敢问路在何方？——美国大选感言

文/叶子南 译/蔡力坚

敢问路在何方？
——美国大选感言

What Lies Ahead?—Some thoughts on the 2016 U.S. presidential election1

文/叶子南 译/蔡力坚

今天我们不是在庆祝任何一党的胜利，而是在庆祝一个人的成功，它并不代表任何事物的终结，但却预示未知的开端。不管你是特朗普的铁杆，还是希拉里的粉丝，都去街角的酒店买一瓶威士忌，喝个酩酊大醉，或为胜利者欢笑，或为失败者痛哭。

W e observe today not a victory of either party, but a celebration of the success of one man—which probably doesn’t symbolize an end to anything, but rather a beginning of the unknown.22作者写这句话的时候也许想到了肯尼迪就职演说的开头语：We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom—symbolizing an end as well as a beginning—signifying renewal as well as change. 句式有些相像，于是译文也套用了相应的结构。Whether you are a Trump supporter or a Hillary fan, go to a liquor store, buy a bottle of whiskey and drink it to the lees, either to unleash your joy, or to soothe your broken heart.

[2]一年多来，这位商人尽管丑闻缠身，口出狂言，体制不在他那边，传媒不在他那边，财团不在他那边，民调不在他那边，却逆流而上，最终击败了身经百战的政坛老将，打破了多少人期盼的女总统梦。你当然可以找到一些原因，比如性别歧视，比如境外干预，比如选民兴趣缺缺，比如联邦调查局致命的一击，这些都多少影响了选情，但是特朗普现象绝不是这些技术因素可以完全解释的。

[2] For over a year this business mogul has defied gravity3has defied gravity在这里表示“逆流而上”，行文安排的顺序有调整。. Nothing could spell doom for his campaign, not devastating scandals, nor his politically incorrect fiery talk. And indeed, nothing could stop him, not the political establishment, or big media, orbig money, or sagging poll numbers.4在中文里重复使用“不在他那边”，形成排比句式，不但不会给人以累赘的感觉，反而更加整齐有力，但在英语里似乎不宜如此重复，于是对整体结构作了调整。Against seemingly overwhelming odds, he pulled off a stunning upset5upset作为名词使用时最常见的含义是a state of being disappointed（失意），但也经常用来表示an unexpected result or situation，用在此处是表示 surprise win。over a seasoned political high fl yer and dashed the dream many had entertained that a woman would for the first time in history be at the helm of the country. While you might be tempted to attribute his unstoppable surge to gender discrimination, alleged outside interference, voter fatigue6fatigue的基本含义是（因对某事接触过多而变得）兴趣索然（a lessening in one’s response to or enthusiasm for something, typically as a result of overexposure to it）。参观博物馆多了，会产生museum fatigue；悲剧见多了，会产生tragedy fatigue；到处呼吁捐款，会产生donor fatigue，如此等等。, or a lethal blow to his opponent dealt by the FBI Director, the Trump phenomenon cannot be satisfactorily explained by these technicalities alone.

[3]那么到底什么是特朗普现象的主因呢？答案在俄亥俄，在密歇根，在威斯康星，在宾夕法尼亚。在那里，大批依靠传统行业维持生计的人在电子化和全球化的大潮冲刷下，失去了当年的小康生活，在风雨飘摇中艰难度日。他们等了好久，希望有所改善，但什么都没有发生。于是民主政体中的这些老百姓拿起了一件最锐利的武器：选票。不是说，美国的政治都是财团控制、金钱左右的吗？至少在这次选举中，并非如此。他们无钱无势，但却认准了这位根本没有总统“范儿”的商人，和其他也对现状失望的人们一起，硬是把这位电视节目主持人送进了白宫。

[3] What exactly gave rise to the Trump phenomenon? The answer could be found in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, among other places7原文里虽然没有用“例如”“等等”这样的词语，但实际上很明显，作者并不是说只有这几处，而是例举了几个地点。在英语里加上among other places是为了整句话更有逻辑性，更加符合原文的本意。, where the march of globalization in a digital age8许多译者在翻译“电子化”时很可能会死抠字面，将其译成digitization或informatization。这两种译法都有问题：digitization是指把其他形式或格式（如纸质或模拟格式）的文档转化为电子格式；informatization是一个几乎没人用的冷僻术语。翻译时我们也没有必要按照中文的形式保留两个“化”的对应结构。has inexorably eroded the middle-classexistence9不少人一见到“小康”可能就会想到邓小平提出“小康”概念以及官方的标准译法。“小康”的本意是可以广义适用的，用来指他国民众时其本意也不会有变，但需要指出的是那种“标准译法”可不能随便乱用。如果用在此处，那就格格不入。此处的“小康”，指的就是“中产阶级生活”，故译成middle-class existence。that thousands upon thousands of people in traditional industries used to enjoy. For too long they’ve been on the losing side10“在风雨飘摇中艰难度日”一语里的形象在英语里复制有困难，所以采用意译方式译成they’ve been on the losing side。and waiting for a change, which never comes. This prompted these people to take up a most powerful weapon made available by democratic institutions: votes. Isn’t true that America’s political landscape is dominated by business interests and big money? At least this year’s presidential election has proved otherwise. Most Trump supporters are at the lower end of the wealth and power spectrum. But these little guys identified with Trump’s proclaimed agenda, and, together with other voters also dissatis fi ed with the status quo, overcame seemingly unsurmountable hurdles11“硬是”的内在含义是这一行动极其艰难，所以用overcame seemingly unsurmountable hurdles来表示。and succeeded in sending this least “presidential”businessman cum reality TV host12原文里先提到“商人”，后提到“电视节目主持人”，所指的是同一人，在译文里为了表达上的方便合并处理：businessman cum reality TV host。cum经常用来将两件事物连在一起，例如a study-cum-bedroom（兼作书房的卧房）、 a cook-cum-dishwasher（兼作洗碗工的厨师），等等。to the White House.

