By Mark Mardell
Europe editor, BBC News, Transylvania
In Transylvania in central Romania a cheerful woman with a pink headscarf stands outside her house behind a trestle table. On it she has old-fashioned scales, a couple of plastic baskets of pears and a small crate of apples.
在羅馬尼亞中部的特蘭西瓦尼亞,一位神情愉悅的婦人,手裡拿著粉紅色的頭巾,站在自家門外的擱板桌前. 桌上擺著她老式的秤, 兩三個裝了梨子的塑膠籃和一小簍子的蘋果.
She and her husband are teachers, but their large orchard produces far more than they could possibly eat so she sells to passers-by and neighbours.
她和丈夫都是老師, 但是他們大片果園裡產出了遠遠超過他們所能吃的量, 因此她拿來賣給路人和鄰居.
In the shadow of one of the castles that claims to be Dracula's own, people here avoided the fangs of Nicolae Ceausescu during the communist era.
在一棟據說是吸血鬼德古拉擁有的城堡掩蔽下,這裡的人在共產主義時期得以躲避強人西奧塞古的毒牙.
While he sucked the life out of many villages and wrecked the country's economy, somehow people here survived unscathed and made a good living selling apples.
儘管他吸盡無數村莊的活力並且還摧毀國家的經濟, 這裡的人們不但平安無事而且還靠著販賣蘋果過著不錯的生活.
But all over Romania it is obvious, wherever you go, that small-scale agriculture is the lifeblood of this country, whether for pocket money, home consumption or survival.
無論走到羅馬尼亞的任何地方, 很肯定的, 這種小規模的農業是這個國家的命脈, 無論是賺取零用, 支付家庭消費或為了生存.
Down the road there are more tables loaded with jars and bottles of varying shapes and sizes filled with honey.
沿著這條路, 有更多張桌子擺滿了各式各樣大小不一的瓶瓶罐罐, 裡面裝滿了蜂蜜.
Sheep graze on a pocket of grass between two houses, where the owners park their car. A common sight is a man leading a single cow along the roadside. Women sit patiently by their front porch selling piles of shiny aubergines and pyramids of melons.
羊在兩棟房子間的小塊空地上吃著草, 這是被屋主拿來停車用的. 最常見的是男人牽著一隻牛沿著路邊漫步. 女人則是耐心的坐在門口賣著一堆色澤光亮的茄子和疊得高高的甜瓜.
Wolves and bears
But Romania joined the European Union at the beginning of this year, and some question whether this way of life will survive.
今年初羅馬尼亞加入歐盟, 有些人就懷疑這樣的生活方式是否可以繼續延續下去.
The EU reformed its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) a couple of years ago, so that it would no longer encourage over-production by big farms but instead make a key aim the "preservation of traditional rural landscapes, and bird and wildlife conservation".
幾年前,歐盟針對其共同農業政策進行改革, 為此它不再鼓勵大農場過度生產, 反而以保存傳統田園景觀,及鳥類與野生動物的管理作為重要目標.
But will this really work in Romania, where traditional agriculture will inevitably clash with some other EU values like "standards of farm hygiene and safety"? And will Romania joining the rest of the EU also mean the easy import of foreign standardised produce and modernisation of agricultural techniques?
但這樣的農業政策在羅馬尼亞行得通嗎? 傳統的農業是否將不可避免的與一些歐盟價值相衝突, 像是農場衛生與安全? 這是否意味著聯合了歐盟其他國家的羅馬尼亞將可以很容易從國外輸入標準化產品及引進現代化的農業技術?
It is twilight by the time I reach my next destination, a hillside deep in the Transylvanian countryside. It is very tranquil, a scene unchanged for centuries. Smoke rises from a little wooden hut. Its scent and the tinkling of cow bells fill the air.
我的下一個目的地是深入Transylvanian鄉間的一處山腰,當我抵達時暮色正昏沉. 四周非常寧靜, 是幾世紀以來都沒有改變過的景緻. 炊煙從小木屋上方冉冉升起. 空氣中迷漫著芳香與牛鈴的叮咚聲.
