我看葡萄牙My Views of Portugal

上小学的时候，课堂上老师提到“葡萄牙”，我觉得这个国家的名字很有意思1，怎么会以“葡萄”命名？ 且是一个“老牌帝国主义国家”，在遥远的欧洲，曾经航海很厉害，有很多殖民地，但日后衰落了。

When “Portugal” was mentioned by my primary school teacher in class， I was curious to know how come a country could be named after “grapes” （since “Portugal” in Chinese is pu tao ya， and pu tao share the same characters as “grapes”）. And I was told that it is an “old imperialist country”， located in faraway Europe， which used to be an important maritime power with many colonies in the past but has been in decline for a long time.

后来我有幸到澳门一所大学任教，走进了这座曾被葡国占领了四百余年的城市。从巴洛克风格的建筑、葡萄牙风味的美食、土生葡人，到身边的葡国同事，使我觉得对于葡萄牙触手可及2了，尽管在地理上依旧遥远。于是，我有兴趣更多地了解该国的历史、政治、经济、文化、语言等。那时，澳门“回归祖国”已将近三年，有很多“中葡论坛”之类的活动，我都积极参加，更拉近了我与葡国的心理距离。

Later， I was fortunate enough to be invited to teach at a university in Macao， a city occupied by Portugal for more than four hundred years. At the time， I was overwhelmed by things Portuguese， such as the Baroque-style architecture， Portuguese cuisine， locally-born Portuguese， not to mention my Portuguese colleagues. It seemed that Portugal was within reach， despite its geographical distance. This sparked my interest in learning more about the country’s history， politics， economy， culture， language and more. Since Macao had just been “returned to its motherland” for nearly three years， there were many activities related to “China-Portuguese Forums” in which I was actively involved， bringing me psychologically closer to Portugal.

其实“葡萄牙”的名字源于拉丁文，意为“港口”，可见它与海洋的渊源。原来，这是一个有着悠久历史和丰富文化的南欧国家。公元前218年，它被纳入罗马帝国，随后在公元5世纪被日耳曼人征服，又在公元8至12世纪被摩尔人统治了400余年。直到1249年，葡萄牙才驱逐了所有入侵者，基本形成了今天的版图。15至16世纪是葡萄牙的辉煌时期，凭借其强大的航海实力，他们绕过好望角，建立了一个横跨亚洲、非洲和南美洲的帝国，成为当时的世界强国。

The name “Portugal”， in fact， comes from Latin （Portus Cale）， meaning “port”， showing its connection with the sea. It turns out that this is a Southern European country with a long history and rich culture. It was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 218 BC， conquered by the Germanic peoples in the 5th Century， and ruled by the Moors from the 8th to the 12th centuries， for over 400 years. It was not until 1249 that Portugal expelled all invaders and roughly formed today’s territory. The 15th and 16th centuries witnessed Portugal’s glorious period. With its strong maritime power， it rounded the Cape of Good Hope and established an empire spanning Asia， Africa and South America， becoming a world power at the time.

在澳门期间，我有机会到过马六甲海峡，知道1511年葡萄牙也占领了那里，控制了这一连接印度洋与太平洋的海上通道，成为其进行香料贸易的重要枢纽。那里的人得知我是从澳门来的，竟然因都曾受到葡国的殖民统治而感到格外亲切，并一口咬定我会讲葡语，这倒促使我回来后好好补了补语言课。

During my stay in Macao， I had the opportunity to visit the Strait of Malacca and learned that Portugal also occupied this area in 1511， controlling this maritime passage connecting the Indian and Pacific Ocean， making it an important hub for its spice trade. Knowing I was from Macao， the locals showed me particular affinity due to our shared history of Portuguese colonial rule， and insisted that I spoke Portuguese， which motivated me to brush up on my language skills upon returning.

但有辉煌便有坎坷，因争夺势力范围，葡萄牙曾与西班牙、法国、英国等多次发生战争，耗费了大量资源，还导致了领土的丧失和经济的破坏。特别是，1808年，由于拿破仑军队的入侵，为了避免被俘3，葡萄牙王室和大部分贵族逃到了其殖民地巴西，并在那里设立了临时首都里约热内卢，这使得里约热内卢成为欧洲国家的第一个海外首都，也使得巴西成为南美唯一讲葡语的国家。难怪4这两个国家的关系非同寻常。在澳门也有许多巴西人，经营他们的店铺，但葡人与巴西人说的葡语，我一听便能识别出来5。

Portugal’s thriving had a glorious history but not without setbacks. It had many wars with Spain， France and Britain over territorial disputes， consuming vast resources and leading to loss of territories and economic damage. Especially， confronted with Napoleon’s invasion in 1808， the Portuguese royal family and most of the nobility fled to their colony in Brazil， establishing a temporary capital in Rio de Janeiro， making the city the first overseas capital of an European country and Brazil the only Portuguese-speaking country in South America. Understandably， the two countries have had an unusual relationship ever since. There are also many Brazilians in Macao running their businesses. As for the Portuguese spoken by the peoples of two countries， I can tell the differences as soon as they open their mouths.

从在澳门的葡国人那里我了解到，如今的葡萄牙已远非其大航海时代了，主要是其工业化进程的相对滞后，国际竞争力不够。政治上，1974年康乃馨革命虽推翻了独裁政权，带来了民主制度，但现代化改革和经济发展依然面临诸多挑战。早在1986年葡萄牙便加入欧盟，但在里面是个穷国6，每年要从中接受救济，补贴生活。

I learned from the Portuguese people in Macao that there is no comparison between today’s Portugal and its glorious past during the Age of Exploration， mainly due to its sluggish industrialization and impotent international competitiveness. Politically， although the Carnation Revolution in 1974 overthrew its dictatorship and brought in democracy， Portugal’s modern reforms and economic development still face many challenges. Portugal joined the European Union as early as 1986， but it remains one of the poorer members， receiving subsidies and aid annually.

2024年6月，我终于来到这个幼时便感到新奇的国家，贴到跟前看一看。先到了著名的罗卡角，因为这里是欧洲大陆的最西端，号称是“大地的尽头，海洋的开端”，感觉到葡国不但在地理位置，而且在实力版图上都处于欧洲的边缘地带，但当年却不是；正是凭借这种“边缘优势”使其成为迅速崛起的海洋大国，一度横跨欧、亚、非、南美，不可一世7。站在悬崖边，望着无际的滔滔海水，我仿佛看到了葡萄牙昔日的辉煌逐渐被席卷而去。大浪淘沙，风水轮流转，一切都在变迁。