緬甸鬍子兄弟以喜劇之名捍衛言論自由

MANDALAY, Myanmar — Emerging from behind a tawdry blue curtain in the garage of his three-story home here in Myanmar’s second largest city, U Lu Maw made his way onto a makeshift stage to do what he does best: tell jokes.

緬甸，曼德勒——這裏是緬甸第二大城市，盧茂(U Lu Maw)來到自家三層樓房的車庫，他從俗麗的藍色帷幕後面探出身子，在這個臨時舞臺上做自己最擅長的事：講笑話。

‘‘I don’t trust the government,’’ Mr. Lu Maw, 66, bellowed into the microphone in English one evening last month to an audience of foreigners. ‘‘The cronies — they like to take things for free, like Jesse James. It’s the five-finger discount.’’

“我不相信政府，”上個月的一天晚上，66歲的盧茂對着麥克風，向臺下的外國觀衆們用英語大叫道。“那些狐朋狗友喜歡免費拿東西，就像傑西·詹姆斯(Jesse James)，這是順手牽羊。”

Though his attire is modest — a traditional wraparound skirt known as a longyi under a red T-shirt emblazoned with “The Moustache Brothers,” the name of his comedy troupe — Mr. Lu Maw delivers jokes that are a dark and bold reminder of what life was like under decades of oppressive military rule in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

盧茂穿着名叫“羅衣”的傳統包裹式服裝，外面套着有“鬍子兄弟”(The Moustache Brothers)圖案的紅色T恤——這是他所在的喜劇團體的名字。儘管衣着普通，盧茂的笑話黑暗而大膽，讓人想起幾十年來緬甸在軍政府壓迫下的生活，

The group, which has been performing for more than three decades, is renowned in the country for a political satire that can carry a prison sentence if performed in a public venue in Burmese. Since 2001, the troupe’s members have shared their popular comedy act from their garage seven nights a week for gatherings of as many as 40 foreigners, who pay the equivalent of $10 each.

這個團體已經表演了30多年，他們因擅長進行帶諷刺政治意味的表演而出名。他們如果在緬甸的公共場所演出，會可能招來牢獄之災。自2001年起，這個團體開始在家中的車庫上演他們受歡迎的喜劇節目，每週七個晚上都會演出，可以吸引不少於40個外國人，每人付相當於10美元的門票。

It was jokes like the five-finger-discount one that landed two of the three founding performers, U Par Par Lay and his cousin U Lu Zaw, in a hard-labor prison camp for five years in the late 1990s. And the performances have continued even after the death of Mr. Par Par Lay, who was Mr. Lu Maw’s brother and the group’s leader, two years ago.

“鬍子兄弟”的三位創始成員中，巴巴列(U Par Par Lay)和堂弟盧造(U Lu Zaw) 曾在90年代蹲過五年勞改監獄，就是因爲“順手牽羊”這樣的笑話。巴巴列是盧茂的哥哥，也曾是“鬍子兄弟”的領隊，於兩年前去世，在那之後，表演仍在繼續。

It was not until 2011 that the military regime, which had jailed an estimated 2,000 political prisoners, was succeeded by a quasi-civilian government determined to open the country. Many of those prisoners have since been released, though as of last month, 169 political prisoners remained incarcerated, with 446 activists awaiting trial, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights group in Thailand.

緬甸軍政府關押了大約2000名政治犯，直到2011年，這個政權才被決心打開國門的準平民政府所取代。其後很多政治犯都得到釋放，但是根據泰國人權組織援助政治犯協會(Assistance Association for Political Prisoners)統計，截止到上個月，仍然有169名政治犯被關押，446名活動分子在候審之中。

Mr. Par Par Lay was himself a pro-democracy activist and avid supporter of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, now the country’s opposition leader, and took part in the violent nationwide democratic 1988 uprising before dying in August 2013, at the age of 67. His cause of death was never verified, but Mr. Lu Maw blames a kidney infection caused by years of drinking contaminated water at two prison camps in northern Myanmar.

