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【中文标题】一张美国大使的照片给中国人上了一堂课
【原文标题】Photo Turns U.S. Envoy Into a Lesson for Chinese
【登载媒体】纽约时报
【来源地址】http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/world/asia/18china.html?_r=1
【译 者】大梨
【翻译方式】人工
【声 明】本翻译供Anti-CNN使用，未经AC或译者许可，不得转载。
【译 文】
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., with his granddaughter, Naomi, arrived in Beijing on Wednesday.
副总统约瑟夫•R•拜登与他的孙女内奥米周三抵达北京。
The word on the street these days, whether in Washington or Beijing, is that the United States is on the decline and China is on the ascent. But it has taken nothing more than a cup of coffee and a backpack to show that American officials can still evoke awe, respect and envy among Chinese, even if unwittingly.
这些天无论是在华盛顿还是在北京街头都在讨论美国衰退，中国崛起的问题。但不知不觉中，什么也不能比背着一个背包买咖啡的美国官员更能在中国人心中唤起敬畏、尊重和羡慕了。
Gary Locke, the new U.S. ambassador to China, buying coffee and carrying a backpack at a Starbucks cafe in the Seattle airport last week while en route to China with his family.
新上任的驻华大使骆家辉上周在来中国途中与家人在西雅图机场的星巴克咖啡馆背着背包买咖啡。
A photograph taken last Friday of Gary F. Locke, the new United States ambassador to China, buying coffee with his 6-year-old daughter and carrying a black backpack at a Starbucks in the Seattle airport has gone viral on the Chinese Internet. The seemingly banal scene has bewildered and disarmed Chinese because they are used to seeing their own officials indulge in privileged lives often propped up by graft and bribery and lavish expense accounts.
上周五拍的这张新上任的驻华大使骆家辉带着6岁女儿在西雅图机场星巴克咖啡馆买咖啡的照片像病毒一样迅速在中国互联网传开。看似普通的一幕却让中国人大为不解，因为他们看惯了自己的官员贪污贿赂以及享有奢华的特权生活。
It was an unintended charm offensive, but this humble image of American officialdom has no doubt helped pave the way for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who landed in China on Wednesday night for three days of meetings with Chinese leaders.
这并不是一次刻意准备的魅力攻势，但美国官员的这个谦卑形象无疑为副总统约瑟夫•R•拜登的会见铺平了道路，拜登于周三晚飞抵中国，并将与中国领导人展开为期3天的会见。
Mr. Locke and his family were waiting to fly to Beijing when a Chinese-American businessman shot the photograph and posted it on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese social networking site. It has been reposted over 40,000 times and has generated thousands of comments. State news organizations have weighed in with favorable articles about Mr. Locke, a former governor of Washington State and President Obama’s first Commerce secretary, who on Tuesday presented his credentials to President Hu Jintao of China to start his posting.
当时骆家辉先生和他的家人正在等着飞往北京的路上，一名美籍华裔商人正好拍到了这一场景并发送到中国流行的社交网站新浪微博上。这张照片已被转载超过40000次，并有数千条评论。作为华盛顿州前州长，奥巴马总统的首位商务部长，骆家辉在周二时向中国国家主席胡锦涛递交了委任书并开始履职。国家新闻机构对这位新大使充满好感。
The first impression from the Starbucks episode has been bolstered by another photograph that shows Mr. Locke, his wife, Mona, and their three children carrying their own luggage after landing at Beijing Capital International Airport. Chinese who saw them then spread the word that the family had gotten into an anonymous minivan because a formal sedan that had been sent to pick them up was too small.
另一名摄影师拍的照片更加支持骆家辉的星巴克第一印象，他和他的妻子莫娜以及他们的三个孩子到达北京首都国际机场之后自己搬行李。看到他们的中国人说一家人上了一辆无名的面包车，因为来接他们的轿车太小了。
“To most Chinese people, the scene was so unusual it almost defied belief,” Chen Weihua, an editor at China Daily, an official English-language newspaper, wrote in an article Wednesday.
