双语时事：苏格兰独立公投开始逐步展露阴暗面

2014-07-08 16:23:56来源：可可英语

　　The nationalist mask, though, is slipping. The Yes campaign now carries an air of menace. Mr Salmond, as Scotland’s first minister, holds the public purse strings. Potential opponents have been left in no doubt about that fact. Academics and artists who value the bonds with the rest of the UK say they worry about losing funding if they voice pro-union views. Business leaders speak of barely disguised hints about how they should best safeguard their commercial interests.

　　不过，民族主义的面纱正在滑落。主张独立一派的造势活动眼下已带有威胁的意味。苏格兰首席大臣萨尔蒙德掌握着公共财政大权。在这一点上，有心反对独立者得到了毫不含糊的提示。珍视苏格兰与英国其他地区纽带的学者和艺术家说，他们担心，如果发表反对独立的观点，他们会丧失财政资助。商业领袖则几乎毫不掩饰地谈论，他们怎么做才最有利于保护他们的商业利益。

　　This week the celebrated author, JK Rowling, braved online vilification by the so-called “cyber nats” who inject a crudely abusive and bullying tone into the separatist campaign. Ms Rowling, a long-time resident of Edinburgh, gave £1m of her royalties to Better Together. She also wrote a sober and thoughtful open letter explaining why Scotland and the Scots prosper in a Britain that has always been much more than the sum of its parts.

　　著名作家J•K•罗琳(JK Rowling) 不久前勇敢地反击了“网络民族主义者”的中伤。这些“网络民族主义者”鼓吹独立的方式显得非常霸道，带有一种粗俗的攻击性。罗琳长期居住在爱丁堡，向“在一起更好”运动捐出了100万英镑版税。她还撰写了一封公开信，冷静而深入地解释了为何苏格兰留在英国更好，以及英国作为一个整体的好处、为何始终远大于各部分带来的好处之和。

　　The Braveheart nationalists, though, claim a monopoly on patriotism: unless you are for independence you might have wielded the axe that severed the neck of William Wallace. The pivotal role of patriotic Scots in building Britain and the abiding influence of the diaspora count for nothing. Ms Rowling offered a timely rebuke to those who “demonise anyone who is not blindly and unquestionably pro-independence”. This fringe reminded her of Lord Voldemort’s Death Eaters in the Harry Potter saga. Not everyone, though, feels secure enough to speak out.

　　然而，《勇敢的心》(Braveheart)式民族主义者霸占了爱国主义这个词。除非你支持独立，否则你就无异于当年杀死威廉•华莱士(William Wallace)的刽子手。苏格兰爱国主义者在英国建国过程中发挥的关键作用，以及旅居海外者的持久影响，在他们看来什么都不是。对那种“只要有人不是盲目和不加质疑地支持独立，就将其妖魔化”的做法，罗琳进行了及时的驳斥。这种浅薄的做法，让她想到《哈利•波特》小说中伏地魔大人(Lord Voldemort)的食死徒(Death Eater)。不过，不是每个人都敢于公开反对独立。

　　Mr Salmond stands aloof from personal attacks but has done little to counter them. Only the other day one of his senior advisers orchestrated an attempt to discredit the mother of a disabled child who had dared campaign against separation. Those who meet the first minister say a nod here and a raised eyebrow here perfectly convey an implicit warning.

　　萨尔蒙德没有参与人身攻击，但也没有做什么来阻止人身攻击。不久前，他的一名高级顾问还试图抹黑一位残疾儿童的母亲，就因为这位母亲居然胆敢发起反对独立的运动。曾与萨尔蒙德会面的人说，他在不同场合的点头和扬眉，明显就是无声的警告。

　　The referendum campaign has fewer than 100 days to run. The spectacle will not be edifying. Both sides have identified low-paid and no-pay working class voters as the important swing voters. SNP leaders talk of a nationalist drive to rouse the sans-culottes who might be persuaded that anything is better than rule by English Tories. Mr Salmond, a consummate politician, will play to the mood of anti-politics that carried the UK Independence party to victory in the European elections. Better Together will plug away at the dangers to living standards, pensions and the rest from a rupture with England.

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