Age of Ambition 5

第七章 Acquired Taste描绘了一张芸芸众生相。作者报团和三十多位中国人一起开启了一次欧洲境外游,通过细致入微的旅游经历和体验,刻画了中国人开眼看世界的情形,展现了中国人对于西方文化和西方世界的看法。

中国人的出游梦经历了太多的曲折,古时,父母在不远行“while your parents are alive ,it is better not to travel far away ”, 封闭锁国,战争战乱,直到九十年代才逐步放开出国游的脚步 the government cleared the way for travelers to venture to other countries in a “planned ,organized and controlled manner ”

中国的出游团有太多的中国特色,为了打折机票,行程路线曲折蜿蜒,犹如北斗七星“wherever the cheapest flights were on a given day , Chinese tours saw opportunity ....that was why our route resembled the Big Dipper ”; 十国游比一国游更具吸引力 in china ,if you can get ten things for a hundred dollars ,that’s still better than getting one thing for a hundred dollars ; 中国人出游的文明出行指南让作者哑然失笑 I wonder if the authors of the Guide to Civilized Behavior Abroad hadn’ been outclassed by the citizens ;红色旅游也未尝不可,去德国一定要去参观下马克思故居 our group had lingered in the Mecca of the Chinese People for eleven minutes ;所去之处也是到处中国人,一次也没吃上西餐... .rooms jammed with Chinese diners ;以及买东西总要换算人民币的精打细算 ... They kept an eye on every cent and tell me exactly how much we‘d spent on each bottle of water in five countries.

本章直到结尾,作者才袒露自己对于当前中国的看法 The China that I inhabited now was , by turns , inspiring and maddening ,home to both Bare-Handed Fortunes and black jails ,a fierce curiosity about the world and a defensive pride in China’s new place in it . My busmates had answered the call to go west, but if they struggled to make sense of what they found, I could sympathize; I was struggling to make sense of a land “unfettered”but subject to the Party in Power. 他不能理解中国人这种束手束脚的 “自由”。Modern Chinese travel, like the modern Chinese state, was predicated on the fragile promise that it would impose order on a chaotic world, by shepherding its citizens and keeping them safe from threats that could include western thieves, western cuisine, and western culture. 他不认同中国“心怀戒备”的开放和中国当前的执政管理方式。On this first trip, there was much they would never see, but mile by mile, they were discovering how to see it at all. 在作者眼中,中国人出国所见也只是浮光掠影,惊鸿一瞥Behind the prosperity gospel about Chinese one-party efficiency, my busmates caught unredacted flickers of insight, glimpses of humaneness and openness and the world once forbidden.

看完这章内心有所触动,在外国人眼中,中国原来是这样的,这就是有时候当我们听到别人对自己的评价时的那种诧异。作者对于中国“自由”的不理解,亦如中国人对于西方世界的诸多不解,例如文中提到,意大利因为地方反对,几十年才修起一条路, if this were china , it would be done in six months! 这或许是中国一党执政的效率,或许在外界看来是不民主的极权。但不管怎样,中国发展到今天,摸着石头过河,探寻发展之路的经历实属不易。正如文中所称,中国人对于西方文化是一种复杂而纠结的情愫“Chinese attitudes toward Western culture were a mix of pity ,envy ,and resentment ;pity for the barbarians outside the Middle Kingdom ,envy for their strength ,and resentment for their incursions into China”,而反过来讲,西方人对中国不也是几番滋味在心头?我将以上句子改写一下,作为本章读后的结语吧Western attitudes toward Chinese culture are a mix of pity, envy and resentment; pity for the “unfettered” freedom under One Party; envy for its rise, and resentment for its growing presence.

【表达】

1、 they lived hand to mouth 勉强度日

2、 a trunkful of books 大量、多

3、 the crowd bursts into applause 爆发掌声

4、 Local newspaper grew dense with ads for exotic holiday travel. 到处是

5、 photogenic上镜的(He is photogenic)

6、 payment was due up front 预先

7、 put up a bond 缴纳押金

8、 assorted charges 杂费

9、 Don’t travel with knockoffs of European goods. 冒牌货

10、 Who can work twenty-four hours straight 连续

11、 A bowl of congee (or conjee) 粥/ a deep-fried cruller 油饼

12、 We headed for our first stop / we descended from the bus

13、 My daughter is grown 长大了

14、 Our group had lingered in the Mecca of the Chinese People 逗留 / Mecca:众人渴望去的地方

15、 The Big Dipper 北斗七星

16、 Guide to Civilized Behavior Abroad 文明出行指南

17、 He had the build of an American football player 身材体格

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