口译时事：祝曼德拉生日快乐

　　It has been 65 years of a fulfilling friendship but it was the things that Nelson and I could not do together that cemented our relationship far more than the things that we could.

　　这是65年的愉快友谊。但让我们的友谊坚如磐石的，不是我与纳尔逊·曼德拉(Nelson Mandela)能够并肩作战之事，而是我们无法共事之事。

　　We met in 1948, ironically the year of the dawn of apartheid. We were reading law at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, where the unbearable logic of the National Party invaded our lives in the most unthinkable ways.

　　我们在1948年认识，讽刺的是，这一年南非开始实施种族隔离制度。我们都在约翰内斯堡金山大学(University of the Witwatersrand)学习法律。在这里，南非国民党(National Party)令人无法容忍的逻辑正在以难以置信的方式侵蚀着我们的生活。

　　Though we could occupy the same desk in the lecture theatre, we couldn’t swim together in the swimming pool. We couldn’t sit next to one another at the rugby matches. Indeed, when Wits played the University of Pretoria, the despicable pass laws prevented Nelson and his fellow black students from travelling the 60 or so kilometers to the neighboring city.

　　尽管我们能在阶梯教室里共用一张课桌，但我们不能在一个游泳池里游泳。我们不能在橄榄球比赛中坐在一起。实际上，金山大学与比勒陀利亚大学(University of Pretoria)举行比赛时，可鄙的“通行证法”禁止纳尔逊与他的黑人同学前往后者所在的60公里左右以外的邻市。

　　Because of the color of his skin, Nelson could not join the soccer team, and he was barred from entering the gym to work out in the boxing ring, his favorite sport of all. Of course, the inhumanity of apartheid put a halt to much more than jolling and sports, but as two young friends of different color, we generally could not be seen together in the regular walkways of life.

　　由于他的肤色，纳尔逊不能参加足球队，被禁止进入体育馆，不能走上拳击台从事他最喜欢的体育运动。当然，没有人性的种族隔离中止的不仅仅是娱乐和体育。对于两个肤色不同的年轻人来说，我们在生活中甚至通常不能一起出现在普通的人行道上。

　　When he began practicing law in 1951 and I joined the bar three years later, we worked on numerous cases together, yet we couldn’t enjoy a cup of tea or a meal with one another at any of the eateries in the vicinity of the courts. Not even a bench in a public park would tolerate the presence of a black man in the company of a white.

　　1951年，纳尔逊开始当律师，3年后我也进入律师行当，我们曾共同处理过无数个案子，但我们却无法在法院附近的餐馆中一起喝杯茶或吃上一顿饭。甚至连公园里的一条长椅都不能容忍一个黑人与一个白人同时坐下。

　　The other side of apartheid’s coin meant that a white person could not travel to the townships without seeking a permit, which was invariably declined. Hence, July 18th, Nelson’s birthday, was a day of immense importance to him, his family and friends and it was one they celebrated with joyful abandon at his home in Vilikazi Street, though it was difficult, if not impossible, for me and many of his friends of paler skin to join him in Soweto during those early years.

　　种族隔离的另一面意味着，白人未获许可不得前往种族隔离区，而许可申请总是被拒绝。7月18日纳尔逊生日这天对他、他的家人以及朋友具有举足轻重的意义，这一天他们会在他位于Vilikazi街的家中纵情庆祝。尽管很困难，但只要有可能，在早些年，我和他浅肤色的朋友就会跑到索韦托(Soweto)参加聚会。

　　It is not by choice but by circumstance that we are separated again for this birthday but rather than dwell on his poor health, I want to recall our good times together and the milestones we have shared in both our lifetimes.

　　今年的生日不能见面为他庆祝，不是我们自己选择的，而是迫于形势。但我不想谈论他令人忧心的健康，而是想回忆一下我们在一起的愉快时光，以及我们人生中共同经历的里程碑。

　　When Nelson and nine other members of the then outlawed ANC were tried in the early 1960s for attempting to overthrow the apartheid regime, I was one of their defending advocates. I recall the April morning of 1964 when he was due to deliver his now infamous speech in the dock and we read over what he had penned. He had wanted to say that he was prepared to die for a free and democratic South Africa.

　　20世纪60年代初，非国大(ANC)被南非当局宣布为非法组织，纳尔逊及其他9名成员因试图推翻种族隔离制度而受审判时，我是他们的辩护律师之一。我记得，1964年4月的一个早晨，纳尔逊将在被告席上发表演讲，但他这时已被剥夺了公权，他的发言将不能被采作证词。我们逐字审阅他写下的手稿。他想说，他愿意为一个自由民主的南非献身。

　　“Don’t you think you will be accused of martyrdom?”, I asked him. “And won’t there be some people who might consider your words a challenge. You ought to remove those words.”

　　我问他：“你不觉得人们会指责你用苦肉计么？是不是会有人觉得你的话咄咄逼人。你应该删掉这些话。”

　　“I’ve said it too often from public platforms and I’m not prepared to remove it now,” he insisted.

