经济学人32:没有事后诸葛亮 Without hindsight

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;Americans in Nazi¹ Germany；Without hindsight；

　　文艺；书评；在纳粹德国的美国人；没有事后诸葛亮；

　　Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses² to the Nazi Rise to Power. By Andrew Nagorski.

　　《希特勒的国土：纳粹崛起执政的美国目击者》；安德鲁·纳戈尔斯基；

　　Some books about Nazi Germany prompt the question, “What would I have done?” Readers of “Hitlerland” may instead ask, “What would I have thought?” Andrew Nagorski has written an entertaining chronicle of the views of Americans in Germany during the interwar years until Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in 1941. What did they make of the country as it moved from the messiness of Weimar to the madness of Hitlerism?

　　一些关于纳粹德国的书让人发问，“我会怎么做？”《希特勒的国土》一书的读者可能会改问，“我会怎么看?”安德鲁·纳戈尔斯基写了一部有趣的编年史，内容是两次世界大战之间直到1941年日本袭击珍珠港期间在德的美国人的看法。随着德国由魏玛王朝的杂乱无章变为希特勒主义的疯狂，这些美国人如何解读这个国家呢？

　　Germany was a popular place at the time, giving Mr Nagorski a rich cast of characters. “The world was being created here,” wrote Philip Johnson, an American architect, of pre-Nazi Berlin. Hitler’s rise brought yet more fascination³. Charles Lindbergh, an American aviator⁴, was clueless enough to be used by both the Nazis⁵ and the Americans. John F. Kennedy makes a rambunctious⁶ appearance as a university student.

　　当时的德国是一个受欢迎的地方，纳戈尔斯基的人物阵容庞大，角色多样。“世界正在这里被创造”，美国建筑师菲利普·约翰逊这样写纳粹前的柏林。希特勒的崛起益发给德国带来了更多的魅力。美国飞行员查尔斯·林德伯格太过愚笨，纳粹党人和美国人都利用了他。约翰·肯尼迪作为一名大学生外表粗犷放纵。

　　This book reintroduces us to Ernst “Putzi” Hanfstaengl, a backslapping German-American graduate of Harvard, who positioned himself between Hitler and the foreign press and who fancied himself the Führer’s bridge to America itself. Hitler in turn fancied Hanfstaengl’s wife, who grabbed his gun before he could shoot himself after the failed beer hall putsch of 1923. Hanfstaengl eventually fell out of favour, and narrowly escaped being tossed out of a plane (with a parachute) over Republican-held territory in Spain. His infatuation with Hitler remained.

　　本书让我们重新认识了恩斯特·普希·汉夫施滕格尔，他是德裔美国人，哈佛大学的毕业生，喜好相互吹捧，置身于希特勒和外国记者之间，自诩为元首与美国本身的桥梁。反过来，希特勒喜欢汉夫施滕格尔的妻子，1923年啤酒店暴动失败后他开枪自杀，这位女士在他开枪前抓住了他的枪。汉夫施滕格尔最终不再受青睐，在西班牙，当飞机飞过共和党控制的领土上空时险遭被逼跳机（背着降落伞）的命运。他对希特勒的迷恋依然存在。

　　Little wiser was Martha Dodd, the boy-crazy daughter of the American ambassador. She flirted⁷ with Nazism⁸ (by way of handsome Nazis), but later took a Soviet⁹ lover and became a spy.

　　玛莎·多德小有聪明，她是美国大使的女儿，象男孩一样疯。她与纳粹主义有染，方式就是跟英俊的纳粹分子调情，但后来找了个苏联情人，并成了一名间谍。

　　A veteran journalist, formerly¹⁰ with Newsweek, Mr Nagorski seems most interested in the stories of diplomats¹¹ and fellow hacks¹². They come off a bit better than their sightseeing countrymen, even if their early views were wide of the mark. Dorothy Thompson, celebrity¹³ journalist and wife of the novelist Sinclair Lewis, published a 1932 book called “I Saw Hitler!”. She found him to be a “Little Man” with an “actor’s face…capable of being pushed out or in”, whereas President Hindenburg appeared “cut out of rock.” Hitler’s “tragedy” she wrote, “is that he has risen too high.” He seized power a year later.

