米草

一

我與宋先生結(jié)識近20年，我稱他寶爺，他欣然允答，我倆成為忘年交。去年底，我從衢州來杭州，參加“著名京劇藝術(shù)家宋寶羅先生從藝九十周年慶典”。

寶爺1916年生于北京，祖籍河北淶水。淶水有古樂，源遠(yuǎn)流長。寶爺從小學(xué)藝，后成著名京劇高派老生演員。1924年，廢帝溥儀被馮玉祥趕出故宮，8歲的小寶羅在慶功大會上登臺獻(xiàn)藝。寶爺曾對我說，戲畢，馮將軍還抱過他，抓了一大把水果糖塞進(jìn)他的衣兜。

正如寶爺自己所說，“我的人生也是一出戲”。他少年時走紅京津、豫魯、晉冀舞臺。16歲時，他因“變嗓”而學(xué)國畫、篆刻，得到過齊白石、徐悲鴻、于非闇、張大千、趙松聲等名家真?zhèn)鳌?3歲時，他在上海成立“宋寶羅京劇團(tuán)”，演出軌跡遍于大江南北。1958年，他加盟杭州京劇團(tuán)，從此在杭州定居。寶爺在京劇藝術(shù)上曾發(fā)掘和創(chuàng)作了一批優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)節(jié)目，塑造過許多文臣武將的藝術(shù)形象。他曾為毛澤東、周恩來、鄧小平、陳毅、葉劍英、李先念等黨和國家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人清唱演出達(dá)數(shù)十次，受到毛澤東主席的多次接見。他一邊唱“雄雞一唱天下白”，一邊在宣紙上畫大公雞；毛主席贊譽(yù)宋寶羅的絕技，并收藏了他這幅畫作。

工作之余，寶爺還曾為齊白石、徐悲鴻、李苦禪、張大千、梅蘭芳、周信芳、孔祥熙、程潛等名人刻章制印。他賦閑時篆刻的《毛主席詩詞三十七首》印譜長卷，被全國政協(xié)文史和學(xué)習(xí)委員會收藏；此外，他還在上海、杭州以及美國舉辦過國畫展。寶爺多次贈我畫作，關(guān)愛備至。

二

是日，杭城冷雨淅瀝，星都賓館三樓卻暖意融融，花籃從外面走廊一直擺放到了大廳里面。

寶爺身著一襲紅衣，銀須飄逸地坐在首桌，尚長榮、張春秋、李軍、康萬生等京劇名家與他同桌。各地同仁嘉賓、各路記者濟(jì)濟(jì)一堂。與會者不時有人上前與寶爺合影。

下午三點(diǎn)半，慶典開始。浙江京劇團(tuán)團(tuán)長翁國生和浙江省文化廳副廳長楊越光分別致辭。中國劇協(xié)主席、著名京劇藝術(shù)家尚長榮一句京劇道白“壽延風(fēng)光好”，將慶典推向高潮。接著，來自北京、天津、上海、濟(jì)南、杭州以及臺北的京劇名家，有上海的老生名家李軍，北京的京劇名家楊少彭，天津的京劇老生張克、花臉名家康萬生、青年老旦名家李宏，臺灣的京劇名家李寶春，浙京的當(dāng)家青衣王小軍、全國“十小”名票唐育琦、優(yōu)秀青年演員程佩潔、羅戎征、姜振宇……紛紛登臺，以精湛的演技為慶典增光添彩。一曲曲京劇片段或折子戲，贏得陣陣掌聲與彼伏此起的喝彩。

山東86歲的張春秋女士是梅蘭芳的入室弟子，她邊唱邊舞梅派經(jīng)典劇目《貴妃醉酒》。字正腔圓的唱詞和精彩的舞蹈表演，使寶爺分外激動，便走上臺去，抱拳拱手，連說“謝謝，謝謝”，并說：“我前些天剛剛度過97歲生日，今天又迎來舞臺生涯90周年。我的一生見證了中國京劇事業(yè)的繁榮昌盛?！?/p>

寶爺順勢說，為他配了30余年戲的琴師謝紹驥先生今天特地帶著京胡來了，他要唱一出諸葛亮的《出師表》，以表對省文化廳、省京劇團(tuán)和眾嘉賓厚愛之謝意。頃刻間，掌聲如潮。

寶爺向有“金嗓子”之譽(yù)，盡管現(xiàn)今年事已高，仍然中氣十足，洪亮渾厚。請聽：“……先帝爺下南陽君臣相見/三顧呃茅廬才下高山/在博望坡新野縣兩次交戰(zhàn)/借東風(fēng)助周郎火燒戰(zhàn)船/用火攻燒藤甲南蠻喪膽/誰不知諸葛亮巧計(jì)勝天……”

