时代周刊:穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼兜售分裂中东计划(4)

Faced with this panorama¹, the young prince quietly but ruthlessly consolidated² power

面对这样的局势，年轻的王子不动声色又不留情面地巩固了自己的权力，

in the kind of bold strokes that would have left Niccolò Machiavelli feeling bashful.

举措之大胆，尼可罗·马基亚维利都会感到自愧不如。

At the time of King Salman's ascension, his son was so unknown outside the kingdom

萨勒曼国王刚登上王位时，这位王子在沙特之外的地方还籍籍无名，

that even his age was a subject of speculation³ (he was 29),

就连他的年龄人们都得靠猜测（那时他已经29岁了），

yet the new monarch⁴ bet everything on him.

但新国王还是把一切都押在了他的身上。

He made bin⁵ Salman Defense⁶ Minister, in charge of what was then the world's third largest military budget, after the U.S. and China,

本·萨勒曼不仅被新国王任命为王国的国防部长，负责当时仅次于美国和中国的世界第三大军事预算，

and the young prince promptly⁷ launched a war, pummeling Iran-backed rebels in Yemen.

于是，年轻的王子随即发动战争，痛击了伊朗支持的也门叛军。

He was also named head of Aramco, the behemoth state oil company, chief of economic development and deputy crown prince.

他还被任命为了沙特国有超级石油公司“阿美”的负责人、沙特经济发展部部长和副王储。

The final title designated bin Salman as second in line for the crown, behind his 55-year-old cousin Mohammed bin Nayef,

最后一个头衔让本·萨勒曼成了王位的第二顺位继承人，仅次于他55岁的堂兄穆罕默德·本·纳耶夫，

who famously survived an attack by an al-Qaeda prisoner who detonated a suicide bomb hidden inside his own rectum.

后者曾因为在一次袭击中幸存了下来一举成名，当时，一名基地组织的囚犯引爆了藏在自己直肠里的自杀式炸弹对他发动了袭击。

But bin Nayef was no match for his cousin's ambition.

然而，本·纳耶夫远不如自己的堂兄那般心怀大志。

In June 2017, the king removed bin Nayef as crown prince and replaced him with bin Salman.

2017年6月，国王废除了本·纳耶夫的王储资格，扶正了本·萨勒曼。

Five months later, bin Salman rolled the dice⁸ again,

五个月后，本·萨勒曼再次孤注一掷，

imprisoning⁹ dozens of people including princes, aides and businessmen in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh.

将数十人软禁在了利雅得的丽思·卡尔顿酒店，这些人中有王子，有助手，还有商人。

They were accused with corruption¹⁰, though there was no formal legal process and no transparency.

他们都被指控腐败，尽管当时并没有走正式的法律程序，也没有将信息公开。

And at least one aide, who died in custody¹¹, showed signs of physical abuse, the New York Times reported.

而且，至少有一名助手，已经在拘留期间离开了人世，有受过身体虐待的迹象，据《纽约时报》报道。

"He was far more powerful than people assumed and the opposition¹² was far weaker,"

“他的权力比人们想象的要大得多，而他的反对派又比人们想象的弱得多，”

says Robert Malley, a former top White House official under Obama.

奥巴马政府前高级官员罗伯特·马利说。

Allegations of corruption have long been used as a political bludgeon in Saudi Arabia,

在沙特那样一个王室和从公众钱包偷钱的人往往是一个意思的国家，

where pilfering¹³ from the public till has often been synonymous with royalty¹⁴.

一直以来，腐败指控都被用作了政治敲打的工具。

In 2001, Prince Bandar al-Sultan publicly estimated that

2001年，班达尔苏丹王子曾公开估计，

$50 billion had been transferred to royals' private accounts since the kingdom's founding.

自王国成立以来，前前后后大约有500亿美元转移到了皇室的私人账户。

Bin Salman's government claimed to recover twice that amount from its captives,

本·萨勒曼政府声称要从俘虏身上追回两倍于这一金额的赃款，

but he hasn't been shy about his own spending.

但他自己开支起来也没有不好意思。

1 panorama   

n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置]

参考例句：

• A vast panorama of the valley lay before us.山谷的广阔全景展现在我们面前。
• A flourishing and prosperous panorama spread out before our eyes.一派欣欣向荣的景象展现在我们的眼前。

2 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

3 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

4 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

8 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。

9 imprisoning   

v.下狱，监禁( imprison的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Afwerki may disgust his compatriots by torturing and imprisoning his critics. Afwerki总统拷打和监禁他的反对者已经使的国人生厌。 来自互联网
• Proud and intelligent, it takes great pleasure and imprisoning enemies through psionic exploitation. 它骄傲并狡猾，非常喜欢囚禁敌人并剥夺他们的智力。 来自互联网

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 pilfering   

v.偷窃（小东西），小偷( pilfer的现在分词 )；偷窃（一般指小偷小摸）

参考例句：

• He was caught pilfering. 他行窃时被抓个正着。
• Pilfering has stopped entirely since they put Angus in charge of the stores. 自从他们让安格斯掌管商店以来，小偷小摸就杜绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。