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【原文出处】http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon-20080810-3szo.html
【发表媒体】澳大利亚《时代报》（The Age）的“评论与争鸣”版
【翻译方式】个人原创翻译
【原文标题】Crouching tiger, hidden dragon
【中文翻译】卧虎藏龙
Mark Mordue ｜ August 11, 2008
马克·默尔度 ｜ 2008年8月11日
ONE of the great rock'n'roll songs of the past year was the National's Fake Empire. A romantic-sounding tune marked by a quiet declaration that "we're half awake in a fake empire", it married the lonely-guy blues of a New York night to a veiled critique of American imperialism. In short, it expressed the feelings of being lost inside a dream. The song could just as well serve as an anthem to the 2008 Beijing Olympics: for the quickly dispersing illusion China has sought to construct of a harmonious Games — as well as just how much we in the West have been willing to cling to such lies, out of misguided idealism or a greed for business opportunities in the jaws of the Chinese tiger, not to mention a little fear about how strong that tiger is becoming.
国民乐队（The National）的“虚假帝国”（Fake Empire）是去年最棒的摇滚歌曲之一。听似浪漫的旋律配以一种平静的声明“我们在一个虚假的帝国中半梦半醒”，这首歌将孤独的纽约之夜蓝调音乐与对美国帝国主义的含蓄批判结合起来。简而言之，它表达了在一个梦想中迷失方向的感受。这首歌可能正好也可以作为2008北京奥运会的赞歌：因为中国试图寻求构建一个和谐的奥运会，那是一个快速消散的幻觉，而且这首歌也正好反映出，我们西方由于不明智的理想主义或者说对那只中国老虎口中商业机会的贪婪，曾经多么乐意相信那些谎言，且不说对那只老虎正变得多么强壮的一些恐惧。
I have no doubt these Games are the most significant and politically dangerous since the Berlin Olympics of 1936. Hitler and the Nazi Party sought to use those Games as a propaganda tool for resurgent German nationalism and racist notions of Aryan superiority, and with it Germany's right to rule the world. Historical equations, of course, always lack nuance. But the parallels between Berlin 1936 and Beijing 2008 remain odiously apparent. Chinese nationalism is rampant, the poison by which the so-called Communist regime sustains its right to govern today. Underlining it is the racist Han Chinese sensibility that Tibetans, Uighurs and other minorities are lower-grade humans and "barbarians" — as are we Western "long noses". Talk to any semi-educated Han and you will hear all about China's phenomenal 5000 years of culture; dig into that talk and you will understand how the past 100 years of Chinese turbulence and misery are the fault of the West.
我一直认为自1936年柏林奥运会以来，那届奥运会是最具有特殊意义和政治危险性的。希特勒和纳粹党力求使那届奥运会成为一个宣传工具，重新激发起德国人的民族主义和雅利安人优越性的种族主义观念，以及德国统治世界的权利。历史上的相同之处肯定总是缺乏细微差别的。（译者注：原文这句话似乎逻辑不通）但是1936年柏林奥运会和2008年的北京奥运会之间可比之处依旧丑恶明显。中国的民族主义肆虐，其毒害被所谓的共产主义政权用来支持它在如今的统治。突出地表明这是一种敏感的汉族种族主义，藏族、维吾尔族和其他少数民族是低等人和“野蛮人”——就像把我们西方人称作“大鼻子”。和任何受到一般教育的汉族人交谈，你听到的将会是中国非凡的5000年文化；进一步交谈你会知道，在过去的100年里中国是如何动荡和悲惨，这些都是西方的错。
Arguments in favour of a Beijing Games have related to liberalisation and democratisation, as if exposing China to global influences would assure humanitarian and political progress. A similar hope has underlined long-running business interactions between China and the West ever since Deng Xiaoping opened the doors on a period of economic liberalisation in 1978. Unfortunately self-interest and greed now motivate most "political" thinking in the Special Economic Zones of the coast. People there celebrate forms of conspicuous consumption that would make Donald Trump blush while the rest of the country continues along in its peasant miseries, hobbling under exploitation, corruption and environmental abuses. Coal miners work in Dickensian conditions, dying 10 a day in some of the most unsafe and polluted corners of the planet.
