行走中遇見籃球和越劇

麥克·貝茨 陳利霞

“我的丈母娘是東陽市六石街道吳良村人，我不僅是浙江女婿，更是東陽女婿?！必惔膭拙粽f。

麥克·貝茨勛爵，英國上議院議員、終身貴族，現任英國女王樞密院顧問官。擔任過英國保守黨副主席、英國上議院副議長等職，他妻子李雪琳是杭州人，曾在浙江大學就讀，已旅居英國30年。2009年，貝茨勛爵參與并發起了一些列徒步活動，包括“為和平徒步”等。截至目前，徒步活動累計跨越25個國家，行程約14208公里，募集善款90萬英鎊，成為加深各國人民間友誼、促進世界和平的重要紐帶。

“為友誼行走”2019麥克·貝茨勛爵夫婦徒步中國行動于8月19日在杭州啟動，貝茨勛爵夫婦從杭州出發，計劃用一個月時間，徒步500公里抵達溫州。沿途將為社會公益慈善事業募集善款，并將募集的善款投入浙江的兒童和殘疾人公益事業。同時他們還將見聞拍成了紀錄片《之江故事》，讓世界上更多的人了解浙江和中國文化，通過文化交流架起友誼的橋梁。

關于諸暨，我的腦子里滿滿的都是珍珠和襪子，當何鴻成副市長告訴我諸暨也是中國籃球之鄉時，我問這是否是指諸暨生產很多籃球？——不，諸暨人打籃球，這里有2500個籃球場。我建議第二天我們可以搞一場籃球友誼賽，何副市長欣然同意，并立即打起了電話安排。

我自從離開中學后就沒打過籃球了，但我的兒子們都擅長打籃球，因此我和他們一起觀看了數以百場計的籃球比賽。我的大兒子馬修成功實現了在美國的大學打籃球的夢想，并在德克薩斯州的安吉羅州立大學擔任籃球助理教練。

第二天我們就去比賽了——我本以為是哪個街頭或學校的普通球場，結果卻看到了一個巨大的、可容納2000個座位的體育館。球場上有兩隊球員正在進行賽前練習。何副市長走到我們面前，遞給我一個袋子——這是一件特殊的籃球衣，后面印著“為友誼行走”中英文，前后一個大大的15號。我頓時感覺壓力山大，我夫人雪琳問我：“你真的知道怎么打籃球嗎？”

看了我幾次投籃練習后，一個隊員問我：“你離上次打球有多久了？”我回答說：“四十年?！彼氐溃骸巴?，你四年沒打球了？”“不，是四十年?！蔽矣种貜土艘槐椤斘业牧硪粋€投籃沒有擊中籃板時，他看上去難以置信——我這樣的水平竟然能上場。

我意識到比賽即將開始了，我們的教練在最后一分鐘用中文熱情地指導我們——幸好我沒有聽懂他說的話，這樣至少我可以有借口說我是無知的。

比賽開始后，我便意識到這是一場高標準的籃球比賽。我觀看過我兒子馬修參與的許多籃球比賽，我的水平充其量也只能擔任控球的角色，我盡量把球傳給那些能力強的隊友，讓他們去投。我很幸運地得到幾次罰球的機會并成功地把球投進了框里，為球隊贏得了幾分，這大大緩解了我的尷尬。

每次我有片刻休息的機會，雪琳就會沖到我面前，用紙巾擦去我臉上的汗——就像媽媽在孩子玩游戲時拍打孩子額頭那樣，而我一心想的就是要加入我的隊友中，聆聽那些我其實聽不懂的戰術討論。這兒有許多歡聲笑語，這就是運動帶來的樂趣，它有一種非凡的力量聯接團隊和競爭對手。這就是為什么它是一場完美的“為友誼行走”友誼賽活動。這次籃球比賽從提議到完美收官只有12個小時，這也再次證實了在中國做事的高超效率——中國速度。

晚上，我們有幸在諸暨市中心的河邊觀看了當地的戲劇表演，它就像一場東方的愛丁堡音樂會。正在度假或乘涼的人們占據了好的位子，紛紛坐下來觀看。地方戲是中國文化的重要組成部分，在地方戲中存在著競爭和驕傲。

我們看到的是越劇，它很獨特，其中男性角色是由女性演員來扮演，服裝和化妝令人驚嘆。我承認我第一次聽越劇時花了好長一段時間去適應，但現在聽起來感覺十分令人愉快。

我喜歡這場演出的原因是它的地方特色，它不是大型音樂廳里的專業表演。幕布后面時時有人在大喊大叫，演員告訴音響師音樂對錯了等。在戲曲節目中有一個喜劇小品，其中一位女士扮演一位富裕之后想去城市超市購物的農民大伯，在路上遇到年輕女士相助，很滑稽，贏得陣陣笑聲，各種不同年齡段的都享樂其中。

最后一個節目是根據清代作家曹雪芹名著《紅樓夢》改編的“寶玉哭靈”，這是越劇的經典之作。有人給我們送上了西瓜，雪琳說她年幼時經常聽越劇很喜歡這一段，便全神貫注地觀看、欣賞?！都t樓夢》的故事圍繞相鄰的兩個富貴家族展開，它也被認為是曹雪芹的自傳體小說。

