AC 17. 《河口之处（二） V》| The Raffia Weaver's Song

音乐剧《河口之处》第二部第五曲--【歌曲简介】时间：1520年代，刚果王国（Kingdom of Kongo）16世纪初的刚果王国，不仅拥有发达的农业和手工业，也以精美的拉斐亚布（Raffia Cloth）闻名于西非和中非沿海。拉斐亚布取自拉斐亚棕榈（Raffia Palm）的嫩叶纤维，经过剥取、晾晒、梳理，再由织工在木制织机上一线一线地织成。葡萄牙航海家和编年史作者杜阿尔特·帕切科·佩雷拉（Duarte Pacheco Pereira）在16世纪初曾记载，刚果人织出的棕榈纤维布“柔软如天鹅绒”，是当地最珍贵的手工艺品之一。拉斐亚布不仅是日常衣物，也是王室贡品、身份象征，更是重要的贸易商品，可以兑换来自卢安达岛（Ilha de Luanda）的恩金布（Nzimbu）贝壳货币，构成了当时刚果王国独特的经济体系。本曲的演唱者是一位年轻的拉斐亚布织工，也是上一首歌曲中少女**恩萨（Nsá）**的未婚夫。他坐在简陋的木制织机前，双手不断抬起经线、穿过纬线，再用木拍将布面一下一下拍紧。织布的节奏，也是他的心跳。他一边劳动，一边默默计算着每一匹布能够换来的恩金布，希望早日攒够足够的贝壳货币。他的梦想并不宏大。他只想从远道而来的葡萄牙商人手中，买下一颗晶莹剔透的蓝色玻璃珠。这种来自欧洲、经由海上贸易来到刚果王国的玻璃珠，在当时是极其珍贵的新奇饰物。他想把这颗玻璃珠串成项链，在婚礼那一天，亲手戴在恩萨的颈间。然而，他并不知道，这些玻璃珠、布匹、贝壳和远洋商船所连接起来的贸易网络，也正在悄悄改变整个刚果王国的命运。对于这位年轻的织工而言，此刻的未来，仍然只是一个关于爱情、劳动与希望的朴素梦想。馆藏参考今天，16世纪刚果地区的拉斐亚布仍收藏于世界多家重要博物馆，其中包括：大英博物馆（British Museum）收藏有刚果地区拉斐亚织物及相关工艺品。法国巴黎凯布朗利博物馆（Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac）收藏有丰富的中非纺织品和刚果王国艺术品，其中包括拉斐亚织物收藏。这些保存至今的织物，不仅展现了刚果王国精湛的织造技艺，也见证了欧洲与非洲最初接触时期那段复杂而深刻的历史。--Song Introduction | Thread by Thread (The Raffia Weaver's Song)Time: c. 1520s, Kingdom of KongoIn the early sixteenth century, the Kingdom of Kongo was renowned throughout Central Africa for its finely woven raffia cloth, made from the young leaves of the raffia palm. Contemporary Portuguese visitors admired these textiles for their remarkable softness and craftsmanship. Around 1505, the Portuguese chronicler Duarte Pacheco Pereira wrote that the people of Kongo made palm-fibre cloth "as soft as velvet," and considered it among the finest textiles produced anywhere along the West African coast. These fabrics were not only clothing but also symbols of prestige, tribute, and exchange, circulating alongside Nzimbu shell currency in the kingdom's economy.This song is sung by a young raffia weaver, the fiancé of Nsá, the young woman from the previous song. Sitting before a simple wooden loom, he patiently lifts the warp threads, passes the weft through, and beats each row into place with a wooden beater. Every strip of cloth he finishes brings him a few more Nzimbu shells. He counts them carefully, dreaming that one day he will have enough to buy a single precious blue Venetian glass bead from a foreign merchant. To others it is only a bead; to him it is the beginning of a wedding necklace for the woman he loves, and a promise of the future they hope to build together.Today, historical raffia textiles from the Kongo region are preserved in major museum collections around the world, including the British Museum and the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris. They remain extraordinary witnesses to one of Africa's oldest and most sophisticated textile traditions.Museum CollectionsBritish Museum – Kongo raffia textiles and related objects: British Museum CollectionMusée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (Paris) – African textile collections: Musée du quai Branly Collections一南 | Yinan前往小宇宙评论区与主播互动