Hopenhagen: modern fairy tale of the Viking

Posted on 02. Oct, 2010 by amilyyang in China, bits

Hopenhagen: modern fairy tale of the Viking

Yang Furong

-Back in COP15, that was my very first COP, which was confusing and depressing cause I did not understand how it worked or why it came out to be a huge disappointment. Back in China, I spent a month to read reports from various angles. I made the dicision to come back, to get to know more and invite more peers to pay attention to the topic, offer them the fundamental knowledge or Climate change and enable them to speak up.

My two weeks in Copenhagen have been so short as if it never existed.

The first few days were quite normal, but then came the “Tuvalu Incident”: from different versions of speculation to all types of comments from the media, and from the expectations of Obama to Washington’s sudden consensus with the BASIC… I had originally thought that in the long history of human civilization, the topic of climate change, at least, was like an innocent newborn, clean from head to toe, distanced from the kinds of table games between dirty hands and from all sorts of illusions and ugliness. How wrong I was. Never shall I have this kind of naive dream again.

How cool the everyday life of the Scandinavians is: long straight legs gliding through the ballroom, showing off the beautiful bodies of their owners; lovely babies dreaming in their warm cradles; innocent children playing on colorful streets; Tivoli Paradise shining in the sunlight; and live concerts in the municipal hall resounding throughout the whole city…yet this does not form the whole picture. Those who live on the continent witnessed a far different history.

When people from different pages of history try to start a conversation, which will be and has been filled up with nothing but chaos — different demands and conflicts over various facts, the Grimm’s fairy tales fade away, and the Hans Christian Andersen’s take the stage.

Let’s turn back to COP15, back to the roles of the NGOs and youth. As neither the decision maker nor the rule maker, where indeed lies their meaning of existence? Within the blood shed in the conflicts during the march, or simply before the door shut against them during the march? Or simply before the door shut against them for the first time in the 15 years’ history of COP? It is clear that their efforts, more than anybody else’s, might not bring about change, but still: they would never give up any chances to speak up, wishing and desiring to make even the faintest difference in the world. They will not, they can not, and they shall not let go of the future of mankind, to which they themselves belong. Among the youth, you can find various stories of people.

There lie a whole series of questions: What indeed did you youth do there? Is the rising temperature some political or economic conspiracy theory rather than science itself? Was China the puppet on the stage, or the one pulling the strings? Where lies the big failure of COP15?

The answer is faint, and naught. But as General Robert E. Lee once said: “A majority of our short life witness misery and affliction, beggary, and desperation. Therefore, reading history becomes a must so that we keep confident towards the humanity, towards the future of mankind.”

Linda, the famous Chinese couple writes as “the society and the human relationship we see in our short life is quite a different version compared to that seen in a large background or on a large scale in the long history, and the difference can be huge. Chances are that the vice of humanity, the disappointing facts are all exposed to us during our short life. Even during the days that we’ve experienced, we cannot count those who have left the world in thorough desperation to our country, to our society, and to our whole human beings. Countless have been such cases since the very beginning of human existence. Only when you turn to history, only through those hundreds of thousands of years written between the lines can you see how things developed and improved, will you feel lucky to lead a life here and now.”

That is precisely what I feel here and now: I am fortunate to be alive at this moment.

I feel blessed to have experienced this so-called “worst COP ever.” For this visit to Denmark, this return to Andersen’s stories, this return after seeing all the tortures of Scandinavians…all these have led me to see more into a world of greater sadness.

The little match girl was frozen to death in the street, with the happy melody of “Jingle Bells” in the background. Her so-called friend stole away her shoes, claiming them to be unsuitable, leaving her little feet bare in the snow. And the one showing no mercy, abusing her, was her own father.

The duckling was ugly in just appearance. And for this, she was teased, the subject of numerous pranks. Not a single soul had ever shown her any mercy. She could not help but accept being mocked, abused, swept, and even kicked out of her family by her mother. In the end, she turned into an elegant swan and lived happily ever after, but just as the wreath put on the tomb of Xia in the Lu Xun’s story of Medicine, Andersen merely suggests readers to keep this last ray of faith by giving an illusion of a happy ending.