赞成北京奥运会的论调关乎自由化和民主化，好像让中国暴露在全球的影响力之下就能确保人道主义和政治进步。自邓小平1978年对经济自由开放以来，一个相似的愿望着眼于中国和西方长期保持的商业互动关系上。不幸的是，如今利己主义和贪婪推动将大部份“政治”考虑放在沿海的经济特区。那里的人们炫耀财富的消费方式可能都会让唐纳德·特朗普（译者注：纽约地产大亨）脸红，然而该国的其他地方继续着他们贫农的苦难生活，在剥削、腐败和环境污染下蹒跚前行。煤矿工人工作在狄更生时代（译者注：查尔斯·狄更生，英国作家生活于1812－1870）那种条件下，每天死10个人，是这个星球上最不安全和污染最严重的角落。
Time and again the West has prostituted its ideals to Chinese wishes. Consider the imprisonment of journalist Shi Tao, who in 2004 was jailed for 10 years for revealing to an overseas website how the Government planned to deal with the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Shi Tao's email details were handed over to Chinese authorities by Yahoo, a company that took comfort in complying with Chinese law and sustaining its business interests on the mainland. A 2001 speech by News Corporation's James Murdoch denouncing the Falun Gong as "an apocalyptic cult" is another such moment of modern dialogue. Murdoch's observation may have a grain of truth to it, but the eager-to-please shrillness of his speech failed to justify the widespread detention, torture and death of Falun Gong members.
西方多次出卖了它的理想给中国的希望。想一想记者师涛获罪，他因给海外网站透露政府将如何处置天安门广场屠杀周年纪念活动的计划而于2004年被判刑10年。师涛的电子邮件由雅虎递交给中国当局，这家公司由于顺从中国法律和维持它在中国大陆的商业利益得到安慰。2001年新闻集团的詹姆士·默多克的一篇讲话是另一个如此重要的现代对话，他公开抨击法 轮 功是“一种以预言世界末日为特点的狂热崇拜”。默多克的观察可能有一点儿真实性，但是他的讲话中那些急于巴结的激烈言辞，难以公正地评价对法 轮 功学员广泛地关押、酷刑和致死。
But don't put your faith in the younger generation of Chinese. The one child policy has bred a generation of "little emperors", selfish and spoilt by the adoring focus of their parents and grandparents, the recipients of what is known as a 4-2-1 inverted pyramid of family worship. These are the same youth who were bussed in to support the path of the Olympic flame across the world. As events in Canberra showed, they are vocal, organised and aggressive. Almost a quarter of the Chinese population is now under 30. At home in China the more extreme among them are known as the fen qing, or "angry youth". You can see them gathered in McDonald's and Starbucks, in sneakers and baseball caps, bitching about how much they hate America.
不过不要对中国年轻一代寄予你的真心。独生子女政策已经抚养了一个自私的“小皇帝”一代，他们被父母和祖父母捧为焦点而宠坏。那些在世界各地被大客车运去支持奥运火炬传递的年轻人也是同样的这一代人。在堪培拉（火炬传递时）的事件表明，他们说话毫不客气，有组织和富有攻击性。几乎四分之一的中国人口是现在30岁以下的人。在中国他们当中更极端的人物被称作愤青或是“愤怒的青年”。你可以看到他们聚集在麦当劳和星巴克里，穿着运动鞋戴着棒球帽，对他们是多么恨美国大发牢骚。
Brought up in a post-Mao era and a system that blanketed out events like Tiananmen Square, talk of such historical moments is as tiresome and vague to them as Woodstock and Altamont are to Western youth. Indeed, young Chinese regard Tiananmen as the ultimate in sentimental Western fantasies, a cliche we hook ourselves on to slight their country's ascendancy. It's unclear how much the Government will be able to ride the nationalist fervour of this new generation, and how much it has the potential of creating instability even for it.
