经济学人168:格鲁吉亚的历史 糟糕的位置

　　Georgia's history
格鲁吉亚的历史
Bad location
糟糕的位置
Despite its unhappy history and dire¹ geography, Georgia is doing well
虽然历史坎坷，位置糟糕，格鲁吉亚现在做得不错
Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. By Donald Rayfield.
帝国的边缘：格鲁吉亚的历史》。作者：Donald Rayfield。
Georgia: A Political History since Independence.
格鲁吉亚：自独立开始的政治历史》。作者：Stephen Jones。
TO MOST outsiders Georgian history is a closed book. Indeed for English-speakers there are practically no books at all. Georgia mostly features on the edges of other peoples' histories. Xenophon, describing Greek mercenaries' attempts to get home in 400BC, wrote the first description of it. Books about the Soviet² Union highlight Georgia's role as a rebellious³ captive and as the birthplace of Josef Stalin, its most infamous⁴ son. A flurry of recent accounts describe the brief, disastrous⁵ war with Russia in 2008. Now Donald Rayfield of the University of London and Stephen Jones of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts have written ambitious and comprehensive histories of a complex country.
大多数非格鲁吉亚人对格鲁吉亚的历史一无所知。实际上基本没有一本关于格鲁吉亚历史的书籍是用英语写的。大多数情况下，格鲁吉亚只能在别国历史的边边角角里看到。公元前400年，描述希腊雇佣兵为回家而努力的色诺芬第一次提到了格鲁吉亚。关于苏联的史书将格鲁吉亚要么视为叛逆的俘虏，要么视为其最罪名昭著的国民约瑟夫·斯大林的诞生地。最近出版的一系列书描述了格鲁吉亚与俄罗斯在2008年展开的那场灾难性的短暂战争。现在，伦敦大学的Donald Rayfield和马萨诸塞州曼荷莲女子学院的Stephen Jones为读者描绘出这个复杂的国家恢弘而又全面的历史。
The authors are among a handful of foreigners to have mastered Georgian. Part of the small and ancient Kartvelian language family, it is related to no others, though some have fancifully claimed a distant cousinhood with Basque. Its roots are as obscure as the origins of those who speak it. Mr Rayfield starts around 1100BC, with the first mention in an Assyrian source of the “Mushki”. The first Georgian king, Parnavaz, was born in 326BC.
这两名作者是少数几个掌握格鲁吉亚语的外国人。尽管有些人异想天开地宣称格鲁吉亚语和巴斯克语许久之前同系一源，但其实格鲁吉亚语是卡特维利语族的一个古老的小分支，和其他语言都不相关。格鲁吉亚语的起源和格鲁吉亚人的起源一样湮灭在历史的尘埃中。Rayfield从公元前1100年左右开始写起，亚叙的史书在那时第一次提到“Mushki”。第一个格鲁吉亚国王Parnavaz诞生于公元前326年。
The scope of Georgian history may be a humbling⁷ shock for those who thought the country appeared on the map only when the Soviet Union collapsed⁹ in 1991. But the reader needs to take a deep breath, for the next 200 pages could be mistaken at times for a stray appendix from J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Lord of the Rings”. The tersely¹⁰ told stories involve hundreds of unknown but like-sounding people and places which appear and disappear in quick succession. The beheadings, castrations, sodomisations, rapes¹¹ and eye-gougings—a local speciality—that dot the pages are jolting¹². But a little more in the way of analogies, signposts, interpretation¹³ and characterisation would have lightened the mixture.
对于那些认为格鲁吉亚在1991年苏联解体时才出现在地图上的人来说，格鲁吉亚历史的源远流长可能是个令人羞愧的发现。但是读者需要深呼吸一下，因为之后的200页有时候会被人误以为是J.R.R.托尔金所著的《指环王》丢失的附录。一个个用词简练的故事里有着成百上千个不知名却听起来都很像的人物和地点，这些名字快速地出现，又快速地消失。在这部分，不时出现的砍头、阉割、鸡奸、强奸和挖眼情节让人看得触目惊心。如果多点类比、线索、解释和特征描述将会使这部分读起来不那么沉重。
The most cheerful pages concern Georgia's golden age—around 1212 at the height of Queen Tamar's reign⁶. The country has never since been bigger, stronger or safer, stretching 800 miles (1,288km) from what is now Trabzon in Turkey to the shores of the Caspian sea. Georgia's fortunes depend on the weakness or goodwill¹⁴ of its much larger neighbours: Russia to the north, Persia to the south-east, Turkey to the west. Mr Rayfield's powerful theme is of brief periods of prosperity and security, ended by invasion, conquest, looting and despoliation¹⁵. Georgians have had to get used to rule by outsiders: they often outwit them. Kremlin rule began with mass murder and ruinous economic planning, but in later decades Georgia was one of the most prosperous and enjoyable places to live in the Soviet Union. It was a similar story in the 19th century under Russian imperial rule.
