A toast

我得先说清楚，夜总会一类的地方我是很少去的。不是我有多正经多清高，而是我真的很不喜欢那种昏昏暗暗灯红酒绿的地方；每次处身在那样的环境底下，我都会觉得自己特别低能，我不懂猜枚，也不玩骰盅，所以我实在领略不到“落club”的乐趣。可是偶尔去一回，原来还是挺有教育意义的。

前年在深圳的一间夜总会里，我就遇见了想都想不到的情景：有一桌客人个个喝得头昏脑涨左摇右摆，说话的声音腔调愈来愈豪迈。仔细一看，原来他们手中各自握的不是酒杯，而是一枚小胶盒，里头放的全是药丸。我不知道那是什么丸，但应该就是让他们high得如此忘我的主要原因了。这帮人不是在斗酒，而是在斗“啪丸”。从斗酒发展到斗“啪丸”，这不可说不是一个飞跃性的“进步”。两年前如此，两年后的今天又如何呢？我就真是不知道了。

“敬酒”真是一种十分奇妙的行为。为什么大家就不能静下心来细细品酒，而要你敬我一杯我回你一杯地狼吞虎咽呢？其实这个道理就和我们之前谈过的“请客逻辑”一样，都是社会学家莫斯所说的“报”。例如在敬酒的时候，我们会特别讲究公平，如果你喝了一满杯，我也必须接受挑战跟着喝光整杯的酒。相反的，要是我自信满满，不只干杯而且还回敬一杯，但你却只是“随意”一口，那我就有权要求你也得干掉你那一杯了。若是你拒绝，就得自承不胜酒意认输，否则就是不给面子，后果可能很严重。大家喝多喝少不是自己的意愿，而是决定于你来我往的关系之中。一杯报一杯，一瓶换一瓶，其间不容半点弄虚作假。

很多人说这是中国人特有的陋习，既不文明也不现代。不少早年去大陆经商的港人谈起四处交际“队酒”的经验，仍是一脸惶恐心有余悸。可是放眼世界，从日本的居酒屋到德国与爱尔兰的“饮酒社”（drinkingclub），敬酒的方式虽然各有不同，但这种公平的饮酒竞赛其实到处都有，就和人类送礼请客的习惯一样，是普世的文明现象。收礼必须还礼，喝下人家的敬酒必然也要回敬一番。

类似北美印第安人的“夸富宴”，敬酒也是种分出彼此高下的方法。酒一轮轮地敬下来，谁能撑到最后谁就是赢家。过去在某些生意酬酢的场合之中，喝酒的赢家还真能占去最多的好处，得到最有利的条件，因为他是唯一神志清醒的人，其他人说不定早被灌得稀里糊涂满嘴说是了。读传记或小说，常常见到许多英雄都被描述为“千杯不倒的好汉”，似乎酒量也是判定英雄的标准之一，例如金庸笔下的“乔峰”。就算到了今天，我们虽然不再以酒量论成败，但要是说起某人很能喝，它也绝对不是贬义。无论什么时候，“好酒量”都是一种赞美。

比起“夸富宴”那种穷尽家财来请客的豪迈，无止境的敬酒是种更让人佩服也更叫人头疼的自夸方式；前者夸耀的是自己的财富身家，后者却是自己的生命能量。就算请客送礼到了一个视钱财如粪土的地步，你慷慨的也还是身外物罢了；但逢敬必干地饮酒却是在慷慨自己的一条命。或许这就是人类不敬咖啡不敬茶更不敬汽水的原因了，因为只有酒能致命。这世上还有什么比慷慨生命更豪迈、更令人折服呢？

人家举杯来敬酒就和送礼一样，你必须还报他，只不过要注意这份礼是能要命的。难怪英文里的“gift”兼具“礼物”和“毒药”二义了。

Just to be clear, I don't usually go to nightclubs or anything like that. It's not that I'm all Prim and proper, it's just that I really don't like dark, Bright Lights, Big City places; I feel like such a moron every time I'm in one of those places, I don't know how to guess, i don't play dice, so I can't enjoy the fun of the "Falling Club". But once in a while, it turns out to be educational. In a nightclub in Shenzhen the year before last, I encountered an unexpected sight: a table full of people who were drinking themselves into a stupor, swaying from side to side, and speaking in an increasingly heroic voice. A closer look, the original in their hands is not the cup, but a small plastic box, which is filled with pills. I don't know what kind of pill it is, but it's probably the main reason they get so high. These guys aren't fighting over drinks, they're fighting over pills. From the development of fighting wine to fighting "Pa Wan", this can not be said is not a leap of "progress. Two years ago, and two years later? I really don't know. "toasting" is a wonderful thing to do. Why Can't we all just settle down and enjoy the wine, instead of gobbling it down? In fact, this principle is the same as the "guest logic" that we talked about before. It is what the sociologist Mosse called "newspaper". In toasts, for example, we make a point of being fair, and if you have a full glass, I have to take the challenge and drink the whole glass. On the other hand, if I feel confident enough to not only toast but also return the favor, and you take a "casual" sip, then I have a right to expect you to do the same. If you refuse, have to admit defeat, or is not to face, the consequences may be very serious. People don't drink as much or as little as they want, they drink as much or as little as they want. A cup for a cup, a bottle for a bottle, in the meantime, do not allow the slightest bit of fraud. Many people say that this is a peculiar vice of the Chinese people, neither civilized nor modern. Many early years to the mainland business Hong Kong people talk about communication everywhere "team wine" experience, is still a face of fear. But around the world, from Izakaya in Japan to the drinking club in Germany and Ireland, there are different ways of making a toast, but fair drinking contests are everywhere, just like the human habit of giving gifts and entertaining guests, it is a universal phenomenon of civilization. A gift must be returned, and a toast must be returned. Similar to the North n Indian feast, toasts are a way to tell one another off. Round after round of drinks down, who can last until the end is the winner. In certain business occasions in the past, the winner of the drink actually took the most advantage and got the most favorable conditions, because he was the only sane person, the rest of you are probably drunk with Yes already. Reading biographies or novels, it is common to see many heroes described as "a man who can not be knocked down by a thond glasses", as if one of the criteria for judging heroes, such as Jin Yong's "Qiao Feng". Even today, we don't judge success by how much we drink, but when it comes to someone who drinks a lot, it's definitely not derogatory. "good tolerance" is always a compliment. The endless toasts are a more admirable and painful way of boasting than the extravagant "rich banquets", in which people boast of their wealth and wealth, the latter is its own life force. Even if you treat your guests and gifts to the point where money is no object, you are still generous; but to drink with honor is to be generous with one's life. Maybe that's why humans don't respect coffee, tea, or soda, because only alcohol can kill you. What in the world is more heroic and more admirable than a generous life? A toast is like a gift. You have to return the favor, just be aware that the gift can be deadly. No wonder the English word gift is a mixture of "gift" and "Poison".

标题: 敬酒要喝
作者: 梁文道
字数: 1273
简介: 我得先说清楚，夜总会一类的地方我是很少去的。不是我有多正经多清高，而是我真的很不喜欢那种昏昏暗暗灯红酒绿的地方；每次处身在那样的环境底下，我