首页 新闻 体育 娱乐 游戏 邮箱 搜索 短信 聊天 通行币 天气 答疑 交友 导航


新浪首页 > 新浪教育 > 《英语文摘》杂志 > “继续前行”—伊朗流亡王后出版回忆录

Iran’s Empress in Exile Finds ‘a Way to Go On’
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/05/17 16:31  英语文摘

  By Nora Boustany

  It could be the eternal wisdom of Persia’s great poetsan unforgettable bond to Iran and an everlasting love for a ruler the world shunned in his last days in exile that have kept Farah Pahlavi anchored.

  She has suffered in her 25 years since the shahMohammad Reza Pahlavipiloted his family out of Iran. At 66she remains philosophical about her lossesthe dizzying highs and lows her journey has involved.

  “There are days where I find myself depressed and tired... people write to me and they want me to give them courage”she said.“Life is a strugglefor everyone at every levelbut you should not lose your dignity. To go on is the struggle of life.”

  “There are so many answers in Persian poetry. A blue skylove of family and nature. All this gives me positive energy”she said.“At the endit is in yourself that you have to find the way to go on.”

  The account of her life as a glamorous and stunning empress who had to give it all up in the face of historical upheaval is narrated in her memoir“An Enduring LoveMy Life With the Shah”published in English by Miramax Books. The bookwhich was translated from Frenchtopped bestseller lists for weeks last fall in France.

  In the bookshe chronicles Iran’s plunge into chaos and arbitrary executions in the early days of the revolutionand her husband’s battle with cancer. She describes the humiliation of becoming a diplomatic burden in search of a haven and medical care at the height of the U.S. hostage crisis in Tehran.

  She details the political maneuvering she and her husband faced as they jetted from Egypt to the United Statesthe BahamasMexico and Panama before finally returning to reside in Egypt. It is a retelling of events based on her own diary entries as well as accounts from the shah’s doctorsthe former first lady of EgyptJehan Sadatand others.

  Pahlavi talked about her life and work Wednesday in an interview at her home in Potomac. The afternoon sun flooded her living roomdecorated with kilim carpetsmodern Iranian paintings and a bronze bust of the shah. She follows every newscast and development in Iran as if still thereand she devotes time each day to answering email from students in Iran who ask her to call themparents worried about their children or disillusioned expatriates who need her moral support.

  Pahlavi began writing her book three years agowhen she was overcome with grief as her youngest daughter was losing a battle with depressioneating disorders and a dependence on sleeping pills. Leila31died in a hotel room in London in 2001.

  “I felt so miserableI started then”she said of beginning the memoir.

  Pahlavi said that if she has one regretit is that she did not spend more private time with her husband and children. Her happiest memories are of giving birth to a boya girla boya girland of traveling around the Iranian countrysidewhere she said she met ordinary people.“I always wanted to travel without maidsor cross the Iranian desert on camel back. Apparentlyit is an unbelievable experience”she said longingly.

  Pahlavi was born Farah Dibaan only child. She lost her father and was brought up by her mother in her uncle’s house.

  In the summer of 1959 in Francewhile trying to obtain a scholarship to continue her architecture studies in Parisa chance encounter with the shah developed into a romance. They married later that year.

  A longtime acquaintanceHaleh Esfandiariwho served as deputy director of one of her many cultural foundationssaid that“she never lost that popular touch. She was genuine. While the shah gave the impression of being distantshe allowed people to rush and embrace her while visiting the provinces.”Esfandiaridirector of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center hereattended the same girls school in Tehran as Pahlavi.

  Pahlavi describes the forced separation from her children when they needed their parents the mostthe final scene of tearful farewells with palace personnel throwing themselves at the shah’s feetand the cook who grabbed his copper pots and bags of lentils and beans to take with him on the plane.

  “When we look backwe all had a part in this revolution”she said of her countrymen.“They allin a sort of hysteriathought religious men could bring freedom and democracy.

  “Khomeini used them all”she said of the grand ayatollah who led the 1979 Islamic revolution.“Maybe we should have handled or addressed problems differently”she concedednoting that there were shortcomings in her husband’s rule. He died in 1980.

  The political jockeying by some members of the royal entourage after the death of her husband still stings.“It’s very hard to have seen one side of human beingsthen have to see the other sidetheir actions and wordscoming from people who were close to you”she said.

  Butshe added“I have tried to put myself above it.”

  “If you have to cross the desert to reach your goalgo”she saidborrowing from the words of Hafizone of Iran’s most celebrated poets“pay no heed to the wounding thorns.”-

“继续前行”—伊朗流亡王后出版回忆录

  波斯大诗人的永恒智慧,对伊朗的难以忘怀,以及对一位在最后流亡岁月中遭世人回避的国王的永恒之爱,所有这一切都可能是法拉赫·巴列维支撑下来的理由。

  伊朗国王穆罕默德·雷扎·巴列维带领家人逃出伊朗后的25年来,她一直受苦受难。66岁的她却仍然对失去的东西以及在人生旅途中遭遇的眩目的高峰和低谷抱着达观态度。

  “在一些日子里,我觉得自己失落而又疲倦……人们给我写信,要我赐予他们勇气,”她说。“生活是一场斗争,对每个层次的每个人来说皆如此,但你不应当失去尊严。继续生活便是生活的斗争。”

