2015-06-24

【Aiden in English】

        Bad rulers have always existed in society. I believe sometimes how you win the votes in elections is how good you make a “duh” idea sound, or fill the people with empty promises. And when you win, well, let’s just say with a nation to your command, there’s nothing you can’t do.

        Ceausescu became a ruler of Romania with an iron fist in 1965. The massacres of his Communist regime weren’t too sweet, though. He started out fine, making fair reforms and partial judgment. Then, he psychologically began to lose piece by piece of his humanity. Many people snap when pressure builds, and Ceausescu snapped very hard. He erased his old laws and replaced them with tougher, stricter rules. To start, food was rationed and so limited that a fight would break out over a piece of bread. So when I say the president can do everything under his dictatorship, I mean good or bad. Of course, in Ceausescu’s eye, this was an improvement to the country. It seemed like all mothers, especially Asians that always say “it’s good for you”. You know having that kind of nerdy parent basically ruins every bit of chance at getting you to any parties. Food wasn’t the only rationed item, or should I say entertainment? TV was only broadcasting two hours a day. All of the country’s goods were exported, and for what? Was it to pay off an oversea debt? Maybe you should’ve done a little less on the gas pedal. But worse of all, behind everything, behind the president’s actions was a puppet master pulling the strings, forging the ending the way she wanted it. Yep, it was Mrs. Ceausescu, wife of Ceausescu. Her influence over the president was huge, and the only reason the information went public was because of secret service members leaked info since they got sick of the rules. Well, these kinds of stories usually come out in a happy ending. It did, quite dramatically and … speedy. 

        In the late 1990s, the wisdom in Ceausescu’s decisions was gone, and his wife was in total charge. Everyone knew Mrs. Ceausescu’s part in past events, and people made jokes about her. I found this particularly interesting because a simple offensive sentence or two is the start of the revolt. If people agree, then step 1 of how-to-overthrow-an-empire is complete. The story went something along with the parameters of this. Mrs. Ceausescu one day visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and she saw a painting by Picasso about three ugly ladies. When she asked the guide of hers who painted it, the guide said: “I think you are mistaken. This isn’t a painting, it’s a mirror.” It’s probably not true, or else that mirror would be one because someone’s blood would’ve stained it. The little things like this led up to the ultimate revolution. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ceausescu were evacuated from the capital city into a helicopter that took them away. The pilot said that it ran out of fuel, which was a lie, and abandoned them in a wheat field outside Bucharest. Later, they were captured, trialed, and had 12 bullets put into Mr. Ceausescu. The reality sounded a little overboard, I think, but okay. One day they were the rulers, the next, criminals. It’s funny how things can turn around. 

        The scars of Romania remind people of the Ceausescu’s. But even nowadays, it isn’t that much different. The president is doing his own thing, a person running the show behind the scenes, and I wonder when they will reveal themselves.

【紅霞譯文】

        社會離不開政客，以我個人之見，選舉中究竟能拉多少選票，有時取決於你籠絡人心的本領，也就是說，如何讓選民對你所兜售的空頭支票充滿幻想，等到了真正取勝有權凌駕於國家社會之上的時候，想必先前許下的諾言早已被拋到九霄雲外。

        齊奧塞斯庫於1965年起開始成為羅馬尼亞鐵腕人物，由他領導的共產黨執政當局幹了不少濫殺無辜的勾當。最初從政時，齊奧塞斯庫傾向改革，新官上任三把火，以後慢慢地失去人性理智。當內心深處承受過度壓力，人遲早要面臨崩潰，而他最終走入無法挽救的深淵。齊奧塞斯庫推翻所有現有法規，重新建立起一整套更為殘酷更加刻薄的社會制度。隨之而來頭號問題就是食物供給，因為分配少得可憐，民眾經常會為麵包爭搶鬥毆。對於獨裁政府，一國之主有權決定任何事情，我覺得其中有好有壞，當然在齊奧塞斯庫看來，這樣可以完善國家，如同天下所有母親、尤其是亞裔媽媽喜歡把口頭禪“對你有好處”掛在嘴邊，要知道持有這種想法的家長變相地忽略了子女融入社會的人生理念。話說回來，食物並非成為當時唯一緊缺的東西，娛樂生活又怎樣呢？每天電視台僅播放兩個小時新聞聯播；舉國上下所有物資全部出口，到底圖啥？難道為了還清海外債務？對了，沒準你開車時得少踩油門。但最壞的還有，齊奧塞斯庫領導下的羅馬尼亞不過是一個傀儡政府，其幕後操縱者堪稱女中豪傑，沒錯，就是齊奧塞斯庫夫人，她的影響力遠大於國家首腦，人們一直蒙在鼓裡，直到統治階層不滿現狀將內幕公告天下，真相終於大白。通常這種醜聞曝光後，隨之而來的是圓滿結局，可它來得太戲劇性…迅雷不及掩耳。

        上個世紀九十年代後期，齊奧塞斯庫不再明察秋毫，改由他老婆全權當政，人們對她所做所為瞭如指掌，因此常拿她尋開心。其中有個笑話特逗，話不在多，但表現出民間萌發出反抗苗頭，如果人們萬眾一心，距離推翻獨裁統治的日子就不遠了。事情發生在有一天當齊奧塞斯庫夫人出訪紐約大都會藝術博物館看見畢加索有關三位醜女人的畫像時向身邊保鏢問起畫家是何許人也，侍衛回答道：“我覺得您誤會了，這哪是幅油畫，分明是面鏡子。”對話的真實性有待商榷，果真如此，恐怕那可是一面沾滿鮮血的鏡子。俗語說得好，積少成多聚沙成塔，涓涓細流終能匯成滔滔江河，席捲全國的革命逼得齊奧塞斯庫夫婦走投無路，只好搭乘直升飛機撤出首都，飛行員見狀謊稱缺油而把二人扔在布加勒斯特郊外空曠的野地上，他倆被抓、帶上法庭、執行槍決，最後在齊奧塞斯庫身上一共發現了十二顆子彈，現場慘不忍睹，不過我覺得一切順理成章，一朝天子一代臣，世事無常呵。

        羅馬尼亞傷痕累累，至今人們難以忘卻齊奧塞斯庫時代。其實現政依然如故，背地裡總統想幹什麼幹什麼，我倒好奇他們什麼時候才能露出廬山真面目。