经济学人427:资深美国参议院议员罗伯特·伯德

 　　Obituary；Robert Byrd

　　讣告；罗伯特·伯德

　　Robert C. Byrd, doyen of the United States Senate, died on June 28th, aged¹ 92

　　罗伯特·C·伯德，资深美国参议院议员，逝世于6月28日，享年92岁

　　WHENEVER Robert Byrd walked the corridors and chambers³ of the Senate, he went in a crowd of people. Some were his constituents⁴, in camouflage⁵ caps and T-shirts, gape-mouthed among the gilt⁶ and marble, come to talk to him about the problems of Marsh⁷ Fork Elementary School or their uncle's black lung. But he also saw Henry Foote of Mississippi wielding⁸ his pistol, Sam Houston of Texas whittling⁹ wooden hearts for the ladies, and little John Randolph of Virginia strutting¹⁰ past with his hunting dogs; and Cicero in the shadows, and just behind him Cato the younger, whispering “I would not be beholden to a tyrant¹¹.”

　　无论什么时候罗伯特·伯德行走在参议院的走廊和房间里，总有一群人相伴而行。一些是他的选民，戴着迷彩帽，穿着T恤，瞠目于参议员的金碧辉煌，他们是来找他谈马什福克小学或者他们叔叔的黑肺之类的问题。但他也见过密西西比的亨利·富特挥舞手枪，萨姆·休斯顿为女士们制作木心，还见过矮小的约翰·伦道夫昂首阔步走过参议院；还有阴影中的西塞罗，和他身后的小卡图，喃喃：“我不沾暴君的光。”

　　The Roman Senate fascinated Mr Byrd almost as much as the American. When it declined, the Republic fell. And why had it declined? Because it had become passive, failed to raise its voice; and especially because it had handed meekly¹² to Caesar and Sulla the power of the pursestrings. Mr Byrd therefore spent his career—the longest Senate service in American history, incorporating six years as majority whip, 12 years as majority or minority leader and 20 years as chairman or ranking minority member of the Appropriations¹³ Committee—learning, describing and expertly applying the rules that kept the Senate a force in government. He was constantly alert both to executive overreach and to weakness in his own beloved chamber², “the anchor of the Republic, the morning and evening star in the American constitutional constellation”.

　　伯德对罗马元老院的着迷不亚于美国参议院。随着元老院的衰退，罗马共和国也灭亡了。它为什么会衰退？因为它变得消极，不再高声疾呼；特别是因为对于凯撒与苏拉，它将财政拱手相让。因此，伯德终其一生——美国历史上任期最长的参议员，包括6年的多数党党鞭，12年多数党或少数党领袖以及20年拨款委员会主席或高级少数党成员——学习，描述，而且巧妙地应用这些规则，使得参议院仍旧是政府的一股力量。他时刻警惕滥用职权和自己受爱戴的内阁的弱点，“共和国之栋梁，美国宪法星座中的启明星和长庚星。”

　　Dignity was his byword: three-piece suits, velvet¹⁴ waistcoats and the rolling oratory¹⁵ of a man who had been a fine lay preacher before he left West Virginia. His courtesy was instinctive¹⁶, his thank-you notes reliably there the next day. The point of all this, though, was to uphold the worth of the Senate. At meetings with the president he insisted on taking a staff person, because the president had one, and the branches were equal. He kept laptops out of the chamber, but voted for televised proceedings¹⁷, so that the Senate would be visible to the people to whom it belonged. The constitution, as he reminded listeners, pulling it from his left breast pocket where he kept it over his heart, had made the American people sovereign and mentioned their Congress first. Now, like him, they had to revere¹⁸ and defend it.

