法国“帝王式”总统

Emmanuel Macron’s decision to open up Louis XIV’s palace in Versailles for Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the end of May made perfect sense for the newly elected French leader who once defined his future presidential style as “Jupiterian”.

今年5月底，埃马纽埃尔?马克龙(Emmanuel Macron)为俄罗斯的弗拉基米尔?普京(Vladimir Putin)打开了路易十四(Louis XIV)的凡尔赛宫，这一决定对这位曾将自己未来总统风格定义为“朱庇特式”的法国新领导人来说是完全合理的。

As a matter of fact, the Hall of Mirrors features a painting by Charles Le Brun depicting Louis the Great holding thunder, the symbol of the king of the Roman gods, French historian Jo?l Cornette tells me. There are further similarities. It looks very much, Mr Cornette observes, as though the president — who has hailed Charles de Gaulle and Fran?ois Mitterrand as model “republican monarchs” — has carefully studied the Sun King.

法国历史学家乔尔?科尔内特(Jo?l Cornette)告诉我，实际上，凡尔赛宫的中央画廊“镜厅”(Galerie des Glaces)有一幅查尔斯?勒布伦(Charles Le Brun)的画作，描绘了手持雷杵——罗马众神之王的象征——的路易大帝。科尔内特认为，曾盛赞查尔斯?戴高乐(Charles de Gaulle)和弗朗索瓦?密特朗(Fran?ois Mitterrand)是“共和君主”典范的这位新总统，看来认真研究过“太阳王”(le Roi Soleil)。

“President Macron seems keen to look impenetrable, distant, sovereign — the trademark of Louis XIV,” he says. Like the absolute monarch, who was the first king to take communication seriously (with Jean-Baptiste Colbert as France’s first communication, or propaganda, adviser), Mr Macron appears intent on carefully crafting his image.

他说：“马克龙总统似乎渴望被看做高深莫测、遥不可及、至高无上——这些都是路易十四的特点。”路易十四也是第一位重视沟通的君主，他委任了让-巴普蒂斯特?柯尔贝尔(Jean-Baptiste Colbert)担任法国第一任沟通顾问，或者说宣传顾问。像这位专制君主一样，马克龙似乎有意精心打造自己的形象。

I have witnessed the rapid transformation of a rookie politician into a national leader with some of the strongest executive powers in any western democracy and, after the first round of voting in the legislative elections, a likely crushing parliamentary majority. As economy minister when I first met him, Mr Macron was casual in his dealings with the press — often ready for an improvised interview, a straight-talker happy to make the headlines with a catchy sentence. As a candidate he became less accessible as he sought to look more presidential, but his mischievous self would emerge occasionally — as when he winked at me from his car after visiting an eyeware manufacturer near Paris. When it made sense to show empathy, he seemed to relish it. In Amiens, he debated with angry Whirlpool workers for nearly an hour. In a poor Parisian banlieue, he cuddled children and played football.

我见证了一位政坛新秀迅速变成一国之首，掌握西方民主国家中一些最强大的行政权力，而且——在立法选举第一轮投票后——很可能获得议会绝对多数席位。我第一次见到马克龙时，担任经济部长的他与媒体打交道很随便，往往愿意接受临时采访，讲话直言不讳，喜欢用引人注意的语句登上头条新闻。作为一名候选人的马克龙变得没那么平易近人，他试图表现得更像总统，但偶尔会流露出调皮的本性——在参观了巴黎附近一家眼镜制造商后，他从车上向我眨了眨眼。当表现出同理心具有意义时，他似乎乐于这么做。在北方城市亚眠(Amiens)，他曾与愤怒的惠而浦(Whirlpool)工人辩论近一个小时。在巴黎一个贫困郊区，他拥抱孩子们，和他们一起踢足球。

Since becoming president, Mr Macron has retreated to Mount Olympus. Access for the press has been restricted, ministers have been instructed not to leak to the press, and the use of Twitter to spread official videos and messages has been amplified. Determined looks under a layer of make-up have replaced mobile facial expressions; pressed lips have chased the toothy smiles away. On the night of his election, Mr Macron walked alone impossibly slowly in semi-darkness for what felt like an eternity. On inauguration day, he rode on the Champs Elysée aboard a military vehicle. The Duke of Saint-Simon, who provided some of the most complete accounts of Louis XIV’s reign, could have been describing the French president when he remarked the monarch was “master of his face, posture and exterior appearance”.