　　他坚持道：“我已经在公共场合多次说过这样的话，这一次我也不打算删掉。”

　　“What about a compromise,” I suggested after a short discussion. “What about “But if needs be, My Lord, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

　　经过短暂讨论以后，我提议：“妥协一下如何？这样写怎么样：‘我主，如有必要，我愿为理想慷慨捐躯’。”

　　Two months later he was handed a life sentence and as harsh as that was, in our hearts it felt like a victory as we had feared he would have been sentenced to death.

　　两个月后，他被判处无期徒刑，尽管这一判决过于严酷，但我们心里却觉得像是打了一场胜仗，因为我们原本担心他会被判处死刑。

　　(But typical of the man, he always found a way to cast light on those dark years and I recall years later when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Price and asked me to travel with him to collect it and introduced me to the King of Norway. “This is George Bizos. My lawyer,” he said. “I don’t know why I brought him with me. He sent me to prison for 27 years).

　　（不过，他的典型作风是，总能在这些黑暗的年代中找到一丝光明。我记得，多年后，他获得了诺贝尔和平奖(Nobel Peace Prize)，要我和他一起去领奖，把我介绍给了挪威国王。他说：“这是我的律师乔治·比佐(George Bizos)。我也不知道为什么要带他来。他可是把我扔进监狱待了27年。”）

　　When he was imprisoned on Robben Island, Nelson nominated me as the lawyer who would visit him and I had to apply for permission to travel to that barren stretch of land off the Cape and had to present pressing or necessary reasons to take me there, in order to convey or relay some critical information.

　　纳尔逊在罗本岛(Robben Island)坐牢时，指名要我担任他的探监律师，我得申请许可才能前往与开普敦隔海相望的那片不毛之地。为了传递或转达某些重要信息，我得想出各种紧迫或者必要的理由才能去监狱探访他。

　　To her credit, his then wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was very inventive. She would say, “I can’t decide what school the children should go to. Or what subjects they must study. As their father, you must decide”. And I would be dispatched to hear what Nelson would have to say on the subject, but use our time to discuss our core business: freedom.

　　他当时的太太温妮·马迪克泽拉-曼德拉(Winnie Madikizela-Mandela)值得赞扬，她总是极富创意。她会说：“我没法决定孩子应该上哪所学校。也不知道他们应该学什么科目。作为父亲，你得决定。”然后就派我去听听纳尔逊在这些问题上的意见。当然，我们会借机讨论核心问题：自由。

　　After his release in 1990, his path to the presidency of South Africa lay ahead of him and he left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was the man truly capable of bridging the abyss that defined South Africa then. The one-time life prisoner excelled as head of the state and he worked his Madiba magic in countless ways.

　　纳尔逊于1990年出狱，后来出任总统。他让人们确信，他是真正能够弥合南非当时巨大鸿沟的那个人。这位曾被判处终生监禁的阶下囚最终成为出色的国家元首，在方方面面创造着“马迪巴”（Madiba，曼德拉的尊称，来自他在科萨族的族名——译注）奇迹。

　　Sadly, his personal life was marred by various tribulations. In 1991, he asked me to defend Winnie in the kidnap trial, despite the fact that their marriage had crumbled by then. Five years later he asked me to accompany him to court as he endured their very public divorce.

　　遗憾的是，他的个人生活却屡遭打击。1991年，他请我在绑架案中帮温妮辩护，尽管两人的婚姻在当时已经破裂。5年后，他要求我陪他出庭离婚案，此案引起广泛关注。

　　Happier moments were to follow, though, and a year or so later I recall a rather bashful 80-something Nelson telling me about Graca and the chapter in his life that had just opened. They pair were living together by then and he was more content that I had seen him in a long time.

　　但他后来的生活很幸福，我记得大概一年后，80多岁的纳尔逊害羞地向我提起了格拉萨(Graca)，他说自己的人生翻开了一个新的篇章。两人当时住在一起，过去很长一段时间他都没有这么心满意足。

　　But Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu thought their cohabitation was unbecoming of an icon and called on his friend to marry Graca and so they wed in a quiet ceremony in 1998.

　　不过，大主教德斯蒙德·图图(Desmond Tutu)认为同居与纳尔逊德高望重的身份不符，因此敦促他的这位朋友与格拉萨结婚。1998年，两人低调举行婚礼。

　　High on Graca’s agenda was the unity of the various Mandela families and in the years that followed she forged a peace between the children and grandchildren from his first marriage to Evelyn Mase and his second marriage to Winnie.

　　格拉萨的当务之急是团结纳尔逊几个家庭间的关系。通过她随后几年的努力，纳尔逊与第一任妻子伊芙琳·梅斯(Evelyn Mase)的子孙和他与温妮的子孙言归于好。

　　I recall many happy birthday celebrations that followed when Nelson would take rightful place at the head of the table, surrounded by the family he had always wanted to nourish, but which life had prevented him from doing.

