法國第一夫人的魅力

Merveilleux! The centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has triumphed in the French elections, stopping the tide of far-right populism in which our global elites are flailing and bringing his infant En Marche! party’s brand of “hope” to a public dialogue grown rancid with acrimony, insult and excruciating self-interest.

太棒了!中間立場的候選人埃馬紐埃爾•馬克龍(Emmanuel Macron)在法國大選中勝出，不但擋住了讓全球精英們抓狂的極右民粹主義浪潮，還為已經陳腐不堪、充滿刻薄、無禮和極度自私自利的公眾話語帶來了他的新生政黨“前進”(En Marche!)招牌的“希望”。

But, whatever about that. Macron’s triumph should be celebrated, primarily, for the further opportunities it will allow us to ogle his wife, Brigitte Trogneux, the 64-year-old grandmother of seven who first captivated her husband when he was a 15-year-old student in her literature classes at Jesuit school in Amiens and now enters the Elysée Palace as France’s second-oldest first lady. Ooh la la!

但是，先不管這些。馬克龍的勝利首先值得慶祝的，是讓我們有更多機會窺視他的妻子，布麗吉特•特羅尼厄(Brigitte Trogneux)。布麗吉特今年64歲，有7個孫子孫女，第一次俘獲她丈夫的心，是在亞眠(Amiens)一所耶穌會學校她執(zhí)教的文學課上，15歲的馬克龍是她的學生。如今她將作為法國史上年齡第二大的第一夫人入主愛麗舍宮。這一切可圈可點。

It’s almost impossible to determine which titbit of information is most thrilling about the life and times of Mme Macron. That her daughter was a fellow student in her future husband’s class? That the couple fell in love while working together on the school play? That his parents were so devastated by the discovery of their love affair that young Emmanuel was banished to Paris (like a star-crossed Romeo) but still returned home each weekend to pursue his amoureuse? That she comes from a family of chocolatiers (how totally French)? Then, there’s the delicious coincidence that has seen Trogneux made première dame in the same year that the film The Graduate, and its husky-voiced sorceress Mrs Robinson, celebrates its 50th birthday. It’s all too perfect.

馬克龍夫人生平過往的看點之多，幾乎無法決定哪個細節(jié)最精彩。是她的女兒當年與馬克龍是同班同學?是這對夫婦在排練校園話劇時墜入情網(wǎng)?是馬克龍的父母發(fā)現(xiàn)倆人情事后如遭晴天霹靂，于是將年輕的埃馬紐埃爾趕到巴黎(就像苦命的羅密歐)，但他每個周末都要回老家去追求他的情人?是她出身一個巧克力家族(多么典型的法國人)?最后，還有一個無比美妙的巧合，布麗吉特成為第一人夫人的這一年，恰是《畢業(yè)生》(The Graduate)——以及片中聲音沙啞的中年女士羅賓遜太太——上映50周年。這是何等的完美。

In fact, it is Trogneux’s line in self-deprecating humour and glamorous style that has proven most alluring. Not for her the blandly chic uniform of the political spouse, all charcoal tones and terribly appropriate hemlines. Trogneux flies in the face of convention with her chestnut-brown perma-tanned limbs, shaggy peroxide-blonde bob and flash designer bags. Her look is described as Chic Bobo — she epitomises the “allure rock”, according to L’Express — and her ballsy, flesh-revealing outfits have captivated a French press who, though cautiously insouciant about the couple’s 25-year age gap, have shown an insatiable appetite for images of her walking along shorelines in saucy swimsuits and out canvassing with her husband in skinny jeans and sneakers.

事實上，布麗吉特最迷人之處在于她的自嘲式幽默和有品味的時尚風格。這并不是因為她那些全部灰色色調、下擺高度剛剛好、優(yōu)雅時髦但缺乏特色的政治伴侶制服。布麗吉特不顧社會習俗，四肢永久曬成栗褐色，蓬松的波波頭漂染成金色，拿著新潮設計師手袋。她的形象被稱為“時髦布波族”(Chic Bobo，時髦的中產階級式的波希米亞人——譯者注)。用《快報》(L’Express)的話來說，她代表了“魅力搖滾”，而她大膽、清涼的服裝迷倒了法國媒體，后者雖然小心地對這對夫婦25歲的年齡差距避而不談，但對她的照片表現(xiàn)出強烈渴求：她穿著誘人泳衣沿著沙灘漫步，以及她身著緊身牛仔褲和運動鞋陪著丈夫拉票。

In essence, her style could be described as cagole-like, the Marseille word used to denote fruity fishwife types from the south who wear their femininity as provocatively as their frank opinions. But the term seems a little too crude for Trogneux, who is, after all, from a provincial city in northern France and is slightly more demure in spirit.

