老根是傣族话，相当于我们北方话里的好哥们。老根的标准是按年龄分的，一般来讲同年生的都叫老根。能论上老根的人，感情就比一般人要亲近很多，要是同年同月生的就更是亲近，再近些同年同月同日生的那就相当于北方的拜把兄弟一样了。他们会去追求同年同月同日死的那种壮烈。

Laogen is a Dai dialect, equivalent to a good friend in our northern dialect. The standard of Laogen is divided by age. Generally speaking, those born in the same year are called Laogen. People who can talk about Laogen are much closer than ordinary people. If they were born in the same year and month, they would be closer. If they were born in the same year and month, they would be the same as the worshippers in the north. They will pursue the kind of heroic death in the same year, month and day.

论老根的场合多在酒桌上，傣家人喝酒简单，下河里摸几条一点没有化学污染的鱼，爬到火烧花树上摘些红艳艳的蜜蜂还没采到花芯的火烧花，回家的路上再喊上正在地里劳作的几人，顺便又从那家的小园里摘一捧象鸡肠子一样细长的小辣椒。拣几块圆不圆扁不扁石头，摆个三星灶台，鱼放到火上烤得还没到焦糊，那种香味会顺河流一直飘到寨子里。有闻到味的就会有人又带条酸鱼或一瓶酒寻味上来。

Most of Laogen's occasions are on the wine table. The Dai people drink simply. They go down to the river to touch some fish that have no chemical pollution. They climb to the flaming flower tree to pick some flaming flowers that are red and gorgeous. They call on some people who are working in the field on their way home. By the way, they pick a handful of small peppers that are as slender as chicken intestines from the garden. Pick a few round or flat stones, set up a three-star stove, put the fish on the fire, and the smell will flow down the river to the stockade. If you smell it, someone will bring a sour fish or a bottle of wine.

傣家人喝酒不挑菜的好坏，喝的是气氛。一顿酒能从早上喝到晚上，醉了歪到大毛榕树下睡一会，醒来再喝。

Dai people don't choose the quality of food when they drink, they drink the atmosphere. A meal of wine can be drunk from morning to night. When drunk, go to sleep under the banyan tree for a while, and then drink it when you wake up.

傣家人喝酒喝到高兴时一定要喊号的，这号相当于北方人举杯一碰喊一声“干”一样。只是他们碰完后喊的是“水“字。有时，喊两声水水不过瘾就喊六声。喊前得有人提议:我们喊六个吧。

The Dai people must shout when they are happy. This is equivalent to the northerners raising their glasses and shouting "Gan". It's just that they call "water" after touching it. Sometimes, when you shout twice, if you don't like it, you shout six. Before shouting, someone has to suggest: let's shout six.

于是那“水，水”的喊声便挤出六面通风的傣楼向四面的大山散去。这水水的喊声透出傣家汉子的雄壮和豪迈，一会便象鸡打鸣般的引得另一 处傣楼里也传来应和般的水水的喊叫声，这时人们就会知道，寨子里喝酒的不只一家了。

So the cry of "water, water" was forced out of the Dai tower on six sides and dispersed to the mountains on all sides. The shouts of water and water show the grandeur and heroism of the Dai people. After a while, the shouts of water and water come from another Dai building like the crow of a chicken. At this time, people will know that there is more than one family drinking in the stockade.

在酒桌上碰杯后喊水水最欢的要属老根了，从他们喊水水“的那股兴奋劲里就能知道谁和谁是老根了，再细观察还能感觉出谁和谁是同年同月生的了。同年同月生的很少见。真有这样的,只要是在一桌喝酒俩人是必挨坐一 起的， 两杯酒过后，俩人必须喝一回老根酒。这时他们的脸开始发红，眼神里放出一种特别亲近光芒。别人就羡慕得不得了。也纷纷端起酒杯向这老根敬酒，好象要把这种老根的友情也通过浓烈的酒里传递过来一样。

After clinking glasses on the wine table, Laogen is the one who shouts "Shuishui". We can know who and who are Laogen from their excitement of "Shuishui". If we observe carefully, we can feel who and who are born in the same year and month. Those born in the same year and month are rare. It's true that as long as they drink at the same table, they must sit together. After two glasses of wine, they must drink Laogen once. Then their faces began to turn red, and there was a special light in their eyes. Others are envious. They also raised their glasses and toasted Laogen one after another, as if to pass the friendship of Laogen through the strong wine.

后来，同年同月的人不好碰到了，就把同年生的列为老根。现在同年生的也少了，于是又放宽了标准，年纪大小上下不差五岁的都可以叫老根了。

Later, when it was hard to meet people of the same year and month, they listed them as old roots. Now there are fewer people born in the same year, so the standard has been relaxed. People who are no less than five years old can be called Laogen.

