04The Problems of Oil, of Debt and Disarray[1]
石油和債務問題造成一片混亂

導讀

1983年新年伊始，就存在著一種異乎尋常的石油危機。然而，當石油舞臺鑼鼓聲喧時，出現了各國債務這一影響更加廣泛的問題。1982年中期，石油價格下跌，其后出現的信用危機，使所有拉丁美洲國家都受到影響。債務危機越出拉丁美洲的范圍，蔓延到亞非國家。

The oil drama was followed by the debt bomb[2], but voters and politicians didn't want to think about the long term.

—Anthony Sampson

 

For world business, and even for small investors or depositors in banks, all kinds of uncertainties seemed to feed on each other over the past year. What's happening with oil? What about debts, currencies or the stability of countries?

The year 1983 began—and ended—with an unusual oil crisis: fears that the price of crude would go not up but down[3]. OPEC looked as if it might split apart, and as the crisis deepened, it showed how oil had seeped into every corner of the world economy. Currencies moved up and down with each day's oil news, and bankers became aware of how much their loans to oil countries depended on keeping up the price. When OPEC patched up its quarrels and agreed to limit production, nobody was quite sure what was keeping up the price. What was clear was that many countries and institutions, from Britain to Mexico, from Citibank to Exxon[4], had virtually become unofficial members of OPEC, trying hard to keep the price steady.

 

But as the oil drama[5]played on, it began to be eclipsed by the wider problem of country debt. The near collapse of Mexico in mid-1982 had been precipitated by the falling oil price, but the crisis of credit that followed affected all Latin American countries as high interest rates and the high dollar made their repayments still more expensive. The debt crisis spread beyond Latin America into Asia and Africa. The balance of fear between countries and banks, locked in a situation in which each side could ruin the other, was beginning to seem like the commercial equivalent of the nuclear balance of terror[6]. It also gave a new dimension to the old North-South divide: would the South find that their debts would force the North to take real notice of their problems?

All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. They affected all currencies and all stock markets, and they called into question the stability of the banks. Shares were marked up or down[7]according to the news from Brasilia or Manila; shares of Exxon or Shell rose or fell depending on the news from Baghdad or Lagos. Any hint of an oil glut sent the pound down and the yen up, while bad news from anywhere tended to strengthen the dollar as the world's money haven. The quantity[8]of “hot money” exaggerated still further the swings between currencies.

 

The more serious bankers became especially concerned about how to bolster their foreign loans with a more secure system. Nearly all agreed at least in private, on the need to strengthen the global institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund, if they hoped to provide the stability and the discipline that private bankers by themselves could not enforce.

But the world banking crisis coincided with a rapid upsurge of antibank feeling. The popular reaction to the debt problem, particularly in the United States[9], was to try to punish the banks for having lent money to developing countries rather than to neighborhood companies. When the Reagan Administration asked Congress to approve another $ 8 billion to help strengthen the IMF, there was an outcry of protest that required the heaviest pressure from the President to still.The hostility was part of a broader movement that reached across the Western world—a desire to focus their attention on national and local problems, at the very time when the developing nations were dramatically revealing their interdependence.[10]That situation bore an alarming resemblance to the mood of the 1930s when the world recession turned all countries inward, forcing Germany and Italy to work out their own drastic solutions, and contributing to the outbreak of World War Ⅱ.

Then came a brief surge of hope. Would the U.S. economic recovery spread around the world? Could it bring a greater demand for raw materials and more vigorous trade that would lift the debt-ridden countries off the rocks? But by the end of this harrowing year of debt, it was hard to be confident. Many developing countries were still caught in a vicious circle of contraction, and the lack of bank confidence—on which credit is based—will take more time to turn around.

Many economists and bankers insisted that only a major restructuring of the world's debts, to allow lower interest to be repaid over longer periods, could resolve the problem. But this cannot happen without the support of central banks and governments, and most voters and politicians were in no mood to think about long-term global solutions. Internationalism, which had been part of the Western creed of the 1960s, was now an increasingly suspect word. After months of the economic roller coaster, there were few signs of changing attitudes. Would a more severe world crisis in 1984 persuade nations of the need to work together, or would it terrify them into putting their necks still further into the sand?

 

To avert the danger of major defaults and to restore security to the economic system, Western bankers and governments will have to ensure that they are imposing reasonable repayment terms on developing countries, terms that will not provoke revolution or chaos. They will have to lower interest requirements, with some form of subsidy from the central banks if necessary. And they will have to strengthen the IMF as their ultimate safeguard.

It is not enough for the IMF and the banks to provide a financial fire brigade, moving from one debt crisis to another, The IMF must be given enough support to make longer-term loans in order to enable developing countries to revive their exports with out enduring crippling hardships. Unless Western governments face up to this challenge, they may face political catastrophes that will require far more costly intervention.