中国官方的英文报纸《中国日报》的编辑陈伟华在周三的一篇文章中写道：“对大多数中国人来说，这场景简直违背信仰，太不同寻常。”
Cheng Li, a scholar at the Brookings Institution who studies Chinese elite politics, said in an e-mail: “Ambassador Locke’s photo contrasts sharply with the image of the Chinese officials who often live in a secret, insulated, very privileged fashion. This may explain why some Chinese leaders tend to be out of touch with the real life of the ordinary Chinese people — members of the urban middle class, not to mention the farmers and migrant workers.”
布鲁金斯学会研究中国精英政治的学者程丽在一封电子邮件中说：“骆家辉大使的照片与中国官员远离群众的秘密生活以及享有特权的形象形成对比。这也许可以解释为什么一些中国领导人远离城市中产阶级的普通中国人的现实生活，更别提农民和农民工的生活了。”
The photographs of Mr. Locke have landed in a summer when the Chinese are asking profound questions about whether their officials are still committed to that famous Maoist mantra “Serve the people.” The issue was brought into sharp relief in late July by the high-speed rail crash in the eastern city of Wenzhou that killed 40 people and injured 191. Many blamed the government, and specifically the Railway Ministry, for incompetence and callousness, and the public pressure has led to the dismissals of officials.
骆家辉先生照片出现在这样一个夏天，中国人开始问责他们的官员是否仍然践行毛泽东“为人民服务”的理念。七月下旬在东部城市温州发生的动车相撞事件造成40人死亡，191人受伤，这个事件使该问题更加凸显。许多人指责政府，尤其是铁道部的不称职和麻木不仁，公众的压力已使几名官员离职。
In October 2010, anger erupted in China over an episode in which a 22-year-old drunken driver, trying to avoid arrest for killing one woman in an accident and injuring another, invoked the name of his father, a senior police official: “Go ahead, sue me if you dare. My father is Li Gang!” That phase became a euphemism for official arrogance and impunity.
2010年10月，一名22岁的醉驾者在撞死一名女子撞伤一人之后为避免被逮捕而口出狂言：“有本事你们告去，我爸是李刚。” 而这句话也成了官员嚣张和免罚的委婉说法。
Chinese fed up with self-indulgent behavior by officials often post photographs on the Internet of bureaucrats being chauffeured around in black Audis, buying Louis Vuitton handbags for wives or mistresses and playing golf or strolling on beaches.
经常可以在网上看到黑色奥迪接送官员的照片，当官的给妻子或情妇买路易威登手袋，打高尔夫球或在沙滩上漫步的照片，中国人对官员的放纵行为已经受够了。
The uproar over the photograph of Mr. Locke was not the first time the Chinese had been captivated by the sight of a senior American official performing seemingly humble tasks. In November 2009, President Obama, on his first trip to China, inadvertently set off a firestorm of commentary when he stepped out of an airplane in Shanghai holding a black umbrella during a rain shower. Chinese officials often have aides hold umbrellas above their heads.
这一次关于骆家辉先生的照片炒的沸沸扬扬，这已经不是第一次中国人关注美国官员谦卑的行为。2009年11月奥巴马总统在他的首次中国之行时，到达上海正好是阵雨，他走出机舱自己打着一把黑伞，这在不经意间掀起了轩然大波，中国的官员经常有助手在他们头顶撑伞。
The commentary on Mr. Locke written by Mr. Chen, the China Daily editor, was published under the headline “Backpack Makes a Good Impression.” Mr. Chen wrote: “How could someone who holds the rank of ambassador to a big country not have someone carry his luggage, and not use a chauffeured limousine? In China even a township chief, which is not really that high up in the hierarchy, will have a chauffeur and a secretary to carry his bag.”
