2021年经济学人 华尔街巨骗伯纳德·麦道夫在狱中去世(1)

Obituary¹

讣告

Bernard Madoff

伯纳德·麦道夫

Just one big lie

惊世骗局

Bernard Madoff, deviser of the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, died in prison on April 14th, aged² 82

史上最大旁氏骗局策划者伯纳德·麦道夫，于4月14日在狱中去世，终年82岁

It was rare for Bernard Madoff to invite anyone to his investment-advisory office. Almost all the employees in his brokerage firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, were kept out of that part, and had no idea what went on inside. The door was locked.

伯纳德·麦道夫(Bernard Madoff)很少邀请他人进自己的投资顾问办公室。他的经纪公司伯纳德·L·麦道夫投资证券公司的几乎所有员工都不准出入他的办公室，也不知道里面发生了什么。办公室的门紧锁着。

Like his other offices, it was immaculate, with a starkly³ modernist decor of black, white and grey.

和他其他的办公室一样，房间里一尘不染，黑白灰的装饰凸显了鲜明的现代主义风格。

When he caught one of his employees eating a pear there, dripping juice onto the grey carpet tiles, he immediately ripped out the stained tile and laid another. No sloppiness⁴ allowed.

当发现员工吃梨时果汁不小心滴落在灰色地毯上，他会立即换掉有污迹的地毯，铺上一块崭新的。丝毫不容马虎。

He set the tone himself, in a Savile Row suit with his wedding ring, gold or platinum⁵, exactly matched to the wristband of his vintage watch of the day. All was done with elaborate care, including the handling of other people’s money.

他自己定下了基调，穿着萨维尔街的西装，手上戴着金制或铂金的婚戒，与当天的古董手表的腕带十分搭配。所有的事情都做得一丝不苟，包括运转他人的资金。

A very simple scheme ensured that, come what may, his private clients received compound average annual returns of a steady 15% on their investments.

他制定了一个非常简单的方案，无论发生什么，都要保证私人客户获得稳定的15%的平均年复率回报。

It worked so well that despite the recession of the early 1990s, the financial crisis of 1998 and the September 11th attacks, savings⁶ sent to him inexorably grew, as if by magic.

这个保证十分奏效，尽管经历了上世纪90年代初的经济衰退、1998年的金融危机和911恐怖袭击，他的“吸金能力”却日益见长，像是施加了魔法。

Everyone wanted to know how it was done, and he was not about to tell them. If they pressed him he would say it was a proprietary⁷ strategy, with details not to be discussed. This was a private fund, secret and exclusive; what went on there was no one’s business. Clients loved that special feeling.

所有人都好奇他的成功秘诀，而他对此三缄其口。如果对方向他施压，他会直言这是一种自营策略，具体细节不便讨论。他说，这是一个具有保密性和专属性的私募基金；跟其他任何人都没有关系。客户享受这种独一无二的感觉。

Their funds would be diversified⁸, they learned, across solid property, blue-chip stocks like Intel and Coca-Cola, Treasury⁹ bonds. He knew the ways of the market inside out; he had even modernised it, helping¹⁰ to launch the first electronic stockmarket, Nasdaq, and becoming its chairman. He was famously respected on Wall Street. All that, and he charged no commission for his money-management services! He was happy, he would say, just to earn commissions on the trades.

客户只是了解到，自己的基金被投资到多元化领域，包括稳固的实体行业、如英特尔(Intel)和可口可乐(Coca-Cola)等蓝筹股，以及美国国债等。他对市场的运作了如指掌；他甚至主导了电子股票市场的现代化，帮助推出了第一个电子股票市场——纳斯达克(Nasdaq)，并出任纳斯达克的董事长。他蜚声华尔街，深受人们尊敬。尽管如此，他的资金管理服务却不收佣金！他对此解释称，只是从交易中赚取佣金就已经很满足了。

1 obituary   

n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的

参考例句：

• The obituary records the whole life of the deceased.讣文记述了这位死者的生平。
• Five days after the letter came,he found Andersen s obituary in the morning paper.收到那封信五天后，他在早报上发现了安德森的讣告。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。

4 sloppiness   

n.草率，粗心

参考例句：

• The choice of Sarah Palin epitomised the sloppiness. 选择佩琳作为竞选伙伴凸显草率。 来自互联网
• He chided the boy for his sloppiness. 它责怪这男孩粗心大意。 来自互联网

5 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 proprietary   

n.所有权，所有的；独占的；业主

参考例句：

• We had to take action to protect the proprietary technology.我们必须采取措施保护专利技术。
• Proprietary right is the foundation of jus rerem.所有权是物权法之根基。

8 diversified   

adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• The college biology department has diversified by adding new courses in biotechnology. 该学院生物系通过增加生物技术方面的新课程而变得多样化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Take grain as the key link, develop a diversified economy and ensure an all-round development. 以粮为纲，多种经营，全面发展。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。