本質上說，她的風格可以被描述為“cagole”式——這是一個馬賽人發(fā)明的詞，用來形容法國南方那些瘋瘋癲癲的、既有女性魅力又說話直率的強悍婦人。但這個詞對布麗吉特來說有點過于粗鄙，她畢竟來自法國北方的一個省級城市，氣質更加端莊一點。

To my mind, her style owes a bigger debt to that other great sisterhood on the opposite side of the channel — the Essex girl. Something about her very Billericay blondeness, her penchant for chauffeur-to-sofa stiletto heels (sometimes with plasticky transparencies), and those bright coloured quilted ski-jackets make her a natural fit for that most British of female stereotypes. It’s the way she works a tailored denim jacket. And hates hosiery. And can’t resist a lacy white dress (by Louis Vuitton, obviously). Not for her the wallflower sobriety of the political spouse: she likes to spice things up. She wears her long-line grey blazers with kohl-rimmed eyes, svelte shell tops and liquorice-thin leather trousers. She looks ready for an evening of Whispering Angel and gossip with the girls in Chigwell. But the blokes love her as well because, let’s face it, she is quite straightforwardly sexy.

在我看來，她的風格在很大程度上很像英吉利海峽對岸的一個偉大女子群體——埃塞克斯女孩(Essex girl)。她那比勒瑞卡(Billericay，埃塞克斯郡的一個城市——譯者注)式的金發(fā)、對細高跟鞋的喜愛以及那些色彩鮮艷的絎縫滑雪夾克，讓她天然契合多數(shù)英國女性的形象。她穿著一件定制的牛仔夾克時流露出的氣質。她對絲襪的討厭。她無法抗拒一條帶花邊的白色長裙(當然是由路易•威登(Louis Vuitton)設計的)。作為政治人物的配偶，她不會像壁花那樣低調：她喜歡增添一些情趣。她穿著長款灰色上衣，略施眼影，薄薄的皮褲。她看起來已經準備好參加“天使密語”(Whispering Angel)酒會，與齊格威爾(Chigwell，埃塞克斯郡的一個鎮(zhèn)——譯者注)的女孩們閑聊。但男士們也喜歡她，因為她流露出直截了當?shù)男愿小?/p>

How refreshing. How risqué. How unlike anyone else currently traipsing the global stage with their mealy-mouthed charisma. Trogneux, who was once described by her husband as “my equilibrium”, has been a key player in Macron’s journey to the presidency, providing the paparazzi with timely photo-ops and using her smooth, persuasive charm to smooth their social ascension. It is she also, apparently, who coached him to speak in that highly distinctive screech.

多么令人耳目一新。多么有風險。與當下國際舞臺上那些說話拐彎抹角的人多么不同。曾被丈夫形容為“我的平衡”的布麗吉特，在馬克龍登上總統(tǒng)寶座的過程中扮演了重要角色，為狗仔隊提供及時的拍照機會，利用自己流暢、有說服力的魅力來提升兩人的社會地位。據(jù)說，也正是她指導馬克龍用那種極具特色的發(fā)音講話。

More importantly, she always looks delighted to be around him. Poor Melania Trump, who so happens to share the same age gap with her husband, appears to have been cattle-prodded into animation by comparison. Like Mrs Justin Trudeau, Trogneux has mastered the art of looking at her husband with something approaching genuine affection, although she is perhaps not quite as adoringly fawning as her Canadian counterpart. Lest we forget: she could once give her partner detention.

更重要的是，她在馬克龍身邊看起來總是很高興。相比之下，與丈夫相差24歲的梅拉尼亞•特朗普(Melania Trump)似乎有些被逼無奈的僵硬感。像賈斯廷•特魯多夫人(Justin Trudeau)一樣，布麗吉特用真實關愛的眼神望著自己的丈夫，盡管或許不像加拿大第一夫人那樣巴結。不要忘了：她曾經有權讓自己的伴侶在放學后留校。

And yet, the absolutely best thing about Brigitte Trogneux is not only her stylish allure but her shrewd understanding of its limitations. Yes, she’s a smoking hot 60-something woman with a killer smile, but she’s all too aware that she’s not getting any younger. When asked about the timing of her husband’s bid for the presidency last September, she offered a telling and terribly endearing truth. “He has to do it in 2017,” she told the writer Nicolas Pris­sette, “because by 2022, his problem will be my face.”

然而，布麗吉特的最絕妙之處不僅在于其時尚魅力，還在于她對自身魅力局限性的敏銳理解。沒錯，她是一個60多歲、帶著迷人微笑的性感女人，但她很清楚自己不可能變得年輕。去年9月，當被問及丈夫競選總統(tǒng)的時機時，她道出了一個令人倍感親切的實情。“他不得不在2017年行動，”她對作家尼古拉斯•普里塞特(Nicolas Prissette)說，“因為到了2022年，我的臉將成為他的難題。”

What a legend. Oh, Mme Macron, you’ve completely seduced me.

真是一個傳奇。噢，馬克龍夫人，你完全征服了我。