经济学人153:伊朗革命 等待真主

　　Iran's revolution
伊朗革命
Waiting for God
等待真主
Debunking¹ the myths that sustained Ayatollah Khomeini's republic
揭示领袖霍梅尼共和国之谜
Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic. By Michael Axworthy.
伊朗革命：伊朗共和国的历史》，作者：Michael Axworthy
“SLEEP easily, Cyrus, for we are awake,” assured Iran's last shah, Muhammad-Reza Pahlavi, speaking at the tomb of his imperial ancestor in 1971. This staged event helped forge the myth that the Pahlavis were an adored monarchy² stretching back millennia³ to the Achaemenid empire, a claim to which the shah clung dearly. Yet in less than a decade his embittered⁴ people had delivered his throne into the hands of an obscure Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. James Buchan's elegant “Days of God”, which came out last November, focused on how all this came to pass. Now Michael Axworthy, a former diplomat⁵ and director of the Centre for Persian and Iranian Studies at Exeter University, goes over much of the same ground and explains how the Islamic republic has survived.
“Cyrus，有我们在，你们安心睡吧！”，1971年伊朗最后一位国王Muhammad-Reza Pahlavi在其先王墓前信心十足。从千年前紧握王权的阿契美尼德王朝直到巴列维王朝，一直深受爱戴，简直是一个谜。尽管近10年来饱受疾苦的人民把其王朝政权交与一位不甚知名的牧师Ruhollah Khomeini之手，去年11月出版的James Buchan的《真主之日》简洁而又着重解释了这一形成原因。前外交官兼埃克塞特大学伊朗研究中心负责人Michael Axworthy在书中探讨了这一地区，同时解释了伊朗政权幸存下来的原因。
The shah's gaudy⁶ fete at Persepolis, not far from Cyrus's tomb, held to celebrate the monarchy's 2,500th birthday, epitomised a half-century of montazh: a succession of flashy buildings and self-congratulatory statues which helped to conceal⁷ the dislocations of a society on fast-forward. Construction faltered⁸ for lack of cement; many of Iran's ports became clogged⁹ with shiploads of imports. The minister of the shah's court, driving through Tehran in his Chrysler Imperial in 1969, noticed dingy¹⁰ side streets with “not an ounce of asphalt”. Lashing¹¹ out at the grandiose¹² party at Persepolis, Ali Shariati, an Iranian leftist writer, denounced 5,000 years of deprivation¹³ and social injustice¹⁴. Khomeini, then in exile in Iraq, thundered for the first time that Islam was fundamentally opposed to monarchy.
离伊朗王赛勒斯坟墓不远处的波斯波利斯曾举行了盛大的宴会庆祝伊朗王朝成立2500周年，通过画面剪辑简单回顾了一下伊朗半个世纪以来的历史：一排排高楼大厦，一座座自我标榜的雕像，这些都掩盖了这个快速发展国家背后的混乱。缺乏混凝土结构的建筑摇摇欲坠，船舶上的进口商品使得港口混乱不堪。1969年伊朗王朝法官乘坐克莱斯勒帝国旗舰名车前往德黑兰（Tehran），就注意到街道两边混乱不堪，没有一条柏油路。伊朗左翼作家Ali Shariati猛烈抨击波斯波利斯的奢华盛会，指责5000年的政权废止和社会的不公。当时被流放伊拉克的霍梅尼大声疾呼伊朗人民是坚决反对皇权的。
A hodgepodge of Marxists and other leftists allied¹⁵ themselves at first to the religious fundamentalists in common cause against the shah, inspiring Iranian students, in particular, to rise up against his rule. Within a few years, though, the left had lost out to Shia Islamic political groups that were, Mr Axworthy writes, “more flexible, more charismatic, more in tune¹⁶ with Iranian realities and less hidebound”. Like Mr Buchan, Mr Axworthy has mined newly opened archives to good effect. He lays bare the failure of Western governments to keep abreast¹⁷ of fast-changing events. One British dispatch saw “no threat to basic stability” in late 1977; another asked whether Iranians were still “the epitome¹⁸ of idleness”. The Iranian hostage-takers were astounded¹⁹ to find that, of the four CIA officers in the American embassy in Tehran, none could speak Persian.
那些信奉传统基督教的马克思主义者和左派人士首次联合起来，尤其还煽动学生共同抵抗伊朗王的统治。Axworthy写到，在近几年里，脱离什叶派团体的左翼人士“更加灵活，有感召力，与时俱进与伊朗现实相结合”。与Mr Buchan一样，他也恰到好处地引用了最近公开的史料，还指出了西方政府在获取重大事件方面的不足，例如1977年底英国报道认为“不会威胁到基本稳定”，另一西方媒体认为伊朗是不是在虚张声势。伊朗人质劫持者惊奇地发现美国驻德黑兰大使馆的4名CIA人员不会说波斯语。
Balancing scholarly precision with narrative²⁰ flair²¹, Mr Axworthy depicts²² an Islamic movement that exploited and distorted traditional Shia beliefs in order to seize and hold on to power. Cycles of protest and mourning, 40 days long and timed to coincide with Shia holy days—Mr Buchan's “days of God”—were like “a great revolutionary lung”, inhaling²³ indignation, exhaling²⁴ more demonstrations²⁵. Khomeini's theory of divine rule, velayat-e faqih, still unknown to most in 1979, represented a complete innovation in Shia religious thinking. The Shia Muslim tradition believes the Mahdi, its messiah, will return, but its adherents²⁶ had not previously²⁷ considered putting themselves in power.