　　高雅是他的座右铭：3件套装西服，天鹅绒马甲和圆熟的口才——他离开西弗吉尼亚前曾是一个优秀的非神职布道者。他的礼节毫不做作，他的感谢信从不迟到。然而，这一切的意义都在与维护参议院的形象。会见总统时，他坚持要带上一名工作人员，因为三权领导等级相同，而总统带了一个。他不允许在会议室里用笔记本电脑，但却支持电视直播议程，好让该看见的人看见参议院的样子。宪法让美国成为一个主权国家，它把国会放在第一位，他在提醒听众时，从左胸口袋里拿出了他一直保存在心上的宪法。现在，像伯德一样，他们也要尊重和维护它。

　　He grappled masterfully with 11 presidents, and liked them less as he got older. George Bush junior he detested¹⁹, a reckless and arrogant²⁰ man who, on Iraq, overrode²¹ the war-declaring powers of Congress while the Senate stood pitifully by. “In this terrible show of weakness”, Mr Byrd wrote, “the Senate left an indelible stain upon its own escutcheon.” Some Democrats²² pleased him little better. Though most of his 18,500 votes went with his party, he had an old southerner's conservative streak²³, besides a West Virginian's tenderness for coal-mining and steel-making; and party ran second to the Senate, in any case. Bill Clinton's bid to seize the pursestrings from Congress in the 1990s with the line-item budget veto was opposed by Mr Byrd in 14 separate one-hour speeches, learned by heart, to slow up debate. He had filibustered²⁴ before, the old-fashioned way: in 1964 for a straight 14 hours 13 minutes, to try to kill the Civil Rights Act.

　　他巧妙地与11任总统周旋，并且随着年长，越来越不喜欢他们。他憎恶小布什，在伊拉克问题上，布什越过了国会的宣战权，而参议院还在可怜地等待。“在这次严重的示弱行为后，”伯德写道，“参议院在自己的盾上留下了不可磨灭的污点。”有些民主党人也讨不得他的欢喜。虽然他的18500票中，党内人士居多，但他有着老南方的保守性格，和西弗吉尼亚人对炼钢和煤矿的温柔；而且在任何情况下，参议院优先于党。九十年代，比尔·克林顿曾企图通过项目预算否决权，从国会那里接管财政，被伯德反对，并以分别的14个一小时演讲，全部脱稿，拖延了议程。他以前也曾以老式的方式阻挠议事：1964年，一次长达14小时13分钟的演讲，试图遏止人权法案。

　　This he later regretted. He was sorry, too, that he found himself slipping into talk of “white niggers” and “race mongrels”, and that he was exposed as an active member of the Ku Klux Klan, charging 150 friends and colleagues $10 membership and $3 robe-and-hood hire to form a chapter in 1943 in Crab²⁵ Orchard²⁶, West Virginia. He had briefly²⁷ joined the Klan for its anticommunism, he explained, and for the platform it gave him, a mere²⁸ butcher and fiddle-player, to organise²⁹ people locally. This, with his spirited playing of “Rye Whiskey” and “Turkey in the Straw”, soon got him elected to the state House of Delegates in 1946, the US House of Representatives in 1952 and, by 1958, at 40, the Senate, which through almost nine terms he never left.

　　之后他也对此感到后悔。他也对自己不知不觉开始大谈“白黑鬼”和“黑白杂种”，还有他被揭穿是3K党的活跃成员，1943年在西弗吉尼亚州的螃蟹果园。曾向150个朋友和同事收取10美元的会费以及会员必备的绳子和兜帽的3美元租金，表示抱歉。他解释说，他曾经短暂的加入3K党，因为他们的反共和他们提供给他召集本地群众的平台，即屠夫和小提琴手。随着他动人的曲目《黑麦威士忌》和《草丛中的火鸡》，这个平台很快让他在1946年被选入州参议院，1952年被选入美国众议员，而且到了1958年，他40岁的时候，到达了参议院，并且几乎任满9期从未离开。

　　Yet his heart was in West Virginia, a poor and backward state of mountains and coal mines, where foster-parents had brought him up without power or running water and he had finished college, in a decade of night classes, five years after he joined the Senate. His years on Appropriations were spent not just juggling³⁰ favours and nitpicking on procedure, but also proudly channelling money to the hills and hollows: making gravel³¹ tracks into Robert C. Byrd Freeways, turning fetid lock-ups into Robert C. Byrd Correctional Institutions, setting up the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope to look at the stars. This, too, was what the Senate was for.

