《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 80 (181):巴厘島天堂

That said, I must be honest here and relay that it takes me only three afternoons of research in the local library to realize that all my original ideas about Balinese paradise were a bit misguided. I'd been telling people since I first visited Bali two years ago that this small island was the world's only true utopia, a place that has known only peace and harmony and balance for all time. A perfect Eden with no history of violence or bloodshed ever. I'm not sure where I got this grand idea, but I endorsed it with full confidence.

這麼說之後，我必須在此承認，我在當地圖書館只花了三個下午的研究時間，即意識到自己原先對巴厘島天堂的想法有些被誤導。打從兩年前頭一次來巴厘島，我便告訴每個人，這座小島是世界上唯一真正的烏托邦，自始至終只有和平、和諧與平衡。一個完美的伊甸園，未曾有過暴力或流血歷史。我不清楚這了不起的想法從何而來，但我滿懷信心地予以支持。

"Even the policemen wear flowers in their hair," I would say, as if that proved it.

"連警察也在頭上戴花。"我說道，彷彿這證明了什麼。

In reality, though, it turns out Bali has had exactly as bloody and violent and oppressive a history as anywhere else on earth where human beings have ever lived. When the Javanese kings first immigrated here in the sixteenth century, they essentially established a feudal colony, with a strict caste system which—like all self-respecting caste systems—tended not to trouble itself with consideration for those at the bottom. The economy of early Bali was fueled by a lucrative slave trade (which not only preceded European participation in the international slave traffic by several centuries, but also outlived Europe's trafficking of human lives for a good long while). Internally, the island was constantly at war as rival kings staged attacks (complete with mass rape and murder) on their neighbors. Until the late nineteenth century, the Balinese had a reputation amongst traders and sailors for being vicious fighters. (The word amok, as in "running amok," is a Balinese word, describing a battle technique of sud-denly going insanely wild against one's enemies in suicidal and bloody hand-to-hand combat; the Europeans were frankly terrified by this practice.) With a well-disciplined army of 30,000, the Balinese defeated their Dutch invaders in 1848, again in 1849 and once more, for good measure, in 1850. They collapsed under Dutch rule only when the rival kings of Bali broke ranks and betrayed each other in bids for power, aligning with the enemy for the promise of good business deals later. So to gauze this island's history today in a dream of paradise is a bit insulting to reality; it's not like these people have spent the last millennium just sitting around smiling and singing happy songs.

事實上，巴厘島原來和世界各地有人存在的其他地方並無不同，也有過血腥、暴力、鎮壓的歷史。爪哇諸王在16世紀首先移居此地，基本上建立了一個封建殖民地，採取嚴格的種姓制度——就像每一種驕傲的種姓制度——往往不屑於考量底層階級。早期的巴厘島經濟得力於有利可圖的奴隸販賣（不僅比歐洲參與國際奴隸交易提早數世紀，也比歐洲的人口販賣歷時更久）。島內內戰不斷，諸王競相攻擊彼此（加上集體凌虐與謀殺）。直到19世紀末期，巴厘島人在商人與水手口中還擁有"惡鬥者"之名。（"amok"一字，如"runningamok"［充滿殺機］，是巴釐用字，描述突然以自殺式血腥搏鬥來瘋狂抗敵的戰術；歐洲人十分恐懼此戰術。）三萬人組成的高紀律軍隊使巴厘島人分別在1848、1849、1850年擊敗荷蘭入侵者。巴釐諸王因意見不一致、背叛彼此以取得權力、與敵方緊密合作以獲得好生意，最終纔在荷蘭統治下潰散瓦解。如今將巴厘島的歷史包裹在天堂之夢當中，多少是對真相的一種侮辱；過去千年來，這些人並非只是輕鬆地微笑唱歌。