婦女節在俄羅斯是個盛大的節日，不但全國人民都可以放假，連休4天，男同事還要負責給女同事準備禮物和慶祝活動。在女同胞們歡欣鼓舞的同時，俄羅斯的男人們卻進入了緊張的“備戰”狀態，不少男人還抱怨過婦女節太“燒錢”。

A young couple carrying red roses cross a road in Moscow on March 6, 2017, two days before International Women's Day, also known as the March 8 holiday (AFP Photo/Natalia KOLESNIKOVA)

In offices across Russia, the countdown to International Women's Day is a whirl of last-minute meetings and dashes for gifts as men race to prepare festivities for their female colleagues.
在俄羅斯各地的辦公室，婦女節的臨近意味著最后關頭的緊急會議和跑來跑去地買禮物，因為俄羅斯男人要爭分奪秒地為女同事們準備婦女節的慶祝活動。

"We've sent out loads of emails, we've analysed the market, we've pooled ideas, and we've just got one more meeting ahead of the launch of Operation Women's Day," confided Sergei Krakhmalyev, who works at Rosbank, a major Russian bank.
在羅斯銀行（一家俄羅斯大銀行）工作的男士謝爾蓋?克拉克馬爾耶夫透露說：“我們會發出大量郵件、分析市場行情、集思廣益，甚至還會在婦女節行動日前夕召開會議。”

"This year we've decided not to spend money on gifts that are useless, shall we say, but to organise a buffet," he said.
他說：“今年我們決定不花錢買沒用的禮物了，而是組織一場自助餐活動。”

Krakhmalyev, who is in his 40s, works in a team of eight men and 35 women. He calculates that this year's celebration will cost about 25,000 rubles ($430).
現年40多歲的克拉克馬爾耶夫在一個包含8名男性和35名女性的團隊里工作。他估算今年的婦女節慶祝活動將花費約2.5萬盧布（2964元人民幣）。

"It's expensive," he says, "but it's a Soviet tradition that I think it's important to keep up."
他說：“是挺燒錢的，但這是一項源于蘇聯時期的傳統，我認為保持這一傳統很重要。”

A public holiday in the Soviet Union since 1965, March 8 is an opportunity for Russian men to "remember the importance of women" in society, he says.
他介紹說，1965年婦女節在前蘇聯成為公休假日，自那以后，3月8日就成為俄羅斯男人“銘記女人在社會中的重要性”的一個機會。

International Women's Day is also a public holiday, so office celebrations are held the day before.
國際婦女節在現在的俄羅斯也是公休假日，所以辦公室的慶祝活動將會提前一天舉行。

This year's events are expected to be relatively low-key in comparison to the oil-boom years, when many companies spared no expense.
今年的慶祝活動預期將比石油榮景年代相對低調些，那些年許多公司都是不惜血本地砸錢搞慶祝活動。

"The company used to allocate a big budget for this holiday and took as many as 500 women out to a restaurant," recalled Irina, who works in human resources at a major Russian company.
在一家俄羅斯大公司人力資源部工作的伊莉娜回憶說：“公司曾經為這個節日撥出了一大筆經費，請了多達500名女員工下館子吃飯。”

"That was before the 2008 economic crisis," said Irina, 40, who asked not to disclose her surname. "Now the men have a whip-round to buy us flowers and chocolates."
40歲的伊莉娜說：“那是在2008年經濟危機之前，現在男人們只要湊錢給女同事買鮮花和巧克力就可以了。”伊莉娜請求不要透露自己的姓氏。

Nevertheless the holiday "cheers up the atmosphere in the team," she said.
不過，她表示，這個節日還是會“讓團隊的氣氛高昂起來”。

In Russia, it is also widely seen as a counterpart to the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland, on February 23, which is nominally for those who served in the army but is considered the male equivalent.
在俄羅斯，婦女節還被普遍視為和祖國保衛者日（2月23日）對等的節日。祖國保衛者日名義上是那些軍人的節日，但現在已經被視為所有男人的節日。

In offices, this holiday is often an occasion for celebrations that take an unreconstructed approach to gender roles.
在辦公室，祖國保衛者日就是慶祝舊時代性別角色的一個時機。

"This year we organised a fake army recruitment drive" for the defender holiday, Irina said. "We gave our colleagues a medical and some of us were dressed up as sexy nurses."
伊莉娜說：“今年我們為慶祝祖國保衛者日組織了一場假征兵動員活動，我們給男同事們做醫療護理，而我們當中的一些女同事打扮成了性感的護士。”

