美食祈祷与恋爱意大利文化 《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 102 (245):35岁生日

《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 102 (245):35岁生日  

The end of July came
and my thirty-fifth birthday with it. Wayan threw a birthday party for me in her shop
quite unlike any I have ever experienced before. Wayan had dressed me in a traditional Balinese birthday suit—a bright purple sarong
a strapless bustier and a long length of golden fabric that she wrapped tightly around my torso
forming a sheath so snug I could barely take a breath or eat my own birthday cake. As she was mummifying me into this ex-quisite costume in her tiny
dark bedroom (crowded with the belongings of the three other little human beings who live there with her)
she asked
not quite looking at me
but doing some fancy tucking and pinning of material around my ribs
"You have prospect to marrying Felipe?"
"No
" I said. "We have no prospects for marrying. I don't want any more husbands
Wayan. And I don't think Felipe wants any more wives. But I like being with him."
"handsome on the outside is easy to find
but handsome on the outside and handsome on the inside—this not easy. Felipe has this."
I agreed.
She smiled. "And who bring this good man to you
Liz? Who prayed every day for this man?"
I kissed her. "Thank you
Wayan. You did a good job."
We menced to the birthday party. Wayan and the kids had decorated the whole place with balloons and palm fronds and handwritten signs with plex
run-on messages like
"Happy birthday to a nice and sweet heart
to you
our dearest sister
to our beloved Lady Elizabeth
Happy Birthday to you
always peace to you and Happy Birthday." Wayan has a brother whose young children are gifted dancers in temple ceremonies
and so the nieces and nephews came and danced for me right there in the restaurant
staging a haunting
geous performance usually offered only to priests. All the children were decked out in gold and massive headdresses
decorated in fierce drag queen makeup
with powerful stamping feet and graceful
feminine fingers.
Balinese parties as a whole are generally anized around the principle of people getting dressed up in their finest clothes
then sitting around and staring at each other. It's a lot like magazine parties in New York
actually.("My God
darling
" moaned Felipe
when I told him that Wayan was throwing me a Balinese birthday party
"it's going to be so boring . . .") It wasn't boring
though—just quiet. And different. There was the whole dressing-up part
and then there was the whole dance performance part
and then there was the whole sitting around and staring at each other part
which wasn't so bad. Everyone did look lovely. Wayan's whole family had e
and they kept smiling and waving at me from four feet away
and I kept smiling at them and waving back at them.
七月底来临，我的三十五岁生日也到来。大姐在她店里为我举办生日派对，和我以往的过生日经验完全不同。大姐让我穿上巴厘岛传统的生日礼服——鲜紫色纱龙裙、无肩带紧身上衣和一条紧紧裹着我的金色长布，形成一道紧身保护膜，几乎使我喘不过气来，甚至吃不下自己的生日蛋糕。她在又小又暗的卧室（里头塞满与她同住的三个孩子所有的东西）中，把我塞入这套精美服饰，一边在我胸前别住这些打了折的华丽布料，不经意地问我："你想过嫁给斐利贝吗？"
"没想过，"我说，"我们没打算结婚。我不想再嫁人，大姐。我认为斐利贝也不想再娶妻。但我喜欢和他在一起。"
"外在体面好找，但外在体面而且内在也体面，这可不容易。斐利贝就是一例。"
我同意。
她微笑说："小莉，这好男人是谁带给你的？是谁天天祈祷让你找到他？"
我亲吻她："谢谢你，大姐。你做得超完美。"
我们起身参加生日派对。大姐和孩子们用汽球和棕榈叶装饰整个地方，还有手写标语，上面写着复杂的连写句，比方："祝你，亲爱的好姐姐，我们心爱的伊莉莎白女士生日快乐，祝你生日快乐，永远平安，生日快乐。"大姐的几位侄儿、侄女是天生的舞者，在庙会跳舞，于是他们都来餐厅为我跳舞；令人难以忘怀的华丽演出，通常只用来献给祭司。每个孩子都佩戴大型金色头饰，脸上化着妖艳的浓妆，顿足有力，手势纤柔。
巴厘岛的派对，整体而言环绕着一个原则组织而成：大家盛装出席，坐在附近，面面相觑。事实上很像纽约的时尚派对。（"天啊，甜心，"当我说起大姐要为我举办巴厘式生日派对时，斐利贝呻吟道："那会是一场乏味的派对……"）然而并不至乏味——只是安静，只是不同罢了。先是整个盛装打扮的部分，而后是整个跳舞表演的部分，接着是整个坐在附近、面面相觑的部分，其实并不太坏。大家看起来都很美。大姐全家人都来了，他们从一米之外不断朝我微笑招手，我也不断朝他们微笑招手。