。没有。”
理发师告诉我，从青少年开始，他最想做的事就是理发。这是他真正的热情所在。就算是在战争时期，他也为他同排的战友理发。
“有一次你们的军队向我们营地发射火箭弹的时候，我正在给别人理发。到处都是火箭弹。我跳进散兵坑的时候手里还拿着剪刀和梳子呢。”
既然战争结束了，理发师再也不想和战争扯上边了。“那是一段糟糕的日子。我为了国家的自由而战。现在我只想行善，让人们更漂亮。”
他说，作为一种原则，他从来不买用回收来的军事废弃品再生产的理发工具。“当我需要新剪子时，我会问：这是用坦克制的？还是用大炮制的？如果是，我就不买。”
现在我的头发快理完了，同时理发师突然宣布了一件事。剪刀的咔嚓声停了下来。“你是我理过发的第一个美国人。”他说着，同时转了转身直到我们四目相遇。“我向很多美国人开过枪，从来没像现在这样做过。你是第一个。”
理发师给我理完发告诉我，他一天要给十五至二十人理发，每天如此，他从未因为生病而不工作。我想，他这个年纪的人能做到这点实在了不起。其中的秘诀是什么呢？
“从来不熬夜。”他说。“饿了就吃，总是帮助别人，总是关爱别人。”
然后他又补充道：“我还做祷告。我一个月去两次寺庙，上香并祈求世界和平、所有人都幸福。我从来没落下任何一个人。你的一生我都在为你祈祷。”
稍后，他从我身上拿下了理发店的罩衫，仿若从一件杰作上取下一样。我感觉自己完全变了一个形象，如果算不上完全变了一个人的话。
“如果我非常非常满意的话，我应该付给你多少钱？”我问道。我现在已对这位绅士先前的安排心悦诚服了。
“一个子儿也不用付。”他坚决地说。“你的快乐是给我的最大的报酬。”我诚心实意地拒绝，当然，还试图把钱叠起来放到含羞树上，但是这样也没用。
“你不欠我的。”他说。
我们握手道别。当我离开的时候，我感触到：给一个游客理发对于游客和理发师来说一定都很有趣，可能我给了他一次小小的娱乐，给了他一个新视角来看待自己。同时，他给予我的也不只是一次理发。
因为我的这次理发不仅改变了我的外表——也改变了我看问题的方法。
Key Words:
communicate [kə'mju:nikeit]
v. 交流，传达，沟通
leather ['leðə]
n. 皮革，皮制品
adj. 皮革制的
tilt [tilt]
vt. (使)倾斜
vi. 抨击，争论
delicate ['delikit]
n. 精美的东西
adj. 精美的，微妙的，美
blade [bleid]
n. 刀锋，刀口
exposed [iks'pəuzd]
adj. 暴露的，无掩蔽的，暴露于风雨中的 v. 暴露，
issue ['iʃju:]
n. 发行物，期刊号，争论点
vi. & vt
ceiling ['si:liŋ]
n. 天花板，上限
incense ['insens,in'sens]
n. 香，香味，阿谀，恭维
vt. 对 ...
razor ['reizə]
n. 剃刀
merchant ['mə:tʃənt]
n. 商人，店主，专家
adj. 商业的
tactic ['tæktik]
n. 战略，策略 adj. 战术的，有策略的
conspicuous [kən'spikjuəs]
adj. 显著的，显而易见的，显眼的
sculptor ['skʌlptə]
n. 雕刻家
delicate ['delikit]
n. 精美的东西
adj. 精美的，微妙的，美
issue ['iʃju:]
n. 发行物，期刊号，争论点
vi. & vt
nevertheless [.nevəðə'les]
adv. 仍然，不过
conj. 然而，不过
sarcasm ['sɑ:kæzəm]
n. 挖苦，讽刺
scissors ['sizəz]
n. 剪刀
anticipate [æn'tisipeit]
vt. 预期，抢 ... 前，语言，提前使用
temporarily ['tempərerili]
adv. 暂时地，临时地
prisoner ['prizənə]
n. 囚犯
offense [ə'fens]
n. 过错，冒犯，触怒，犯规，犯罪，进攻
occurrence [ə'kʌrəns]
n. 发生，事件，发现
independence [.indi'pendəns]
n. 独立，自主，自立
confused [kən'fju:zd]
adj. 困惑的；混乱的；糊涂的 v. 困惑（confu
passion ['pæʃən]
n. 激情，酷爱
except [ik'sept]
vt. 除，除外
prep. & conj.
feigned [feind]
adj. 假装的，不真诚的 动词feign的过去式和过去
scissors ['sizəz]
n. 剪刀
announcement [ə'naunsmənt]
n. 通知，发表，宣布
scissors ['sizəz]
n. 剪刀
principle ['prinsəpl]
n. 原则，原理，主义，信念
tank [tæŋk]
n. 坦克，箱，罐，槽，贮水池
payment ['peimənt]
n. 支付，付款，报偿，报应
minor ['mainə]
adj. 较小的，较少的，次要的
n. 未成年
original [ə'ridʒənl]
adj. 最初的，原始的，有独创性的，原版的
handshake ['hændʃeik]
n. 握手
masterpiece ['mɑ:stəpi:s]
n. 杰作
amusement [ə'mju:zmənt]
n. 娱乐，消遣
arrangement [ə'reindʒmənt]
n. 安排，商议，整理，布置，商定，[音]改编，改编曲
参考资料：
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