成长于后毛泽东时代和掩盖像天安门广场事件的体系里，（和他们）谈论那些的历史事件就像和西方的年轻人谈论伍德斯托克音乐节（译者注：1969年8月15日－17日，全世界40多万音乐迷、嬉皮士和音乐家聚集在美国纽约的伍德斯托克镇，举行规模空前的‘和平与爱’反越战摇滚音乐会）和阿特蒙音乐会（译者注：1969年12月6日在美国北加利福利亚州阿特蒙汽车运动公园举行的摇滚音乐会，被认为是嬉皮士时代结束的标志）一样，让他们感到厌倦和一头雾水。实际上，中国的年轻人认为天安门事件是一个对西方幻想的感情用事的极端表现，一种认为我们把我们自己弄成冒犯他们国家优势地位的陈词滥调。目前还不清楚中国政府将有多大能力驾驭这一代年轻人的民族主义狂热，这种狂热会带来潜在的多大的不稳定性，甚至这种狂热状态本身的不确定性。
As China's global public relations took a nosedive following the Tibetan riots and ugly protests and counter-protests around the progress of the Olympic flame, officials were forced to appeal for "rational patriotism". Ironically the younger generation's zeal is a byproduct of the censorship and propaganda they have been suckled on. Many of these same youth could not understand why their Government did not come down harder and sooner in Tibet. The thought that these will be the leaders of tomorrow is chilling.
由于在西藏骚乱和奥运火炬传递过程中各种让人讨厌的抗议及反抗议出现后，中国的全球公共关系遭遇暴跌，（中国的）官员们被迫去呼吁“理性爱国”。具有讽刺意味的是，这年轻一代的热情是信息审查制度和宣传机器带来的副产品，他们在这种情况下哺育成长。许多这些同一类型的年轻人可能难以理解，为什么他们的政府不能更严厉更迅速地惩罚西藏。那种认为这些问题将会有未来的领导人去解决的想法让人心寒。
Of course, no one article can summarise the complexities of China today. But the appeasements the West has made out of a desire to avoid upsetting ultra-sensitive Chinese feelings, and through opportunistic business interests, bode ill for the future. Kevin Rudd's recent bid to be seen as "zhengyou" — a friend who tells you the truth even if you don't like it — was a brilliant diplomatic move. It remains to be seen how much that perspective becomes another way for China to let the West blow off steam while it moves coolly ahead.
当然，没有哪一篇文章能概括出中国今日的复杂性。但是西方的妥协被解释为一种避免刺激超级敏感的中国人感情的想法，和完全是投机的商业利益所在，昭显出对未来不良的征兆。陆克文近来力求被看成是“诤友”——一种即使你不喜欢也要告诉你真实情况的朋友——是一个出色的外交行动。目前仍然要看这种设想能在多大程度上，在中国走得太过时，能成为让西方发泄抑制的感情另一种方式。
The fact is these Games are about symbolically launching the Chinese Century to come, as well as affirming "the Mandate of Heaven" on the current rulers, an almost mystical form of nationalism updated to present day needs: propaganda reshaped as marketing to launch China Inc. upon us all. Watching the Opening Ceremony, I nonetheless found myself caught up in their beauty, and in the larger Olympic notions of unity and nobility that seem capable of withstanding the ugliest of political spin jobs. As if in the end some grain of hope and communication might still be broached. As if a mere gesture might wake us all to something better.
