经济学人:托利党巨人退休 才华横溢国会议员告别

 　　Bratain

　　英国

　　A Tory titan retires

　　一托利党巨人退休

　　William, it was really nothing

　　威廉，真的没关系

　　The Conservatives bid farewell to a talented parliamentarian

　　保守党向一名才华横溢的国会议员告别

　　THE high esteem¹ in which William Hague is held was evident on March 26th even amid the Conservative leader of the House of Commons's shabby last act. To mark the end of the parliament, which also concluded his 26-year-long career as an MP, Mr Hague launched a surprise, failed, bid to oust² the speaker, John Bercow, who many Tories dislike. It was typical of the Tories' bungling³ in Parliament; but, MPs tutted, also an unseemly exit for one of its best performers of modern times.

　　就算这位下议院保守党领导人在3月26号的最后一举显得低劣，威廉·黑格享有的崇敬还是显而易见的。为了标记议会的结束，也将他26年的议员生涯画上句号，黑格让人们大吃一惊，他企图将不受托利党人欢迎的约翰·伯科赶下台，但失败了。这是托利党人在议会拙劣之举的典型，但对于近代最佳演员之一的黑格来说，引得议员们嘘声一片，这也是一个不体面的退场。

　　托利党巨人退休.jpg

　　They were wrong. Because the 54-year-old Yorkshireman was following party orders—and that, even more than his laconic⁴ drawl and brilliance⁵ at the dispatch box, epitomises his career. The episode was also typical of the sort of orders Mr Hague has often had to follow, as an absurdly young Welsh secretary under John Major, as his successor as party leader, and, between 2010 and 2014, as foreign secretary.

　　他们错了。因为这位54岁的约克郡人执行的是党的指令——这一举甚至超越了他简洁、慢吞吞的调子和在政务上的傲人之处，成为了他政治生涯的标志。这一插曲也是黑格经常需要遵从的典型指令，无论是作为约翰·梅杰手下年轻得不可思议的威尔士事务大臣，或是梅杰的继任党派领导人，还是作为2010到2014年间的外事大臣，都是如此。

　　So what did he achieve? In an interview in his parliamentary office, Mr Hague names, without hesitation⁶, a law he got passed in 1995 to outlaw⁷ discrimination against the disabled as his proudest legislative⁸ achievement. His spell as party leader (“I don't regret taking the leadership on, or giving it up; somebody had to do it”) is harder to enthuse about. After a stab at forging a kinder Conservatism—which remains⁹ elusive—he fell back on Euroscepticism, was humiliated¹⁰ in the 2001 election and resigned. That he remained an MP was an act of courage, which he burnished¹¹ with dazzling speeches and unshakable loyalty¹² to his successors. David Cameron, who took the helm in 2005, called him the Tories' deputy leader in all but name.

　　那他到底获得了什么成果呢？在他的议员会议室里进行的一次采访里，黑格毫不犹豫地将1995年他推动通过的一项禁止歧视残疾人的法律视为他最值得骄傲的立法成就。他作为政党领导的魅力（“我不后悔扛上领导的担子，或者将它卸下来，总有人要做这件事”）更难笼络人心。在试图创造一个更为温和的保守主义（仍令人难以捉摸）后，黑格又回到了欧洲怀疑主义，在2001年的选举中颜面全失随后辞职。他仍留任议员实属勇气之举，他用言辞闪闪发光的演讲和对继任者不可动摇的忠诚来修饰了这一行为。2005年掌权的大卫·卡梅伦称其为托利党非名义上的实际代理领导。

　　This made Mr Hague the most powerful foreign secretary since Tony Blair, a globe-trotting prime minister, emasculated the job. Even in a time of cuts—which Mr Hague ensured were lighter¹³ at the Foreign Office than they might have been—he had an opportunity to strengthen his office (“the best job in the world”) and Britain's place in the world. He did not really take it.

　　这使得黑格成为了最有权威的外事大臣，因为托尼·布莱尔这位游历世界的总理无法胜任这份工作。即使在预算削减的时期（黑格保证外事办公室的削减程度比想象中轻），他仍有机会加强办公室的力量（“世上最好的工作”）并提升英国在世界上的地位。他并没有把握住这个机会。

　　He did some excellent things—restoring confidence to a department he found to be “shockingly” demoralised, including through a renewed emphasis on learning languages and other lapsed¹⁴ skills. He also expanded its operations, opening 20 missions, especially in India and China, the focus of a commercial push. He was also bold, early on, supporting Mr Cameron's championing of the Arab spring, including the intervention¹⁵ in Libya in 2011. Mr Hague describes their failure to win parliamentary support for strikes on Syria's regime in 2013 as one of his “worst experiences”.