在该书中，读起来最让人心情愉快的部分与格鲁吉亚的黄金时代有关—格鲁吉亚的黄金时代在1212年左右塔玛皇后执政时期达到顶峰。那时的格鲁吉亚的疆域最大、国力最强、局势最稳。其疆域绵延800英里（1288公里），从现在位于土耳其的特拉布宗一直到里海的海岸。只有在那些比格鲁吉亚大得多的邻国处于衰弱时期，或者对格鲁吉亚态度友好时，格鲁吉亚才得以繁荣。这些邻国有北部的俄罗斯，东南部的波斯以及西部的土耳其。在Rayfield宏大的著作中，格鲁吉亚每次短暂的繁荣和稳定后都是列强的侵略和肆意抢劫。格鲁吉亚人不得不习惯于被外国人统治：但他们常常比统治者更聪明。苏联占领格鲁吉亚初期展开大屠杀和毁灭性的计划经济，但在随后的几十年里格鲁吉亚是苏联最繁荣最适宜居住的地方。19世纪格鲁吉亚被俄国君王统治时也是相似的情形。
Georgia's rulers' own penchant¹⁶ for internal divisions and double-dealing has played a big role in prompting the country's many disasters. So too has the failure of faraway outside powers to reciprocate¹⁷ Georgia's pro-Western sentiments. The story of the years 1918-21, when the Georgian Democratic Republic made repeated vain appeals to Britain and other Western powers, before the Bolsheviks invaded, make poignant¹⁸ reading. They echo previous episodes involving Georgian rulers' entreaties¹⁹ to the Byzantine empire and Venice—and foretell²⁰, perhaps, the let-down that many Georgians felt when nobody came to their aid in 2008.
格鲁吉亚的许多灾难都是因为该国统治者喜欢内部斗争和耍两面派造成的。遥远的外部力量没能回应格鲁吉亚亲西方的感情也是因为这些统治者。1918至1921年间，格鲁吉亚民主共和党一次又一次向英国和其他西方列强求助无果，最后被布尔什维克侵略，这个故事读起来让人辛酸。这与该书之前讲到的格鲁吉亚统治者向拜占庭帝王和威尼斯求助的故事惊人地相似。这个故事也许还预示着2008年因为无人帮忙许多格鲁吉亚人会品尝到失望。
Mr Jones deals at book-length with the years covered by Mr Rayfield's final chapter. Georgia's disastrous rebirth, amid economic collapse⁸ and civil war, gave way to a period of sleazy stagnation²¹ under Eduard Shevardnadze, who had run the place in Soviet times and then served as Mikhail Gorbachev's foreign minister.
Jones的书涵盖的年份和Rayfield的书中最后一章相同。先是格鲁吉亚在经济崩溃和内战后充满灾难的重生，随后就是Eduard Shevardnadze领导下的经济停滞。Eduard Shevardnadze在苏联时期管理格鲁吉亚，后来成为米哈伊尔·戈尔巴乔夫执政时期苏联的外交部长。
Amid much useful detail, Mr Jones snipes at the record of Mikheil Saakashvili, who became president after the “Rose Revolution” of 2003. His party narrowly lost the parliamentary election this year. To the surprise of those who saw Putinesque tendencies in his camp's authoritarian²² approach, Mr Saakashvili's party has calmly conceded defeat.
Jones的书提供了很多有用的细节。其中的一个是米哈伊尔·萨卡什维利的执政履历。萨卡什维利在2003年的“玫瑰革命”后成为总统。他所在的政党在今年的议会选举中惜败。然而令那些认为该党独裁的统治方式越来越接近普京时，萨卡什维利所在的政党平静地承认了失败。
That came too late for either book, which is a pity because it would offset²³ many of Mr Jones's criticisms of Georgia's failure to meet his perhaps rather unrealistic standards of “virtuous” democracy. Much of the country outside the capital, Tbilisi, is still dreadfully poor; institutions are imperfect; government pressure on the media and judiciary can be heavy-handed or even nastier. But for a place that was a failed state only 20 years ago the progress is startling, especially given the near- constant pressure, subversion²⁴ and denigration²⁵ from Russia.
可惜他的竞选失利对于这两本书而言都来地太晚了。如果这发生地再早些，就能推翻Jones对格鲁吉亚没能达到他可能相当不实际的“高尚”民主标准的许多批评。首都第比利斯以外的许多地区仍然极度贫困；各类机构问题百出；政府对媒体和司法的压力很大，有时甚至会采用下流的手段。但对于一个20年前还被认为是“失败国家”的地方来说，特别是考虑到该国几乎一直受到俄罗斯的压迫、暗中破坏和抹黑，其进步还是非常惊人的。
Mr Jones skates over the problems caused by Russia and underplays the real achievements of the Saakashvili years. These include bringing the country closer to the West, eliminating petty corruption²⁶, for example in the customs service and the traffic police, modernising public services, attracting foreign investment and establishing an open if rough-hewn political system. Georgia is now a country where the opposition²⁷ has a real chance of winning power, and all sides abide²⁸ by the constitution. Readers of Mr Rayfield's book may feel that in the past 2,500 years Georgians have seldom had so much to be happy about.
Jones一笔带过俄罗斯给格鲁吉亚造成的问题，轻描淡写萨卡什维利执政时期取得的成就。这些成就包括使该国与西方关系更紧密，消灭了诸如在海关和交警的基层腐败，使公共服务现代化，吸引外商投资，并创建了一个开放的、可能还不健全的政治体系。格鲁吉亚的反对党有可能赢得政权，而且所有各方都遵守宪法。Rayfield的读者们可能觉得在过去的2500年，格鲁吉亚人民从没有像现在一样有这么多值得高兴的事。