　　作为《新闻周刊》的前资深记者，纳戈尔斯基似乎对外交官和雇佣文人的故事最感兴趣。即使他们早期的观点有些离谱，也比来观光的同胞稍好一点。知名记者桃乐茜·汤普森是小说家辛克莱·刘易斯的妻子，她1932年出版了一本书，名为《我看到了希特勒！》。她发现希特勒是个“小个子”，有张“演员的脸……能屈能伸”，而总统兴登堡却看似“切削出的岩石”。她写道，希特勒的“悲剧在于他爬得太高”。一年后，希特勒夺取了政权。

　　By 1934 Thompson’s tone had changed, and her reports made her the first journalist to be expelled by the Nazis. On her return to America she said: “Germany has gone to war already and the rest of the world does not believe it.”

　　到了1934年，汤普森的论调变了，她的报导让她成为第一个被纳粹驱逐出境的记者。在她返回美国时，她说：“德国已经开始备战，而其它国家的人不予相信。”

　　George Messersmith, a prescient American Consul¹⁴ General in Berlin, “made a habit of not allowing himself to be fooled by the Nazis,” writes Mr Nagorski. “A little man has taken the measure of still smaller men,” observed Edgar Mowrer, who won the Pulitzer prize for the Chicago Daily News. By the time Hitler became Führer in 1933, his thuggery was harder to dismiss.

　　乔治·梅瑟史密斯是美国在柏林的总领事，颇有先见之明。纳戈尔斯基写道，乔治·梅瑟史密斯“习惯不让自己被纳粹愚弄”。为《芝加哥每日新闻报》赢得过普利策奖的埃德加·莫勒评论说，“一个小个子采取了更小人的手段。”1933年希特勒成为元首时，他的谋财害命已难遏止。

　　On the whole, Americans in pre-war Berlin had the wit to sense what was coming, and thus helped prepare their countrymen for “the years of bloodshed and struggle ahead”. Yet “Hitlerland” brings back to life some early delusions¹⁵ about Hitler’s rise that now seem unthinkable. Any reader trying to puzzle out today’s world will be unsettled by the reminder¹⁶ of how easy it is to get things wrong.

　　基本上，战前柏林的美国人警觉到了即将发生什么，从而帮着他们的同胞为“多年的流血抗争”提前做好准备。但是，《希特勒的国土》一书让我们回到了生活在希特勒崛起的一些早期错觉之中，如今看来希特勒的崛起似乎不可思议。把事情搞错非常容易，看到作者的这一提醒，任何试图解读当今世界的读者都会不安。

1 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

2 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

3 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

4 aviator   

n.飞行家，飞行员

参考例句：

• The young aviator bragged of his exploits in the sky.那名年轻的飞行员吹嘘他在空中飞行的英勇事迹。
• Hundreds of admirers besieged the famous aviator.数百名爱慕者围困那个著名飞行员。

5 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 rambunctious   

adj.喧闹的；粗鲁的

参考例句：

• Their rambunctious son always got into trouble.他们那个不受管束的儿子老是惹麻烦。
• It's not the chirping,rambunctious play that they did when they first arrived.他们现在已经不像刚开始见面那会儿，总是冲着对方乱叫，或者在玩耍时动作粗暴。

7 flirted   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She flirted her fan. 她急速挥动着扇子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• During his four months in Egypt he flirted with religious emotions. 在埃及逗留的这四个月期间，他又玩弄起宗教情绪来了。 来自辞典例句

8 Nazism   

n. 纳粹主义

参考例句：

• His philosophical eyes were obviously shortsighted by the evil influence of Nazism. 显然，他那双哲学家般的深邃的眼睛也被纳粹的妖氛所眩惑。 来自中国文学部分
• Nazism suppressed all three movements as degenerate. 纳粹把所有三个运动都作为颓废艺术而加以镇压。

9 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。

10 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

11 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 hacks   

黑客

参考例句：

• But there are hacks who take advantage of people like Teddy. 但有些无赖会占类似泰迪的人的便宜。 来自电影对白
• I want those two hacks back here, right now. 我要那两个雇工回到这儿，现在就回。 来自互联网

13 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

14 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

15 delusions   

n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想

参考例句：

• the delusions of the mentally ill 精神病患者的妄想
• She wants to travel first-class: she must have delusions of grandeur. 她想坐头等舱旅行，她一定自以为很了不起。 来自辞典例句

16 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。