经济学人88:雄文胜武 Mightier than the sword

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;Political philosophy; Mightier¹ than the sword;

　　文艺；书评；政治哲学；雄文胜武；

　　The collected thoughts on this, that and the other of two clever men;

　　两位智者对于世间百态的思想汇聚；

　　When writers are grand enough, they can produce books by recycling their journalism², lectures, academic papers and other jottings. Sometimes that can seem dated and lazy. Sometimes it is a treat: the assorted³ pieces come together to create a great mosaic⁴. Neither “Facts are Subversive⁵” by Timothy Garton Ash, an Oxford-based writer and academic, nor “Gray's Anatomy” by John Gray, a political philosopher, fall into the first trap (or at least very rarely). They are both good reads. But neither quite reaches the goal of the whole being more interesting than the parts.

　　当作者之声名足够显赫时，他们只需将其新闻稿件、讲演录、学术论文以及其他只言片语回炉再加工一番，新书便告完成。有时，这种做法似乎是在偷工减料地翻炒冷饭；有时，它却为读者奉上一场新的盛宴：混杂的碎片化零为整，一幅伟大的镶嵌作品从中诞生。无论是由身处牛津的作家与学者——提摩西·加顿·阿什所著之《事实方具颠覆性》，还是政治哲学家约翰·格雷的作品——《格雷剖析录》，都未陷入前一种窘境（至少基本上如此），两者皆为优秀的读物；不过，它们也未完全实现令整体胜于部分的目标。

　　Mr Garton Ash is incapable⁶ of writing a dull article. Unlike some famous-name writers, he is proud to be a reporter: whatever the subject, he digs diligently⁷. He observes sharply and with a dry donnish wit that deserves greater play. A remarkable⁸ wordsmith, at his best he has an echo of one of his great heroes, George Orwell. The pieces range from his first stamping-grounds of Germany and central Europe to the bigger themes he took on later (such as Britain's neurotic⁹ “don't know, don't trust, don't care” relationship with Europe) and to more exotic places, including Brazil, Iran and Myanmar.

　　加顿·阿什不会撰写那些干涩无趣的文章，与某些知名作家不同，他为身为记者而自豪：无论面对何种主题，他都会勤奋挖掘素材。其评论一针见血，字里行间所透出之学究式的冷冷嘲讽，让人读来不禁有大材小用之叹。这位非凡的语言大师在其巅峰时期，甚至能在笔下中重现乔治·奥威尔当年的风采，而后者正是加顿·阿什心目中的伟大英雄人物之一。本书收录的零散作品，其范围从他最初频繁涉足的德国与中欧，延伸到他于日后挑战的更大主题（英国与欧洲之间神经质一般的“不知、不信、不顾”关系便为一例），并一直远达更富异域情调的地区，其中包括巴西、伊朗和缅甸。

　　His aim is to chronicle the history of the “nameless decade”, the period that began with the terrorist attacks on America in September 2001 and ended with the election of Barack Obama last year. The subjects encompassed¹⁰ in that time include authoritarian¹¹ governments, the challenge to liberalism raised by Islam and the corrosive¹² combination of the Bush administration's bungled¹³ foreign policy and Europe's unthinking anti-Americanism.

　　加顿·阿什旨在为“无名年代”修史，这一时期始于2001年九月美国所受之恐怖袭击，止于去年巴拉克·奥巴马当选。其间所含的主题包括威权主义政府、伊斯兰教向自由主义发起的挑战，以及由布什政府的外交失策与欧洲轻率的反美思潮所构成之恶性结合。

　　But Mr Garton Ash's silver nib¹⁴ wiggles past those constraints¹⁵. The best essays in the book are timeless. One is a nuanced and convincing piece, both sympathetic and devastating¹⁶, about Günter Grass, the German novelist, who revealed in his memoirs¹⁷ that he had briefly¹⁸ been in the Waffen SS. Did that taint¹⁹ Mr Grass's books, or his role in public life, or both or neither? Was it the wartime service that was shameful²⁰, or its concealment²¹ over decades? Mr Garton Ash brings the reader sure-footedly through the thickets²² of Germany's post-war history and through the marshy²³ ground of moral relativism. He points to the real scandal: that Mr Grass was himself so casually²⁴ splenetic over so many years about other people's shortcomings, while concealing²⁵ his own.