  “在波斯诗歌中能找到许多答案。蔚蓝的天,对家庭和自然的热爱。所有这些给了我积极的力量,”她说,“最终,你得靠自己找到继续前进的道路。”

  她的回忆录《永恒的爱:我与伊朗国王的生活》记述了这位迷人、美丽的王后的生活,面临历史的动荡,她被迫放弃一切。此书由米拉麦克斯出版社以英文出版。它译自法文版,曾在去年秋天多个星期占据法国畅销书排行榜首。

  在书中,她记述了伊朗在革命初期陷入的骚乱和随意的处决以及她丈夫与癌症所做的斗争。她还描写了在德黑兰美国人质危机白热化阶段因寻求庇护和医疗而成为外交负担的屈辱。

  她详细描述了她和丈夫在最终回到埃及定居之前,坐喷气式飞机辗转飞行于埃及、美国、巴哈马群岛、墨西哥和巴拿马时遭遇的政治花招。对这些事件的复述是依据她自己的日记以及国王的医生、前埃及第一夫人杰汗·萨达特和其他一些人的记述。

  巴列维星期三在波托马克的家中接受采访时谈了她的生活与工作。下午的阳光洒满了装饰着基里姆地毯、伊朗现代绘画和国王半身铜像的起居室。她关注伊朗的每次新闻广播和每一步新的发展,就好像她仍在国内。她每天要抽出时间回答人们发来的电子邮件,这些人中有请求她给他们打电话的伊朗学生,有为孩子担忧的父母以及需要她精神支持的理想破灭的流亡者。

  巴列维在3年前开始写书,那时她因最小的女儿不堪抑郁症、饮食紊乱、失眠药依赖症的折磨而痛苦万分。31岁的莱拉2001年在伦敦一所宾馆的房间里去世。

  “我悲伤极了,然后就开始写了,”她说起了写回忆录的原由。

  巴列维说如果她有遗憾的话,就是没有跟丈夫和孩子们一起相处更多时间。她最愉快的回忆是先后生下4个孩子,分别为男孩、女孩、男孩、女孩。还有就是在伊朗乡间巡游,她说在那里接触到了普通百姓。“我总是想不带女佣独自旅行,或者骑着骆驼穿越伊朗的沙漠。很显然,这是令人难以置信的经历,”她带着渴望的语气说道。

  巴列维出生时叫法拉赫·迪巴,是家中惟一的孩子。她没有父亲,在舅舅家由母亲带大。

  1959年的法国之夏,当巴列维正努力争取奖学金以便在巴黎继续学建筑时,她与伊朗国王的偶然相识发展成了一段罗曼史。那年年末,他们结婚了。

  老熟人哈莱赫·埃斯凡迪亚里曾经是她许多文化基金会之一的副会长说“她从来没有丢掉那种平民化作风。她真诚坦率。虽然国王给人的印象是拒人于千里之外,但她却在访问各省时让人们蜂拥过来拥抱她。”埃斯凡迪亚里现任美国伍德罗·威尔逊国际中心的中东项目主管,曾与巴列维就读德黑兰的同一所女子学校。

  巴列维记述了当孩子们最需要父母的时候,自己被迫与他们分离;记述了与扑到了国王脚下的王宫侍卫人员挥泪告别的最后场景;还描述了一名厨师,他抓着几个铜壶和几个装满滨豆和蚕豆的口袋,以把它们带上飞机。

  “当回首往事时,这场革命我们都有份儿,”她说起了她的国民,“在某种歇斯底里的气氛中,他们都认为信教的人能带来自由和民主。”

  “霍梅尼利用了所有的人,”她谈起领导1979年伊斯兰革命的最高阿亚图拉。“也许我们本该用不同的方法去处理问题,”她承认说,指出了她丈夫的统治存在不足。伊朗国王死于1980年。

  丈夫死后一些王室随从的政治花招依然令她感到痛苦。她说,“在见过了人的一面后还得再看另一面,他们说的和做的,这让人很难忍受。那都是些过去你身边的人。”

  但她又补充说道,“我努力使自己超然处之。”

  “如果你非得穿越沙漠才能到达目标,那就出发吧,”她引用伊朗最著名的诗人之一哈菲兹的话说道,“不要去理会扎人的荆棘。”(李攻科摘译自The Washington Post Mar. 52004)




英语学习论坛】【评论】【 】【打印】【关闭
Annotation


新闻查询帮助

热 点 专 题
美英军队虐待伊俘虏
韩法院驳回总统弹劾案
温家宝总理出访欧洲
印度2004年议会大选
台湾“大选”验票
影星牛振华遇车祸身亡
第57届戛纳国际电影节
汤尤杯中国捧回双冠
中超首轮周末激情揭幕



教育频道意见反馈留言板 电话:010-62630930-5178 欢迎批评指正

新浪简介 | About Sina | 广告服务 | 联系我们 | 招聘信息 | 网站律师 | SINA English | 会员注册 | 产品答疑

Copyright © 1996 - 2004 SINA Inc. All Rights Reserved

版权所有 新浪网
北京市通信公司提供网络带宽