After presenting ravishing performances to European audiences at the beginning of the year, the Contemporary Legend Theater recently released “The Kangxi Emperor and Louis-Dieudonne” in Taiwan a new fusion opera that combines music from the east and west.
This opera tells the story of the interaction between the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty and King Louis XIV of France, who sent Joachim Bouvet to Beijing for an audience with the emperor. Bouvet was a member of a delegation of six Jesuit missionaries and mathematicians sent to the Kangxi Emperor, led by Jean de Fontaney, who became famous because he gave quinine to the emperor and cured his malaria.
The opera will be performed this Saturday and Sunday evening in the plaza outside the National Palace Museum. The libretto was written in Chinese by Chang Ta-chun, a well known Taiwanese author and literary critic. The French part of the libretto was translated from the Chinese version and adapted into operatic form for the French performers.
Photo: Courtesy of Contemporary Legend Theater
照片：當代傳奇劇場提供
The music was composed by Xu Shuya for an orchestra of 45 musicians. The orchestra includes both eastern and western instruments. The music is not strictly Chinese or Baroque, it is a mixture of both styles and both types of instruments.
In this opera, the Kangxi Emperor will be played by Wu Hsing-kuo, the lead dancer and director of Contemporary Legend Theater, and well known French tenor Jean-Francois Novelli will play the role of King Louis XIV “Le roi soleil.” The roles of Madame de Maintenon and Anne of Austria will be played by Camille Poul, soprano, while Joachim Bouvet and Moliere will be played by Pierrick Boisseau, baritone.
(By Taijing Wu, Taipei Times）
當代傳奇劇場今年初呈現給歐洲觀眾令人陶醉的演出後，要在台灣以新的歌劇形式融合東西文化，表演「康熙大帝與太陽王路易十四」。
Photo: Courtesy of Contemporary Legend Theater
照片：當代傳奇劇場提供
這齣歌劇描述的是中國清朝康熙皇帝與法國國王路易十四間的互動。路易十四當年派遣白晉前往北京晉見康熙皇帝，白晉是六位耶穌會傳教士兼數學家代表團當中一位。代表團由洪若翰帶領，他因為給了皇帝奎寧，並治好皇上的瘧疾而成名。
本週六週日晚上於故宮博物院外廣場上演的歌劇的歌詞，由台灣著名作家與文藝評論家張大春以中文撰寫。法文歌詞由中文版本翻譯而成，隨後改編成歌劇形式給法國表演者唱。
音樂由許舒亞作曲，是寫給四十五位樂手的作品。樂團包含東方與西方樂器，音樂本身也並非絕對的中國音樂或巴洛克音樂，而是兩種樂風相互交替，且同時由兩種樂器演奏。
這齣歌劇的康熙皇帝將由當代傳奇主要舞者兼團長吳興國飾演。路易十四「太陽王」則由在法國受歡迎的男高音Jean-Francois Novelli飾演。曼特儂夫人與安皇后(路易十四母親)由女高音Camille Poul一人飾兩角，而男中音Pierrick Boisseau將表演白晉與莫里哀兩角。
（台北時報記者吳岱璟）
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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