那么長的唱詞，壽齡望百的寶爺一句不漏，一字不少，流水行云般有板有眼地娓娓唱來，實(shí)在令人驚嘆！

慶典將結(jié)束前，寶爺?shù)呐畠核物w鴻演唱了《紅燈記》?！暗钠返?、爹爹的膽量、爹爹的智慧傳給我”，這一唱段尤為動人，是她的心聲。飛鴻定居美國，事業(yè)有成，談起她的父親時，最令我感動的一句話是：“小時候爹爹經(jīng)常對我們說：天不會坍下來。”

三年前，寶爺在新浪網(wǎng)上開了“博客”。我此次受邀請，就是他在博客上發(fā)的“紙條”。寶爺博客的開場白，坦誠有趣，抄錄如下，以示同好：“大家好，我是宋寶羅。這個博客是由我自己寫成文字，我的學(xué)生和兒媳婦再幫我整理成電子版，他們會及時把朋友們的提問和留言告訴我，我再把要說的話告訴他們，并回復(fù)給朋友們。我每天畫畫、會客、和學(xué)生聊聊戲，生活過得很充實(shí)，祝大家萬事吉祥，歡迎您來杭州玩。”

有如此豁達(dá)樂觀的心態(tài)，寶爺一定挺立似松，長壽逾百。

（本文攝影：魏志陽）

Peking Opera Artist Celebrates 90-Year Career

By Mi Cao

Song Baoluo and I have known each other for nearly two decades. It has been what is called ‘friendship through the gap of generations'. I call him ‘Grandpa Bao'. He likes it very much.

Song Baoluo was born in Beijing in 1916， with his ancestry from the small county called Laishui in Hebei province， reputed for its fine， long-standing tradition of ancient Chinese music. The performance of a 7-year-old Song Baoluo caught the eye of Feng Yuxiang at the celebration gala held for the ousting of China's last Emperor Puyi ， dethroned in 1912 as the result of 1911 Revolution， from the Forbidding City in 1924. The general was so impressed that he gave the child prodigy a big hug and packed his pockets with candies.

The lifetime story of Song Baoluo is a drama in its own right， as often said by the Peking opera master about himself. Turning 16， the boy in his puberty turned to traditional Chinese painting and seal cutting under the instruction of such big names as Qi Baishi， Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong. Before that， he was already a star on the Peking Opera stages across Beijing， Tianjin， Henan， Shandong， Shanxi and Hebei， cities and provinces in northern China. At 23， he founded Song Baoluo Peking Opera Troupe in Shanghai， and toured around the country. He finally settled down in Hangzhou， after joining the Hangzhou Peking Opera Troupe in 1958.

He performed for many state leaders such as Chairman Mao， Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. His eccentric performance of singing “the rooster heralds a new time” and improvising a rooster on a piece of Chinese rice paper at the same time constitutes an enduring part of the memories of many of his followers including Chairman Mao.

The man is also a talented seal engraver， and had solo exhibitions of traditional Chinese paintings in Shanghai， Hangzhou and the United States.

At 97， Song Baoluo showed up at a celebration party， held in commemoration of his nine decades of life as a performing artist. The party was held in a hotel in Hangzhou last December. Present at the celebration were several Peking Opera masters， special guests and media representatives from all over the country. He stepped onto the stage to say thank you to Zhang Chunqiu， one of the live-in disciples of Mei Lanfang， for her share of stage contribution to the celebration. Song shared with the audience how excited and proud he felt as a witness to all the progresses achieved in the history of Peking Opera.

Many of Song's fans call him the ‘gold voice'. In his nineties， the man still has an amazingly mellow and sonorous voice with clear articulation.

The atmosphere of the night culminated when ‘Grandpa Bao' introduced Xie Shaoji， his accompanist for more than30 years， to the audience and volunteered to sing a well known aria to express his gratitude to the provincial government and the Zhejiang Peking Opera Troupe for their long-time support.

When the celebration was nearing the end， his daughter Song Feihong sang an aria of The Red Lantern for her legendary father. Based in the US with a successful career， Song Feihong recalled what his father often said to his children that made her what she is today.

“When we were young， my father always wanted us to bear in mind that the sky will never fall and hope is out there.”

The sincerity and sense of humor of the approachable man can be seen on Sina Weibo， to which he hooks up on with the help of his students and daughter-in-law.

“I do the writing， and they do the editing and keep me updated on the questions and messages left there by my friends and fans. I do respond a lot. I live each of my living days to its fullest and I hope the dreams of my friends can come true too. Welcome to Hangzhou.”