“外来媳妇”戴安娜：一个书虫

lf you mention to a local Cantonese family about the TV drama “Guangdong Daughters-in-Law”, they will immediately think of the tall blond western woman called Diana. Yet what people know very little of is what the actress who plays her, Esther Haubensack is really like in person.

Crew of Guangdong Daughters-in-Law《外来媳妇本地郎》剧组。

Six years ago, when I fi rst started to work for a local TV channel as an editor, I was assigned to co-work with “Diana”, a cheerful American housewife on the screen, as people liked to call her.

My debut with her was a short programme introducing Cantonese food, and she was the host to try out the dishes. There was a heatwave that summer, and the working environment was bad enough. Esther however, sat quietly amid the hustle and bustle in the studio with what seemed to be an invisible air of peacefulness around her. She didn't interact with others when she was free, instead, she buried herself in her books.

I hate interrupting a person reading a book, but it was my job. When she listened to my instruction, she still looked pensive to me. I even began to worry if she was capable to deliver the“cheerfulness” needed for the show.

My doubt vanished as Esther's face brightened up the second the camera started rolling. Her eyes spar-kled and her voice was loud and clear. However boring the lines were, she read them with moving affec-tion. She became a totally different person to me. I was impressed.

When her piece to the camera had fi nished, the“inner fi re” was suddenly switched off. She returned to her own quiet world, and started to read a book about archaeology.

Over the next two years, I witnessed her going through books of a surprising diversity, from history to linguistics, culture to religion. In a typical Chinese working environment, it is considered essential to maintain a good relationship with one's colleagues. However, off i ce friendship did not seem to bother Esther too much.

“I don't really have many stories to entertain you guys,” she once said.

Seems to me, Esther is someone who values more of the spiritual world. Simply for this, she deserves my full respect.

lNTRODUCTlON

Esther Haubensack, German actress. She majored in sinology in Ludwig Maximilian University, Freistaat Bavaria, Germany. She started her further studies in Peking in 1992 and soon learned the northern traditional art - “crosstalk” from maestro Ding Guangquan.

Later, she decided to live in Canton, as she found learning Cantonese benef i cial for an even deeper un-derstanding of ancient Chinese. First Zhongshan, then Guangzhou, Esther fi nally ended up with the fa-mous TV drama.

Esther's background as a linguistics learner helps her to fully comprehend Chinese history, literature and culture. As the German saying goes, “Übung macht Meister” – practice makes perfect.

埃斯特·豪本萨克，这位在80年代就读于德国南部联邦州巴伐利亚的汉学学生，在1992年踏上了中国的大地。她在北京继续深造汉语，同时跟随着名相声大师丁广泉学习京腔相声。也许她注定跟南方结缘，不久后她来到中国南方——广东，继续自己的演艺事业，随后更加在电视上让广东的观众们领略了“西关大屋飞入外来雁”说的一口洋人粤语。

埃斯特学习粤语的动机，在当年却无比单纯：她觉得粤语更加接近古汉语，古诗中的平仄更加能够在粤语中领悟出来。为了能更好地读欧阳修的著作，她决定投身粤语文化的世界中看个究竟。

从发音，到词汇、语法和各种谚语，埃斯特就像一个机械修理师那样解剖东亚的各种语言和方言。对于她来说，了解语言的内部结构和运作机理，是理解东亚各种文化的很好途径。她对语言的执着程度，几乎让她成为了语言学的“机械师”。她就好像拿着高倍数放大镜的钟表师傅那样，检视着一门语言最细微部件的运作情况。在我看来，她的这种执着和严谨精神，是德意志伟大工匠精神的一种传承。无论机械、哲学、光学、化工，还是音乐艺术，这个民族一直用这种精神，缔造了各种近乎神话的成就。

正如德语谚语所言：Übung macht Meister，“不断锻炼成就大师”，她的这种精神值得我们敬佩。

如果你跟一个广东本地家庭说起《外来媳妇本地郎》，他们一定会对剧中“老四”的媳妇戴安娜印象深刻。……