美国国家公共电台 NPR Emmanuel Macron's Unconventional Candidacy Stems From An Unconventional Life

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

French voters are going to pick their next president on Sunday. They are choosing between far-right candidate Marine¹ Le Pen and a centrist newcomer, Emmanuel Macron. He's a former economy minister. He's seen as pro-business. He says he wants to make France more innovative² and open to the world. I want to bring in NPR's Eleanor Beardsley, who's been covering this race. Hi, Eleanor.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE³: Hi, David.

GREENE: All right, so tell me about Macron. He seems pretty confident. He's 39 years old. He started his own party. Where did he come from?

BEARDSLEY: Well, David, as you said, he's only 39 years old. He's never run for anything at all. And on Sunday, he could be the next president of France, the youngest one ever.

GREENE: Youngest in French history, that's no small thing. Well, how did it go from being this unknown to the cusp of leading a country?

BEARDSLEY: Well, you know, sort of a combination of brilliance⁴, ambition and sheer luck. He calls himself an outsider, but he went to all the best French schools. He worked as an investment banker. As you said, he eventually became economy minister. But he left early to launch his own party and candidacy for the president less than a year ago.

He's very unusual. The French describe him as Romanesque, which means adventurous⁵, sentimental⁶, almost a character out of a novel. I've talked to people who know Macron and have written about him. And here's what some of them had to say.

ANNE FULDA: Emmanuel Macron, he's got a special story. It's a Romanesque story.

BEARDSLEY: Political reporter Anne Fulda has just published a biography on Macron. She says he was never a kid like the others. He liked to socialize with adults. And his most formative relationship growing up was with his grandmother, who Macron says helped him believe in his political destiny.

At 15, Macron fell in love with his high school drama teacher. She was married with three children and 24 years his senior. That teacher, Brigitte Auziere, is now married to Macron and set to become the first lady of France. In a recent television documentary, Brigitte Macron says she never felt the age difference between them. She says their bond formed when they rewrote a play together.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BRIGITTE MACRON: (Through interpreter) Little by little, I was completely overcome by the intelligence of this young man. Even though we've been together for so long, I still haven't seen the limit of his culture or his mind's potential. It's incredible. Emmanuel's natural abilities are way beyond normal.

BEARDSLEY: Macron's parents were shocked when they found out about the relationship. They asked Auziere not to see their son again until he was 18. Biographer Fulda says the relationship caused a complete scandal in the provincial⁷ town.

FULDA: Everybody knows what everybody does, everybody speaks. So it was difficult to live this story in a small city like Amiens. It's a sort of a, yes, a melodramatic story.

BEARDSLEY: Macron's parents sent him away to finish high school in Paris, but that didn't end things. Emmanuel and Brigitte spoke⁸ on the phone for hours every day, and their bond became stronger. Fulda says he told Brigitte he would come back one day to marry her.

FULDA: It tells us about his determination and his desire to choose his life and to be free.

BEARDSLEY: Fulda says Macron has always gone against convention.

FULDA: To decide to run for president when nobody knows you, it's quite incredible. It's a sort of way to act against the system.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

EMMANUEL MACRON: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: In a video from the couple's 2007 wedding, the handsome groom⁹ thanks the guests for their support over the last 13 years. We're not exactly a normal couple, he says, but you've accepted us, and we exist thanks to you. Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron have a close personal and political relationship. She campaigns by his side. Fulda says he has an affectionate bond with her three children and seven grandchildren.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

E. MACRON: (Over loudspeaker, speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: Macron's explosion onto the French political scene is as unusual as his personal life. In packed rallies across the country, his message is in sharp contrast to that of his opponent. Marine Le Pen wants to close borders and protect the French. During their televised debate this week, Macron told Le Pen he rejects her defeatist vision.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

E. MACRON: (Through interpreter) I embrace France's dominance because France has always succeeded. She's always succeeded in the world because she is out there as part of the world. Her language is spoken on every continent. France's history, her civilization is our strength and what we project. And it's why we're the fifth most important global economy. It's why we're strong globally.

BEARDSLEY: Business consultant¹⁰ Alain Minc has known Macron for 15 years. Minc says he advised him to prepare for a presidential bid in 2022, not this year.

ALAIN MINC: I told him you want to go too quickly. And his answer was fascinating. He told me you are describing the world of yesterday. Now, it doesn't work like that. You are wrong. And he was right.

BEARDSLEY: Minc says Macron must have a contract with God because he's never met anyone so lucky. In this race, every mainstream¹¹ and establishment politician has been swept away. But Minc says Macron knows how to seize his chance.

MINC: When fate was coming, he was bold enough to profit by it and to grasp any opportunity. He was talentuous (ph) and lucky. That was exactly what Napoleon Bonaparte was requesting from his generals - talent and luck.

GREENE: All right, Eleanor Beardsley's still with us. Eleanor, what do the French make of his story?

BEARDSLEY: Well, they're kind of stunned¹² by it, David. And I think women kind of like the fact that he married someone so much older. It seems like a real love story. And by the way, it's the same age difference as between President Trump¹³ and his wife Melania.

GREENE: Interesting. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. Thanks.

BEARDSLEY: Thank you.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

5 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

6 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

7 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

8 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。

9 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

10 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

11 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

12 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

13 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。