　　然而他的心仍在西弗吉尼亚，一个多山，多煤矿的，贫穷落后的州，在那里，他的养父母在没有电和自来水的情况下把他养大，而在他进入参议院5年后，他为期10年的夜校课程，才算读完了。他在拨款委员会的几年，不只是尽力帮人的忙和挑剔手续，他还把资金送到了丘陵和洼地：让石子路变成了罗伯特·C·伯德高速公路，把恶臭的拘留所变成了罗伯特·C·伯德惩教所，设立罗伯特·C·伯德绿堤望远镜用来观星。这些，也都是参议员存在的意义。

　　On the mountain top

　　在山巅上

　　In one of his weekly online columns he mused³² on the beauty of mountains, where God had revealed himself to Moses and Elijah had challenged the false prophets of Baal. A blogger or two pointed³³ out that the lopped-off, naked mountains in the south of his state owed much to Mr Byrd's votes for uninhibited mining. He was unrepentant. Mining brought jobs, and burning coal kept America going. The people powered America; the Senate was the people's house; and the man who preserved the Senate, in all its glory and prodigality³⁴ and arcane³⁵ complexity³⁶, was Robert C. Byrd, King of Pork and senator senatorum.

　　有一次，在他的每周线上论坛上，他赞叹山的壮丽，上帝就是在山上向摩西展示真身，而以利亚也是在山上挑战巴力神的假先知的。几位博客作家指出，他们南方家乡的斑驳光秃的山都归咎于伯德对无限制采矿的支持。他却并不后悔。采矿带来工作，而燃煤保障美国的前进。人民赋予美国力量；参议院是人民的议院；而保护参议院所有的荣光，奢侈和深不可测的那个人，正是猪肉王，参议员中的参议员，罗伯特·C·伯德。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

3 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

4 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

6 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

7 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

8 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

9 whittling   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Inflation has been whittling away their savings. 通货膨胀使他们的积蓄不断减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is whittling down the branch with a knife to make a handle for his hoe. 他在用刀削树枝做一把锄头柄。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 strutting   

加固，支撑物

参考例句：

• He, too, was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle. 他也是非常自大，在城堡里大摇大摆地走。
• The pompous lecturer is strutting and forth across the stage. 这个演讲者在台上趾高气扬地来回走着。

11 tyrant   

n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。

12 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

14 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

15 oratory   

n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞

参考例句：

• I admire the oratory of some politicians.我佩服某些政治家的辩才。
• He dazzled the crowd with his oratory.他的雄辩口才使听众赞叹不已。

16 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

17 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

18 revere   

vt.尊崇，崇敬，敬畏

参考例句：

• Students revere the old professors.学生们十分尊敬那些老教授。
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven.中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。

19 detested   

v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They detested each other on sight. 他们互相看着就不顺眼。
• The freethinker hated the formalist; the lover of liberty detested the disciplinarian. 自由思想者总是不喜欢拘泥形式者，爱好自由者总是憎恶清规戒律者。 来自辞典例句

20 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

21 overrode   

越控( override的过去式 )； （以权力）否决； 优先于； 比…更重要

参考例句：

• The chairman overrode the committee's objections and signed the agreement. 主席不顾委员会的反对，径行签署了协议。
• The Congress overrode the President's objection and passed the law. 国会不顾总统的反对，通过了那项法令。

22 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

24 filibustered   

v.阻碍或延宕国会或其他立法机构通过提案( filibuster的过去式和过去分词 )；掠夺

参考例句：

25 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

26 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

27 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

28 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

29 organise   

vt.组织，安排，筹办

参考例句：

• He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
• It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。

30 juggling   

n. 欺骗, 杂耍(=jugglery) adj. 欺骗的, 欺诈的 动词juggle的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was charged with some dishonest juggling with the accounts. 他被指控用欺骗手段窜改账目。
• The accountant went to prison for juggling his firm's accounts. 会计因涂改公司的帐目而入狱。

31 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

32 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

33 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

34 prodigality   

n.浪费，挥霍

参考例句：

• Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality. 笑声每时每刻都变得越来越容易，毫无节制地倾泻出来。 来自辞典例句
• Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. 笑声每时每刻都变得越来越容易，毫无节制地倾泻出来，只要一句笑话就会引起哄然大笑。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

35 arcane   

adj.神秘的，秘密的

参考例句：

• The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
• Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。

36 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。