浮生·琐记

从来没有想过竟然能够从头到尾读完一本关于埃及长达400页的书。最开始把The Buried放进书单里单纯是因为作者是New Yorker的Peter Hessler。Hessler在中国驻站的那几年里，写了三四本有关乡土中国的非虚构纪实，惭愧地讲来其实好像哪一本都没有认真读完，但依旧记得在江城那本书的开头Hessler记录了他最开始学习中文的过程，好笑到我忍不住截图发到了微博。自此便认定了这是个会讲有趣故事的作家。

最初拿到The Buried这本书的时候对于书的内容其实是完全没有expectation的，毕竟作为China Studies选手对于中东的认知基本一片空白，甚至会有些担心这么厚一本书是不是读了两三页可能就晦涩到要弃书了。还好Hessler还是那个会讲故事的New Yorker记者，虽然整本书的主题其实从政治学角度而言真的非常challenging，但他还是选取了更接地气的角度，延续了他一直以来用身边的故事记录历史的风格，让读者通过普通人的悲欢离合看到整个埃及的社会变迁。

三个词贯穿了Hessler的记述：djet / neheh / system。前两个是古埃及人对于时间的理解，djet形容的是一种永恒感，而neheh则是时代的轮回，源于尼罗河的涨跌。在Arab Spring过后的政局起伏中，很多元素在Hessler看来是可以用djet和neheh来解释的。这本书的副标题是an archaeology of the Egyptian revolution，Hessler把整个Arab Spring放进了更为宏大的历史长河中，以史为鉴，从考古挖掘的古埃及史记中探寻这一系列政治事件的文化源头，发掘现时与千百年前之间的共性。System则就像我们口中的体制，不同的是埃及从来都没有一个足够systematic的行为组织架构，更多的时候unpredictability才是生活的常态。

在Hessler记述的普通人里，拾荒者Sayyid的故事每每令人惊叹。习惯了依靠政府服务包揽垃圾处理的我第一次知道原来在埃及每家每户的垃圾都是靠informal economy里Zabbaleen community负责解决的。这些人没有正式的公司注册体系，但多年来的运营又让这个群体有了明晰的界限和分工。Sayyid虽然受雇于更高一层的Zabbaleen operator，但他从来没有过劳动合同。他向居民征收的垃圾处理费也颇为随性，没有明码标价，爱给多少给多少。就在这样的情况下，Sayyid竟然不仅养活了自己还攒了些许积蓄，娶了老婆盖了房子。

Sayyid和他老婆Wahiba的斗争也是令人咋舌。为了抗议Sayyid长期不给足孩子的抚养费，Wahiba展现出了惊人的智慧和能量，我从来没想过原来被困在家里的阿拉伯妇女竟能够用各种法律的手段向她们的丈夫施压，虽然这些法律诉讼往往不了了之，但很多家庭纠纷的确通过这样的压力途径获得了缓和。Hessler也惊叹于埃及普通人处理问题的韧性，只要是能拿来尝试的方法没有不可行的。整个纠纷往复里最ironic的或许就在于这是一个没有系统可言的国家，而这个国家的普通人却在用法律的途径解决生活的问题。

家庭以及妇女在家族中的地位或许是最能体现djet这种永恒性的方面。Hessler意识到埃及文化中对于长辈的绝对顺服和对妇女自由的限制，是导致埃及无法实现有效改革的关键障碍之一。不论Arab Spring有没有发生，也不论举办了多少次公投选举，在这样的文化根基下，一切或许都只是换汤不换药的表面功夫。This goes back to the central question that has always intrigued me in politics: Is democracy for everyone? Apparently democracy could only operate well with certain assumptions. Just like in Egypt, things would not work out as expected. Democracy is not the panacea and worse it paved way for continued autocracy. Elections did happen, but did they make a change to how the society functions? I guess no. 

The other interest aspect Hessler obeserved in history is the discrepancy between on-record historical writings and what actually happened on the ground. Multiple historical sites illustrate that pharoahs significantly beautified their reign in carved writings in tombs, but real archaelogical discoveries often pointed to poverty and starvation in people's lives. Again the neheh concept comes back when this is compared to what happened in the Arab Spring. Revolution was on going in Cairo and westerners were perceiving signs of change and lauding the movements. But Egyptians in most of the country probably had no clear idea of what happened. Life just goes on. 

I was amazed but also felt proud of Chinese's instinct for business and the ability to thrive in a totally unfamiliar environment. Hessler portrayed several Chinese merchants in Egypt selling lingeries, pointing out the flexibility of Chinese in doing business and the role of women in supporting the family business. The possibility of getting the wife involved in selling lingeries to Egyptian women makes the whole business much easier and comfortable on both sides. This also explains why Chinese shops are much more successful than local ones where Egyptian men do all the sales as women are typically not allowed to work. The Chinese even founded the first plastics recylce system in Egypt by collecting used plastic bottles and recyling them into fibers for clothing (e.g. lingeries), thus making it an intricate industrial chain. 

By Chinese logic, as long as there is a business idea and the country gets FDI coming, things will thrive. However, Hessler's book again illustrates the importance of a disciplined workforce. I guess no where on earth would possess such a disciplined workforce as in China where factory workers work by shifts and live in dormitories away from their families. In Egypt, men often do not come to work on time while women, even if they are allowed to work, could only do so during the day. They have to stay with their families which often creates extra cost in daily work commute. These are all painful traditions that are hard to remove with the djet nature of Egyptian culture. 

400多页的叙述囊括了埃及生活的方方面面，有时读来觉得颇有生活趣致，有时又令人叹息在大环境下普通人的无力。或许是因为篇幅太长内容太多每个chapter又没有小标题，读起来反而没有长乐路那么引人入胜，经常有种读到后面有点忘了前面说了啥的尴尬。但总体而言The Buried延续了非虚构写作的故事特性，不失为作为了解埃及的轻松读物之选。