I joined a three months language tour in France, one month in Paris, one month in chambery, and one month in Cannes. In the morning, I studied the French langauge at school. I visited the museums in the afternoon, and I frequented the bars at night. La vie en France was exhausting, but fulfilling. France had so much to offer, and I had it all!
Bizert's Carmen in Paris in 1993 was splendid. I bought the book of Carmen, opera-comique en quatre actes as a souvenir. It rested on my shelf ever after. I would have never thought that one day I would be reading it again after 18 years.
It all started when Hugues agreed to join the dinner party at Jimmy's place last week. In order to impress my golden ladies Toastmasters friends, I borrowed five Basic French textbooks and numerous attached CDs from Taipei City Library. I crammed as much as I could and I did my best to recap what was left in my memory of those happy days in France.
At my birthday party, I spoke less than a dozen French words. Hugues gave me a birthday surprise by agreeing to perform Carmen with me at Lydia's 60th birtday party in November. It's not only a challenge to my French proficiency, but it also is a giant leap in my acquisition of the French language and my appreication of French arts, music, and theater.
Why French in the first place? If not destiny, what could it be? New Orleans was my first foreign city where I was a graduate student at Lousiana Satate University Medical Center in 1979. When I first studied French in New Orelans, I didn't know what the future had in store. It took me three decades to bring together a few piece of puzzles in my life.
French Text of the Habanera
L'amour est un oiseau rebelle
Que nul ne peut apprivoiser,
Et c'est bien in vain qu'on l'appelle
S'il lui convient de refuser.
Rien n'y fait, menace ou prière.
L'un parle bien, l'autre se tait.
Et c'est l'autre que je préfère.
Il n'a rien dit mais il me plait.
L'amour! L'amour! L'amour! L'amour!
L'amour est enfant de Bohême,
Il n'a jamais jamais connu de loi.
Si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime.
Si je t'aime, prends garde à toi!
Si tu ne m'aimes pas, si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime,
Mais si je t'aime, si je t'aime, prends garde à toi!
L'oiseau que tu croyais surprendere
Battit de l'aile et s'envola.
L'amour est loin, tu peux l'attendre.
Tu ne l'attends puis, il est là.
Tout autour de toi, vite vite,
Il vient, s'en va, puis il revient.
Tu crois le tenir, il t'evite.
Tu crois l'eviter, il te tient.
L'amour! L'amour! L'amour! L'amour!
L'amour est enfant de Bohême,
Il n'a jamais jamais connu de loi.
Si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime.
Si je t'aime, prends garde à toi!
Si tu ne m'aimes pas, si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime,
Mais si je t'aime, si je t'aime, prends garde à toi!
English Translation of Habanera
Love is a rebellious bird
that nobody can tame,
and you call him quite in vain
if it suits him not to come.
Nothing helps, neither threat nor prayer.
One man talks well, the other's mum;
it's the other one that I prefer.
He's silent but I like his looks.
Love! Love! Love! Love!
Love is a gypsy's child,
it has never, ever, known a law;
love me not, then I love you;
if I love you, you'd best beware! etc.
The bird you thought you had caught
beat its wings and flew away ...
love stays away, you wait and wait;
when least expected, there it is!
All around you, swift, so swift,
it comes, it goes, and then returns ...
you think you hold it fast, it flees
you think you're free, it holds you fast.
Love! Love! Love! Love!
Love is a gypsy's child,
it has never, ever, known a law;
love me not, then I love you;
if I love you, you'd best beware!
Carmen [GeLan / Grace Chang 1960]
Carmen [A-Mei 2008]
愛情不過是一種普通的玩意兒 一點也不稀奇
男人不過是一件消遣的東西 有什麼了不起
愛情不過是一種普通的玩意兒 一點也不稀奇
男人不過是一件消遣的東西 有什麼了不起
什麼叫情 什麼叫意 還不是大家自己騙自己
什麼叫痴 什麼叫迷 簡直是男的女的在做戲
是男人我都喜歡 不管窮富和高低
是男人我都拋棄 不怕你再有魔力
愛情不過是一種普通的玩意兒 一點也不稀奇
男人不過是一件消遣的東西 有什麼了不起
愛情不過是一種普通的玩意兒 一點也不稀奇
男人不過是一件消遣的東西 有什麼了不起
L'Amour L'Amour L'Amour L'Amour
什麼叫情 什麼叫意 還不是大家自己騙自己
什麼叫痴 什麼叫迷 簡直是男的女的在做戲
是男人我都喜歡 不管窮富和高低
是男人我都拋棄 不怕你再有魔力
什麼叫情 什麼叫意 還不是大家自己騙自己
什麼叫痴 什麼叫迷 簡直是男的女的在做戲
你要是愛上了我 你就自己找晦氣
我要是愛上了你 你就死在我手裡
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