1 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

2 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。

3 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

4 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。

5 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

6 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

7 humbling   

adj.令人羞辱的v.使谦恭( humble的现在分词 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气

参考例句：

• A certain humbling from time to time is good. 不时受点儿屈辱是有好处的。 来自辞典例句
• It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-buildingexperience. 据说天文学是一种令人产生自卑、塑造人格的科学。 来自互联网

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 tersely   

adv. 简捷地, 简要地

参考例句：

• Nixon proceeded to respond, mercifully more tersely than Brezhnev. 尼克松开始作出回答了。幸运的是，他讲的比勃列日涅夫简练。
• Hafiz Issail tersely informed me that Israel force had broken the young cease-fire. 哈菲兹·伊斯梅尔的来电简洁扼要，他说以色列部队破坏了刚刚生效的停火。

11 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

12 jolting   

adj.令人震惊的

参考例句：

• 'she should be all right from the plane's jolting by now. “飞机震荡应该过了。
• This is perhaps the most jolting comment of all. 这恐怕是最令人震惊的评论。

13 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

14 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

15 despoliation   

n.掠夺

参考例句：

16 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

17 reciprocate   

v.往复运动；互换；回报，酬答

参考例句：

• Although she did not reciprocate his feelings, she did not discourage him.尽管她没有回应他的感情，她也没有使他丧失信心。
• Some day I will reciprocate your kindness to me.总有一天我会报答你对我的恩德。

18 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

19 entreaties   

n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He began with entreaties and ended with a threat. 他先是恳求，最后是威胁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves. 暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 foretell   

v.预言，预告，预示

参考例句：

• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring.柳枝绽青报春来。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

21 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

22 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。

23 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

24 subversion   

n.颠覆，破坏

参考例句：

• He was arrested in parliament on charges of subversion for organizing the demonstration.他因组织示威活动在议会上被以颠覆破坏罪名逮捕。
• It had a cultural identity relatively immune to subversion from neighboring countries.它的文化同一性使它相对地不易被邻国所颠覆。

25 denigration   

n.弄黑；诋毁；贬低；抹黑[医] 涂黑，变黑

参考例句：

• The essence of the denigration of women is our definition as sex object. 诋毁妇女的实质就是视我们为性目标。 来自演讲部分
• None of you a failure as a denigration of your intellect. 不要觉得失败而诋毁了自己的才华。 来自互联网

26 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

27 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

28 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。