　　不过加顿·阿什的妙笔却如行云流水一般无拘无束，书中最佳的作品并不为时代背景所累。其中，关于德国小说家君特·格拉斯的一篇文章细致入微、令人信服，字词间既存有恻隐，又不留情面；这位德国作家在其回忆录中透露，当年曾短暂效力于纳粹党卫军。这段历史是令其著作黯然失色？还是使他在公共生活中所扮演的角色沾上污点？或者说两者都未能幸免，抑或皆不受其影响？究竟是战时服役一事令其蒙羞，还是日后数十年之隐瞒为人不齿？在加顿·阿什的带领下，读者们步履稳健地穿过了德国战后历史的迷宫，走出了道德相对主义的泥潭，真正的丑行被他指出：这么多年以来，格拉斯在给自己遮羞的同时，却对他人的短处如此随意地表现出义愤填膺之状。

　　Another excellent piece touches on a comparable issue: the list of suspected communist sympathisers that Orwell supplied to the British authorities in 1949. Again, Mr Garton Ash is scrupulously²⁶ fair, highlighting Orwell's sincere (and justifiable) fear of communist infiltration²⁷, as well as his fumbling²⁸ feelings for Celia Kirwan, the British official involved.

　　另一篇杰作则涉及到一个与前例有可比性的话题：奥威尔于1949年向英国当局提交的那份共产主义疑似同情者的名单。加顿·阿什再一次地表现出了一丝不苟的公正态度，在文中强调了奥威尔对共产主义渗透行为的真切恐惧（这种恐惧也非杞人忧天），以及他对希莲·柯雯（涉及此事的英国官员）所抱有的为爱所醉之情。

　　Some of the reworked articles are commendable²⁹ journalism, but do not quite stand the test of time. Mr Garton Ash's observations from his trip to Iran in 2005 seem a bit whiskery now. It is nostalgic to read about the fall of crony capitalism³⁰ in Ukraine five years ago. But the reader is left hankering to know what Mr Garton Ash thinks about the mess that has succeeded it. A fiercer editor might have left out such pieces, and pruned³¹ the author's occasional lapses³² into self-indulgence (using “proleptic” once is fine, twice is tiresome). That may not matter in individual newspaper columns. It jars when collected in a book.

　　在经过重新修订的文章中，有一些是可圈可点的新闻稿件，不过它们并不能完全经受住时间的考验。加顿·阿什从其2005年伊朗之行中得出的观察结论在今天看来已有几分过时；他关于五年前权贵资本主义在乌克兰垮台的文章，如今读来确实令人怀念往昔；但读者们想了解加顿·阿什对于政权更迭之后的乱局有何见解的渴望却未得到满足。换做一位下手更狠的编辑，此类文章大概会被略去，而作者偶然的败笔也会被修剪成随性之举的模样（比如，“预期中”一词若只用一次颇为出彩，但再用一次便会令人审美疲劳）。对于个别的报纸专栏而言，出现这一问题可能无伤大雅；但汇集成书后，它便显得甚为刺眼。

　　Mr Gray's book is darker, grittier and more ambitious. Mr Garton Ash is happy to lambast the West's specific shortcomings but Mr Gray sets out to unpick the shallow philosophical³³ foundations of the whole edifice³⁴, in particular the modern myths about progress and perfectibility. He demolishes³⁵ the theory that we have reached the “end of history”, the dogmas of secular³⁶ liberalism, the weaknesses of financial casino capitalism and the limits of energy-intensive economic growth. Such targets deserve his scrutiny³⁷ and Mr Gray's criticisms are cogent³⁸. But he tends to overdo³⁹ it. Again and again (and again) he attacks the people he calls “neoliberals” without pinning down whom (apart from Tony Blair) he is attacking. The reader is left feeling a straw man has been dissected⁴⁰.

