美财长真的给女议长波罗西下跪了？（缺图）

这几天几乎所有的大大小小的中文网站都有“美财长鲍尔森给国会女议长波罗西单腿下跪了”的报道。从大陆的中华网到香港的媒体，从海外报刊到海外中文网站，这个报道都是头条新闻。你几乎找不到一家中文网站没报道此消息的。

当我们看到赵本山的弟子给赵本山“单腿下跪”的场面（图）

我们知道“单腿下跪”是什么意思，一清二楚。几千年来，奴才见了主子要下跪，哪怕是当朝宰相，见了皇帝也要下跪。我们要问：堂堂正正的美国财长，怎么可能给别人下跪？这种报道除非一派胡言，难道还有别的？

那么，这美财长鲍尔森给女议长波罗西“单腿下跪”的报道来自何处？

你除非没有查看美国英文报刊杂志、网络新闻，否则，你一定看到了美国媒体铺天盖地的新闻报道 ”Paulson literally on one knee” ，那么这是什么意思呢？

润涛阎告诉你们这些无知的中文媒体：”on one knee” 如同中国也有成语典故一样，是来源于“求婚”那是古代西方人求婚方式。在这里鲍尔森向民主党议会大佬们”on one knee ”指的是“央求”当然你可以翻译成“哀求”而不能译成“单腿下跪”

语言要分清楚“情感表达”与“事实陈述”的区别。”on one knee ”这种语气用语是媒体的“情感表达”而非真的有鲍尔森给女议长单腿下跪了的事实。而赵本山弟子的“单腿下跪”则是事实陈述。

在这里，美国媒体说鲍尔森”literally on one knee” ，有的美国媒体就用 literally on one knee 来表达鲍尔森的。这句话翻译成中文虽然有“单腿下跪”的表面含义，但那是语气用语，是笑话。

举个例子：中文里成千上万的成语都有与原话不同的寓意。如果一个外国人看到中国人说你“杀鸡取卵”就按照表面意思说你用刀杀了一只老母鸡，这不是笑话是什么？

那么，到底鲍尔森说了什么话？是用什么语言表达了“央求”的意思？

其实，鲍尔森在白宫面对总统和两党会议大佬、两位总统候选人，不卑不亢义正言辞。他告诉波罗西等民主党大佬们：如果不救市，美国将面对长期经济衰退！

他的话说成是“警告”要比说成是“央求”更符合当时的气氛。那美国媒体为何没用“警告（ warning ）”而用“央求（on one knee ）”呢？因为媒体不愿意在此时让国民产生两党对此事有党争的痕迹。美国人都知道on one knee 是求婚的温柔的央求，而非被绑匪绑架防止被杀的央求。也就是说，美国媒体要充当和事老的角色。

那么，为何所有的中国媒体都用“美国财政部长鲍尔森给波罗西单腿下跪”这样的报道呢？因为他们看到了 on one knee 这个词就直译成单腿下跪了。而美国人看到 paulson on one knee 就理所当然地知道那是指鲍尔森温柔地恳求民主党同意他的救市计划的意思。电视画面上鲍尔森正襟危坐仪表堂堂不卑不亢地告诉民主党大佬们不救市的后果十分严重，言外之意就是说后果你们是担当不起的！

看到所有的中文媒体甚至在美国呆了很多年的网络写手们也用“鲍尔森给波罗西单腿下跪”来描述鲍尔森在白宫的哀求，我只有摇头叹息。这反映了国人真的相信美国的财政部长也可以给人下跪的！这不仅仅是对鲍尔森的个人尊严的侮辱，也是对中国人奴性文化根深蒂固的反映。不是吗？汶川大地震后，市长县长给孩子家长下跪了！电视报纸网上都有下跪的照片。看到 on one knee 便自然想到美国财长也下跪了。

