纽约婚礼见闻（一）_纽约见闻

　　六月的时候我飞去纽约，参加了闺蜜盛大的婚礼。对我这个在过去几年间参加了无数友人们的婚礼、导致审美疲劳的人来说，这次的婚礼的确是一抹亮色。我猜最最吸引我的，是婚礼背后不同的文化背景吧。
　　
　　伴郎（groomsman）和伴娘(bridesmaid)
　　西方人在挑选伴郎和伴娘的人选时，是非常苛刻的。首先，新人要优先考虑选自己的兄弟姐妹这种有血缘关系的人来做伴郎、伴娘。如果你是独生子女，那么伴郎伴娘一定要从最好的朋友中挑选。如果婚礼规模比较盛大，伴郎和伴娘可能不止一对。我这次参加的婚礼，就是伴郎、伴娘总共四对。通常来讲，如果你有多位伴郎、伴娘的话，新人还要在男方女方中各选出一位和自己关系最亲密的人，作为荣誉伴娘（the maid of honor）和荣誉伴郎（the best man）。在婚礼上，这两个人分别站在新人的身边，伴郎还同时被称为the ring bearer，专门负责替新郎保管双方的婚戒。
　　荣誉伴郎（the best man）
　　今天我们聚焦的重点人物，是新郎的好兄弟――荣誉伴郎史蒂芬。要说史蒂芬在婚礼当中的表现可不是盖的！要是在Wedding Party这帮人当中，评选出几个特殊贡献奖项的话，他绝对可以拿个超级无敌称职奖。
　　史蒂芬是个很开朗健谈的人，第一次见到他，就是在忙碌的人群中被他揪住说的话:
　　Steve:“是Sally吗？我是Steve。能在这里见到你真好！谢谢你提前教我说那句中文，我觉得我说的还蛮煞有介事的，哈哈……”
　　Sally:“是吗？那太好了。对了，我不得不说，你写的致词简直太牛了！非常专业，而且面面俱到！”
　　Steve:“那是、那是，我可是做了很多功课的呢。哈哈。”
　　Sally:“嗯，功课没白做，都把我给看哭了，够煽情的。哦对了，戒指是由你保管吧，呵呵？”
　　Steve:“那是，两个都在我这儿呢！除了戒指，我还特意备了些‘秘密小武器’呢……” 他越说越起劲儿，如数家珍地搬出了各种小道具，“这个清口喷雾，是为了新郎亲吻新娘准备的。餐巾纸包是以备不时之需。今天激动的人一定特别多，擦眼泪就用的着了……” 感情Steve也是个Mommy型的心细男生啊！这，这……连我们女孩儿都没想到！真是难为他了。
　　为了准备祝酒词，史蒂芬可是下足了工夫。先是专门买来相关写作书籍，闭门潜心钻研。又在动笔之前特意飞到休斯顿，在准新郎、新娘那里小住了一周时间，以搜集齐备各种信息资源。他老人家早在八百年前开始着手写稿，早在七百年前就将扬扬洒洒的千字祝福背了个滚瓜烂熟。那天他无比兴奋地告诉我，为了做到精益求精，他还在家中专门用DV自拍了短片，用来反复推敲自己的镜头感觉。这分明比专业演员还要敬业嘛！简直让我崇拜不已。
　　细心的史蒂芬为了让女方父母第一时间读懂自己的祝词，早在六百年前就提前布置人马进行了英译中的工作。宴会还没开始，祝酒词的普通话版本文字稿，就已静静地候在桌前，等待凌凌父母审阅了。当然，为了可以让二老听到亲切的乡音，史蒂芬早在五百年前就向我询问并学习了“幸福美满”的中文读法。果然，在经过了这一切的精心准备之后，荣誉伴郎情深款款、幽默诙谐的祝酒词一经出炉，就引来了众人阵阵热烈的掌声。
　　
　　史蒂芬的致词
　　
　　【原声重现】
　　Ling and Erik... please join me here for a moment.As I start my speech, if anyone would feel more comfortable reading, Vivian and Sally were kind enough to translate both Lori and my speech into Mandarin Chinese and you can find copies of our speeches on your tables.
　　Ling& Erik,
　　My name is Stephen Levine and it is my honor to be Erik"s best man.