《中国日报》的编辑陈先生在其对骆家辉先生的评论《背包让他留下了个好印象》中写道：“去一个大国做大使的官员怎么没有人帮他拿行李呢，怎么不搭乘有司机的豪华轿车呢？在中国，甚至是在官员等级中不是很高级别的乡镇长都有一个司机和一名秘书来拿他的行李。”
He concluded: “Perhaps it is time for Chinese dignitaries to follow the example of humble Locke.”
他总结说：“也许中国的官员是时候向骆大使学习谦卑了。”
The businessman who took Mr. Locke’s photograph, Tang Zhaohui, said in a post on his microblog that even Mr. Locke’s exchange with the Starbucks barista reflected humility. Mr. Locke tried using a discount coupon to pay, Mr. Tang said, but the barista would not honor it for some reason. Without complaining, Mr. Locke paid with a credit card.
拍照的商人唐朝晖在他的微博上说，骆家辉在与星巴克咖啡师的整个交流过程中都反映出谦逊的品格。骆先生想用优惠券支付，唐说，但咖啡师出于某种原因没有兑现。骆先生没有抱怨，用信用卡支付了。
To many Chinese, what has been most noteworthy about Mr. Locke, 61, barring his coffee-buying habits, is that he is the first Chinese-American ambassador here. His ancestral home is in Taishan County, Guangdong Province, from which vast numbers of people have emigrated to the United States. (Full disclosure: Mr. Locke and this reporter, whose ancestral home is also in Taishan, are cousins, though have yet to meet.)
对许多中国人来说最值得一提的是，除了他买咖啡的习惯，61岁的骆家辉先生是第一位华裔美国大使。他的祖籍在广东省台山县，台山县有很多人移居到美国。（全面披露：洛先生和记者祖籍都是台山，还是堂兄弟，但并没见过面）。
On Sunday, as Mr. Locke stood with his family at a news conference outside his home in Beijing, he made a nod to his ties to China in a short speech. “I am both humbled and honored to stand here before you as a child of Chinese immigrants representing America, the land of my birth, and the American values my family holds dear,” he said.
周日骆家辉与他的家人在北京的新闻发布会上，做了一个关于他与中国关系很短的演讲，他说：“能作为中国移民的孩子代表美国——我出生的土地，以及我的家庭珍视的美国价值观，站在你们面前，我感到既谦卑又荣幸。”
Mr. Locke’s first significant duty here is to help shepherd Mr. Biden through meetings, formal dinners and staged photo events. Mr. Biden’s tour, his first as vice president, will take him through Beijing and the western city of Chengdu. He will spend time with China’s presumed next leader, Xi Jinping, and discuss a variety of issues, including economic policy and the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran.
骆先生来到这里的第一重任是协助拜登参与会议、正式晚宴和阶段照片活动。以副总统身份首次访华的拜登将会访问北京和西部城市成都。他会与推定的中国下一任领导人习近平讨论包括经济政策和对朝鲜和伊朗的核计划在内的各种问题。
But first, Mr. Biden did his part to show he was a man of the people. Instead of going straight to the St. Regis Beijing Hotel from the airport, Mr. Biden and his entourage made an unannounced drive through the cold rain to the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium to watch a basketball match between the Georgetown Hoyas and a team from Shanxi Province. Mr. Biden took a seat in the front row behind the visitors’ bench, to the applause of dozens of Georgetown fans. Mr. Biden told reporters that he had received many requests from the Georgetown community to attend. He and Mr. Locke sat beside each other.
但首先拜登先生显示了他平民的一面。从机场出来不是直接到北京瑞吉酒店，拜登一行未经宣布冒着雨前往奥林匹克体育中心体育馆观看山西队和乔治敦队之间的篮球比赛。拜登先生坐在参观席的第一排，和几十个乔治敦球迷一起鼓掌喝彩。拜登先生告诉记者，他曾多次收到来自乔治敦团队观看比赛的邀请。他和骆坐在一起观看了这场比赛。  
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发表于 2011-8-18 16:29