"Now the men are under pressure. They have to try to do better than us, even if we know that's impossible," she added with a smile.
她笑著補充說：“現在男人們有壓力了。他們不得不努力趕超我們，盡管我們知道他們不可能做得比我們好。”

- Bonanza for florists -
花商的好運日

Some men, however, including Vitaly Konyayev, a project manager in the southern Russian city of Saratov, find it hard to get into the holiday spirit.
然而，也有些男性，包括俄羅斯南部城市薩拉托夫的一個項目經理維塔利?孔雅耶夫，難以讓自己進入節日情緒。

"This year my colleagues didn't give me anything for February 23, so they can whistle for a gift on March 8," he said.
他說：“今年2月23日我的女同事們什么也沒給我，所以3月8日那天她們也休想得到禮物。”

The March 8 holiday "only means something if you give flowers to a woman you love and respect -- not those you are forced to rub along with at work," he said.
他說，“如果你送花給你心愛和尊敬的女人，而不是你被迫在職場打交道的女人”，3月8日這個節日“才有意義”。

He complained that he had to pay almost 1,000 rubles for a bunch of flowers for the holiday, which brings a bonanza for florists.
他抱怨說，他得花費近1000盧布為婦女節買一束鮮花，讓花商從中得益。

Flower prices often double ahead of the March 8 holiday -- and orders double as well, said Florence Gervais d'Aldin, a French flower grower and importer who has worked in Russia for more than 20 years.
花商熱維斯?德?阿爾丁說，鮮花價格通常在3月8日前夕都會成倍上漲，訂單也會成倍增加。阿爾丁是一名來自法國的花農和進口商，已經在俄羅斯做了20多年生意了。

Her business, which specialises in scented roses, sells more than 8,000 roses on March 7 and 8, compared with her usual sales of 600 per day.
她主要經營有香味的玫瑰，平時的日銷售量為600朵，而在3月7日和8日這兩天，可以賣掉超8000朵。

"It's a day for mothers, for sweethearts, for colleagues, all together," Gervais d'Aldin said, with its popularity "far higher" than that of St Valentine's Day, on February 14.
阿爾丁說：“這是屬于母親、愛人、女同事和所有其他女性的節日”。她還說道，這個節日的受歡迎度比2月14日情人節“還要高得多”。

- Starting young -
從小培養婦女節慶祝傳統

The stress of organising a celebration for female counterparts starts early, with boys in elementary school expected to throw celebrations for the girls in their class.
為女同胞們組織慶祝活動的壓力從小就開始了，小學男生就要開始為班里的女同學慶祝節日。

Sasha Kuznetsov, 11, has put together a programme of cakes, balloons, greeting cards and even a concert.
11歲的薩沙?庫茲涅佐夫為女同學準備了蛋糕、氣球、賀卡甚至音樂會等一系列節目。

"I think this holiday should exist, but it shouldn't be celebrated in such a pompous way," he said.
他說：“我認為這個節日應該存在，但不應該如此大張旗鼓地慶祝。”

"In any case, soon it will be pointless because women's rights will be respected," he added.
他補充說：“無論如何，很快這個節日也將失去它的意義，因為女性的權利將得到尊重。”

For foreigners working in Russia, the full-on approach is a culture shock, said Samuel, a French national working for Sberbank, the country's biggest lender.
對于在俄羅斯工作的外來員工而言，比如塞繆爾，這種火力全開的慶祝方式真是個文化沖擊。塞繆爾是在俄羅斯最大的商業銀行俄羅斯聯邦儲蓄銀行工作的法國人。

"Russians get used to this holiday from childhood, but for us, it's always a bit strange," he said.
他說：“俄羅斯人打小就習慣這樣慶祝這個節日，而對我們而言，總歸有點奇怪。”

He found himself designated a "volunteer" to organise this year's celebrations, a role that he said requires "endless meetings and spreadsheets". Last year, the party ended up costing more than 150,000 rubles.
今年他被指派為組織婦女節慶祝活動的“志愿者”，據他表示這個角色需要“沒完沒了的開會和制作電子表格”。去年，婦女節慶祝派對花掉了超15萬盧布。

"For my Russian colleagues, it's a time to make a gesture," he said. "Even if it is often corny and some things would make a French woman scream."
他說：“對我的俄羅斯同事而言，這是做出表示的時刻。盡管這些慶祝活動通常很老土，有些節目還會讓一個法國女人尖叫。”

英文來源：法新社
翻譯&編輯：丹妮