　　I"d like to start by thanking Mr. and Mrs. Li for hosting such a beautiful wedding and reception.Because of distance and a language barrier, I haven"t had as much of an opportunity as I would have liked to have gotten to know you over the years... but if how a child turns out is any measure of a parent, the loving, kind, supportive, patient and generous woman that Ling has become is the result of her upbringing in your household.And I think we all see the value Ling has in the importance of a close and strong family, by asking Erik"s sister Lori to be her maid of honor. And for raising her so well, and allowing my friend to find a woman as good as Ling, for that, both Erik"s family and friends thank you.
　　I"d also like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Sondersted for their hard work and support in making today a special day.I"ve known them for over a decade now and they have always opened their home to me over the years.They taught Erik the importance of strong moral conviction and strength of character and provided him with the backbone that allowed him to grow into the man he is today.
　　I"d also like to thank all of Ling"s and Erik"s family and friends here today that I did not mention.Your presence here means so much to Ling and Erik and I know some of you have traveled great distances to be here today.
　　For those of you who don"t know, Erik and I met in college at Bucknell University one of the first week"s of school when we were both Freshman.It turned out that we both lived in the same dorm building, though Erik was on the 3rd floor, which was for students that requested to live on a “substance free” hall and I lived on the 4th floor, which was for students that did NOT request to live on a substance free hall. As my parents are in the room right now, of course most of my time was spent studying and preparing for the hard courseload that college threw at me... but for the couple minutes a day when I wasn"t studying, most of my days hanging out with Erik, Joel Toluba who is also in the wedding party today and the rest of the hall were spent doing what college kids do... watching movies, having a catch, ordering a pizza at midnight and just hanging out... what I didn"t realize or fully appreciate at the time though, is that the bets we would make over Nintendo or going to Hoss"s, a local steakhouse, and rotating who"s birthday it was that night to get the free cake and get embarrassed by 10 waiters singing to you, would lead to lifelong friendships and many, many stories.
　　I think it was over the summer and winter breaks, when both Erik and I would return to Long Island and meet up for a movie at the Commack multiplex, or make a couple bets over a round of golf at Sunken Meadow, when we started to feel more like brothers than close friends.During college, we roomed together our junior and senior years, joined the same fraternity, even studied abroad in the same country... and then later moving into the city together when we were both just starting our careers and our lives.
　　After living together for a year, I fell in love with living in New York and ended up staying in Manhattan for 7 years, just leaving last month as my girlfriend and I are taking a next step together in our own relationship just as Ling and Erik are taking another step together today. Whereas Erik became tired of paying $1200 a month and sleeping in a room literally 7x9 overlooking a brick wall on the fifth floor of a walkup building and he decided to move to Jersey City.Being a social person, Erik had no problem making new friends at Avalon Cove, and it was there that he met friends like Andrew Hiner, Henrick Mose and Yoanna Koleva, who are also in the wedding party.
　　Erik lived in a four bedroom apartment and I remember that he took it on as his responsibility to find a new roommate when one was leaving.At first I didn"t understand why he would want to take on this responsibility with no help from his other roommates... but after he explained to me that it meant that he would only choose an attractive, single girl, I started to understand his motives a lot better... And it was through this process that he met and picked Ling to be the new roommate.I still remember the first day that Ling moved in... it was a hot, summer day in June and Ling brought her entire life in the back of family friend, Drew Sikora"s truck.Always a friendly person who strives to make situations comfortable for new people, Erik immediately offered his help to Drew and Ling to help move her things into the apartment.
　　At first, Ling and Erik started hanging out and building what would become their relationship based on an underlying friendship.It took only a handful of months before Erik would tell me that he was developing feelings for Ling... and their relationship finally started to grow beyond just a simple friendship.They dated for close to a year before Erik went to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to earn his MBA.If there was any test of their relationship, it would have been during this timeperiod as I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for Ling and Erik to go from over a year of living together and building a relationship into Erik moving 500 miles away to go to school.But through many phone calls, and Ling visiting Pittsburgh and Erik staying with Ling in Jersey City during school breaks, not only did their relationship survive, but as the old saying goes, distance makes the heart grow fonder... I think that both Ling and Erik grew to appreciate their relationship even more during this time of being apart and it made them closer.
