2018年经济学人 间谍众生:英国的间谍产业(1)

 

Britain

英国

Bagehot

白芝浩专栏

Spies like us

间谍众生

To understand Britain, read its spy novels.

要想了解英国，就读读她的间谍小说吧。

Few countries have dominated any industry as Britain has dominated the industry of producing fictional¹ spies.

没有哪个国家像英国霸占了生产虚构间谍产业那样霸占一个产业。

Britain invented the spy novel with Rudyard Kipling's dissection² of the Great Game in “Kim” and John Buchan's adventure stories.

英国以鲁德亚德·吉卜林在《吉姆》中对大国游戏 （Great Game）的剖析和约翰·巴肯的冒险故事开创了间谍小说。

It consolidated³ its lead with Somerset Maugham's Ashenden stories and Graham Greene's invention of “Greeneland”.

它以萨默塞特·毛姆的阿兴登的故事和格雷厄姆·格林创造的“格林世界”巩固了它的第一的位置。

It then produced the world's two most famous spooks: James Bond, the dashing womaniser, and George Smiley, the cerebral⁴ cuckold, who reappears this week in a new book.

之后，她生产出了世界上最有名的两位间谍：生猛干练的花花公子詹姆斯·邦德以及在本周的一本新书中再度现身的遭遇妻子不忠的理性之人乔治·史迈利。

What accounts for this success?

什么带来了这种成功的呢？

One reason is the revolving⁵ door between the secret establishment and the literary establishment.

一个原因是情报界与文学界之间的旋转门。

Some of the lions of British literature worked as spies.

英国的一些文坛大家曾经干过间谍。

Maugham was sent to Switzerland to spy for Britain under cover of pursuing his career as a writer.

毛姆曾被派到瑞士，以寻求作家人生为名，为英国刺探情报。

Greene worked for the intelligence services.

格林曾为情报部门工作。

Both Ian Fleming, the creator of Bond, and John le Carré, the creator of Smiley, earned their living as spies.

邦德的创造者伊恩·佛莱明和斯迈利的创造者约翰勒卡雷曾以间谍谋生。

Dame⁶ Stella Rimington, head of MI5 in 1992-96, has taken to writing spy novels in retirement⁷.

1992-1996年间的军情五处局长——斯蒂拉·利明顿女爵士退休后开始创作间谍小说。

It is as if the secret services are not so much arms of the state as creative-writing schools.

这就好像，作为国家机构，情报部门不如写作学校一样。

Another reason is that British reality has often been stranger than fiction.

另一个原因是英国现实经常比小说还离奇。

The story of the “Cambridge spies” —Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess and the rest—is as far-fetched as it gets.

“剑桥间谍帮”——吉姆·菲尔比、安东尼·布朗特、盖伊·伯吉斯等人——的故事令人难以置信。

One Soviet⁸ mole⁹ at the top of MI6 (Philby, who also worked for The Economist¹⁰ in Beirut) ; another even looking after the queen's pictures (Blunt) ; a cover-up; a dash to the safety of the Soviet Union; larger-than-life characters such as the compulsively promiscuous¹¹ and permanently¹² sozzled Burgess.

一位是位居军情六处高层的苏联鼹鼠（也曾在贝鲁特为本报工作过的菲尔比）；另一位甚至在看管女王的藏画（布朗特）；一次藏身；一次对苏联安全的冲击；像抑制不住地滥交和常年烂醉如泥的伯吉斯一般的大于生活的人物。

There is also a more profound reason for Britain's success.

英国的成功还有更深层次的原因。

The spy novel is the quintessential British fictional form in the same way that the Western is quintessentially American.

以西部小说之于美国一样，间谍小说典型的英国小说形式。

Britain's best spy novelists are so good precisely¹³ because they use the genre¹⁴ to explore what it is that makes Britain British: the obsession¹⁵ with secrecy¹⁶, the nature of the establishment, the agonies of imperial decline and the complicated tug¹⁷ of patriotism¹⁸.

英国最好的间谍小说家如此优秀，主要是因为他们运用这种文学体裁去探寻什么造就了英国：对情报痴迷、体制的性质、帝国衰落的苦恼以及复杂的爱国主义情结。

Britain is honeycombed with secretive institutions, particularly public schools and Oxbridge colleges, which have their own private languages.

英国星罗密布着着各种秘密组织，尤其是公立学校和牛津、剑桥大学，它们有着自己的隐语。

At Eton, for example, where Fleming was educated and Mr le Carre taught for a while, boys dress in tailcoats and call their teachers “beaks” and their terms “halves”.

例如，在弗莱明接受教育和勒卡雷曾经教过一段时间书的伊顿公学，男孩们身着燕尾服，称老师为“鹰喙”，学期为“半场”。

Walter Bagehot argued (approvingly) that Britain weaves duplicity into its statecraft.

沃尔特·白芝浩曾经（赞同地）指出，英国将两面性融入治国理政之中。

The constitution rests on a distinction between an “efficient” branch which governs behind the scenes, and a “dignified” branch which puts on a show for the people.

这种结构靠的是在幕后施政的“效率”部门和给人们装样子的“面子”分支之间的泾渭分明。

The British habitually¹⁹ wear masks to conceal²⁰ their true selves.

英国人习惯于戴上面具，掩盖真实的自我。

They put on different costumes for different roles in Bagehot's theatre of state, and keep stiff upper lips to conceal their emotions.

他们给白芝浩的国家大舞台上的不同角色穿上不同的服饰，并且让绷紧了上嘴唇，以掩饰自己的情感。

Mr le Carre (whose real name is David Cornwell) learned to put on a brave face at school because he was so embarrassed by his father, who was a professional confidence trickster.

勒卡雷（他的真名叫大卫·康威尔）在上学时学会了装出一副勇敢的面孔，是因为他被身为职业骗子的父亲搞得狼狈不堪。

Greene learned the spymaster's art when, as a pupil at Berkhamsted School, he acted as an informer for his father, the headmaster.

格林在为他身为校长的父亲充当告密者时掌握了间谍大师的艺术。

1 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

2 dissection   

n.分析；解剖

参考例句：

• A dissection of your argument shows several inconsistencies.对你论点作仔细分析后发现一些前后矛盾之处。
• Researchers need a growing supply of corpses for dissection.研究人员需要更多的供解剖用的尸体。

3 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。

4 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

5 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

6 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

9 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 promiscuous   

adj.杂乱的，随便的

参考例句：

• They were taking a promiscuous stroll when it began to rain.他们正在那漫无目的地散步，突然下起雨来。
• Alec know that she was promiscuous and superficial.亚历克知道她是乱七八糟和浅薄的。

12 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

13 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

14 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

15 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

16 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

17 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

18 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

19 habitually   

ad.习惯地，通常地

参考例句：

• The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
• Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰，我来到他的椅子跟前。

20 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。