为了平衡学术的准确性和叙述的技巧，Axworthy曲解了传统的什叶派信仰来描述伊朗运动。在长达40天的什叶圣日期间，伊朗人民的不断抗议和哀悼就像“一个巨大的革命之肺”，吸入怨恨，吐出更多的游行示威。代表什叶派精神全面革新的霍梅尼神权统治—法吉赫的监护在1979年还不为大多数人所知。什叶派穆斯林坚信他们的救世主会降临，但是其拥蹙之前并没有让他们掌权。
Revolutionary jargon²⁸ justified²⁹ purges³⁰ and trials (the regime executed 2,946 people in 1981 alone, according to Amnesty International). Those who survived bombs set off by the radical³¹ left and other secularists were glorified³² as shaheed-e zendeh, or living martyrs³³. Fundamentalist rhetoric³⁴ also fed popular fervour for an eight-year war against Iraq, framing the struggle as a continuation of the ancient fight between the evil caliph Yazid and the martyred Hussein, who was killed at the battle of Karbala in 680. Military offensives were named after that sacred Shia site; the last big assault, Karbala-5, fought around Fish Lake, a huge artificial basin on Iraqi defence lines, was also the most wretchedly wasteful³⁵. Around 20,000 Iranians are believed to have died.
假借革命之意使得审查肃反合理化。那些幸免于左派引发的战乱和非宗教信仰者被歌颂为shaheed-e zendeh，英雄。正统基督主义舆论也支持长达八年的两伊战争，仿佛古代残暴领袖Yazid和烈士Hussein战斗的续曲。“卡尔巴拉5号”军事行动以什叶圣城—卡尔巴拉命名，在伊拉克防线人工湖—鱼湖附近展开战斗，战争极其残酷，据称有20000伊朗人死亡。
Mr Axworthy does the best job so far of describing the Iran-Iraq war. He draws on first-hand accounts of pilots, lieutenants³⁶ and militia³⁷, and challenges the accepted notion that the Iranian air force was inept³⁸. The attacks were carried out according to intricate plans drafted under the shah, whose highly trained pilots were released from prison. He also breaks from Mr Buchan's thesis that Khomeini was bent³⁹ on exporting Islamic government to Iraq, arguing instead that he saw the conflict as a just war to fend⁴⁰ off a real threat. Drawing on Persian eyewitness⁴¹ accounts, he conjures⁴² up the chaos⁴³: the scramble⁴⁴ for masks in nerve-gas attacks; paper-thin lungs blistered⁴⁵ by mustard gas; fish, rotting and floating belly-up in an Iraqi lake brimming with barbed wire, electrodes and mines, “adding a new stench to the battlefield”.
Axworthy对两伊战争做了迄今为止最好的描述，他引用了飞行员，军官和民兵组织的第一手描述，对伊朗空军实力孱弱这一根深蒂固的观念提出了质疑，那些从监狱里释放出来在伊朗王精细的指挥下袭击敌人的飞行员，都是训练素质很高的。对Buchan的关于霍梅尼想把伊朗政府转移至伊拉克的论据Axworthy也提出了异议，他认为此次战争只是为了避免真正的威胁。根据伊朗目击者描述，他在书中写到这场混乱：大家争抢防毒面具，肺部受到芥子气的感染而起水泡变薄，伊拉克湖里的腐鱼漫过铁丝电网，矿井，使得“战场上臭气熏天”。
Yet the repressive Islamic republic of today was not at all inevitable⁴⁶. Reformist Iranian presidents succeeded one another, from Mehdi Bazargan and Abolhassan Bani-Sadr in 1980 to Muhammad Khatami in 1997. Evidence shows that Khomeini genuinely wanted to work with progressive governments—not least because he needed their credibility to rule. Mr Axworthy paints a nuanced picture of the ayatollah, who let army generals lead the war and his assembly of experts end it, although the ceasefire was “more deadly to than poison”.
然而今天专制的伊朗共和国并不都是不可避免的，伊朗改革派领导人一个接一个，从1980年的Mehdi Bazargan ，Abolhassan Bani-Sadr到1997年的Muhammad Khatami，这些都表明霍梅尼想与改革政府合作，而不只是因为他需要他们的信任来治理国家。Axworthy 对伊斯兰宗教领袖也做了细致描述，其让军队将领和集结的专家结束了这场战争，尽管此次停火协议“对于他而言比毒药更致命”。
Mr Axworthy's analytical⁴⁷ approach helps him demystify a revolutionary regime that has needed to feed off myths. He revisits, and convincingly reinterprets, defining moments of the Islamic republic. One is Khomeini's infamous⁴⁸ response to a journalist as he returned to Tehran in February 1979, to cheering crowds. He felt “nothing”, he said—not because of a cold indifference⁴⁹ to the Iranian people, but because he believed himself to be only a vehicle for the mind of God on Earth. The strength of Mr Buchan's rendering⁵⁰ of Iran's story lies in its detail and its delicious storytelling; Mr Axworthy's, in his scholarly rigour and first-class analysis. Anyone interested in this most complex of revolutions would do well to read both.
Axworthy的分析揭开了革命政党需要依靠宗教的神秘面纱，他重新清楚而又令人信服地解释了伊朗共和国的种种事件，例如1979年2月霍梅尼重返德黑兰鼓舞人民的那次臭名昭著的答记者问，霍梅尼感觉这没有什么，并不是他对伊朗人民冷漠，而是因为他坚信她就是上帝意志的使者。Buchan着重于故事的趣味性和细节，而Axworthy则侧重于学术的严谨和精湛的分析技巧。如果对这段复杂的革命史感兴趣，不妨都拿来读一读。

