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TE||A woman of no importance

 一天一篇TE 2020-12-08

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导读

我们很难将图中貌美性感的模特与身材臃肿/面容憔悴的老妇人联系在一起,我们只能感叹容颜易老,美貌只是暂时的。

图中女主人公叫做基勒,她的一生是被诅咒的一生,前半生被“贫穷”诅咒着,余生被“性”诅咒着。也许,死亡对她来说不仅意味着终结,更意味着解脱吧,具体故事且看下文分解。

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音乐| 精读 | 翻译 词组

A woman of no importance

一个无足轻重的女人

本文英文部分选自经济学人Obituary版块

A woman of no importance

一个无足轻重的女人

爱尔兰著名作家王尔德有一部同名小说,王尔德是和萧伯纳齐名的英国才子,比如他的很多句子都是装逼利器,比如女人是用来爱的,而不是用来被理解的;我不想谋生,我想生活等等

Christine Keeler, the woman at the centre of the Profumo scandal in the 1960s, died on December 4th, aged 75

克莉丝汀·基勒,20世纪60年代普罗富莫事件的女主角,在124日去世,享年75岁。

GROWINGup in Wraysbury, Berks, she never thought she was beautiful. Young girls didn’tknow such things. Cheeks were too rosy, her teeth were too big, and she had ahabit of chewing her lower lip when she was thinking. She hated her breasts,too. She would much rather be a tomboy, riding a bike without brakes andswimming with the local lads in the gravel pits. Shecouldn’t understand why her stepfather tried to kiss her and put vapour-rub on her chest when she had colds. But it didn’ttake her long to realise that she, Christine Keeler, had a crazy effect on men.

基勒出生于伯克郡的雷斯伯里,从没想过上天会赐予她一张漂亮脸蛋(此处想到王力宏的你那么美),年轻姑娘一般都比较懵懂(貌似现在的年轻姑娘都挺懂的)她的脸颊偏红,牙齿也偏大,而且总是习惯性的在思考时咬着下唇。她也不喜欢自己的胸部,宁愿做一个假小子,骑着自行车一直加速,肆无忌惮得跟当地的小伙子在砂石场里游泳。她不懂为什么继父总想亲她,也不懂为什么她感冒时,继父在她胸口抹感冒咳嗽缓解膏(咸猪手趁机揩油)。但是,没花多长时间她就意识到,克里丝汀·基勒这个名字,将使无数男人神魂颠倒。

She still insisted on hiding her bust whenshe posed for that photo, theone that for millions of people summed up the Swinging Sixties and sexual liberation in Britain. There she was, naked or near enough on a fake designer chair. Pouting, daring, glowing with sexual power. The woman whose simultaneous affairs with John Profumo, the war minister, and Yev- geni Ivanov,a Soviet naval attaché, put her at the crux of cold-warpolitics. The wom-an the FBI spied on, codename “Bowtie”, and who brought down Harold Macmil- lan’s Conservative government. Looking back, it was staggering to contemplate the role she had played in English history.

她在拍摄自己的那张标志性照片时,仍坚持把胸部藏起来,这张照片成为摇摆的六十年代英国性解放时期的象征。在照片里,她横跨在一把椅上,赤身全裸或者近乎全裸,微撅着嘴,眼神勇敢无畏,又满腔热情,好像燃烧着欲望之火。她同时和不同的人发生关系,其中包括英国的战务大臣约翰·普罗富莫(John Profumo),苏联的海军武官尤金·伊万诺夫(Yev- geni Ivanov),这复杂的关系让她成为冷战政治的关键。联邦调查局暗中监视她,并将行动取名蝴蝶结,也正是因为她,哈罗德·麦克米伦(Harold Macmil- lan)领导的保守党政府倒台。回望过去,很难想象她竟然能够在英国历史上扮演如此重要的角色。