[4]那么未来呢？特朗普能否给美国带来一个崭新的局面，还是说他也会和其他人一样，进了白宫就摆脱不了体制的魔咒而无所作为？我们不得而知。但假如我们仅从日常事务的层面去寻求答案，那么就很可能治标不治本。特朗普现象不是日理万机就可以解决的，走出困局需要高瞻远瞩，需要勇气十足，需要让绝大多数的人愿意跟你走，百分之五十出头的选票并非共识，算不上是一次壮举的授权，力挽狂澜的领袖人物还没有出现。在两岸蓝州过得不错的社会与技术精英们，假如他们仍然想要继续送子女进东岸的哈佛、耶鲁，入西岸的斯坦福、伯克利，假如他们仍然想不时光顾亚历山大牛排餐厅，买特斯拉汽车，住高级酒店，那么社会就必须解决俄亥俄州那边蓝领阶层的困境。但是，我们目前没有解决之道。这次石破天惊的选举最终会是一次良好的开端吗？还是说，它竟会成为美国政治上的“9·11”，给这个“相对良性”的帝国重重一击，加速她缓慢衰落的进程？

[4] What does this bode for the future?13“那么未来呢？”根据上下文意思是（以上情况）对未来意味着什么？所以可译成What does this bode for the future? bode的意思是to be a sign of (a future event or situation)，经常说bode well/ill，但bode也可以跟名词，如：What has happened bodes disaster for all involved.（所发生的情况对所有相关的人都是灾难。）Can a Trump presidency open a new chapter for America or will he slump into inertia as well after stepping into the White House, constrained by the institutional straightjacket14“魔咒”按字面译应该是spell，但似乎在这个语境里译成straitjacket更合适一些。, as did most of his predecessors? There’s no way we could tell now. A solution to the systemic ills that beset the current state of affairs cannot be found in palliative remedies. Any amount of effort at a micro level won’t be suf fi cient to tackle the Trump phenomenon. To fi x what’s been screwed up15“走出困局”可以有很多种译法，从字面翻译可以是to get out of the predicament、to overcome the dif fi culties等，但考虑到根据上下文，此处的“走出困局”主要是指解决前面提及的问题，我们或许可以说to fi x a broken system或to fi x what has been screwed up。requires vision and courage, plus endorsement of your agenda by an overwhelming majority of the people. With support of merely about 50 percent of voters, Trump didn’t really earn a mandate for drastic reforms. In a sense, a leader who is able to turn the tide has yet to emerge. If those in the blue states on both coasts who have bene fi ted from the technology revolution and globalization16“精英”通常的对应词是elites，笔者避免使用该词主要也是从语境角度考虑，作者在“社会与技术精英们”前面加了修饰词“过得不错的”，表明所指的人群范围较大，而不局限于elite的概念所包含的极少数人（a select part of a group that is superior to the rest）。want to stay on the path to greater prosperity -continue to send their kids to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley or the like, enjoy fine dining at Alexander’s Steakhouse, drive luxury cars likeTesla, and stay in high-end hotels when travelling, the predicament blue-collar workers in places like Ohio have been dragged into would have to be relieved. A right prescription has so far seemed elusive17“解决之道”当然可以用solution，那么，“我们目前没有解决之道”可以译成A solution has yet to be found. 笔者在参考译文里的译法是另一种处理方式。. Will this stunning election result prove to be a promising fresh start or a political 9/11 that represents a relentless push to accelerate a protracted decline of this “relatively benign”empire?

[5]我们现在看到的是一艘在20世纪风光无限的巨轮，在历史的紧要关头，突然掉转船头，朝相反的方向驶去，抛下了诸多行之有年的自由主义价值观，抛下了历史上令人羡慕的光荣与梦想，却没有为船上的乘客展示扬帆远航的路线。巨轮即将出发，但她要驶向何方呢？

[5] We now see a ship that embodies the pinnacle of 20th century American glory making an abrupt about-face at a critical historic juncture, leaving behind long cherished liberal values and dreams envied by many, yet presenting no roadmap for the journey ahead to its passengers. The ship is about to depart the harbor, but where is it heading?

1虽然原文里只提到“大选”，而没有说“2016年大选”，但在译文里加上年份似乎更加确切一些，因为大选很多。