2019年经济学人 刚果出租车司机皮埃尔·曼贝尔(2)

 

Because he was so audacious, and had good instincts, and would go to places other drivers wouldn't, his taxi became the car of choice for Western journalists. It was good money, $35 a day in the 1990s (though the best money came from Western tv crews, if they turned up in town). His regular passengers for years included Michela Wrong and Stephanie Wolters of Reuters, Howard French of the New York Times, Dino Mahtani of Reuters (and The Economist), on whose office sofa he would take naps, William Wallis of the Financial Times. Though he spoke¹ no English and growled² thickly in French, often just to himself, they all knew what he was grumbling³ about.

因为他非常的无畏，而且有良好的直觉，他会去其他司机不去的地方，所以他就成了西方记者的首选。在上世纪90年代每天35美元，这是一笔不错的收入（尽管最好的收入来自西方电视台的工作人员，如果他们出现在镇上的话）。多年来，他的常客包括《路透社》的米凯拉·容和斯蒂芬妮·沃尔特斯，《纽约时报》的霍华德·弗伦奇，《路透社》的迪诺·马哈塔尼（还有《经济学人》），皮埃尔会在他办公室的沙发上打盹，还有《金融时报》的威廉·沃利斯。虽然他不会说英语，还用法语粗声粗气地咆哮着，经常是对着自己，他们都知道他在发什么牢骚。

He was the conduit through which they, and their readers, came to grasp what was happening in Congo. None of it was good. C'est pas bien, c'est foutu, finger wagging angrily as he careered along. He had ulcers⁴, his stomach hurt and his wife was divorcing him, but his country pained him more. Everyone was corrupt⁵. Everything was screwed. In his lifetime Congo had gone from brutal⁶ Belgian colonialism to brief independence under Patrice Lumumba to dictatorship under Mobutu Sese Seko, before the Kabila clan⁷ took over. He had met Lumumba at rallies in Kisangani, and liked him. For Mobutu and his henchmen he had no time at all. Nor for the Kabilas, whose claims to be rassembleurs, unifiers, made him laugh out loud. His hopes lay with Etienne Tshisekedi, "the Sphinx", founder⁸ of a party for democratic change without violence. But Tshisekedi never made it to president, and his son Félix managed it only by villainy, like all the rest.

他是记者和他们的读者了解刚果正在发生什么的渠道。这些都不好。这是不对的，这个无法挽救了。他愤怒地摇着手指疾驰而过。他得了溃疡，胃疼，妻子也在和他离婚，但他的国家让他更加痛苦。每个人都是腐败。一切都完蛋了。在他的一生中，刚果从野蛮的比利时殖民主义到帕特里斯·卢蒙巴短暂的独立，再到蒙博托·塞塞·塞科的独裁统治，直到卡比拉家族掌权。他在基桑加尼的集会上见过卢蒙巴，并且喜爱他。对于蒙博托和他的追随者来说，他根本没有时间。卡比拉斯自称是集团者、统一主义者，这让他放声大笑。他的希望寄托在“狮身人面像”反对党领袖奇赛科迪身上，他是“非暴力民主变革党”的创始人。但奇赛科迪从未当上总统，他的儿子费利克斯和其他人一样，只是靠邪恶的手段才当上了总统。

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

4 ulcers   

n.溃疡( ulcer的名词复数 )；腐烂物；道德败坏；腐败

参考例句：

• Detachment of the dead cells produces erosions and ulcers. 死亡细胞的脱落，产生糜烂和溃疡。 来自辞典例句
• 75% of postbulbar ulcers occur proximal to the duodenal papilla. 75％的球后溃疡发生在十二指肠乳头近侧。 来自辞典例句

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。