那么，如果假如（这只能是假如，因为事实上是天方夜谭）鲍尔森真的下跪哀求反对党了，那该用哪个英文词呢？美国人要用 kowtow 这个词，而绝不能用 on one knee 。因为西方人用中文造出来的英文 kowtow 最能贴切地表达中国人心里的下跪哀求。它的意思不是简单的同音“磕头”而是中国人心里“下跪”的意思。中国的“磕头”有奴才对主子的下跪磕头，也有婚礼上新娘给来贺喜的亲友感谢他们来参加婚礼的磕头。而英文的 kowtow 是指前者。on one knee 则是温柔的求婚似的情感表达，而非事实陈述。

这本来不是个大事，但我搜索了一下，竟然有 7,500 多条新闻提到“财长鲍尔森单腿下跪”的报道，国人把美国媒体的“情感表达”当成了“事实陈述”来看待的。似乎赵本山弟子下跪、县长市长下跪是合情合理的！

要不信，你去搜索一下就知道了，铺天盖地的“鲍尔森单腿下跪”新闻报道令你哭笑不得。

润涛扇子2008-10-06 10:28:33 As the meeting broke up and participants stormed out,
Paulson followed Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Paulson,
pleading with Pelosi to keep the deal alive in spite of the
partisanship, got down on one knee and begged her to push on,
congressional aides who were present say.
所以PAULSON的钱是下跪了。
润涛阎2008-09-29 22:47:53 润涛阎：你站直了，别跪下！

来源: 悟空孙于 08-09-29 21:07:28

一年以前俺和润涛阎就Chinese是不是贬义词有过一次争论，结果打成平手。今天看了阎大侠的 “美财长给女议长波罗西下跪了？一派胡言！”俺又想说两句了。

阎大侠认为美国财长没有下跪，有网友反驳：“literally on one knee”就是下跪了。那么堂堂美国财长究竟跪下没有？

如果从原文的标题看，只要对英文有一些了解就可以知道：bring sb.to his knees的意思是让某人屈服，和跪不跪下没有关系。然而这篇报道又来了一句：“The image of the brick-built Treasury Secretary literally on one knee in the White House Roosevelt Room succinctly captures Mr Paulson’s humiliation.”

这里有两个关键字：”image”和“literally”。新英汉字典里说的明白“image”，可以有实的（real）和虚的（virtual），一个“image”不一定就是一幅真实的景象。“literally”更是一种强调和夸张：“He literally flew into the room.” ——人是无论如何不可能飞起来的。

再从常识上看，美国的财长在白宫开会，他可能给一个同事因为工作原因而下跪吗？如果真是这样，记者可能不仅仅写一篇报道，那下跪的照片一定会传遍全球了。另外，从文化上看，西方绅士只给两种人下跪：一是皇帝，二是求婚是对女人。

由此可见，发布这个消息的记者玩了一个花招，他运用了英语里的一个成语制造了一个“pun”。

叫人头疼的英语！中国人学习时不能望文生义啊：“put one’s foot in one’s mouth”可不能按字面理解啊，一个人无论如何不可能“literally”把脚伸进嘴里的。

这里“literally on one knee”主要是说那位财长彻底失败了，狼狈不堪！当然，如果他神经错乱了，也难保在大庭广众之下单膝跪下来。

看看这个”pun”：“A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.”

警察究竟有没有从那个洞里面偷窥裸体呢？只有记者知道了。

所以，这次俺支持阎大侠“老阎，你站直了别跪下！

不过，俺不同意他说的，如果鲍尔森真的下跪美国人要用 kowtow 这个词。kowtow是英语里专门对应“叩头”的，那是要五体投地，叩出响声来的。前面说过，洋人只会单膝下跪，绝不会kowtow的。

×××××××××

中文有时也有同样的问题，一个对汉语不太熟悉的老外看到“胸有成竹”会不会也望文生义？俺有时辩不过网友就耍赖：“我举双手投降。！”你不会想像一个猴子在电脑前”literally”举起双手做投降状吧：））

