经济学人:继位之战 权术背后的地位与怒火

 　　Asia

　　亚洲

　　Politics in Tamil Nadu: Rank and Bile

　　泰米尔纳德邦权术：地位与怒火

　　A vicious inheritance battle engulfs¹ the state government.

　　一场惨烈的继位之战席卷政府。

　　ON THE various occasions that O. Panneerselvam, or “OPS”, served as the chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, he made a point of being invisible.

　　担任印度南部泰米尔纳德邦首席部长的O. Panneerselvam（或者”OPS”），一直低调行事。

　　He knew that Jayaram Jayalalithaa, the head of his party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and chief minister for most of the past 15 years, had chosen him as a stand-in whenever she was battling corruption² charges or illness precisely³ because he was so self-effacing.

　　他知道贾雅拉莉妲·贾亚拉姆——全印安纳德拉维达进步联盟的首脑和首席部长在过去十五年以来，无论是与腐败还是病魔斗争，都选择自己代其行事，因为他很谦逊。

　　Even after “Amma”—“Mother”—a former idol⁴ of the Tamil film industry, died in December, Mr Panneerselvam meekly⁵ agreed to step aside as chief minister in favour of V.K. Sasikala , a woman who has no political experience beyond having lived with Ms Jayalalithaa for the past 30 years, but is claiming her mantle⁶.

　　甚至在”阿妈”，即“母亲”——泰米尔电影业的前偶像于12月逝世后，Panneerselvam先生也顺从地同意辞去首席部长一职来支持V.K. Sasikala，这个女人除了过去30年和贾雅拉莉妲女士住在一起之外没有丝毫政治经验，但却将继承她的衣钵。

　　On the night of February 7th, however, OPS embraced the sort of melodrama⁷ he has so long eschewed⁸.

　　然而在2月7日晚，OPS出席了之前一直回避的场合。

　　Sitting cross-legged before a flower-strewn memorial to Jayalalithaa, he spent 40 minutes in silent meditation⁹, as television crews assembled and news alerts set smartphones bleeping.

　　盘腿坐在贾雅拉莉妲铺满鲜花的纪念碑前，他默哀了四十分钟，尽管周围挤满电视节目工作人员，智能手机发出新消息提示的嘟嘟响声。

　　At last he spoke¹⁰—or rather, he declared, the spirit of Amma spoke through him.

　　最后他说话了——或者照他所说，是阿妈借他之口说出的话语。

　　She had instructed OPS to tell the truth: that he had been unfairly forced from office by Ms Sasikala, who has already become secretary-general of the AIADMK.

　　她指示OPS道出真相：他遭受了Sasikala女士的不公排挤，而对方已经是AIADMK总秘书长。

　　Others soon joined in.

　　其他人很快参与进来。

　　One of the party’s founders¹¹ claimed that Jayalalithaa had been poisoned and pushed down the stairs.

　　政党的创立者之一声称贾雅拉莉妲被人下毒并被推下楼梯

　　Ms Sasikala called OPS the real traitor¹², and fired him as the party’s treasurer¹³.

　　Sasikala女士认为OPS是真正的叛徒，开除了OPS财务主管的职务。

　　Tamil Nadu’s governor is supposed to be swearing in the new chief minister this week, but the outgoing one seems to want to rescind¹⁴ his resignation.

　　泰米尔纳德邦的首席部长本应这周宣誓就职，但是即将离任的那位似乎打算撤销辞呈。

　　Ms Sasikala was Jayalalithaa’s live-in assistant and gatekeeper.

　　Sasikala女士是贾雅拉莉妲的生活助理和管家。

　　In 1992 they were photographed at a temple taking turns to pour holy water on one another from silver urns¹⁵, a ceremony typically performed by husbands and wives.

　　1992年她们被拍到在一处寺庙里，轮流给彼此泼洒银瓮里的圣水，通常那是一种由夫妇执行的仪式。

　　But they were a tempestuous¹⁶ pair: Jayalalithaa twice booted Ms Sasikala from her house before relenting.