In the darkness, I am almost upon the sturdy cow pen before I see it, and realise it is milking
time.在黑暗中, 我差點撞上了堅固的牛欄, 才明白現在正是擠牛奶的時間.
Three men with weathered, rugged faces crouch on stools, muttering encouragement to the animals as they milk them by hand. This is not allowed by EU law, although the country has been given time to adapt.
三個有張同樣飽經風霜臉孔的男人蹲坐在凳子上,當他們在擠著奶時還一邊喃喃自語鼓勵這些動物. 這當然是違反歐盟的規定, 雖然已要求這個國家限期改善.
In the hut, the source of the woodsmoke, Ion Duculesu shows me his cheese-making equipment. He pours milk into a metal pail which stands in the middle of the muddy floor, next to the simple wood fire, a few sticks also burning on the floor. After it curdles, the moisture is pressed out on a wooden table, the shape of a blunt triangle.
This too is unlikely to meet EU health and safety standards. He says that eventually they will have to buy machinery but he wants to carry on like this.
散發出燻煙味的小屋裡, Ion Duculesu 給我看他那套製作起司的器具. 他將牛奶注入一個放置在泥濘的地板中央的金屬桶裡, 在一旁簡單的堆了些柴火, 幾根木柴在地板上燒著. 牛奶凝固後, 水份被擠壓流到木頭桌子上, 形狀看起來就像一個鈍三角形. 這同樣也不太可能符合歐盟的健康安全標準. 他說最終他們還是必須買一套機器設備, 但他還是想繼續像現在這樣做.
"They'll fine us, and we'll go out of business so I will be out of a job. But I've always worked with animals since I was a child so I will still raise them."
"他們會對我們易科罰金, 我們將被迫停業, 我也會因此失業. 但是從我孩提時代已來就跟著群動物一起工作, 所以我會繼續飼養牠們."
Ion gestures sleeping with his head on his hands for me to have a look at his bed. It is a low contraption like a table, laid with a mattress. A wooden covering and tarpaulin sit on top.
Ion 作勢將他的頭枕在手上意示我看看他睡的床. 這像是張桌子的低矮玩意兒, 上面鋪著床墊. 一個木質的罩子跟帆布擱在上頭.
He tells me he stays up with the animals to frighten off predators. If the bears or wolves come he shouts and chases them with sticks, he says.
他告訴我他要徹夜看顧這些動物好嚇退那些掠食者. 他說如果有熊或是狼過來, 他就會大聲喊叫並且拿著棍棒追擊.
Woods and pasture
As the cowherds bring us mugs of frothy fermented yoghurt and the darkness deepens, I chat to Mark Redman, a British agricultural and environmental expert who lives just down the hill. He helps governments and farmers in Ukraine and Turkey prepare for EU membership.
當牧人帶給我們起泡發酵的優格時, 夜暮更加低垂了, 我和Mark Redman聊了起來, 他是一個英國農業及環境專家, 就住在山腳下. 他幫助烏克蘭以及土耳其政府與農民進行加入歐盟的準備工作.
"The EU is clearly creating a whole lot of obstacles for these guys, but there are immense opportunities. The problem is to exploit those opportunities," he tells me.
歐盟顯然給這些人帶來很大的障礙, 但也存在無窮盡的機會. 問題就是要怎麼利用這些機會." 他告訴我.
"The regulations handed down from Brussels have to be interpreted creatively at a national level. But you need a political commitment at a national level to protect this sort of farming system... I don't see people putting themselves out to defend the way of life of these guys."
"從布魯塞爾傳下來的規章必須要以國家層面有創意地去解釋. 但是必須要取得國家層面的政治承諾來保護這類形的農業經營系統...我並沒有看到人們站出來捍衛這些人的生活方式."
The farms and orchards create this landscape. In one, chickens run among the sour cherry and apple trees. It means the hillside is divided higgledy-piggledy into corridors and rectangles of varying shapes.
農莊與果園集成獨豎一格的景象. 其一是雞群在櫻桃與蘋果樹之間到處亂跑. 整片山坡被零亂的切割成長長的通道與形狀不一的方形.