润涛阎评：

大圣啊，这不是英语的问题，这是逻辑思维的问题。

让那些跟润涛阎作对的人下跪去吧。

即使没有一个人出来为我辩护，我照样站立。

我不仅贴到这里，还贴到了其它网站。总是有人骂街的，但也总有头脑清醒者，反正我是属于极少数人之一。

另外，你没有看清楚我说的KOWTOW那句话的真实含义。西方人下跪的意思和中国人下跪的意思不是对应的。好比非洲一个部落，男人摸陌生女人的胸部表示对女人的敬仰和礼貌。我们要是摸陌生女人的胸部不是礼貌而是流氓了。别说鲍尔森绝对根本不可能下跪，退一百步，即使他下跪了，也是属于求婚。大庭广众下他不会玩这种玩笑的。退一万步讲，即使他下跪了，翻译成中文也是“哀求”不能用中文奴才给主子下跪的用语。反过来，赵本山弟子下跪不能说成是求婚。你我如果摸了陌生女人的胸部，不能狡辩是非洲某部落的礼貌，要按照流氓罪判处。
brothernet2008-09-29 00:06:16 你还别说，这事值得进一步澄清。老阎错了。

QUOTE:
原帖由科学民主于 2008-9-29 13:00 发表
zyzg这里好象是dck在首先说“鲍尔森单腿下跪”把?

“7000亿美元赎买方案谈崩了！财政部长给反对党议员下跪无济于事参考消息 dck
2008-9-26 ”

dck啊,以后写文章要认真啊,这地球上最后1个倒霉的法西斯 …
老科，着篇文章我确实在第一时间看到，并立即转贴到这里，被一个不知天高地厚的家伙（老鼠，还是小方，不知道是谁）泄私愤转移到另一个参考消息论坛。
至今只有100来个点击。我不信其它中文报刊的翻译是受到我的影响。

但是，读了阎的文章，您再仔细推敲美联社记者的原始报道，以我几十年学习、使用英语的经验判断，阎的意见是错误的。请看：

Instead, the summit broke up so bitterly that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got on one knee before Democratic leaders in a theatrical attempt to salvage talks.

。。。

After the session, Paulson, hoping to prevent any chance for agreement from being torpedoed, pleaded with Democratic leaders not to publicly disclose how poorly the session had gone, said three people familiar with the episode. Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded angrily, and Paulson, in an attempt to lighten the mood, got down on one knee, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, like the others, because the conversations were private.

7000亿美元赎买方案谈崩了！财政部长给反对党议员下跪无济于事

By JENNIFER LOVEN and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writers
1 minute ago

WASHINGTON – A Republican rebellion stalled government efforts Thursday to avoid economic meltdown, a chaotic turnaround that disrupted the choreography of an extraordinary White House meeting meant to show joint resolve from the president, the political parties and the presidential candidates. Instead, the summit broke up so bitterly that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got on one knee before Democratic leaders in a theatrical attempt to salvage talks.