1.时尚引领者,后来很多模仿克莉丝汀·基勒拍类似照片,其中包括国内第一男模胡兵,具体可参看:Christine Keeler的悲惨一生

2.Swinging Sixties:上世纪 60 年代是一个希望和危险并存的奇异世界,冷战的阴影横亘在地球两端,东西方两大阵营的军备竞争却已经蔓延到外太空。巴黎的时代先锋们迅速捕捉到了新观念的气息,1960 年代的着装风格,以解放身体为主导思想,瓦解了战后华丽典雅的时装风格。这一时期有个响当当的名号:摇摆的 60 年代(Swinging Sixties)。而在摇摆的 60 年代最具时代意义的设计,便是解放了女人双腿的迷你裙。http://www./article/194060.htm

3. 首相麦克米伦辞职:196365日,Profumo承认自己在和Keeler的关系问题上撒了谎,并且被迫辞职。淫乱的丑闻震惊了英国政坛上下,包括当时的首相麦克米伦,他简直不敢相信一向稳重识大体的Profumo居然会做出这种荒唐事情……更可惜的是,这个被称为普罗富莫事件的丑闻沸沸扬扬了大半年,对麦克米伦的政府造成了毁灭性的打击,更是直接导致了他本人的病情恶化。在Profumo辞职仅仅一个月之后,麦克米伦就选择了辞去首相职位,尽管很快换人顶替,但还是无济于事。来年保守党就被工党击败,其中普罗富莫事件一再被工党用作利器,对保守党政府进行攻击。

Not that it always seemed that way at the time. She was a showgirl of 17 at Murray’s in Soho whenshe met Stephen Ward, who introduced her to Profumo. For posing topless in ared-lit dingy room she got £8.50 a week, which just about fed the gas meter.But Stephen took her back to his flat in Bayswater, not to sleep with her, butto offer her round to rich patients of his osteopathy practice. Straight awayshe became his coffeemaker and let him set the rules of her life. He called her “little baby”, and liked to hear all the details of her affairs, though when she protested that one of his heavies had raped her he didn’t seem bothered, as long as she had no bruises.

的确,谁能想得到呢!她不是一直都扮演着那么重要的角色的。基勒17岁时在索和区的一家俱乐部里做歌舞女郎,在那里她认识了斯蒂夫·沃特(医生,肖像画家,二期也是皮条客),而正是沃特把她介绍给了普罗富莫。在俱乐部期间,基勒的工作是在一个红灯昏暗的房间里上身赤裸地搔首弄姿,一周的薪酬8.5英镑,而这仅仅只够交煤气费。但是斯蒂夫把她带到他在贝斯沃特的公寓,目的不是为了与她睡觉,而是把基勒介绍给他那些有钱的骨科病人客户们。很快基勒成了斯蒂夫的利用工具,任由他安排自己的生活。斯蒂夫称基勒小宝贝,喜欢听她和别人交往的所有细节。尽管基勒抗议他的一名保镖强奸了她,但只要基勒没有瘀伤,斯蒂夫似乎并不介意。

Stephen Ward:在当时, Stephen Ward非常有名。他不仅是骨科医生还是肖像画家。他的客户包括了众多在当时声名显赫的人物,从丘吉尔到甘地,从影星伊丽莎白·泰勒到歌手弗兰克·辛纳屈。从政坛到娱乐圈,从贵族到黑帮,都有他的相识。就是这样一个在当时英国举足轻重的人物,像无数少女梦中的骑士一样,从夜总会带走了Keeler,和她住在了一起,出入成双成对。他给了她从未有过的关怀和安全感,更给了她从未享受过的物质和野心,对于年仅17岁的Keeler来说,Ward就是她的依赖。但是,Ward这样做并不是因为他爱上了Keeler,也不是想要占有Keeler让她做自己的情妇,而是另有所图……

他看中了她的容貌,想以此换取自己想要的东西……

在当时,Ward暗中一直做着一些见不得人的皮条生意,在年轻女孩和富有且有影响力的中年男子中间牵线,从中谋取利益,而Keeler就是他的新玩具。

很快,Keeler就被Ward带到自己的派对上,介绍给他想要结交的大人物,然后要求她与这些中年男子谈恋爱。其实与其说是恋爱,不如更像是应召女郎,男方给她礼物和甜言蜜语,她陪男方谈情说爱上床。放现在的话,属于私生活混乱但并不违法,但是在当时,这样的事情并不能被大众所接受。对于Ward的话,Keeler一向言听计从,而且此时的她才17岁,天真烂漫,又来自乡下,她不知道这样做是错的,也从来没有人告诉过她。于是,在Ward的教唆下,Keeler成为了上流社会的应召女郎”……她是专供WardVIP用户使用的玩物,是Ward结交朋友的工具,她周旋在各种各样的男人之间,看似光鲜亮丽,其实毫无尊严……