Standing in one field and looking across a valley to the hillside opposite and the mist-topped mountain beyond, Raluca Barbu of the World Wildlife Fund tells me that traditional farming is essential, vital for biodiversity.
站在其中一處田地遠望對面山坡上的村莊和遠方薄霧繚繞的山巔,世界野生動物基金會的Raluca Barbu告訴我, 傳統農業對生物多樣性是基本的且是不可或缺的.
"The trees mixed with pastures mean that there are a variety of bird species, five of the most threatened varieties of butterflies, small mammals and closer to the forest, bears and wolves," she says.
"樹林與牧草場混雜代表了可以有不同種的鳥類,五種濱臨絕種的蝴蝶, 小型哺乳類在這裡生存, 還有居住在靠近森林的熊與狼." 她說.
"This is the result of a real balance between nature, humans and animals. But in this village people are abandoning the land, getting more involved with tourism - and to maintain biodiversity you need animals."
"這個結果可以使大自然,人類與動物取得實際的平衡. 但是住在這個村莊裡的居民卻棄置他們的土地, 並開始專注在觀光業上, 你需要動物來維持生物的多樣性."
Foreign farmers
About 200 miles (320km) to the south-east, near the Danube, it is a rather different story, probably because of its flatter landscape and more temperate climate.
朝東南方約200哩接近多瑙河的地方, 則又是另一個完全不同於此的情況, 也許是因為它平坦的地勢與溫和的氣候.
Here, there are some of the biggest farms in Europe, perhaps a legacy of Ceausescu's collectivisation. Cornfields stretch as far as the eye can see, the sort of landscape that environmentalists say is the enemy of biodiversity. Smaller plots of land are being bought up by big business, some of it foreign-owned.
這裡, 有幾個歐洲最大的農田, 或許是因著西奧塞古共耕制所遺留下的. 玉米田向天際極盡延伸至視線所及之處, 這類的景觀卻是環保人士眼中生物多樣化的敵人. 較小塊的土地正一塊塊被大企業買走, 其中還有部份是國外的企業.
On a big village farm Arnaud Perrain is showing off his shiny new turbo-charged tractor. The man who drives it performs a trick: using the fork to lift the tyres of an old-fashioned Romanian model off the ground.
在一個大村莊的農地上,Arnaud Perrain正在炫耀他展新的渦輪增壓拖拉機.這個男人駕駛著拖拉機表演了個特技: 用動力鋤把老式的羅馬尼亞型拖拉機從地面上鏟了起來.
Arnaud is French, but this is his home. He has been here 10 years and is married to a Romanian.
Arnaud是個法國人, 但是這裡是他的家. 他待在這裡已經有十年了, 還娶了一位羅馬尼亞妻子.
His neighbour, an Italian, arrived four year ago and to him and his brothers it is more of a business proposition. He goes home to Italy every few weeks, and his wife and child live there. But both men bought land in Romania because they could afford much bigger farms here.
他的義大利鄰居是四年前來的, 對他和他的兄弟而言生意是比較重要的. 他每幾個星期回義大利一趟, 他的妻兒則留在那裡. 兩兄弟在羅馬尼亞買了塊地,因為在這裡可以買到比較大片的農地.
After a tough eight years Mr Perrain now has more than 3,000 hectares, growing sunflowers, soya and corn and employs around 50 people. His tractor is just one of the new pieces of machinery he has bought with the help of an EU grant worth around 104,000 euros (£70,000).
過了八年艱苦的日子, Perrain先生現在已經擁有超過3,000公頃的地, 種有向日葵,大豆和玉米, 而且他還顧了五十幾個人. 他的拖拉機只不過是他最近添購裝備的其中之一, 裡頭有來自歐盟補助的104,000歐元(約70,000英磅).
He says the EU has cost him money as well. Old cheap weedkillers have been banned and seed prices have gone up. But the EU brings legal security to foreigners who want to buy here.