巴巴列本人就是一位支持民主的活動分子，也是緬甸反對黨領袖昂山素季的狂熱支持者，曾參與1988年全國範圍內的民主起義。他於2013年8月去世，享年67歲。死因無法證實，但盧茂說，這要歸結於巴巴列多年前被關押在緬甸北部兩座監獄期間飲用受污染的水，從而導致腎臟感染。

‘‘My own brother passed away from a government killing, but not only my brother — over 2,000 people died,’’ he said, referring to Myanmar’s population of prisoners, which ran into the tens of thousands. Many of them died from prison-related injuries or illnesses. Myanmar’s poor treatment of its political prisoners has for decades drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and the international community.

“我的兄弟被政府殺害，但不僅僅是我的兄弟，有2000多個人死了，”他說，緬甸有數萬名囚犯。他們當中有很多人都死於服刑期間所發生的傷病。幾十年來，人權組織和國際社會一直嚴厲批評緬甸虐待政治犯。

When the trio began performing more than three decades ago, comedy troupes like theirs were a regular fixture at celebrations and public events throughout Myanmar. More than 40 touring troupes from Mandalay each employed a mix of apolitical slapstick comedy and traditional dance together known as a-nyeint pwe.

“鬍子兄弟”三人的表演始於30多年前，當時類似的喜劇團體遍佈緬甸全境，是慶典和公衆活動中不可缺少的一景。在曼德勒，就有40多個巡迴演出團體，把無關政治的喜劇性鬧劇和名叫“阿迎戲”(a-nyeint pwe)的傳統舞蹈結合起來。

The field of troupes became so oversaturated, however, that Mr. Par Par Lay and Mr. Lu Maw grew mustaches to differentiate themselves and then sought to push the boundaries of a-nyeint pwe even further. During an event in 1996 at the house of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi for Independence Day, the pair introduced a far riskier brand of political satire to more than 1,000 of her supporters, poking fun at the junta.

然而這種團體的市場有些飽和，巴巴列和盧茂便蓄起了小鬍子，把自己與其他團體區分開來，之後又開始突破阿迎戲的邊界。1996年，他們在昂山素季家做慶祝獨立日的演出，在她的1000多名支持者面前做了更爲大膽的政治諷刺演出，拿軍政府取笑。

‘‘They confirmed the disdain of great parts of the population for the generals and their methods of ruling,’’ said Franz-Xaver Augustin, the Yangon director of the Goethe-Institut, the German cultural center.

“他們的表演證明，大多數緬甸人對將軍們和他們的統治方式心懷鄙視，”德國文化中心歌德學院仰光分院長弗朗茲·哈維·奧古斯汀(Franz-Xaver Augustin)說。

At the show last month, Mr. Lu Maw repeated the brand of humor showcased at the 1996 performance.

在上個月的演出上，盧茂再現了他1996年的招牌幽默表演。

‘‘We don’t have medicine and education here,’’ he told the crowd. ‘‘Everybody starving except for the government. They love to take things. So when you are in Burma, please don’t steal — the government doesn’t like the competition. ’’

“我們這裏沒有醫藥和教育，”他對人們說，“除了政府，所有人都在捱餓。他們喜歡拿走人們的東西。所以你們來緬甸不要偷東西，政府可不喜歡競爭。”

Mr. Lu Zaw, now 64, said that after the 1996 event, later that evening, the military police arrested him and Mr. Par Par Lay.

盧造今年64歲，他說1996年的演出當晚，軍警就逮捕了他和巴巴列。

‘‘I was here in the house when it happened,’’ he said. ‘‘K.G.B. came knocking on the door that night and said ‘follow me,’ ’’ Mr. Lu Zaw said in a jocular tone.

“事情發生時我還在那棟房子裏”他說。“當晚，祕密警察就來敲門，說‘跟我走’，”盧造用滑稽的口吻說。

They were sentenced to seven years of hard labor for their act, and the Moustache Brothers were forbidden to perform publicly in Myanmar.

他們因爲這些表演被判七年勞改，“鬍子兄弟”也被禁止在緬甸公開演出。

Of his time in the labor camp, Mr. Lu Zaw said, ‘‘At nighttime we were all scabby from working, but every day before bed the other inmates asked us to perform for them and show them what we told Suu Kyi.’’

