英汉翻译技巧-第十六章.pptVIP

* with money that no one will have to earn. When one of them demonstrates that twice two is five, another will prove that it is six, six and a half, ten, twenty, n. In brief, they will divest themselves of their character as sensible, candid and truthful men, and become simply candidate for office, bent only on collaring votes. 他们都会向国内每一个男人、女人和孩童承诺他们想要的任何东西。他们都会在国内游荡来游荡去，寻求让富人变穷人的机会，治疗那些病入膏肓之人，救援那些无法救援之人，试图使其破镜重圆，或帮那些炎症重症者尝试减轻炎症。他们尝试治愈那些肿瘤的方法就是对着他们发表宣言；支付国债用的是不劳而获的金钱。如果他们其中一个证明2的两倍是5，那么另外一个会证明结果其实是6，6.5，10，20或任何数n。简单来说，他们不再表现出他们理智、率直和追求真相的性格；他们已经成为单是为了谋位而竞争的候选人，所作的一切只为了获得选票。 They will all know by then, even supposing that some of them don’t know it now, that votes are collared under democracy, not by talking sense but by talking nonsense, and they will apply themselves to the job with a hearty yo-heave-ho. Most of them, before the uproar is over, will actually convince themselves. The winner will be whoever promises the most with the least probability of delivering anything. 到那时候他们都会知道——甚至可以假设他们有些人现在还不知道这个情况：选票是在民主方式之下获得的：不是通过谈论理性，而是通过谈论废话来获得。于是他们会投身于此工作中，满怀激情的吆喝一番。他们大多数人在叫嚣结束前，实际上说服的是他们自己。赢家会是那位最能承诺，却最不可能兑现那些承诺的人。 Some years ago I accompanied a candidate for the Presidency on his campaign-tour. He was, like all such rascals, an amusing fellow, and I came to like him very much. His speeches, the start, were full of fire. He was going to save the country from all the stupendous frauds and false pretenses of his rival. Every time that rival offered to rescue another million of poor fish from the neglects and oversights of God he howled his derision from the back platform of his train. I noticed at once that these blasts of common sense got very little applause, and after a while the candidate began to notice it too. Worse, he began to get word from his spies on the train of his rival that the rival was wowing them, panicking them, laying them in the aisles. They threw flowers, hot dogs and five-cent cigars at him. In places where the times were especially hard the