　　但她们是关系跌宕起伏的一对：贾雅拉莉妲曾两次解雇Sasikala女士，但都因心软作罢。

　　They were both charged for amassing¹⁷ “disproportionate assets”; Jayalalithaa was briefly¹⁸ forced to step down—one of the occasions when OPS took her place.

　　她们都被指控大量非法敛财；之后贾雅拉莉妲被迫暂时下台——这是OPS暂替她的情况之一。

　　The charges may yet snare¹⁹ Ms Sasikala.

　　Ms Sasikala女士也可能陷入指控当中。

　　The AIADMK has always relied on larger-than-life personalities²⁰ to win votes.

　　AIADMK总是依赖有传奇色彩的人物来赢得选票。

　　By the time Jayalalithaa died her face and name decorated countless²¹ canteens, hospitals and government handouts²².

　　贾雅拉莉妲去世前，她的画像和名字装饰了无数的餐厅，医院和政府补助用品。

　　In such a personalised system, OPS has no incentive²³ to go quietly.

　　在这样的个性化制度里，OPS没有动机来保持缄默。

　　1.step aside 避开

　　例句:Many would prefer to see him step aside in favour of a younger man.

　　很多人更希望看到他下台，以让位给更年轻的人。

　　2.step down 辞职；下台

　　例句:The president need not step down so long as the elections are held under international supervision²⁴.

　　只要选举在国际监督下进行，总统就不用下台。

　　3.holy water 圣水

　　例句:At the festival, candles are blessed and sprinkled with holy water.

　　在节日里，要对蜡烛祝圣，并洒以圣水。

　　4.taking turns to 轮流

　　例句:They were taking turns to be on the night shift.

　　他们轮流做夜班。

1 engulfs   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Hemingway suppresses emtion, Wolfe engulfs the reader in feeling. 海明威感情压抑，沃尔夫却把读者卷进感情的漩涡。 来自辞典例句
• Consumption ideological trend engulfs the entire world at present age. 当今时代，消费主义呈现席卷全球之势。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

4 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

5 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

7 melodrama   

n.音乐剧；情节剧

参考例句：

• We really don't need all this ridiculous melodrama!别跟我们来这套荒唐的情节剧表演！
• White Haired Woman was a melodrama,but in certain spots it was deliberately funny.《白毛女》是一出悲剧性的歌剧，但也有不少插科打诨。

8 eschewed   

v.（尤指为道德或实际理由而）习惯性避开，回避( eschew的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I eschewed upbraiding, I curtailed remonstrance. 我避免责备，少作规劝。 来自辞典例句
• Moreover, she has a business plan, an accessory eschewed by cavalier counterparts. 此外，她还有商业计划，这是彬彬有礼的男设计师们回避的一点。 来自互联网

9 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

10 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。

11 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

12 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

13 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

14 rescind   

v.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan.他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。
• Trade Union leaders have demanded the government rescind the price rise.工会领导已经要求政府阻止价格上涨。

15 urns   

n.壶( urn的名词复数 )；瓮；缸；骨灰瓮

参考例句：

• Wine utensils unearthed include jars, urns, pots, bowls and cups. 发掘出的酒器皿有瓶、瓮、罐、壶、碗和杯子。 来自互联网
• Ernie yearned to learn to turn urns. 呕尼渴望学会转咖啡壶。 来自互联网

16 tempestuous   

adj.狂暴的

参考例句：

• She burst into a tempestuous fit of anger.她勃然大怒。
• Dark and tempestuous was night.夜色深沉，狂风肆虐，暴雨倾盆。

17 amassing   

v.积累，积聚( amass的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of taxonomy must necessarily involve the amassing of an encyclopaedic knowledge of plants. 分类学研究一定要积累广博的植物知识。 来自辞典例句
• Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网

18 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

19 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。

20 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

21 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

22 handouts   

救济品( handout的名词复数 )； 施舍物； 印刷品； 讲义

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts. 士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Even after losing his job, he was too proud to accept handouts. 甚至在失去工作后，他仍然很骄傲，不愿接受施舍。

23 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

24 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。