成为总统后，马克龙退守到了奥林匹斯山上。媒体被限制访问，部长们被指示不得向媒体透露消息，使用Twitter传播官方视频和消息的做法被放大。一层妆容下的坚毅神情取代了生动的面部表情；紧抿的双唇驱散了露齿微笑。当选那天晚上，马克龙在半明半暗中独自缓缓而行，让人感觉没完没了。就职典礼当日，他站在一辆军用车上驶过香榭丽舍大街。圣西蒙公爵(Duke of Saint)对路易十四统治时期作出了一些最完整的描述，他称这位君主是“其面容、姿势和外表的主人”，这话用在法国新总统身上也很贴切。

The 39-year-old French leader is seeking to revive the presidency after Socialist president Fran?ois Hollande — who campaigned on being just a “normal” guy and loved off-the-record chats with journalists — and Nicolas Sarkozy, whose blunt manners and hyperactive style ended up irking a large number of French voters.

在法国人经历了以“普通人”形象竞选，喜欢与记者非正式聊天的社会党总统弗朗索瓦?奥朗德(Fran?ois Hollande)，以及唐突的举止和异常活跃的风格最终令大批法国选民感到厌倦的尼古拉?萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)之后，这位39岁的法国领导人正寻求重振总统威望。

“Despite beheading their king, the French haven’t really parted with the symbols of monarchy, they have remained attached to the idea of a powerful figure embodying authority,” Prof Cornette says. “Sarkozy and Hollande didn’t get it. They de-sacralised the institution.”

科尔内特教授表示：“法国人虽然砍掉了国王的脑袋，但他们并没有真正地舍弃君主制的象征，他们仍有个执念：一个体现权威的强势人物。萨科齐和奥朗德都没明白这一点。他们让这个机构失去了神圣色彩。”

Even though his “Jupiterian” style needs perfecting (he was caught on camera making a distasteful joke about Comoran migrants recently), and even though it highlights contempt for the press, Mr Macron does get it. The French do not want a “normal” president, Mr Macron told weekly magazine Challenges in October. “On the contrary, such a concept destabilises them, it makes them feel insecure.” Leaders ought to refuse to be dictated by the news and they should have an ability “to enlighten, to know, to spell out a meaning and a direction anchored in French history”, he added.

尽管马克龙的“朱庇特”风格仍需要完善（最近他被摄影机拍到讲了一个关于科摩罗移民的令人反感的笑话），尽管这突显对新闻界的蔑视，但马克龙确实明白这一点。去年10月马克龙告诉《挑战》(Challenges)期刊，法国人不想要一个“普通人”总统。“相反，这样一个概念会扰动他们的安宁，让他们感到不安全。”当时他还表示，领导者应该拒绝被新闻摆布，而应该有能力“去启蒙、去了解、去讲清楚一个根植于法国历史的意义和方向。”

These comments echoed Louis XIV’s instructions in 1700 to his grandson, King of Spain Philip V, Prof Cornette points out. “Don’t let anyone govern you, be the master, never have any favourite, nor a prime minister,” the Roi-Soleil wrote. “Take advice but always decide.”

科尔内特教授指出，这些话与路易十四在1700年对他的孙子、西班牙国王腓力五世(Philip V)的教导如出一辙。这位太阳王写道：“不要让任何人支配你，要做头，永远不要有任何偏袒，也不要任命总理。听取建议，但永远作出自己的决策。”