　　我记得后来纳尔逊度过了许多个快乐的生日。他理所当然地坐在主座，身旁是他的亲人。他一直希望能抚育他们，但生活让他未能如愿。

　　If he were in better health, I imagine Nelson would be heavily disappointed by the current family disputes that are playing out for the world to see. He did not expect any privilege for himself and I know he would appeal to them now to follow his example.

　　我想，假如他身体尚好，他一定会对目前闹得沸沸扬扬的家庭不和感到极度失望。他从不为自己谋取特权，我知道他会请求家人们以自己为榜样。

　　The matter of his final resting place is also beyond dispute and is a decision he made a long, long time ago.

　　他的安葬之地也毫无争议，他在很久之前便做出了决定。

　　I was reminded of that fact in January of this year, not long after he was released from hospital, when I went to visit him at his Houghton home. As soon as I entered the living room, he called out to the staff, ‘Get me my boots.’

　　今年1月的事情让我记起他的这个决定。那时他出院不久，我前往他在霍顿区(Houghton)的住处看他。我一进客厅，他便吩咐身边的工作人员：“请把我的靴子拿来。”

　　‘What do you want your boots for, Tata,’ one of the asked.

　　“塔塔（Tata，父亲之意，南非民众对曼德拉的又一爱称），您要靴子干什么？”一个人问道。

　　‘George is here. He will take me to Qunu,’ he answered.

　　“乔治来了。他会带我去库努(Qunu)，”他答道。

　　It was clear that he wanted to go home.

　　显然他想回家。

　　Qunu is a place that is very near and dear to Madiba’s heart. It is where he has enjoyed his retirement, where his contemporaries knocked on his door uninvited and unannounced, something he greatly enjoyed.

　　纳尔逊对库努充满亲切感。他在这里享受了退休时光，常有同辈的“不速之客”不打招呼就去拜访他，这让他很是开心。

　　It is also there, in the kraal, where he chose his final resting place, in consultation with Graca, something he has talked about many times and always in practical tones.

　　在与格拉萨商量之后，他选择死后葬在库努的村庄。他已经多次谈及此事，每次都是就事论事的语气。

　　Nelson doesn’t fear death. He once said that when he eventually departs he would look for the nearest ANC branch in heaven and join it. And he has often said – in jest - that when he dies, he will be in the good company of Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Chief Albert Luthuli and Oliver Tambo.

　　纳尔逊不畏惧死亡。他曾说过，当他最终离开人世后，他会去天堂寻找到最近的非国大支部，然后加入。他也常常开玩笑说，死后就能好好陪着沃尔特·西苏鲁(Walter Sisulu)、戈文·姆贝基(Govan Mbeki)、“酋长”艾伯特·卢图利(Albert Luthuli)和奥利弗·坦博(Oliver Tambo)了。

　　I last saw Nelson at his Houghton home a week or so before he was admitted to hospital last month and we strolled down memory lane, as we often do. But he asked some questions that saddened me.

　　我最后一次在霍顿区住处看到纳尔逊，是他上月住院的大约一周前。像往常一样，我们又陷入了回忆的海洋。但他问的一些问题令我难过。

　　‘When did you last see Oliver (Tambo)?, he wanted to know.

　　“你上次见到奥利弗（坦博）是什么时候？”他问。

　　‘How’s Walter (Sisulu)?.’

　　“沃尔特（西苏鲁）怎么样？”

　　I couldn’t lie to him and so I reminded him that they had passed on many years ago. I recall a blank expression sweeping over his face for a moment or so, before the conversation got back on track.

　　我不能说谎，于是提醒他，他们已经去世多年了。我记得他一时间表情茫然，过了片刻才开口说话。

　　As I was saying goodbye, he turned to me and said, ‘George make sure that you don’t leave your jacket behind.’

　　我道别时，他转身对我说：“乔治，别落下你的夹克。”

　　As it turned out, I had left it in the car. But Nelson’s words touched me. He was being thoughtful and wanted me to shield myself from the winter chill that had crept into this part of the world.

　　实际上，我之前把夹克留在了车里。但纳尔逊的话让我感动。他细心周到，希望我注意保护自己，抵御悄悄逼近的冬日严寒。

　　Today, on his 95th birthday, I also wish for him a shield to protect him as he finds his way back to good health.

　　今天，在他的95岁生日之际，我也祝愿他能够得到保护，恢复健康。

　　I have said to him on many birthday occasions in the past, here’s to your 100thbirthday.

　　过去很多次在纳尔逊过生日时，我曾对他说，祝你活到一百岁。

　　“You are optimistic,” he would laugh in response.

　　“你真乐观，”他笑道。

　　I sincerely hope not, my friend.

　　朋友，我当然是说真的。

　　参加口译考试的同学们在平时要积累大量素材，尤其是像上文这样的双语时事内容。帮助同学们练习。