就是在这样的宽松政策下，寨子里有几个人和我论上了老根。头一个是村委会主任，就是我刚到这里时我们曾一起去瑶寨庆三八节喝了第一次酒以后， 他就开始和我论老根了。

It is under such a loose policy that several people in the stockade have talked to me about their old roots. The first one is the director of the village committee. When I first arrived here, we went to Yao village to celebrate the 38th Festival together. After drinking the first time, he began to talk about Laogen with me.

他是62年出生的，比我足足的小了五岁。我那次给他拍了几张和瑶族小姑娘给他敬酒的照片。并说想采访他写一篇《傣族村官》。从后来几次工作上的接触中我感觉到这个村官事业心很强，也很有能力，他现在是村党支部书记，村主任两职一肩，下边管理着方圆三百平方公里内的十二个自然村。在过去就是个不小的土司了。记得第三次接触后我们相熟了我还开玩笑地问他:”你这大土司管这么多村子，到哪个村子里检查工作都得有小姑娘陪你吧?”

He was born in 62, five years younger than mine. I took some pictures of him toasting with Yao girls. He also said that he wanted to interview him and write a "Dai village official". I feel that this village official has a strong sense of career and ability from several contacts in his later work. He is now the Secretary of the village Party branch, and the village director has two posts and one shoulder. He manages 12 natural villages within a radius of 300 square kilometers. He used to be a big chieftain. I remember when we got to know each other for the third time, I jokingly asked him, "you big chieftain are in charge of so many villages. You have to have a little girl to accompany you when you go to any village for inspection?"

“哪里会这样，我们不是共产党的干部嘛。”

"We are not cadres of the Communist Party."

说得一本正经， 同时他的一只眼角还微微地向我闭了一 下。

At the same time, one of his eyes closed slightly to me.

不过，他确实有一种改变自己领导下的各少数民族寨子面貌的雄心壮志。去年他知道了一个浙商要到当地考察投资的信息，就不断地求见这个老板，介绍当地的生态环境和山水优势，特别重点推介当地一处很为东南亚各国华人认同的亿万年形成的古溶洞，讲这洞的传说和神话。到底打动了这个老板决策在这里投资搞旅游业。现在这家西双版纳万福生态旅游公司已投资近四千万元，第一期开发了溶洞和雨林观光两处景点。西双版纳傣族自治州的一个女州长多次到这家旅游公司现场办公，表扬好几次我这老根，说他有一种与时俱进的闯劲，并对随行的干部们讲，如果我们州里的各村干部都象他这样，版纳州改变面貌就能加快十年。

However, he does have an ambition to change the face of the ethnic minority villages under his leadership. Last year, when he learned that a Zhejiang businessman was going to investigate and invest in the local area, he kept asking for the boss to introduce the local ecological environment and landscape advantages, with special emphasis on introducing an ancient karst cave that has been recognized by the Chinese in Southeast Asia for hundreds of millions of years, and telling stories and myths about the cave. After all, the boss decided to invest in tourism here. Now, the Xishuangbanna Wanfu eco-tourism company has invested nearly 40 million yuan in the first phase of the development of karst caves and rainforests. A female governor of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture went to this tourism company for many times to work. She praised my old root several times and said that he had a pioneering spirit to keep pace with the times. She also told the accompanying cadres that if all the village cadres in our prefecture were like him, the appearance change of Banna would speed up ten years.

前些天才知道老根还是西双版纳州党校的在读生。在我们内地那边有个惯例，凡是上党校的干部，就是要提拔重用了，当然，这样的惯例都是对那些朝庭命官的，象老根这样不入品的村官我想还是得哪来哪去吧。不过，既然叫“自治”区，就可能有一套和内地惯例不一样的“自治办法。

A few days ago, I learned that Laogen was still a student in Xishuangbanna Party school. In the mainland, there is a convention that every cadre who goes to a party school should be promoted and reused. Of course, such a convention is for those officials who are appointed by the court, such as village officials of poor quality as Laogen. I think we should go where we come from. However, since it is called an "autonomous" region, there may be a set of "autonomous measures" that are different from the practices in the mainland.

老根这个傣家汉子好象没想那么多，他读党校就是想多知道些大山以外的事情，知道些傣家那些传统神话以外的知识。

Lao gen, a Dai man, doesn't seem to think so much. He went to the Party school just to know more about things beyond the mountains and the traditional myths of the Dai people.

有一次老根给我看他的学习笔记，里边的内容我没记住，倒是封皮上写得挺工整的名字让我至今不忘:岩应对。在傣语里“岩”字发音为“蔼”。

Once Lao Gen showed me his study notes, but I didn't remember the contents. The neat name on the cover made me still remember: Yan Ying. In Dai language, the word "Yan" is pronounced "Ai".

他是我到西双版纳后认识的第一个老根。

He was the first one I knew after I came to Shuang Banna.

(2009-05-25)

(2009-05-25)