纽约时报 沙特王储欲打造后现代生态乌托邦(4)（在线收听）

M.B.S.'s bizarre promotional film is not just a reflection of his royal ambitions.

MBS怪异的宣传片不仅仅反映了他的王室野心。

His technophilia resonates with many young Saudis, and you can't really blame them.

他对技术的狂热引起了许多沙特年轻人的共鸣，你不能真的责怪他们。

Their own cities sprang up almost overnight from obscure patches of desert.

他们自己的城市几乎是在一夜之间从一片模糊的沙漠中崛起的。

Their grandparents watched in awe as black goo spurted up from the sand, instantly transforming one of the world's poorest countries into one of its richest.

他们的祖父母敬畏地看着黑水从沙子里喷出来，瞬间把世界上最贫穷的国家之一变成最富有的国家之一。

Why shouldn't they believe in flying taxis and artificial moons?

为什么他们不相信飞行出租车和人造月亮？

The last part of the Line video strikes a surprising note: images of congested urban highways and flyovers reminiscent of the dystopian 1982 film "Koyaanisqatsi," which presented modernity as a betrayal of the Earth.

这段视频的最后一部分令人惊讶：拥挤的城市公路和立交桥的画面让人想起1982年的反乌托邦电影《失衡生活》，它将现代性表现为对地球的背叛。

The Line, according to the video, will save humanity from this nightmare, eliminating commutes and pollution and preserving 95 percent of the nature within its confines.

视频显示，The Line将使人类免于这场噩梦，消除通勤和污染，并保护95%的自然环境。

What the prince doesn't say is that there are already thousands of people living in harmony with nature in the same area: a tribal community that has been there for centuries and is now being replaced by the project.

王子没有说的是，在同一地区已经有成千上万的人与自然和谐相处：这个部落社区已经存在了数百年，现在正被该项目所取代。

One of these tribesmen made videos protesting the evictions - videos of a different sort, you might imagine, than the one M.B.S. has produced.

其中一个部落的人制作了抗议驱逐的视频——你可以想象，这类视频与MBS制作的视频不同。

He was shot dead last year in a confrontation with Saudi security forces.

他去年在与沙特安全部队的对抗中被枪杀。

Anyone who has spent time in Saudi Arabia's existing cities can sympathize with the desire to start anew. They are dusty and ugly.

任何在沙特阿拉伯现有城市待过一段时间的人都会同情重新开始的愿望，它们又脏又丑。

Narrow-minded clerics preside over corrupt bureaucracies that are resistant to change.

心胸狭窄的神职人员掌管着抵制变革的腐败官僚机构。

But the Saudi landscape is already dotted with failed or abandoned megaprojects.

但沙特的土地上已经布满了失败或被遗弃的大型项目。

Some Saudis have responded to M.B.S.'s film with acid comments about the need to renovate the country's existing towns and neighborhoods before throwing billions into another Xanadu.

一些沙特人对MBS的影片做出了尖锐的回应，认为在向另一个世外桃源投入数十亿美元之前，有必要对该国现有的城镇和社区进行改造。

Jamal Khashoggi suggested as much in a column written with a co-author a few months before he was murdered.

贾马尔·哈苏吉在被谋杀前几个月与一位合著者合著的专栏中提出了同样的建议。

After M.B.S. finishes his presentation, a warm female voice describes life in the Line.

在MBS完成演讲后，一个温暖的女声描述了在The Line里的生活。

The urban dystopia recedes, and happier images parade before us: misty mountaintops, waves lapping a pristine coast.

城市的反乌托邦渐渐退去，更快乐的画面展现在我们面前：朦胧的山顶，海浪拍打着原始的海岸。

The film's final words, spoken as a multicultural parade of faces flickers across the screen, are deliciously preposterous: "A home to all of us - welcome to the Line."

这部影片最后一句话的声音出现时，屏幕上闪烁着多元文化的面孔，这句话非常荒谬：“我们所有人的家——欢迎来到The Line。”

As I heard it, I couldn't help wondering about the woman who spoke those words.

当我听到这句话的时候，我非常想知道说这些话的那位女性是谁。

Would she even consider moving to a remote desert city, to be subject to 24,7 surveillance and the whims of a murderous prince?

她会考虑搬到一个偏僻的沙漠城市，接受全天候的监视和一个凶残王子的突发奇想吗？

My guess is that she did what so many others who work for the Saudis have done: spoke her lines, picked up the check and fled.

我猜她做了很多为沙特工作的人都做过的事：说出了自己的台词，拿起支票，然后逃走。