　　格雷的著作则更富阴郁而强硬的气息，其创作野心也更为远大。加顿·阿什乐于抨击西方存在的具体缺陷，但格雷却着手拆解整个体系的浅薄哲学根基，尤其是关于进步和完美性的现代神话。在他的笔下，人类已达到“历史的终结”之理论，世俗自由主义的教义、金融赌场资本主义（的种种缺陷）以及能源密集型经济增长（的极限）被一一推翻。由格雷对此类问题加以缜密研究，实非牛刀杀鸡之举，而其批判也颇为中肯；不过他却往往走得太远，一次一次（又一次）地，格雷对他所称的“新自由主义者”加以口诛笔伐，然而却几乎从不指明其具体的抨击对象（托尼·布莱尔是一个例外）。这让读者们不禁感到，格雷所剖开的只是一个稻草人而已。

　　The finest pieces in Mr Gray's book are satire⁴¹. One is a Swiftian essay in favour of torture (which some serious-minded lefties took at face value). Even better is a devastating parody⁴² of the Marxist approach to linguistics⁴³, involving a (fictional) visit by Ludwig Wittgenstein to the Soviet⁴⁴ Union, and his relationship with an (invented) Hungarian academic, L. Revai, who idealises the grunts⁴⁵ of slave labourers as a proletarian Ursprache.

　　此书中最好的作品当属讽刺文学。一篇支持酷刑（某些一本正经的左翼人士便未能辨出其弦外之音）的斯威夫特式随笔可算在其中；而另一篇极佳的戏仿之作更令人叫绝，此文模仿了语言学的马克思主义研究模式，其情节包括路德维希·维特根斯坦对苏联的一次（虚构的）访问，以及他与（作者创造出的）匈牙利学者L·列瓦伊的交往，这位匈牙利学者将奴工的咕哝声理想化，将之提升至无产阶级原始语的高度。

　　In Mr Gray's most substantial essay, “An agenda for Green conservatism”, he attempts to rescue conservatism from the ideological⁴⁶ excesses of the 1980s. This is a thought-provoking enterprise, deserving a book on its own. But if it became a book, the author's views on such things as the failings of professional monopolies in education and health would benefit from more statistics and fewer assertions—calling, perhaps, for investment in a researcher.

　　而在其最有分量的文章“绿色保守主义之议程”中，格雷试图将保守主义从二十世纪八十年代的意识形态泛滥中拯救出来。这一尝试之举引人深思，话题本身甚至值得以专著加以探讨。但若果真成书，那么作者对诸如教育与健康领域职业垄断的失败等议题所持有的见解，便需从更多的统计数据中获益，而凭空断言在其中所起的作用则应减少——这可能需要在研究者方面的投入。

　　As Mr Garton Ash rightly points out, it is facts, ultimately, that are subversive.

　　正如加顿·阿什恰如其分之言：最终，具有颠覆性的其实还是事实。

1 mightier   

adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其

参考例句：

• But it ever rises up again, stronger, firmer, mightier. 但是，这种组织总是重新产生，并且一次比一次更强大，更坚固，更有力。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
• Do you believe that the pen is mightier than the sword? 你相信笔杆的威力大于武力吗？

2 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

3 assorted   

adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的

参考例句：

• There's a bag of assorted sweets on the table.桌子上有一袋什锦糖果。
• He has always assorted with men of his age.他总是与和他年令相仿的人交往。

4 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

5 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

6 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

7 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

9 neurotic   

adj.神经病的，神经过敏的；n.神经过敏者，神经病患者

参考例句：

• Nothing is more distracting than a neurotic boss. 没有什么比神经过敏的老板更恼人的了。
• There are also unpleasant brain effects such as anxiety and neurotic behaviour.也会对大脑产生不良影响，如焦虑和神经质的行为。

10 encompassed   

v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• The enemy encompassed the city. 敌人包围了城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I have encompassed him with every protection. 我已经把他保护得严严实实。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

11 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

12 corrosive   

adj.腐蚀性的；有害的；恶毒的

参考例句：

• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry.核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。
• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry.核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。

