法国第一夫人的魅力
太棒了!中间立场的候选人埃马纽埃尔•马克龙(Emmanuel Macron)在法国大选中胜出，不但挡住了让全球精英们抓狂的极右民粹主义浪潮，还为已经陈腐不堪、充满刻薄、无礼和极度自私自利的公众话语带来了他的新生政党“前进”(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，先不管这些。马克龙的胜利首先值得庆祝的，是让我们有更多机会窥视他的妻子，布丽吉特•特罗尼厄(Brigitte Trogneux)。布丽吉特今年64岁，有7个孙子孙女，第一次俘获她丈夫的心，是在亚眠(Amiens)一所耶稣会学校她执教的文学课上，15岁的马克龙是她的学生。如今她将作为法国史上年龄第二大的第一夫人入主爱丽舍宫。这一切可圈可点。
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.
马克龙夫人生平过往的看点之多，几乎无法决定哪个细节最精彩。是她的女儿当年与马克龙是同班同学?是这对夫妇在排练校园话剧时坠入情网?是马克龙的父母发现俩人情事后如遭晴天霹雳，于是将年轻的埃马纽埃尔赶到巴黎(就像苦命的罗密欧)，但他每个周末都要回老家去追求他的情人?是她出身一个巧克力家族(多么典型的法国人)?最后，还有一个无比美妙的巧合，布丽吉特成为第一人夫人的这一年，恰是《毕业生》(The Graduate)——以及片中声音沙哑的中年女士罗宾逊太太——上映50周年。这是何等的完美。
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.
事实上，布丽吉特最迷人之处在于她的自嘲式幽默和有品味的时尚风格。这并不是因为她那些全部灰色色调、下摆高度刚刚好、优雅时髦但缺乏特色的政治伴侣制服。布丽吉特不顾社会习俗，四肢永久晒成栗褐色，蓬松的波波头漂染成金色，拿着新潮设计师手袋。她的形象被称为“时髦布波族”(Chic Bobo，时髦的中产阶级式的波希米亚人——译者注)。用《快报》(L’Express)的话来说，她代表了“魅力摇滚”，而她大胆、清凉的服装迷倒了法国媒体，后者虽然小心地对这对夫妇25岁的年龄差距避而不谈，但对她的照片表现出强烈渴求：她穿着诱人泳衣沿着沙滩漫步，以及她身着紧身牛仔裤和运动鞋陪着丈夫拉票。
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.
本质上说，她的风格可以被描述为“cagole”式——这是一个马赛人发明的词，用来形容法国南方那些疯疯癫癫的、既有女性魅力又说话直率的强悍妇人。但这个词对布丽吉特来说有点过于粗鄙，她毕竟来自法国北方的一个省级城市，气质更加端庄一点。
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.
在我看来，她的风格在很大程度上很像英吉利海峡对岸的一个伟大女子群体——埃塞克斯女孩(Essex girl)。她那比勒瑞卡(Billericay，埃塞克斯郡的一个城市——译者注)式的金发、对细高跟鞋的喜爱以及那些色彩鲜艳的绗缝滑雪夹克，让她天然契合多数英国女性的形象。她穿着一件定制的牛仔夹克时流露出的气质。她对丝袜的讨厌。她无法抗拒一条带花边的白色长裙(当然是由路易•威登(Louis Vuitton)设计的)。作为政治人物的配偶，她不会像壁花那样低调：她喜欢增添一些情趣。她穿着长款灰色上衣，略施眼影，薄薄的皮裤。她看起来已经准备好参加“天使密语”(Whispering Angel)酒会，与齐格威尔(Chigwell，埃塞克斯郡的一个镇——译者注)的女孩们闲聊。但男士们也喜欢她，因为她流露出直截了当的性感。
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。多么有风险。与当下国际舞台上那些说话拐弯抹角的人多么不同。曾被丈夫形容为“我的平衡”的布丽吉特，在马克龙登上总统宝座的过程中扮演了重要角色，为狗仔队提供及时的拍照机会，利用自己流畅、有说服力的魅力来提升两人的社会地位。据说，也正是她指导马克龙用那种极具特色的发音讲话。
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，她在马克龙身边看起来总是很高兴。相比之下，与丈夫相差24岁的梅拉尼亚•特朗普(Melania Trump)似乎有些被逼无奈的僵硬感。像贾斯廷•特鲁多夫人(Justin Trudeau)一样，布丽吉特用真实关爱的眼神望着自己的丈夫，尽管或许不像加拿大第一夫人那样巴结。不要忘了：她曾经有权让自己的伴侣在放学后留校。
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，布丽吉特的最绝妙之处不仅在于其时尚魅力，还在于她对自身魅力局限性的敏锐理解。没错，她是一个60多岁、带着迷人微笑的性感女人，但她很清楚自己不可能变得年轻。去年9月，当被问及丈夫竞选总统的时机时，她道出了一个令人倍感亲切的实情。“他不得不在2017年行动，”她对作家尼古拉斯•普里塞特(Nicolas Prissette)说，“因为到了2022年，我的脸将成为他的难题。”
What a legend. Oh, Mme Macron, you’ve completely seduced me.
真是一个传奇。噢，马克龙夫人，你完全征服了我。