具体可参看:Christine Keeler的一生无比悲凉

Her beauty gave her such power in those days. She moved in for a while with Peter Rachman, the most notorious slum landlord in London, who showered her with diamonds. She was his possession, but why should she care? She was swanning through high society having mostly larks and a laugh, so it was no surprise that when she met Profumo, “Jack” to her, she happened to be swimming naked in Lord Astor’s pool at Cliveden. They had an affair for amonth or so. Little did he know that the girl he so eagerly thrust to the sofa had also slept with a Soviet agent! Little did he know that Stephen was a spymaster, who probably used her as a decoy while he stole papers from Jack’s briefcase, and wanted her to winkle out from him exactly when Soviet nuclearwarheads were being moved to Germany. She could do that,because she knew about East-West relations; and if she didn’t do it, it wasonly because she would not betray her country.

在那些日子里,基勒的美貌赋予了她力量。基勒和伦敦最臭名昭著的贫民窟房东彼得·拉赫曼(Peter Rachman)同居过一段时间,他送过基勒一些钻石。彼得视基勒为他的财产,但是基勒并不在意。基勒大部分时间游走在上流社会,与名流淫欢作乐,所以一点也不奇怪,基勒在阿斯特位于尔克利夫登的别墅游泳池里裸泳时遇上化名为杰克的普罗富莫。他们在一起有个把月,当时普罗富莫做梦也不会想到这位让他魂牵梦绕的女子竟然和苏联特工有过一腿。他更不会想到斯蒂夫·沃特是个间谍头子,斯蒂夫·沃特很可能把基勒当作诱饵以便从他的公文包里偷走文件,亦或从他嘴里打听一些消息,因为当时苏联正把核弹头转移至德国。基勒当然可以这样做,因为她知道东西方国家的关系;如果她没有这样做,那一定是因为她不想背叛她的国家。

Establishment believed her tales, the tall ones or even the true ones. So when Jack told the House of Commons he had no improper acquaintance with her, that was it. She wasa bad girl, as all girls were bad who had a bit of sex in those days. She too felt she was really bad at 15 when she lost her virginity: damaged goods, andit was worse still later when she tried to abort her baby with a pen, but what could you do? It was impossible to speak up for yourself.

然而,整个体制站在了她的对立面,没有人相信她说的任何故事。当杰克告诉众议院自己和基勒并无不正当关系时,事情早已经盖棺定论(没人相信,只是走个程序而已)。她是一个坏女孩,因为那时,只要是女孩发生了性行为就变成了坏女孩。同样,她在15岁失贞后也深深觉得自己罪不可赦,变成了次品。更糟糕的是,后来她竟用一只笔(戳自己)试图让自己流产。如果换做是你,你会怎么做?恐怕不能大胆地说出来为自己辩护吧。

Immoral earnings

不道德的收入

Lord Denning, who wrote the report on Jack’s case, told her to keep quiet and behave. His report said there had been no security risk, and called her a prostitute. She wasn’t, as she’d almost never slept with men for money. Then Jack told someone that she was completely uneducated and couldn’t talk about anything except make-up, hair and gramophone records. Well, she might have left school at15, but she was addicted to cryptic crosswords. She had principles, too, as good as anybody else’s. And she might be a tart, as Macmillan called her, but she wasn’t a scrubber. She dressedwell and always had style. Worst of all was the title the press fastened on her for ever and ever and ever, “vice queen”. All the shame and all the blame.

