经济学人116:感怀历史 Feel of history

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review; The cold war; Feel of history;

　　文艺；书评；冷战；感怀历史；

　　The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A History of the Cold War. By Norman Stone.

　　《大西洋和它的对手们：冷战史》 诺曼·斯通著。

　　Imagine that you are invited to lunch at Oxford¹ University. Sherry, wine and port flow like the Isis, with facts, anecdotes², bons mots and sparkling insights swirling³ past in a bewildering but entertaining array. The conversation continues on a punt, then on a brisk walk around the university parks, then over tea, which slips into (more) sherry, and afterwards a splendiferous “high table” dinner. Late at night you wobble through the darkened streets, still talking, feeling pleasantly at one with the world. It is great fun, but no substitute for actually studying history.

　　想像一下，你被邀请到牛津大学享用午餐。雪利酒和波尔图葡萄酒等各种酒如伊希斯河般源源不断，席间，正史秩闻，乖语妙谈和真知卓见虽不易领悟，却也愉悦万分。会谈随后在一叶轻舟上，大学公园的轻快散步时继续，不经意间，茶将用尽，又悄悄喝起雪利，兴致倍增，随后就是奢华的“高端”晚宴。午夜时分，你微醉的穿过夜街，依然呢喃不止，已与世界浑然一体。虽说可以逗乐，但无法取代真正的历究研究。

　　That is how reading Norman Stone’s book about the cold war feels. He has a terrific eye for detail, bringing to life everything from the ruins of Germany to Ronald Reagan’s White House with a wonderfully waspish turn of phrase: Nikita Khrushchev, unlike his colleagues, “did indeed have a human face, though pachydermic”. Sometimes it runs away with him. Boris Yeltsin is dismissed in barely a page as a “sinister clown”. He captures well the West’s weakness, as well as the seemingly powerful challenge that eastern-style socialism posed to Western freedom.

　　阅读诺曼·斯通与冷战有关的著作时，会有类似感觉。他观察入微，以优雅刻薄的笔触真实再现了从战后德国废墟到罗纳德·里根主政白宫的历史：尼基塔·赫鲁晓夫不像他的幕僚，“虽然有些厚脸皮，倒也长得人模人样的”，有时也会撕破脸皮。，在Norman Stone看来，鲍里斯·叶利钦不过是个“邪恶的小丑”，书中他用了不足一页就把叶利钦概括过去了。 在对西方国家弱点和来自东部社会主义对西方民主强有力挑战的描述上，他的把握恰到好处。

　　At the end of this work you will know a lot about Europe, about the cold war and about Mr Stone himself. But the book has a careless air. The prose reads as if it had been dictated⁴ rather than written, and was then sent straight to the printers. The word “besides” appears with alarming frequency as a way of linking page-long paragraphs. Colloquialisms⁵ that would be charming once become grating and lazy when you meet them page after page. Episodes that normally count as rather important, such as the Polish shipyard strikes in 1980, pass in a blur⁶, whereas hobby-horses such as the decline of British universities get an energetic ride.

　　看完以后，对于欧洲，冷战或者是斯通本人，你都会了解更多。但这本书却有些草率，它看起来更像是口述后直接交付印刷厂。用“besides”将长达一页的段落连接起来，其使用频率多到惊人。许多口语，如果只用一次，宛如神来之笔，但如果连篇累牍则让人难忍，徒生惰怠。 一些通常被认为比较重要的事件，如1980年波兰码头工人大罢工，只是一笔带过，而作者喜欢的话题如英国大学衰退，却是大书特书。

　　Nor is there any sign of research. When Mr Stone does not know a fact, he shrugs⁷ his shoulders. The reason why Russian immigrants poured into occupied Estonia and Latvia in the Soviet⁸ era, but not into Lithuania, is an interesting historical question which affects the present. He recounts it, adds “for whatever reason” and moves on. Teresa Toranska, a Polish author, wrote a magnificent book called “Them”, based on interviews with dinosaur⁹ communists. Mr Stone refers to her book but cannot be bothered to name it or her. Instead of footnotes, there is a section called “further reading”. For a polyglot¹⁰, he is remarkably¹¹ careless in his spelling of names. Diacritical signs are distributed at random¹². Experts and lay readers alike will feel increasingly short-changed.

　　此书也看不到研究的任何迹象。当Stone先生对某件史实不清时，只能无奈的含糊其辞。在苏维埃时代，俄罗斯移民涌入已被占领的爱沙尼亚和拉脱维亚，而没有去立陶宛。其原因何在? 这个有趣的历史问题影响着当今世界。他对于这一史实进行了复述，只是加上“不管什么理由”之后，就写作下文。波兰作家Teresa Toranska在对濒临灭绝的共产党魁采访基础上创作了巨著《他们》。斯通在参考了该书，但对于作者和书名却只字不提。书中用名为“进一步阅读”的章节，取代了大量的脚注。作为一个通晓多国语言的人而言，他在人名拼写的马虎程度，令人惊讶。书中不时出现一些变音符号。不管是内行还是外行的读者，都陡增被骗的感觉。

　　Most annoying of all is the lack of a conclusion: the book ends with a garbled¹³ account of the downfall of Margaret Thatcher¹⁴ and the limp observation that the 1980s were by far the most interesting part of the post-war era. Mr Stone’s colossal¹⁵ talents and his epic¹⁶ subject surely deserve better.

　　最令人不解的还是书中并没有任何的结论，书中结尾处，作者断章取义地叙述了玛格丽特·撒切尔政府垮台,并草率地断言战后最为有趣的一段历史便是20世纪80年代。毫无疑问，斯通满腹珠玑，题材可歌可泣，应是上乘之作才对。

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

4 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 colloquialisms   

n.俗话，白话，口语( colloquialism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are as many colloquialisms in Japanese as are in Chinese. 中日文中存在着大量的四字熟语。 来自互联网
• It is getting better, but It'still struggles with colloquialisms and idioms. 机器翻译的质量虽然有所改善，但翻译起口语体和习语来还是困难重重。 来自互联网

6 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

7 shrugs   

n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs off this criticism. 匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。 来自互联网
• She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. 她表达地耸肩而且拿她的拿铁的啜饮。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

10 polyglot   

adj.通晓数种语言的；n.通晓多种语言的人

参考例句：

• He was a round old man with a guttural,polyglot accent.他是一位肥胖的老人,讲话时带有多种语言混合的多喉音的声调。
• Thanks to his polyglot aptitude,he made rapid progress.由于他有学习语言的天才，他学习的进度很快。

11 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

12 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

13 garbled   

adj.（指信息）混乱的，引起误解的v.对（事实）歪曲，对（文章等）断章取义，窜改( garble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He gave a garbled account of what had happened. 他对所发生事情的叙述含混不清。
• The Coastguard needs to decipher garbled messages in a few minutes. 海岸警卫队需要在几分钟内解读这些含混不清的信息。 来自辞典例句

14 thatcher   

n.茅屋匠

参考例句：

• Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher. 汤姆 - 索亚和撒切尔法官同乘一条小艇。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. 撒切尔夫人几乎神经失常，还有波莉姨妈也是。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

15 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

16 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。