翻譯點評

[1] 報刊文章標題的譯文，除一般的翻譯要求外，還應盡可能做到：（1）簡潔、醒目；（2）點出文章主旨。本文標題文字平實，但譯時亦頗費踟躕。譯文未采用原文把Disarray和Oil, Debt并列的結構，而增添“造成”一詞，試圖點明三者的內在關系。

[2] 文章提要中，作者使用了drama和bomb兩個形象化的詞語，想來是為了多少解除一些論述經濟問題文字的枯燥氣氛。譯文中沒有保留形象化的表達方法，而是采用了描述性的詞語，這是因為文字上不好安排。如bomb一詞，這里只是指債務問題的“潛在”破壞性，如譯為“炸彈”，不易確切引出這方面的含義。使用“爆炸性”一詞，文字的生動鮮明性受些損失，但含義比較確切。

[3] 本句包含兩個并列的謂語動詞詞組：began with和ended with。譯文采用了拆句的方法處理。這是為了使賓語“異乎尋常的石油危機”和它的同位語短語盡量靠近。其他可能的處理方法，似乎也必須照顧到這一點。

[4] Citibank的全稱為First National City Bank of New York，習慣譯為“美國花旗銀行”，現在也有譯為“紐約第一國民銀行”的。Exxon是美國著名石油公司，在國外該公司多用ESSO這個名稱。其前身為Standard Oil of New Jersey，習慣譯為“新澤西美孚石油公司”，居世界七大壟斷石油公司“七姊妹”之首。

[5] 這里the oil drama的譯文保留了形象化的表達，一是由于文字安排容許，其次還因為它同本文提要相呼應，是重點文字。由它引出使國際金融市場波瀾迭起的各國外債問題。

[6] the nuclear balance of terror：西方存在一種理論，認為由于美蘇兩個超級大國擁有的核武器實力基本相當，任何一方都無法期望在核戰爭中摧毀對方而自己不遭到致命報復。這種對核報復的恐懼心理，使雙方都不敢輕率發動核戰爭，形成所謂“恐怖均勢”。西方新聞記者喜歡創造新詞新語，the balance of fear一語反映出這種愛好。本文作者在他所著的The Seven Sisters一書中曾使用Shellocracy一詞指“殼牌石油公司”上層領導集團，也是他的創造， Anthony Sampson曾長期在英國《觀察家報》編輯部工作，后任該報駐華盛頓記者。The balance of fear一語的譯文，參考了“核恐怖均勢”這一慣譯。

[7] Shares were marked up and down：譯文使用了大家熟知的詞性轉換的方法。Shell：英荷資本為主的一家石油公司，“七姊妹”之一。

[8] 這里the quantity一語本身就有“數量大”的意思，譯文需要點出。類似的有size, amount等。這一句談的是大量流動資金在國際貨幣市場上進行投機活動，興風作浪。

[9] particularly in the United States這個短語似以拆句處理為好。

[10] a desire..．這個名詞短語相當長，而且它本身又包含一個不短的狀語短語，若按照原文結構譯為名詞短語，勢必顯得累贅。譯文加一個主語“西方有些人……”，形成“動賓”結構，使句子形式上較為松散，各部分較為平衡。符合漢語習慣。

（馬德麟譯注）

Translation Practices

翻譯練習

But as the oil drama played on, it began to be eclipsed by the wider problem of country debt. The near collapse of Mexico in mid-1982 had been precipitated by the falling oil price, but the crisis of credit that followed affected all Latin American countries as high interest rates and the high dollar made their repayments still more expensive. The debt crisis spread beyond Latin America into Asia and Africa. The balance of fear between countries and banks, locked in a situation in which each side could ruin the other, was beginning to seem like the commercial equivalent of the nuclear balance of terror.

Key

但是正當石油舞臺鑼鼓聲喧時，出現了各國債務這一影響更加廣泛的問題，相形之下，開始使它黯然失色。1982年中期，石油價格下跌，使墨西哥陷于崩潰的邊緣，但是其后出現的信用危機，使所有拉丁美洲國家都受到影響，因為高利率和美元高匯價使它們償還債務時必須耗費更多的錢。債務危機越出拉丁美洲的范圍，蔓延到亞非國家。在各債務國和各大銀行之間出現一種恐懼均勢，它們陷入這樣一種局面，一方可以毀掉另一方。在商業領域出現的這種形勢，同核武器領域所存在的恐怖均勢頗有類似之處。

Emulation

美文自己寫得出——學生仿寫

仿寫范例

Respect

Have you considered whether there is someone who deserves your respect? Has it occurred to you why you show respect to him? Has it dawned on you what qualities a respectable person should have? According to Angel Nieto, a person who loves and fights can win her respect. But for me, it is eruditeness, perseverance and sense of responsibility that account for much of a person who is worthy of respect.

First things first, I respect those who are knowledgeable. We are now living in the age of information and knowledge and so being information-poor can be a problem. The 21st century is an era that attaches great importance to knowledge. Only those who are intensive in a specialized area and also have such knowledge as philosophy, art and religion are likely to earn credits from others.

Secondly, persons with the spirit of perseverance deserve my respect. Perseverance is not that you can see the results of your work immediately but that you build your castle one brick at a time bravely and intrepidly. A case in point is Yang Wei, the Chinese prince of gymnastics. Relatively “no longer young” judged by the standard of gymnastics and a long-term affliction of injuries don't daunt him. On the contrary he still insists on taking exercise and training every day. In due course in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Yang Wei won gold in the individual all-round as well as the respect of the world.

Last but not least, if a person is responsible for what he shoulders, I will look up to him. Take Tan Qianqiu, an elementary school teacher who lost his life in the tragic Wenchuan earthquake for example. When the rescue team found his body, people noticed that he was still protecting four pupils under his body. As a teacher, Tan chose to be responsible for his students and he also chose to protect them at the sacrifice of his own life. So isn't this person worth the respect of the whole Chinese nation? Shouldn't this person be remembered? The answer is obvious and thousands of candles in the hands of some 20,000 students, colleagues and villagers at his funeral prove this.

To sum up, there may be dozens of qualities one must have to earn respect but the essential ones are only a few. And for my part, those who have a wide range of knowledge, the spirit of perseverance and the sense of responsibility can have my respect.