盧造說，在勞改營的日子裏，“到了晚上，我們都因爲白天的工作遍體鱗傷，但是每一天上牀之前，其他犯人都要求我們爲他們表演，他們想知道我們對昂山素季說了什麼。”

When Mr. Lu Zaw and Mr. Par Par Lay were arrested, the Moustache Brothers were so well known as advocates of free speech that their detention provoked an international outcry from rights groups and American entertainers like Bill Maher and Rob Reiner as well as a petition by the cosmetics retailer Body Shop that produced three million signatures.

盧造和巴巴列被捕後，“鬍子兄弟”成了廣爲人知的言論自由倡導者。這一事件激發了全球的強烈抗議，從人權組織到比爾·馬赫(Bill Maher)和羅伯·萊納(Rob Reiner)等美國娛樂界人士；化妝品牌美體小鋪(Body Shop)爲此組織了請願，徵集到300萬個簽名。

Partly as a result of those efforts, the sentence was commuted to five years and seven months, and in July 2001 the two rejoined Mr. Lu Maw and began performing every night from their home to skirt the ban on performing for the general public.

部分是由於這些努力，兩人的刑期分別被減至五年和七個月。2001年7月，兩人與盧茂重聚，爲避開公開表演的禁令，他們開始每天晚上在家裏表演。

Without a change at the helm of government, the risks were high. Still, they refused to back down. Even though police officers were stationed outside the house, ‘‘the tourists and journalists continued coming,’’ Mr. Lu Zaw said, explaining that the presence of a foreign audience probably prevents the authorities from cracking down again. The police are no longer deployed there.

當時政權尚未更迭，他們冒着很高的風險。但他們絕不屈服。儘管警察就駐紮在門外，“遊客和記者還是絡繹不絕地前來，”盧造說。他還說，當着外國觀衆的面，當局很可能不敢嚴厲打擊他們。現在，他們家外面已經沒有警察了。

Now, on the second anniversary since the death of Mr. Par Par Lay, the troupe is made up of the two surviving members, their wives and five other relatives. Their determination to continue defying the government, they said, is in part a tribute to their lost brother, and today they perform an updated version of the very jokes that Mr. Par Par Lay created and still play well in a country where the military remains in control.

如今，巴巴列去世已經兩年了，這個組合由盧茂和盧造，他們的妻子以及五個其他親戚組成。他們說，他們決定繼續挑釁政府，這也是對亡兄的紀念，如今，他們的節目在巴巴列創作的基礎上有了更新，在這個仍由軍人控制的國家裏依舊廣爲傳播。

‘‘Before shows, I am very sad in my heart,’’ Mr. Lu Zaw said before the June performance. ‘‘When I start to perform though, I have to change my face. Now, I talk about my brother’s story and I have to put on a smile. I have to be strong.’’

“演出之前，我心裏其實非常悲傷，”盧造在6月的演出之前說。“但是等我一上臺，我就得換上另一副面孔。現在，我必須面帶微笑地講起哥哥的故事。我必須堅強。”

Most other comedy troupes in Myanmar have long since disbanded as performers struggle to make a living. Today, fewer than five remain, Mr. Lu Maw said.

緬甸的大多數喜劇團體因生存艱難，早已解散，現在全國還有不到五個劇團，盧茂說。

‘‘The tourists demand us, so we cannot stop,’’ he said. ‘‘My life depends on them and that’s why I cannot leave them.’’

“遊客想看我們演出，所以我們不能停下來，”他說。“我的生命都要依靠他們，所以我不能離開他們。”

Mr. Lu Zaw and Mr. Lu Maw consider their work a calling and plan to continue it for the rest of their lives, or at least as long as they can keep performing.

盧造和盧茂將他們的工作視爲一種召喚，並計劃餘生都繼續演出，至少也要到演不動爲止。

‘‘I think I have 10 or 15 years more in me,’’ Mr. Lu Maw said, his arm wrapped around his cousin. He added, joking, ‘‘For him, I don’t know, maybe only five.’’

“我覺得我還能再演10到15年，”盧茂說，他摟着堂弟開起了玩笑，“他嘛，大概也就剩五年吧。”