事实上，这届奥运会是关乎象征性地宣布中国世纪的到来，和对目前统治者“上天之命”的确认，此次奥运会几乎是一个神奇的形式，将民族主义升级到当前之所求：宣传机器被改造成市场运动，将中国公司推到我们面前。尽管如此，看着奥运会开幕式，我发现自己如此地陷入了他们美好的东西和那更远大的团结和崇高的奥林匹克目标，这个目标似乎有可能抵御住最丑陋的政治公关操作。似乎终于有一点希望和沟通可能仍然会被谈及。似乎仅仅一种姿态就可能让我们激起对更美好事物出现的希望。
Mark Mordue is the author of Dastgah: Diary of a Headtrip. He was an Asialink Australian writer-in-residence at the University of Beijing in 1992 and is working on a novel set in China.
马克·默尔度是《达斯加：自我愉悦体验日记》的作者。（译者注：达斯加是一种传统的波斯音乐形式）他曾经是（澳大利亚）亚洲研究中心1992年驻北京大学澳大利亚作家，目前正在创作一部关于中国的小说系列。
 报纸配图
【译者注】这篇文章发表于8月11日《时代报》的“评论与争鸣”版，当时看完就很是气愤。该文引用了不少中国人不熟悉的西方事件，翻译起来还比较不易。该报在第二天（8月12日）的“读者来信”版刊登了一位读者的反驳意见。虽然两篇文章所占的版面大小和醒目程度不能同日而语，毕竟有人申张了正义。看样子还是加强英语，下回也能进行反驳。现将那篇读者来信翻译如下。
【读者来信原文地址】http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/letters/the-truth-is-its-not-russia-that-is-the-aggressor-20080811-3tle.html?page=-1
Big Macs, KFC and Chinese imperialism
麦当劳、肯德基和中国帝国主义
THERE'S nothing really surprising about Mark Mordue's warning of an impending Chinese world domination (Comment & Debate, 11/8). Europeans generally, and Anglo-Celtics in particular, have always been suspicious of the Chinese. While on the one hand the Chinese are held in great regard for their contribution to civilisation, on the other, their sheer numbers have struck warranted and unwarranted fears.
关于马克·默尔度对即将出现的中国统治世界的警告，真的是没有什么值得让人惊讶的。（见8月11日“评论和争鸣版”）。一般来说，欧洲人特别是盎格鲁凯尔特人（译者注：即，英国人）总是对中国人保持怀疑。当一方面中国人特别重视他们对文明的贡献时，另一方面，他们巨大的人口导致有理由和没理由的恐惧。
But Mordue's comparison of the Beijing Games and Berlin's and his fear that the underlying nationalism poses a threat to the future of humankind cannot be allowed to drift into journalistic paranoia. It is true that China's perceived threat to Western societies has its origins in the minds of the West. The Middle Kingdom has never colonised the world the way England and other European powers did. Have we forgotten the colonisation of Africa and the Indian subcontinent? What about Australia's terra nullius?
但是默尔度将北京奥运会和柏林奥运会进行比较，并且他的担心强调了中国的民族主义对未来人类产生威胁，是不应该积聚成新闻业的疑神疑鬼。是的，中国被认为威胁到西方在西方人头脑中有其根源。天下中心之国从来没有像英国和其他欧洲国家那样殖民世界。我们已经忘记了在非洲和印度次大陆的殖民统治？忘记了还有澳大利亚是不属于任何人的土地的历史？
Why are the Chinese more of a threat than the quasi-fascist and imperialist government of the United States? Is it because we're so used to a diet of Big Macs, KFC and Starbucks? All that Mordue has achieved is to exACerbate our inherent fear of the so-called northern hordes.
为什么中国政府是比准种族主义者和帝国主义者的美国政府更是一个威胁?难道是我们习惯于吃麦当劳、肯德基和星巴克？默尔度所涉及的那些东西是在激怒我们内在的对所谓的北边邻邦的恐惧。
Alex Njoo, St Kilda
来自圣科尔达的亚历克斯·尼欧 |
中国, 奥运, 帝国主义, 时代, 澳大利亚, 中国, 奥运, 帝国主义, 时代, 澳大利亚, 中国, 奥运, 帝国主义, 时代, 澳大利亚
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