　　I think you are both very lucky to have found each other and I"m glad to have seen this relationship develop into the supportive, loving partnership it has become.I think I speak for everyone in the room when I say that we are all happy to be here today and celebrate with you both.
　　If everyone will now please raise your glasses with me to toast the happy couple.
　　May you live as long as you want and want nothing as long as you live.In the Jewish faith, we say Mazel Tov, which means Congratulations and Best wishes... and in Chinese, I believe the saying is “Gung Hey Fi Lark”, which if I didn"t butcher the pronunciation, means “Wishing you much happiness”.
　　TO LING AND ERIK
　　
　　【锁定译文】
　　凌凌和艾瑞克，这一刻请与我一同分享。在我致词的时候，如果在场任何嘉宾更加偏爱阅读的话，维维安和莎莉已经将我和罗瑞的祝词译成了普通话。相信各位可以在桌子上找到中文副本。
　　
　　凌凌和艾瑞克，
　　我的名字叫史蒂芬・莱文尼，很荣幸能成为艾瑞克的荣誉伴郎。
　　首先，我要向凌凌的父母李先生、李太太表示衷心的感谢。谢谢你们承办了这样精致美好的婚礼和招待宴。由于相隔距离和沟通语言的屏障，使我在过去的几年之中无缘与你们近距离交流。但如果说孩子的成长与父母的教诲息息相关的话，我们不难看出，凌凌之所以可以成为这样一个充满爱心、善良可爱、慷慨大方、善解人意，对爱人支持有嘉的女子，与你们对她的关爱和教育不无关系。可见，凌凌身上的所有优秀品质，都来自于你们这个幸福家庭的给予和馈赠。这次凌凌特邀艾瑞克的妹妹罗瑞做荣誉伴娘，足以证明她已和爱人的家人亲如一家。通过这些小的事例，我想我们大家不难发现，凌凌到底是来自于一个多么重视亲情的幸福美满家庭。感谢李先生、李太太把女儿培养得如此优秀，才让我的好朋友艾瑞克，可以有幸找到如此出色的女子作为人生伴侣。我想，艾瑞克的家人和朋友都对此心存感激。
　　接下来，我还要向艾瑞克的父母，桑德斯泰德先生及夫人表示感谢。是他们的不懈努力和全力支持，才使今天这个特殊的日子成为可能。我与桑德斯泰德夫妇相识已有十余载。这些年来，他们家永远向我敞开大门，使我倍感温暖。在他们的教诲之下，艾瑞克懂得了坚强的精神信念和顽强的人格力量的重要性。有了他们这个坚强的后盾，艾瑞克今天才得以成长为如此出色的男子汉。
　　我还要向所有我没有提及的、这对新人的家人和朋友，表示由衷的感谢。感谢你们不远万里来参加他们的婚礼。你们的到来，对艾瑞克和凌凌来说意义重大。
　　
　　有些人或许不知道，我和艾瑞克是在巴克奈尔大学相识的。那时我们都是大一新生，入学第一周就成了新朋友。之后我们发现，两人当时竟然住在同一栋学生宿舍楼里。唯一的区别就是艾瑞克住三层，他们那层所有的设施都免费；而我，却住在所有设施都不免费、处处都受限制的四层。鉴于我的父母今天都在现场，我只好免去抱怨之词，不得不这样告诉大家：那时我是把大多数时光，用在学习和准备应付大学的各种繁重课业上了。不过在每天那短暂的不用学习的时间里，我大多都和艾瑞克，还有今天也在场的周・图鲁巴，和楼里其他同学一起，做那些大学里孩子常做的事情。比如看电影、追跑打闹、在深更半夜点比萨饼外卖吃……即使有时只是大家聚聚，就很开心。还有些我们常做的事情，虽然那时我并没意识到它们的有趣之处，但现在想来总是不禁怀念。比如，打任天堂游戏时大家下过的赌注；又比如，我们去胡斯牛排馆轮流过生日的经历。赶上谁过生日，我们都会向餐厅索要免费的生日蛋糕，最尴尬的是竟然还有十个店员为“寿星”唱生日歌……正是这些过往的点点滴滴，成就了我们一生的友谊，和太多、太多我们共同经历的故事。