法官丹宁勋爵,作为杰克案件的辩护律师,告诫基勒要保持沉默并且注意行为举止。该报告指出丑闻并未造成安全风险,并称她为妓女。然而她并不是妓女,因为她几乎从来没有因为金钱才和男人睡觉。那时杰克跟人提起,说基勒完全没有受过教育,只会谈论化妆品、头发以及黑胶唱片等话题。或许她15岁就离开了学校(辍学),却着迷于填字游戏。和其他人一样,基勒也有良好的操守。她可能是一个妓女,就像麦克米伦(保守党领导人)称呼她的那样,但她不是一个荡妇。她也穿着讲究,自成一格。最糟糕的是,媒体给她强加了一个永久性的帽子,称她为恶行女王,使她饱受羞辱和责难。

1.    Lord Denning: 阿尔弗雷德·汤普森·丹宁(Alfred Thompson Denning)是二战后英国最著名的法官和享有世界声誉的法学家之一。由于其在法律方面的突出贡献,在他58岁时,被封为丹宁勋爵(Lord),成为终身贵族。具体参考:

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%B9%E5%AE%81%E5%8B%8B%E7%88%B5

2.Tartscrubber的区别:妓女tart是靠劳动养活自己,荡妇scrubber是纯粹为了肉体上的享受

After the whole mess came out in 1963,and Stephen was charged with living off immoral earnings—but killed himself before the verdict—and Jack resigned, she lost allher protectors. For a while she hoped her fame might get her into films, buther nervous screen test went nowhere. Nor did modelling or journalism. She had always smoked, but now she smoked too much, and kept sliding down to grotty council flats and life on benefits. Rock bottom. Two marriages turned out badly, except for two sons, and even one of those grew up estranged from her. She supposed she was probably tooinsecure to love.

1963年丑闻曝光后,史蒂芬被指控非法获取不道德收入,但在宣判前他自杀了;杰克也引咎辞职,基勒失去了她所有的保护伞。曾经一度,她希望靠着自己的名气进入电影业,但她在荧屏前会紧张,使她与表演无缘;同样地,他也不适合做模特或者记者。她吸烟成瘾,现在更加频繁,以至于沦落到依靠福利生活,住在肮脏不堪的统建房公寓里。基勒离了两次婚,除了两个儿子什么都没有留下,而其中一个儿子长大后也与她决裂。她认为自己太没有安全感而不会爱了。

Her strength lay in reminding herself how powerful she had been. Over the years sheproduced, with help, four books, promoting each one as truer than the last andfuller of spy-details which only she knew. From her grey solitary life of catsand bird-feeding and slopping in shabby clothes to the shops she took herself back to her glory days of international importance. For sex was just a game,but spying was serious. Although she had to admit that the real Christine had disappeared somewhere along the way: perhaps around the time she had firstrealised she could turn men’s heads in the street, because she was so eautiful.

她的坚强来自于回忆过去自己是多么的强大。多年来,在别人的帮助下,她写了四本书,一本比一本劲爆,包含更多她知道的间谍细节。她平时一个人养养猫,喂喂鸟,穿着破旧的衣服去商店买东西,试图想将这种灰色孤独的生活带回到曾经那段备受全世界关注的光辉岁月。因为性只是一场游戏,可是间谍事关严肃的政治问题。然而,她也不得不承认那个真实的克莉丝汀早已消逝了,也许从她意识到自己能够利用美貌让路过的男士回头那一刻开始。

翻译组:

Cece,女,消防工作者,CATTI三笔

Neil,  男,外贸民工,经济学人铁粉

Swallow,女,英专研究生,专八,CATTI三笔

Lucia ,女,翻译学硕士三年制,经济学人粉丝

校核组:

Ryan:男,外企高管,经济学人钢粉

Damon,男,建筑民工,经济学人爱好者

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观点 |评论|思考

看完这篇文章,不仅让小编想到了上次的杀人恶魔曼森,两个人有个相似之处,就是悲惨的童年。所以又回到了同一个原因就是原生家庭。具体可以看看链接:连环杀手查尔斯·曼森的感想部分

今天我们来讨论一个话题:用美貌上位或者靠脸吃饭有错吗?大家可以在留言区给我留言。

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英文部分转自《经济学人》,非商业用途,仅限于小组学习,如有任何翻译错误,请大家留言更正,谢谢!

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