2019年经济学人 安瓦尔·冈戈-刽子手之歌(4)

 

Or he'd play the film-maker, sitting high up in the cameraman's chair, wholly consumed with panning across a scene of make-believe. And then, one day, he cast himself as a victim. He sat in the chair on the far side of the interrogator's wooden desk. His shiny charcoal¹ suit turned dark as he sweated at being questioned. After the wire was slipped around his neck, his right hand began to shake.

或者他会扮演成电影制作人，坐在摄影师的椅子上，全神贯注地拍摄一个虚构的场景。然后有一天，他扮成一个受害者。他坐在审讯者木桌的另外一边的椅子上。他在被盘问时满身大汗，那套闪亮的炭色西装颜色也变深了。铁丝滑过他的脖子时，他的右手开始颤抖。

"Did the people I tortured feel the way I do here?" he asked. "I felt all the terror possess my body." "No," Mr Oppenheimer quietly replied. "You're making a film. They knew they were going to be murdered." "The Act of Killing²", or Jagalas it was called in Indonesian, meaning "Butcher", was tipped to win an Oscar when it was released in 2012. It became the country's most viewed film after the producers made it available free online, and Indonesians began talking about the years of living dangerously in a way they never had before.

他问道，“我折磨的人和我现在的感觉一样吗？”“我感觉所有的恐惧占据了我的身体。”奥本海默先生安静地回复道，“不，你是在拍一部电影。他们则是知道自己将被杀死了。”“杀戮的行为”，或者印尼语中的jagalas，意思是“屠夫”，它2012年发行时被预测会赢得奥斯卡奖。在制片人将其免费放到网上后，它成为了全国观看人数最多的电影，印尼人开始谈论他们以前从未有过的危险生活。

As for Mr Congo, he evaded³ justice, but not punishment. The garrotting stayed with him. It was, he said, one of the easiest ways of taking a human life. When, on the final day of the shoot that had lasted five years, he was filmed returning, in a mustard double-breasted suit and lemony shirt, to the roof of Mr Sinik's office, where so many men had died by his hand, he sniffed⁴ the night air and then he gulped⁵. Turning away, he retched and retched—until he could retch no longer.

对于冈戈先生来说，他逃避了正义，但没有逃避惩罚。钢丝伴随着他。他说，那是杀死一个人的最简单的方式之一。在持续五年的拍摄的最后一天，他在拍摄回归时，穿着深黄色双排扣西装和柠檬色衬衫，来到辛尼克先生办公室的屋顶，在这个他用双手杀死太多人的地方，他吸了吸夜晚的空气，然后咽了口唾沫，他转过身去，作呕，呕吐——直到再也不能这样。

1 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 evaded   

逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• For two weeks they evaded the press. 他们有两周一直避而不见记者。
• The lion evaded the hunter. 那狮子躲开了猎人。

4 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gulped   

v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
• She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下，似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》