　　
　　每到寒暑假假期，我和艾瑞克都会回到长岛。我们经常相约去康美克中心看电影，或去桑肯绿地赌一场高尔夫球。就是那段日子，使我和艾瑞克越走越近，从好朋友变成了好兄弟。在大学三四年级的时候，我们不仅搬进同一间宿舍成为了室友，还参加了同一个兄弟会，甚至选择同一个国家去留学……之后又一同搬进曼哈顿市区，在那里开始了我们各自的事业和生活。
　　
　　我们在一起生活了一年后，我爱上了纽约，就这样在曼哈顿住了整整七年，直到上个月才决定离开。因为就像凌凌和艾瑞克一样，我和女友也有了些人生新的规划。和我不同的是，艾瑞克那时却厌倦了住在那月租1200美金，却没有电梯的旧公寓的五层房间里;厌倦了住在那不足8平米的小屋，抬头就是一堵破砖墙的日子。于是他决定搬到泽西市去。他是个广交朋友、社交能力很强的家伙，搬到新住处自然不愁没朋友。不久，他就是在那里结识了许多新朋友。比如伴郎之一安德鲁・海奈尔和“大丹麦”――翰瑞克・莫斯，和伴娘之一尤安娜・库勒娃。他们今天都在现场。
　　
　　艾瑞克当时住在一个四室一厅的公寓里。我记得当时他们的一个室友离开了，他就主动承担起找寻新室友的任务。起初我还感到奇怪，为什么他愿意在没有其他室友帮助的情况下，独自挑起重担，并且如此热情高涨。直到有次他向我解释说，这次筛选新室友条件何等苛刻，非迷人单身女性不选时，我才明白他的真正意图。就这样，艾瑞克选中凌凌作为大家的新任室友，这其中的玄秘不言而喻。我还记得凌凌搬过去的第一天，是六月里一个炎热的夏日。凌凌的整个家当都在她的朋友――德鲁・斯寇拉的卡车车斗里（译者友情注释：按凌凌及家人的叫法，德鲁即是“老将”的老婆：梅）。艾瑞克总是十分乐于为新朋友营造舒适的环境，这一次自然也不例外。他立刻向德鲁和凌凌伸出了援手，并帮助她们把所有的东西都搬进了公寓。
　　起初，凌凌和艾瑞克只是像朋友一样一起外出玩耍。在不断地接触中，他们之间建立了深厚的友情，这为他们以后关系的发展无不奠定了坚实的基础。只过了几个月的时间，艾瑞克就告诉我，他对凌凌的感觉与日俱增。再后来，他们两人的关系就不再是普通朋友那么简单了，终于发展为远远超越友谊的恋人关系。他们交往了近一年时间，之后艾瑞克去了位于宾州匹兹堡的卡内基梅隆大学攻读工商管理学硕士学位。如果说有什么东西可以考验他们的爱情的话，应该就是那段日子吧。我都很难想象，从一年前同一屋檐下的甜蜜生活，一下子变成有情人相隔两地，艾瑞克不得不搬到八百公里以外的地方读书……这一路，他们是怎么熬过来的。但是这对恋人最终还是坚持了下来。不管是无数次的电话诉衷肠，还是凌凌不辞辛苦飞去匹兹堡探望艾瑞克，或是艾瑞克利用假期赶回泽西市看望凌凌，他们几乎用尽了一切可能的方式来维系这份爱。最终，他们的爱不仅存活了下来，还如老话说的那样，真的变成了“距离产生美”。我猜这两颗心，正是因为那段分离两地的日子而越贴越近的。正因如此，他们两人才越发珍惜这份情。
　　在我看来，你们两人都很幸运，找到了人生中的另一半。看到这份感情开花结果，看到你们互相扶持、彼此爱护，我真是为你们感到开心。相信我的话代表着在场每一个人的心声。相信大家一定和我一样，非常高兴能够聚集于此，和你们一起庆祝这个特别的日子。
　　请在座的各位和我一起举杯，祝福这对幸福的新人。
　　祝你们天长地久、比翼双飞。用犹太语，我们会说“Mazel Tov”，这是恭喜新婚、祝福无限的意思。用中文的说法是“xing fu mei man”，如果我没有把发音搞错的话，它的意思是“祝你们幸福美满”。
　　
　　为了凌凌和艾瑞克的幸福，干杯！