As in the Emperor’s New Clothes: the truth comes only from an innocent child.

The steadfast tin soldier eventually melted away. Even while the beautiful paper dancers continued to the music, mice continued haunting the dark sewers. What can be described as a happy life is only if the life quality rather than its subject is taken into consideration.

Secret child, deformed kid, love triangle, class conflicts, power-hungry schemes, discrimination, and abandonment of the elderly…these stories are no longer the pure and simple fairy tales from our childhood, written in simple sentences with nice pictures and cute phonetics. Instead, the coldness hidden between the lines strikes straight on the cruelty, discrimination, and the gap in our society.

The Nightingale is a story that I never liked, but that I reviewed again and again, shocked at how cold and ugly a story it is. It is everything but nice and warm: an old king dies with only cold shoulders from his loyal officers. “No sooner has one gone away that the tea cools down.” Can you imagine learning such a cold saying from an Andersen story, one revealing the superficiality of human relationships?

That’s it. When Pippi Longstocking sees the cakes trodden on and ruined, she can only cheerfully say: this is nothing, let’s start from scratch!

I went to see the Little Mermaid twice even though it was said to be small and boring.

Once for me, and once for friends.

The first time was with Xiaoming. Along the way from Dan Hostel to City Hall, we endlessly asked questions and had limitless expectations. I stopped at the Marble Church, jumping up and down in front of the horse on the opposite side, and when I turned around, there it was: the harbor.

The harbor was small, neither cute nor magnificent in the dim daylight. With small step after step, inching closer and closer, there we were at the little mermaid. And “little” is the right word. It was even said to be a fake one as the real one had been sent to be displayed at the Shanghai Expo. How ironic I flew all the way here to see the fake one!

Next to her was a fat naked woman, who I thought should be the witch in the fairy tale. I later discovered that this particular sculpture had been built just for the COP15, with the suggestion that rich countries, fat and mighty, have pressed poor countries down in to the sea, drowning them. How much suffering had there been? Sadness? Helplessness? At that moment, I was frozen, unable to think of an answer.

I later decided the answer lay in the Andersen Museum: “You will survive if you kill the prince. Otherwise, you will end up in bubbles.” In the animation, the prince puppet was so small, but still the little mermaid gave up her voice and her entire world in the sea for him.

In real life, do the lovers get together for the happiness of loving and being loved, or for the companionship of soul? Or, is trying to tell the difference senseless? Just be happy, and that is all.

Not until I reviewed Pippi Longstocking did I find the reason why I could so firmly believe in simple beauty and simple goodness: the very girl with her freckled face and red braid, always doing handstands, raising horses, making jingle cakes, and messing about — Pippi.

哥本哈根：维京海盗的现实童话

杨馥荣

哥本哈根的两周转眼就过了。一直想写点什么，一直犹豫着。

前几天的风平浪静，图瓦卢的突然跳出，各种文本的流传，揣测和小道消息，对奥巴马的期盼，基础四国和奥巴马的协定，回国后看到的各种立场的评价……我原本以为气候，或者说气候谈判在漫长的文明历史中是个干干净净的新生儿，可是他也免不了各种成人游戏，各种丑陋无奈。

维京海盗们现实生活真的挺美。直长的美腿，温馨的婴儿车，快乐的小孩子，闪闪亮的Tivoli乐园，市政大厅的LIVE音乐会……可是，这不是全部。陆地的人们，经历了不一样的历史。

当不在同一页面上的人之间展开对话，诉求不一，现实不一，格林童话隐去，安徒生童话，一幕幕上演。

回到气候大会。NGO和青年的力量在哪里？不是决策者，不是制定者。甚至在游行里发生了流血冲突，在15年来第一次被拒绝入场。一遍清醒的知道自己的行动没有什么立刻见效的功用，另一方面，却不忍心不能够不愿意放弃自己作为人类一份子的未来，要发出自己的声音，带来改变。这群人中，形形色色。

很多人问我：“你们青年在那里做了什么？”“到底气候升温是不是被操纵的阴谋？”“中国到底是被打压了还是在操纵游戏？”“气候大会这么失败到底为什么？”