　　他做了一些了不起的事：重塑这个他发现道德”惊人“沦丧的部门的信誉，包括重新强调学习语言和其他失效技能的重要性。他还扩大了部门的运作范围，新派出了20个驻外使团，特别是在印度和中国这些商业动力的中心。早些时候，他也十分大胆地支持卡梅伦对阿拉伯之春的拥护，还包括2011年对利比亚的干预。黑格认为他们在2013年没能赢得议会对叙利亚统治下罢工的支持是他”最糟的体验“之一。

　　But after that setback¹⁶ Mr Cameron seemed to lose interest in the world. And Mr Hague did nothing obvious to fill the gap. He did not demur¹⁷ when Mr Cameron ordered a pullout from Afghanistan more abrupt¹⁸ than Britain's allies wanted. “We would have been there for decades” otherwise, he says; NATO only wanted Britain to stay, with a tiny force, for a year or two.

　　但那次挫折之后，卡梅伦似乎对全球事务失去了兴趣。黑格也没有做什么明显的事来填补空白。当卡梅伦以超乎英国盟友期望的速度突然命令从阿富汗撤军时，黑格并没有提出异议。他说，不然“我们本可以在那儿呆上几十年”。NATO希望英国仅在那儿保留少量武力一到两年。

　　Mr Hague's absence from the early Franco-German efforts to end the Ukraine crisis seemed similarly indicative of shrunken ambition. “You can't be everywhere”, he protests. But when it comes to tackling the continent's biggest security threats, Britain should always be with its main European allies. That Mr Hague was meanwhile more prominent in campaigning against rape¹⁹ in war, often alongside the film star Angelina Jolie, seemed a bit odd. The cause was important, but there was little in the history of such campaigns to suggest it would succeed, and the foreign secretary was required elsewhere.

　　在早期法德希望结束乌克兰危机的努力中，黑格的缺席似乎同样是其野心缩减的暗示。他抗议道：“你不可能无处不在。”但若到了处理这片大陆最大安全威胁的关头，英国应该始终与主要的欧洲同盟站在一条线上。黑格在反对战争强奸方面似乎更为闻名，他经常与电影明星安吉丽娜·朱莉一起参加相关活动，这看起来有一点奇怪。原因很重要，但历史证明这种活动鲜有成功，其他地方更需要外事大臣操心。

　　He retires to a pile in Wales and the 18th century, about which he writes fine books. It has been a thoroughly²⁰ commendable²¹ political career; but, especially when set against Mr Hague's gifts, not a great one.

　　他在威尔士衣锦而归，还写了一些关于18世纪的好书。这是一段完全值得赞赏的政治生涯，但与黑格的天分相比，这又略显逊色。

　　1.give up 放弃；投降

　　They'll have to give up completely on certain of their studies.

　　他们将不得不彻底放弃某些研究。

　　His wife would love him to give up his job.

　　他妻子很乐意他辞去工作。

　　2.seem to 似乎

　　Financial markets seem to agree.

　　金融市场似乎也证实了这一点。

　　Investors²² seem to have noticed.

　　投资者似乎也注意到了。

1 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

2 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

3 bungling   

adj.笨拙的，粗劣的v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的现在分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• You can't do a thing without bungling it. 你做事总是笨手笨脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Enough, too,' retorted George. 'We'll all swing and sundry for your bungling.' “还不够吗？”乔治反问道，“就因为你乱指挥，我们都得荡秋千，被日头晒干。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

4 laconic   

adj.简洁的；精练的

参考例句：

• He sent me a laconic private message.他给我一封简要的私人函件。
• This response was typical of the writer's laconic wit.这个回答反映了这位作家精练简明的特点。

5 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

6 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

7 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

11 burnished   

adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光

参考例句：

• The floor was spotless; the grate and fire-irons were burnished bright. 地板上没有污迹；炉栅和火炉用具擦得发亮。 来自辞典例句
• The woods today are burnished bronze. 今天的树林是一片发亮的青铜色。 来自辞典例句

12 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

13 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

14 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

16 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

17 demur   

v．表示异议，反对

参考例句：

• Without demur, they joined the party in my rooms. 他们没有推辞就到我的屋里一起聚餐了。
• He accepted the criticism without demur. 他毫无异议地接受了批评。

18 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

19 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

20 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

21 commendable   

adj.值得称赞的

参考例句：

• The government's action here is highly commendable.政府这样的行动值得高度赞扬。
• Such carping is not commendable.这样吹毛求疵真不大好。

22 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会