13 bungled   

v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。
• John bungled the job. 约翰把事情搞糟了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 nib   

n.钢笔尖；尖头

参考例句：

• The sharp nib scratched through the paper.钢笔尖把纸戳穿了。
• I want to buy a pen with a gold nib.我要金笔。

15 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

16 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

17 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

19 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

20 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

21 concealment   

n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒

参考例句：

• the concealment of crime 对罪行的隐瞒
• Stay in concealment until the danger has passed. 把自己藏起来，待危险过去后再出来。

22 thickets   

n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物

参考例句：

• Small trees became thinly scattered among less dense thickets. 小树稀稀朗朗地立在树林里。 来自辞典例句
• The entire surface is covered with dense thickets. 所有的地面盖满了密密层层的灌木丛。 来自辞典例句

23 marshy   

adj.沼泽的

参考例句：

• In August 1935,we began our march across the marshy grassland. 1935年8月，我们开始过草地。
• The surrounding land is low and marshy. 周围的地低洼而多沼泽。

24 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

25 concealing   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产

26 scrupulously   

adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地

参考例句：

• She toed scrupulously into the room. 她小心翼翼地踮着脚走进房间。 来自辞典例句
• To others he would be scrupulously fair. 对待别人，他力求公正。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

27 infiltration   

n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗

参考例句：

• The police tried to prevent infiltration by drug traffickers. 警方尽力阻止毒品走私分子的潜入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A loss in volume will occur if infiltration takes place. 如果发生了渗润作用，水量就会减少。 来自辞典例句

28 fumbling   

n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理

参考例句：

• If he actually managed to the ball instead of fumbling it with an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。
• If he actually managed to secure the ball instead of fumbling it awkwardly an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-50提议有时。他从off-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。

29 commendable   

adj.值得称赞的

参考例句：

• The government's action here is highly commendable.政府这样的行动值得高度赞扬。
• Such carping is not commendable.这样吹毛求疵真不大好。

30 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

31 pruned   

v.修剪（树木等）( prune的过去式和过去分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• Next year's budget will have to be drastically pruned. 下一年度的预算将大幅度削减。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

33 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

34 edifice   

n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室)

参考例句：

• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
• There is a huge Victorian edifice in the area.该地区有一幢维多利亚式的庞大建筑物。

35 demolishes   

v.摧毁( demolish的第三人称单数 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• Huge surges cause severe flooding that demolishes buildings, washes out beaches and highways, and drowns people. 巨大的涌浪引起剧烈的泛滥，从而摧毁房屋，冲坏海滩与公路，使人们惨遭灭顶之灾。 来自辞典例句

36 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

37 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

38 cogent   

adj.强有力的，有说服力的

参考例句：

• The result is a cogent explanation of inflation.结果令人信服地解释了通货膨胀问题。
• He produced cogent reasons for the change of policy.他对改变政策提出了充分的理由。

39 overdo   

vt.把...做得过头，演得过火

参考例句：

• Do not overdo your privilege of reproving me.不要过分使用责备我的特权。
• The taxi drivers' association is urging its members,who can work as many hours as they want,not to overdo it.出租车司机协会劝告那些工作时长不受限制的会员不要疲劳驾驶。

40 dissected   

adj.切开的，分割的，（叶子）多裂的v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的过去式和过去分词 )；仔细分析或研究

参考例句：

• Her latest novel was dissected by the critics. 评论家对她最近出版的一部小说作了详细剖析。
• He dissected the plan afterward to learn why it had failed. 他事后仔细剖析那项计划以便搞清它失败的原因。 来自《简明英汉词典》

41 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

42 parody   

n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文

参考例句：

• The parody was just a form of teasing.那个拙劣的模仿只是一种揶揄。
• North Korea looks like a grotesque parody of Mao's centrally controlled China,precisely the sort of system that Beijing has left behind.朝鲜看上去像是毛时代中央集权的中国的怪诞模仿，其体制恰恰是北京方面已经抛弃的。

43 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

44 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。

45 grunts   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈

参考例句：

• With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着，伸个懒腰坐了起来。
• Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。

46 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。