Winter escape to Italy: Venice (1)

Two books have impacts on my winter trip to Venice.

One is ‘Novelist travel’ written by Mishima Yukio. He was a famous Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director. He is also considered as a controversial nationalist hated by the left-wing and finally ended up his life with the committing suicide.

In his book, he mentioned that he was rolling out his new film scripts in London and waiting for a cooperation opportunity with local actors; therefore, he spent some time travelling in Europe. From the perspective of a poet, Venice’s winter stay has inscribed into his unique travelling experiences.

In February, Venice's Carnevale is a European highlight; the hustling and bustling city attracts tourists from all over the world, as well as in the summer season. However, Mishima Yukio’s winter trip to Venice was not for such a buzzing festival.

I considered his suggestion and then visited Venice in January. There is no need to elbow my way through the huge crowd, winter perhaps is the best time to view the true face of Venice: a city living on the water. 

The complex and beautiful image of a water city. Some areas are filled with desolation and silence, and some are quiescent and sorrowful. However, all of these have combined with commercial activities which brought by tourists.

At the end of this blog, I choose this poem (song) written by William Shakespeare to commemorate Mishima Yukio—a very genuine hero who is very honest to himself.  
  

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

By William Shakespeare

 

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,

Thou art not so unkind

As man's ingratitude;

Thy tooth is not so keen

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:

Then, heigh-ho! the holly!

This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

Thou dost not bite so nigh

As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remember'd not.

Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:

Then, heigh-ho! the holly!

This life is most jolly.

冬季之旅義大利: 威尼斯

兩本書影響了我去威尼斯的冬季之旅。

一本是由“三島由紀夫”撰寫的“小說家的旅行”，他是日本著名作家，詩人，劇作家，演員，電影導演。他也被認為是一個受左派人士憎恨的有爭議的民族主義者，並最終以自殺結束了自己的生命。

2月，威尼斯的嘉年華節是歐洲的亮點;熙熙攘攘的城市吸引著來自世界各地的遊客, 夏季也是旅行旺季。但是三島由紀夫的冬季威尼斯之旅不是為了這樣一個熱鬧的節日。在他的書中，他提到他正在倫敦推出他的新電影劇本，在等待和當地演員合作的機會, 所以他花了一些時間在歐洲旅行。從詩人的角度來看，威尼斯的冬季停留銘刻入他獨特的旅行體驗。

我參考了他的建議，然後在1月份去了威尼斯，不需要擠在一大堆人群中穿過街道，冬天也許是觀看威尼斯真面目的最佳時間：一個生活在水上的城市。水城的複雜形象。水城的美麗及複雜形象。 有些地方充滿了荒涼和沈默，有些地區則充滿了寧靜和悲傷。然而，所有這些都已與遊客帶來的商業活動相結合了

最後, 我選擇用威廉·莎士比亞的這首詩來紀念三島由紀夫，他是一位對自己非常誠實的真英雄。

以下解說摘源自[台灣合唱中心]:
http://www.tcmc.org.tw/index.php/knowledge/lyrics/action/view/frmContentId/2323/menu2.swf

中 文 歌 詞

吹吧，吹吧，冬天的風， 你並非如此無情， 有似人類的負義； 你的齒並不凜！ 因為你來去無形， 雖然你的呼吸太強勁。 歡唱呀！歡唱！這鮮綠的冬青樹 友誼多半虛偽，愛情大都愚蠢： 來，歡唱呀！冬青樹！ 這種生命最是歡欣。 無情的天空開始凍結， 但你倒未用力咬下， 有似人類的忘恩負義 儘管你讓流水變形， 你的刺並不那麼尖銳， 有似人們對朋友已經忘懷。 歡唱呀歡唱！對著蒼翠的冬青樹， 友誼多半虛偽，愛情大都愚蠢， 來，歡唱呀！冬青樹！ 這種生命最是歡欣。

樂 曲 解 說

這首歌出自莎翁喜劇《如願》(As You Like It)第二幕，第七景。遭放逐的公爵與隨侍在側的一群人在阿登林地 (Forest of Arden)過著田園式的快樂生活。當公爵聽完了傑開斯(Jaques)講完了「人生是個舞台」 (All the world's a stage)的哲學後，邀請哀米安斯唱歌。於是他便唱了這樣一首歌來。 這首歌分兩節，前一節由冬風的呼聲聯想到人之忘恩負義，不管寒風吹得怎樣厲害也不如人之忘恩負義那樣容易刺傷人心，並且把它比喻成兇惡猛獸的利齒："Thy tooth art not so keen"。第二節以冰凍為主題描述冰凍之寒冷仍不若忘恩負義那樣容易刺傷人心，並且把它比喻成螯人毒蟲之利刺："Thy sting is not so sharp"。 這曲子一方面是在暗示著宮廷(現實)生活中，人之虛情假意，忘恩負義，實在比冬天森林中的嚴寒更令人心悸。不如遭放逐的公爵在林中過著田園式的生活，雖遇寒冬，卻仍能自得其樂，隨遇而安

以下文字摘自: 三島由紀夫[小說家的旅行]

遠東的起點：中華民國

有個法國人說，日本並非位於遠東，而是遠西。他還說，中華民國就是遠東的起點。最近，由於日本戰敗的緣故，我們再次經歷著如明治時期積極迎向文明開化的時代，不得不囫圇吞棗似地吃些新鮮的東西，問題是，日本的胃腸消化機能不佳，很可能沒怎麼吸收就排泄了。相較之下，經過「近代文明」洗禮卻依然毫髮無傷的中華民國的胃囊何其巨大，又何其堅韌啊！