2019年经济学人 刚果出租车司机皮埃尔·曼贝尔(3)

 

There had been one golden moment. It came in 1974, the year he started driving a taxi. Congo, then called Zaire, won the African Soccer Cup and hosted the Rumble¹ in the Jungle, the heavyweight boxing match between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. Kin-shasa was suddenly swarming² with Americans, hands full of dollars, needing a cab. Even better, one evening Ali himself, his hero, came out of the hotel. One of the younger drivers tried to spar with him, and he, Pierre, stepped between them like a referee³ to shout "Break! Dégage-toi!"

皮埃尔有过一次高光的时刻。那是1974年，那一年他开始开计程车。当时被称为扎伊尔的刚果，赢得了非洲足球杯，并主办了丛林之战，这是乔治·福尔曼和穆罕默德·阿里之间的重量级拳击比赛。金沙萨突然挤满了手里都是钱的美国人，他们需要一辆出租车。更妙的是，一天晚上，阿里，他的英雄，从酒店出来。一个年轻的司机想和皮埃尔争抢，他像裁判一样站在他们中间喊道：“一边呆着去！滚开！”

He saw that fight, which Ali won, and loved ever after to drive his journalists past the May 20th Stadium, remembering it. He could show them other good things, too. He took many to eat fish and cassava at Maluku on the Congo river, and encouraged some to meet Papa Wendo, the ancient father of the Congolese rumba, or to listen in on meetings of intellectuals who conversed⁴ in English.

他看到了那场拳击赛，阿里赢了，从此他就喜欢开车带着他的记者们经过5月20日的体育场，并铭记在心。他还可以向他们展示其他的好东西。他带了很多人去刚果河上的马鲁库去吃鱼和木薯，并鼓励一些人去见刚果伦巴舞之父温多老爹，或旁听用英语交谈的知识分子的会议。

He wanted to display Congo's best side—the really impressive side, not the overweening official villas⁵ on the hill in Binza towards which the little Fiat⁶ would trundle, then expire, and need to be jump-started while the sharp suits stood and stared. Some of those officials, the grosses legumes, he knew, and they gave him a certain respect, both because he kept turning up with Western journalists and because, clearly, he was fearless.

他想展示刚果最好的一面-真正令人印象深刻的一面，而不是宾萨山上那些高高在上的官员别墅，小菲亚特会朝着这些别墅蹒跚而行，然后熄火，需要在穿着时髦的西装的人挺立着盯着看时候启动它。他知道，那些官员中有一些是粗鄙的人，他们给了他一定的尊重，既是因为他总是和西方记者一块出现，明显地，也是因为他无所畏惧。

1 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

2 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

3 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

4 conversed   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 )

参考例句：

• I conversed with her on a certain problem. 我与她讨论某一问题。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was cheerful and polite, and conversed with me pleasantly. 她十分高兴，也很客气，而且愉快地同我交谈。 来自辞典例句

5 villas   

别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅

参考例句：

• Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
• Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。

6 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。