他說歐盟還是讓他花了不少錢. 之前所使用便宜的除草劑已被禁用而且種子的價格也上揚. 但歐盟卻也保障了國外買家的合法權益.
He thinks more change to the landscape is inevitable.
"It's not economically viable to have a couple of hectares. Romania has a lot of catching up to do right now. People aspire to a certain level of wealth, of comfort. They don't want to look after one cow and one pig and work on a Sunday, work all the days of the week, cultivating a handful of land."
他認為地上景觀的更動日趨頻繁, 這是必然的現象. "並不是經濟上允許就可以有個幾公頃的地. 羅馬尼亞現在令人趨之若鶩的事很多. 人們渴望有一定程度的財富與舒適. 他們才不會想去照顧牛、豬，在星期天或整週都工作, 耕作這麼麻煩的地."
More food
The Romanian director of a big farm of 400,000 hectares is even more blunt. Nicusor Serban of Agroserv Mariuta asks me: "Do people want to look at a pretty landscape or feed people? Things look different on a full stomach."
羅馬尼亞公司Agroserv Mariuta一位管轄400,000公頃農地的主任Agroserv Mariuta更是直言不諱, 他問我: "人們想要欣賞漂亮的風景還是能夠填飽肚子? 肚子飽飽的看事情就會不一樣"
He adds: "Things will change, of course. Small plots will disappear and in the end there'll be medium and big farms. The EU's policy is to subsidise every worked piece of land, big or small. But there's a choice: have intensive agriculture and feed the world or have an ecological agriculture and let people starve."
他又補充說道:"物換星移,理當如此. 較小的耕地將會消失,最終只將會有中型和大型的農地. 歐盟的政策是補助任何大小的耕地. 但終究還是會面臨到一個選擇: 採用集約農業供給全世界或者採用讓人餓肚子的生態農業."
Ceausescu destroyed villages and forced their occupants into half-built apartment blocks in an effort to make Romania look more modern, and collectivise agriculture.
西奧塞古摧毀了農村, 把居民趕到建了一半的公寓大樓裡, 企圖讓羅馬尼亞看起來更具現代化, 還有集體式的農耕.
Some say the EU will succeed where he failed. But that is rather unfair.
有些人說西奧塞古做不到的, 歐盟將做到. 但是這有點不公平.
EU policy tends to tug in different directions, so one law designed to protect traditional environments may be undermined by another intended to help people stay in the countryside and still make a good living.
歐盟的政策想要努力做到全方位, 因此一個設計用來保護傳統環境的法律, 可能會被其他企圖想幫助人們待在鄉間但仍可過著好生活的人們所破壞.
But more important than the details of EU policy is the fact that joining the European Union gives access to new markets and gives those markets access to Romania.
但比歐盟政策裡旁枝末節更重要的是, 加入歐盟就有了進入新市場的通行證, 而且也給了這些市場進入羅馬尼亞的機會.
It will almost certainly make Romania richer.
這幾乎可以確定羅馬尼亞將會變得更有錢.
Cheaper, mass-produced food will appear in the supermarkets and people will make their choice.
超級市場裡將充斥著更便宜、大量生產的食物, 由人們來做選擇.
One orchard owner who has recently sold some land and who has stopped breeding sheep and cows told me that people won't buy her rough-pitted but tasty apples any longer.
一個果園的主人最近賣了一些地,而且已經不再飼養牛羊, 她告訴我人們將不會再向她買那些外表難看但嚐起來卻好吃的蘋果了.
People have seen the deep red ones in the shop and like the look of them. There is no future for her in the land.
人們在商店裡已經可以看到那些深紅色令他們喜歡的蘋果. 她的土地沒有辦法再帶給她什麼了.
The very process of joining the EU has a certain logic, and all that implies for tinkling cow bells and wolves on the hillside.
加入歐盟的每一個程序都有其特定的邏輯, 而且一切都是為了要讓叮叮咚咚的牛鈴聲和狼同時存在山坡上.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6977597.stm
Published: 2007/09/04 10:54:59 GMT
© BBC MMVII
沒有留言:
張貼留言