After six days of bare-knuckled negotiations on the $700 billion financial industry bailout proposed by the Bush administration, with Wall Street tottering and presidential politics intruding six weeks before the election, there was far more confusion than clarity.
An apparent breakthrough was announced with fanfare at midday by key members of Congress from both parties — but not top leaders. Wall Street cautiously showed its pleasure, with the Dow Jones industrials closing 196 points higher.
But the good news and the market close were followed by a rash of less-positive developments.
Washington Mutual Inc. was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the largest failure ever of a U.S. bank, after which JPMorgan Chase & Co. Inc. came to its rescue by buying the thrift’s banking assets.
And the late-afternoon White House gathering of President Bush, presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama, and top congressional leaders turned into what one person in the room described as “a full-throated discussion” and McCain’s campaign called “a contentious shouting match.”
Conservatives were in revolt over the astonishing price tag of the proposal and the hand of government that it would place on private markets.
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, emerged from the White House meeting to say the announced agreement “is, obviously, no agreement.” McCain’s campaign issued a statement saying, “the plan that has been put forth by the administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect the taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favor of Wall Street.” The White House, too, acknowledged there was no deal, only progress.
Meanwhile a group of House GOP lawmakers circulated an alternative that would put much less focus on a government takeover of failing institutions’ sour assets. This proposal would have the government provide insurance to companies that agree to hold frozen assets, rather than have the U.S. purchase the assets.
Inside the White House session, House Republican leader John Boehner announced his concerns about the emerging plan and asked that the conservatives’ alternative be considered, said people from both parties who were briefed on the exchange.
Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, the feisty Democrat who has been leading negotiations with Paulson, reacted angrily, saying Republicans had waited until the last moment to present their proposal.
McCain, who dramatically announced Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign to deal with the economic crisis, stayed silent for most of the session and spoke only briefly to voice general principles for a rescue plan.
After the session, Paulson, hoping to prevent any chance for agreement from being torpedoed, pleaded with Democratic leaders not to publicly disclose how poorly the session had gone, said three people familiar with the episode. Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded angrily, and Paulson, in an attempt to lighten the mood, got down on one knee, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, like the others, because the conversations were private.
Weary congressional negotiators then resumed working with Paulson into the night in an effort to revive or rework the proposal that Bush said must be quickly approved by Congress to stave off “a long and painful recession.” They gave up after 10 p.m. EDT, more than an hour after the lone House Republican involved, Rep. Spencer Bachus of Alabama, left the room.
Talks were to resume Friday morning on the effort to bail out failing financial institutions and restart the flow of credit that has begun to starve the national economy.
The Bush administration plan’s centerpiece remained for the government to buy the toxic, mortgage-based assets of shaky financial institutions in a bid to keep them from going under and setting off a cascade of ruinous events, including wiped-out retirement savings, rising home foreclosures, closed businesses and lost jobs.
The earlier bipartisan accord establishing principles and important details would have given the Bush administration just a fraction of the money it wanted up front, subjecting half the $700 billion total to a congressional veto. The treasury secretary would get $250 billion immediately and could have an additional $100 billion if he certified it was needed, an approach designed to give lawmakers a stronger hand in controlling the unprecedented rescue.
The Bush administration had already agreed to several concessions based on demands from the right and left, including that the government take equity in companies helped by the bailout and put rules in place to limit excessive compensation of their executives, according to a draft of the outline obtained by The Associated Press. Democrat Obama and Republican McCain, who have both sought to distance themselves from the unpopular Bush, sat down with the president at the White House for the hourlong afternoon session that was striking in this brutally partisan season. By also including Congress’ Democratic and Republican leaders, the meeting gathered nearly all Washington’s political power structure at one long table in a small West Wing room. “All of us around the table … know we’ve got to get something done as quickly as possible,” Bush declared optimistically at the start of the meeting. Obama and McCain were at distant ends of the oval table, not even in each other’s sight lines. Bush, playing host in the middle, was flanked by Congress’ two Democratic leaders, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. But neither Bush, McCain nor Obama have been deeply involved so far in this week’s scramble to hammer out a package. The meeting was intended more to provide bipartisan political cover for lawmakers to support a plan in the face of an angry public and their own re-election bids in six weeks. At day’s end, Frank said he told Paulson “this whole thing is at risk if the president can’t get members of his own party to participate.” Layered over the White House meeting was a complicated web of potential political benefits and consequences for both presidential candidates. McCain hoped voters would believe that he rose above politics to wade into nitty-gritty and ultimately successful dealmaking at a time of urgent crisis, but he risked being seen instead as either overly impulsive or politically craven, or both. Obama saw a chance to appear presidential and fit for duty but was also caught off guard strategically by McCain’s surprising campaign gamble. ___ Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann, Martin Crutsinger, Christopher Wills and Beth Fouhy in Washington and researcher Judy Ausuebel in New York contributed to this story.
是吗？2008-09-28 23:00:25 即使报上说鲍尔森向波罗西 kowtow, 我也只会理解成他向她乞求，而不是 literally kneel down.