答案很短，很无力，很随意。但我想引用罗伯特-李将军的话：“人短暂的一生里，所见到的大多是悲惨和苦难，是卑劣和失望，为了对人性，对人类的前途保持信心，所以必须读历史。”

林达：“我们在自己短暂的一生里，所看到的社会，所看到的人和人之间的关系，和历史长河里大时代大范围里呈现的图景是有所不同的，甚至会有很大的差别。短暂的一生里，更多的机会是看到了人性之恶，是令人失望的现实。即使是在我们的上半辈子，我们也看到过不知有多少人是怀着对人类、对国家、对社会的彻底绝望离开这个世界的。这样的事情，自古以来不知发生了多少。只有在读历史的时候，你能在书页间经历几百年几千年，你才能看到进步、改善，你才会庆幸自己生活在此时此刻。”

我庆幸自己生活在此时此刻。

我庆幸自己历经了这次被称为历史上最失败的气候峰会。因为丹麦，因为安徒生，因为重读童话，因为在看了那么多维京海盗刑具后再看童话，看到的，是多的多的悲伤。

圣诞节的欢乐歌曲中，卖火柴的小女孩在被冻死在寒冷的大街上。社会上的小孩拿走了她那不合脚的鞋，让她在寒冷中光着小脚丫。她的爸爸不但不关心她，而且还打骂她。

　 丑小鸭因为自身的一些缺陷，就受到无情的作弄和打击，没有一个人有悲悯之心。连她的亲人也像其他人一样侮辱她，最后撵她走。虽然最后她变成了一只白天鹅，但就像鲁迅先生给夏喻的坟头上放一个花圈一样，安徒生只是为了防止我们彻底失去信心。
　　
　 还有皇帝的新衣，人类的真实的的声音只能由不懂事的孩子说出了。

坚定的锡兵最后也化成了液体。 美丽的纸质女子还在随着音乐跳舞，老鼠也依旧在黑暗的下水道里作祟。或者叫快乐的生活，如果我们只看生活质量而非主体的话。
　　
私生子，畸形儿，三角恋，丑陋，阶级，夺权，歧视，老年人被遗弃……那些语句脱离了小时候看配图拼音的简单与纯净，从冷峻的语句中直指这个社会的冷酷，歧视，差距。

《夜莺》是我小时候特别讨厌但又老是去翻的。为什么会有这个故事？一点都不美，不温暖，老国王快死的时候，大臣们都走了，“人走茶凉”，我居然是在安徒生童话里认得了这个成语。

就这样，长袜子皮皮看到了姜汁饼干被踩坏了，只能说声，没什么，我们重新做！

还是去看了小美人鱼，尽管据说很小很无聊。又是两次，泰姬陵，斋普尔。一次为自己，一次为阿梦。

第一次和小明一起，从Dan到CITY HALL，一路东问西问，走到大理石教堂，在对面的大马前窜上蹿下，一转身就是海港。

小小的海港，既不Q，也不壮观，天气暗暗的。往前走了一点一点一点有一点，就到了小美人鱼。真的很小。还据说是假的~真的被运到上海参加世博去了~嗷~所以我千里迢迢去丹麦看到了仿制的小美人鱼。小美人鱼旁边还有个裸体妇人。咋看我还以为是海底的巫婆雕塑，后来听解释才知道，是为COP15做的雕塑，寓意是肥胖的富国压榨穷国，象征穷国的雕像基本被淹没在海水中。

有多少悲伤呢？还是无奈？在那里，我被冻得无力寻找答案。

答案在安徒生纪念博物馆。“只要杀了王子你就可以复原，否则日出之后你便会化作泡沫.”动态的玩偶演示里，那个王子那么小，那么小，却让小美人鱼放弃了歌喉，放弃了尾翼。

现实生活中，甜蜜的两个人，到底是为了被爱和爱的幸福在一起，还是为了精神灵魂之伴侣，抑或区别这两者，本就是没有意义的？幸福就好。

重看《长袜子皮皮》，才发现，自己一直可以这么相信美好和善良的源泉，是那个一脸雀斑，红色辫子，爱倒立和跨越整个房子做姜汁饼干的养马的皮皮。

Tags: cop15, reflection, Yang Furong