2022年经济学人 当代英雄匹诺曹（1）

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Back Story: Pinocchio, hero of our time

前传：当代英雄匹诺曹

He cannot hide his lies. He wants to be a celebrity¹. But is he a “real boy”?

他无法掩盖谎言。他想成名。但他是一个“真正的男孩”吗？

He lies (but is found out).

他撒谎了(但被人发现了)。

He quits school to become a celebrity.

为了成为名人，他退学了。

A high-spec automaton² powered by artificial intelligence (AI), he isn’t quite human though it is hard to say why.

他是一个由人工智能(AI)驱动的高规格机器人，虽然很难说出原因，但他并不完全是人类。

Truly, Pinocchio is the hero of our time.

但皮诺曹确确实实是我们这个时代的英雄。

Imagine it: a leader denies going to a lockdown party, or that he lost an election when he did, or that he is about to invade Ukraine, and the fib is as plain as his lengthening³ nose.

想象一下：一位领导人否认在疫情封锁期间参加了派对，或者否认自己在大选中失败，或者否认他即将入侵乌克兰，而谎言就像他变长的鼻子一样明显。

The fantasy of visible mendacity may help explain why “Pinocchio” is in vogue⁴.

这种对于谎言一目了然的幻想，可能有助于我们明白《匹诺曹》为什么如此流行。

Disney recently released a remake of its cartoon of 1940, which stars Tom Hanks alongside a CGI puppet and assorted⁵ cutesy animals (including the weirdly⁶ flirtatious⁷ goldfish from the original).

迪士尼最近翻拍了1940年的动画版《匹诺曹》，由汤姆·汉克斯主演，其它“演员”则是一个电脑生成的木偶影像和各种矫揉造作的动物(包括原版中奇怪的调情金鱼)。

Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion animated⁸ version had its premiere at the London Film Festival and is out on Netflix soon.

吉列尔莫·德尔·托罗的定格动画版本在伦敦电影节上进行了首映，很快就会在Netflix上线。

But it isn’t only the climate of impunity⁹ for lies that makes “Pinocchio” a fable¹⁰ for today.

但是，让《匹诺曹》具有现实意义的，不仅仅是当前说谎也能不受惩罚的形势。

So does the eerie¹¹ central conceit¹² of the talking, walking puppet, lively yet not wholly alive, and the attendant issue of what makes a “real boy”.

还在于它通过这个会说话、会走路、活泼但并不完全活着的木偶所形成的怪异中心构想，以及随之而来的问题：如何才能成为一个“真正的男孩”。

That question has never been more pressing, or more provocative¹³.

这个问题从未像现在这样不容忽视，也从未像现在这样引人深思。

Advances in AI are blurring¹⁴ the distinction between real people and latter-day puppets.

随着人工智能的发展，真人和现代木偶之间的区别日益模糊。

Meanwhile a revolt against crude notions of masculinity—and against the orthodox binary¹⁵ of male and female—has complicated the “boy” part of the equation, too.

与此同时，对原始的男子气概观念以及正统的男女二元论的反抗，也让“男孩”的概念变得复杂起来。

“The Making of Pinocchio”, a stage show currently on tour in Britain, imagines a trans Pinocchio in flight from rigid¹⁶ categories of gender¹⁷ and sexuality.

目前正在英国巡回演出的舞台剧《匹诺曹的制作》，构造出了一个逃离性别和性取向刻板印象的跨性别匹诺曹。

It revels¹⁸ in the phallic symbolism of his tumescent appendage¹⁹, which adaptations for children tend to skirt.

该剧陶醉于匹诺曹的肿胀附属器官所具有的阳具象征意义，供儿童观看的改编版往往会对此避而不谈。

And the character is a case study in another syndrome²⁰ that can seem ever-more acute—the lure²¹ of fame and easy money.

这个角色还可以用作对另一种综合症的案例研究，这种综合症似乎比以往任何时候都更加严重，那就是会被名气和轻松赚钱诱惑的病。

Temporarily, Pinocchio is seduced²² by the bright lights of the puppet theatre.

皮诺曹被木偶剧院的明亮灯光诱惑住了一段时间。

“To be famous is to be real,” declares a villain²³ in the new Disney film, diverting him from the straight and narrow with the prospect²⁴ of being “an influencer”.

这部迪士尼新片中的一位反派宣称：“成名就是真实。”匹诺曹相信了这句话，认为自己将来能成为网红，因此偏离了正道。

1 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

2 automaton   

n.自动机器，机器人

参考例句：

• This is a fully functional automaton.这是一个有全自动功能的机器人。
• I get sick of being thought of as a political automaton.我讨厌被看作政治机器。

3 lengthening   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长

参考例句：

• The evening shadows were lengthening. 残阳下的影子越拉越长。
• The shadows are lengthening for me. 我的影子越来越长了。 来自演讲部分

4 Vogue   

n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的

参考例句：

• Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
• Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。

5 assorted   

adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的

参考例句：

• There's a bag of assorted sweets on the table.桌子上有一袋什锦糖果。
• He has always assorted with men of his age.他总是与和他年令相仿的人交往。

6 weirdly   

古怪地

参考例句：

• Another special characteristic of Kweilin is its weirdly-shaped mountain grottoes. 桂林的另一特点是其形态怪异的岩洞。
• The country was weirdly transformed. 地势古怪地变了样。

7 flirtatious   

adj.爱调情的，调情的，卖俏的

参考例句：

• a flirtatious young woman 卖弄风情的年轻女子
• Her flirtatious manners are intended to attract. 她的轻浮举止是想引人注意。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

9 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

10 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

11 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

12 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

13 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

14 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

15 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

16 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

17 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

18 revels   

n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉

参考例句：

• Christmas revels with feasting and dancing were common in England. 圣诞节的狂欢歌舞在英国是很常见的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dickens openly revels in the book's rich physical detail and high-hearted conflict. 狄更斯对该书中丰富多彩的具体细节描写和勇敢的争斗公开表示欣赏。 来自辞典例句

19 appendage   

n.附加物

参考例句：

• After their work,the calculus was no longer an appendage and extension of Greek geometry.经过他们的工作，微积分不再是古希腊几何的附庸和延展。
• Macmillan must have loathed being judged as a mere appendage to domestic politics.麦克米伦肯定极不喜欢只被当成国内政治的附属品。

20 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

21 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

22 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

23 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

24 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。