1 debunking   

v.揭穿真相，暴露( debunk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The debunking of religion has been too successful. 对于宗教的揭露太成功了。 来自互联网

2 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

3 millennia   

n.一千年，千禧年

参考例句：

• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。
• In the course of millennia, the dinosaurs died out. 在几千年的时间里，恐龙逐渐死绝了。

4 embittered   

v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• These injustices embittered her even more. 不公平使她更加受苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The artist was embittered by public neglect. 大众的忽视于那位艺术家更加难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

6 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

7 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

8 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

9 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。

10 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

11 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 grandiose   

adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的

参考例句：

• His grandiose manner impressed those who met him for the first time.他那种夸大的举止给第一次遇见他的人留下了深刻的印象。
• As the fog vanished,a grandiose landscape unfolded before the tourists.雾气散去之后，一幅壮丽的景观展现在游客面前。

13 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

14 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

15 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

16 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

17 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

18 epitome   

n.典型，梗概

参考例句：

• He is the epitome of goodness.他是善良的典范。
• This handbook is a neat epitome of everyday hygiene.这本手册概括了日常卫生的要点。

19 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

20 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

21 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。

22 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

23 inhaling   

v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was treated for the effects of inhaling smoke. 他因吸入烟尘而接受治疗。 来自辞典例句
• The long-term effects of inhaling contaminated air is unknown. 长期吸入被污染空气的影响还无从知晓。 来自互联网

24 exhaling   

v.呼出，发散出( exhale的现在分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气

参考例句：

• Take a deep breath inhaling slowly and exhaling slowly. 深呼吸，慢慢吸进，慢慢呼出。 来自互联网
• Unclasp your hands and return to the original position while exhaling. 呼气并松开双手恢复到原位。 来自互联网

25 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

26 adherents   

n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙

参考例句：

• He is a leader with many adherents. 他是个有众多追随者的领袖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The proposal is gaining more and more adherents. 该建议得到越来越多的支持者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

28 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

29 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

30 purges   

清除异己( purge的名词复数 )； 整肃（行动）； 清洗； 泻药

参考例句：

• Mandelshtam perished in the purges of the 1930s, Akhmatova remained silent. 曼杰利什坦姆在30年代的清洗中死去，阿赫玛托娃也销声匿迹。
• He purges his subconscious and meditates only on God. 他净化他的潜意识且只思念上帝。

31 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

32 glorified   

美其名的，变荣耀的

参考例句：

• The restaurant was no more than a glorified fast-food cafe. 这地方美其名曰餐馆，其实只不过是个快餐店而已。
• The author glorified the life of the peasants. 那个作者赞美了农民的生活。

33 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

34 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

35 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

36 lieutenants   

n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员

参考例句：

• In the army, lieutenants are subordinate to captains. 在陆军中，中尉是上尉的下级。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lieutenants now cap at 1.5 from 1. Recon at 1. 中尉现在由1人口增加的1.5人口。侦查小组成员为1人口。 来自互联网

37 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

38 inept   

adj.不恰当的，荒谬的，拙劣的

参考例句：

• Whan an inept remark to make on such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合，怎么说这样不恰当的话。
• He's quite inept at tennis.他打网球太笨。

39 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

40 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

41 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

42 conjures   

用魔术变出( conjure的第三人称单数 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• The word 'birthday' conjures up images of presents and parties. “生日”这个词使人想起礼物和聚会的情景。
• The name Sahara conjures up images of a desert of aridity. "撒哈拉"这个名字使人想起干旱的沙漠情景。

43 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

44 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

45 blistered   

adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂

参考例句：

• He had a blistered heel. 他的脚后跟起了泡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their hands blistered, but no one complained. 他们手起了泡，可是没有一个人有怨言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

46 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

47 analytical   

adj.分析的；用分析法的

参考例句：

• I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。
• As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。

48 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

49 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

50 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。