回家的路上，雪琳向我解釋說，《紅樓夢》是通過兩個家族的明爭暗斗和愛情主線串聯，反映封建大家族從富貴堂皇走向沒落衰敗的歷程。我想起了簡·奧斯汀的《傲慢與偏見》中的班納特一家和達西先生。從希臘悲劇到現在的電視連續劇，財富、權勢、明爭暗斗、禁忌之愛、英雄主義和失敗都是藝術的主題。它們提醒我們，文化以另一種方式將我們所有人聯系在一起，即使在夢里也是如此。

“My mother-in-law is from Wuliang Village， Liushi， Dongyang. In this sense， I am the son-in-law of Zhejiang Province， or more specifically， of Dongyang，” says Lord Bates ， a Conservative member of the House of Lords and currently Privy Counselor. His Chinese wife， Xuelin Bates， is from Hangzhou. Xuelin Bates graduated from Zhejiang University， and has lived in the UK for three decades. ‘Walk for Peace” was initiated by Lord Michael Bates in 2011. He has walked 14208 miles through 25 countries with her wife who through the walks has raised ?900，000 for charities.

The couple launched their ‘Walk for Friendship 2019 in Hangzhou， on August 19. The plan was to cover 500km by walk from Hangzhou to Wenzhou within a month， and raise a fund for charities targeting children and disabled people in Zhejiang， with a documentary named ?to be made in the process for more people to understand China and the culture of Zhejiang Province.

My head was spinning with the facts about pearls and socks， but when Deputy Mayor He Hongcheng declared that Zhuji was also the centre of basketball in China， I asked whether that meant that they made basketballs–no， they play basketball. Zhuji has 2，500 basketball courts. I suggested that we might have a few shots on a court the next day. Deputy Mayor He agreed and immediately got on the phone.

I hadnt played basketball since school but I had watched hundreds of games with my sons who were both good players–my eldest son Matt managed to achieve his dream of playing basketball at college in the United States and went on to be an assistant coach at San Angelo University in Texas.

Next day we turned up for the game–I was expecting a street court or a school court， but instead we had a vast 5，000-seat arena， which is the home court of the Zhuji Lions. On the court there were two full teams of remarkably athletic people going through their pre-match exercises. The deputy mayor came up to us carrying a package–In the package was a special basketball jersey for ‘Walk of Friendship with Number 15 printed on the back. The pressure mounted as Xuelin said to me “are you sure you know how to play？”

After watching me take a few practice shots one of the team members asked “How long since you last played？” I replied “Forty years.” He said “Wow！ You havent played for four years？” “No. Forty，” I repeated. He looked in disbelief as I took another shot that fell short of the backboard. Before I knew it the game was on and our coach was giving us all enthusiastic last minute instructions in Chinese–it was just as well that I didnt understand as I could at least claim ignorance.

Once the game started the basketball was of a very high standard and my touches were limited to playing a kind of point guard role which I had watched my son Matt play many times and then getting it to my able team mates to try and keep us in the game. I was lucky in getting a couple of fowl decisions and managed to land a couple of my free throws to score some points which eased the embarrassment.

Every time we stopped Xuelin would rush out onto the court with paper towels to wipe the sweat off my face–it was like having your mum at the game dabbing your forehead when all you wanted to do was join your team mates and listen to the tactical team talk that I couldnt understand. Still there was lots of laughter and fun and that is what sport can bring. It also has a remarkable power to bond teams and competitors alike and that was why it was the perfect activity for a Walk of Friendship.

In the evening we had the treat of attending a local opera performance by the river in Zhuji. It was like an Oriental Edinburgh Fringe. Regional operas are a key part of Chinese culture and there is competition and pride in local versions. The version we were watching was Yueju Opera which is distinctive because the male roles are played by females. The costumes and make-up are stunning and the music， which I confess took some getting used to when I first heard it， is now very enjoyable.

What I loved about this performance was that it was locally produced and not the polished professional performances that command great audiences in the major concert halls. There was lots of shouting behind the curtain and impatient actresses telling the sound guys to get the right piece of music. In the midst of the opera sets there was a comedy sketch in which a women again played the role of an old peasant man who was wanting to find his way to the market and encountering young ladies on the way. There was lots of laughter and all ages were just enjoying the fun.

The final piece was the famous ?by Cao Xueqin that is one of the classical story lines in local opera. Xuelin bought some water melon and she sat intensely following the words as she would have done as a child. The plot surrounds two wealthy and aristocratic families who live next door to each other. It is regarded as an autobiographical of Cao growing up in the Qing dynasty.

As Xuelin explained it to me as we made our way home I found myself thinking of by Jane Austin and the Bennet family and Mr Darcy. The themes of wealth， power， rivalry， forbidden love and heroism and loss are a staple of the arts from the Greek tragedies to Netflix box sets. They remind us of another way in which culture connects us all if only in our dreams.