上篇的结尾照片是一家咖啡馆The Elephant House“大象屋”,它因为J.K. 罗琳在此创作《哈利•波特》系列第一部而名声大噪。当时罗琳虽才情却落魄,失业后在爱丁堡靠救济生活。她带着襁褓中的女儿住在一间没暖气的破旧公寓。她常推着婴儿车,在公寓附近大象咖啡馆点一杯廉价咖啡,一边取暖一边创作《哈利波特》,一坐就是一天。俺还注意到资料里说罗琳当时喜欢坐在那个靠窗可以欣赏古堡黄昏的位置,并没有感觉因为出了著名作家而特别有浪漫诗意。
来英国之前,孩子对英国的印象除了第二次世界大战的伦敦空战以外,就是《哈利•波特》了,不仅买了中文版本小说还有原版的小说,俺还全程陪孩子看了全部7部《哈利•波特》电影。连英国人民也认可孩子5、6年级的样子有点和哈利波特相像。
于是来英国追逐《哈利波特》电影外景地也是一项缺省的任务,俺们熟悉的一些外景地包括Cotswald的南部、牛津、苏格兰高地火车等等,不过俺们到目前为止只在牛津的Christ Church College基督教堂学院里看到了《哈里波特》的魔法学院食堂,有点失望,因为现场似乎没有电影里那么宽大明亮和雄伟。
除了想象力的丰富以及亲子阅读外,俺对《哈利波特》并无深刻的印象,不过一个J.K. 罗琳2008年在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲视频给予俺深刻的思索。于是,俺在这个视频之后才渐渐把爱丁堡大象吧、J.K. 罗琳、想象力、苦难和《哈利波特》串联起来。或者读万卷书不是马上有效的,或者行万里路也不是立刻就可以改变什么的,或者在盐水碱水甚至辣椒水里苦熬了几十年也未必就能理解苦难的,需要一些基本的信念和情怀,需要一些混合或者交融或者串联,才可能有升华。
这种知识、信息和现场感觉的串联混合在以后的几天里还有许多发生,这是一种享受,也许是一种只有在俺这种阅历或者年龄的时候才会有的享受。
还记得J.K. 罗琳演讲的一些句子:
......
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive,
and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
......
Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected;I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.
......
The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.
......
Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.
......
这里展示的句子只是展示J.K. 罗琳演讲的第一个主题,失败和苦难的作用。她提到的失败和苦难时期应该就是指当年她在大象吧喝咖啡取暖带孩子望着窗外的古堡黄昏创作《哈利波特》的前后。
演讲的第二个主题讲的是想象力,只要正常成长的人个个都有想象力(不过俺怀疑天朝教育体制和方法下天生的想象力还可以有多少剩余),但对人类的悲悯以及基本的信念却更加重要,俺必须承认,演讲十分精彩,因为篇幅也因为有点敏感,第二个主题的句子就不再列举。
The Elephant House,俺们进入后发现需要排队等位,虽然因为《哈里波特》而特别出名,但内部的主题其实是大象,有点环保的意思。俺经常有点瞧不上西方社会一些显而易见高大上的主题,比如环保比如民主比如...,似乎有点过于表面或者虚无,其实人家是真的为这样简单明确的主题做着什么,一点一滴做着,然后才有所谓普世价值的高大。可笑的也许是俺自己了,啥也看不上,其实啥也没做,最终是啥也不入流啥也不懂了。
俺一眼就看到了J.K.罗琳当时喜欢坐的那个位置,据说现在那个位置需要预约才可能坐上。这样的熙熙攘攘,这样的热闹拥挤,相信这里再也不会有第二个J.K.罗琳出现了。
大象吧据说另外一个特色是虽然有名气,但价格公道,而且还有似乎天朝人民口味的餐式,于是老婆孩子的胃口对这里产生一种信赖或者依赖或者安全感,除了俺专门点了苏格兰的红啤酒外,后来第二天俺们又来这里吃了一顿。值得一提的是,第二次来大象吧时候,俺还特别假装有啥事,故意凑到J.K.罗琳的位置附近,试图从她的角度看看窗外,看看古堡的影子,失望的是,俺并没有发现什么。
进入大象吧
吧台
墙上
J.K.罗琳当年创造《哈利波特》第一部时,所坐位置的窗外
苏格兰的红啤,味道不错,麦芽的香味浓郁纯正
这些照片拍摄于大象吧的卫生间,显示出来这的人颇为国际化
哭笑不得的国粹
后来晚上就去古堡下的Esplanade现场看爱丁堡军操表演(军乐节)(Edinburgh Military Tattoo),这是每年夏天在爱丁堡城堡前举办的军操和文化表演。爱丁堡军乐节从1950年首演,现在已经有点举世闻名了,至少俺知道。
演出还不错吧,不过无法让俺过度赞美,那只会暴露俺其实不懂音乐的本质或者暴露俺附庸风雅的假装不浅薄。不过爱丁堡的夜晚真的很冷,韩国人民在里面也有演出,于是又不得不佩服这个民族行销他们文化的能力和努力。
也许这军乐节也是一种窗口,透过这苏格兰爱丁堡的窗口,让俺们领略了窗外的多种文化和音乐。所以,本文命名为“窗外”。




































