好英语网我们为什么钦佩泽连斯基
Why do we admire Volodymyr Zelensky? The question almost answers itself.
我们为什么钦佩弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基？这个问题几乎不需要回答。
We admire him because, in the face of unequal odds, Ukraine’s president stands his ground. Because he proves the truth of the adage that one man with courage makes a majority. Because he shows that honor and love of country are virtues we forsake at our peril. Because he grasps the power of personal example and physical presence. Because he knows how words can inspire deeds — give shape and purpose to them — so that the deeds may, in turn, vindicate the meaning of words.
我们钦佩他是因为这位乌克兰总统在情况不利时毫不退却。因为他证明了“一个有勇气的人可顶千军万马”这句格言的正确。因为他展示了国家道义和爱国是美德，抛弃这些美德会让我们自食其果。因为他领悟了个人榜样和亲身出现的力量。因为他知道语言能怎样激励行动——语言阐释行动、赋予行动目的，行动反过来能证实语言的意义。
We admire Zelensky because he reminds us of how rare these traits have become among our own politicians. Zelensky was an actor who used his celebrity to become a statesman. Western politics is overrun by people who playact as statesmen so that they may ultimately become celebrities. Zelensky has made a point of telling Ukrainians the hard truth that the war is likely to get worse — and of telling off supposed well-wishers that their words are hollow and their support wanting. Our leaders mainly specialize in telling people what they want to hear.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为，他提醒我们，这些品质在我们自己的政治人物中多么罕见。泽连斯基曾是一名演员，他依仗自己的名气成了一名政治家。西方政治中充斥着那些假扮政治家的人，以为那会让他们最终成为名人。泽连斯基坚持把战争可能会恶化的残酷事实告诉乌克兰人民，并斥责那些所谓表示祝福的人，把他们的话称为空话，批评他们的支持有名无实。我们的领导人却主要擅长说人民想听的话。
We admire Zelensky because of who and what he faces. Vladimir Putin represents neither a nation nor a cause, only a totalitarian ethos. The Russian dictator stands for the idea that truth exists to serve power, not the other way around, and that politics is in the business of manufacturing propaganda for those who will swallow it and imposing terror on those who will not. Ultimately, the aim of this idea isn’t the mere acquisition of power or territory. It’s the eradication of conscience.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为他所面对的人和事。普京所代表的既不是一个国家，也不是一项事业，而仅仅是一种极权主义道德观。这名俄罗斯独裁者奉行的理念是，真理为权力服务，而不是相反，他认为，政治是为那些愿意接受的人制造宣传、让那些不愿接受的人处于恐惧之中的操作。这种思想的最终目的不仅是获得权力或领土，而是让人的良心泯灭。
We admire Zelensky because he has restored the idea of the free world to its proper place. The free world isn’t a cultural expression, as in “the West”; or a security concept, as in NATO; or an economic description, as in “the developed world.” Membership in the free world belongs to any country that subscribes to the notion that the power of the state exists first and foremost to protect the rights of the individual. And the responsibility of the free world is to aid and champion any of its members menaced by invasion and tyranny. As it goes for Ukraine, so, eventually, it will go for the rest of us.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为，他已让自由世界的思想恢复了它应有的地位。自由世界不是一种文化表达，像“西方”一词所意味的；不是一个安全概念，像“北约”所代表的；也不是一个经济类型，像“发达世界”所隐含的。自由世界的成员国资格属于任何认同下述理念的国家：即国家权力的存在首先是为了保护个人的权利。自由世界的责任是向任何受到侵略和暴政威胁的成员国给予援助和支持。因为乌克兰今天面临的，最终将是我们大家面临的。
We admire Zelensky because he embodies two great Jewish archetypes: David in the face of Goliath and Moses in the face of Pharoah. He is the canny underdog who, with skill and wits, makes up for what he lacks in fearsomeness and brawn. And he is the prophet who revolts against the diminishment and entrapment of his people — and determines to lead them through trials toward a political culture based on self-determination, freedom and ethics.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为，他体现了两个伟大的犹太典型：面对歌利亚的大卫和面对法老的摩西。他靠计谋以弱胜强，用技巧和智慧来弥补他所缺少的吓人外表和力气。他是一名反对贬低、坑害他的人民的先知，他决心领导人民在考验中走向一种基于自决、自由和道德的政治文化。
We admire Zelensky because he fights. Fighting is not supposed to be a virtue in civilized societies that value dialogue, diplomacy and compromise. But the world isn’t always civilized: There are things for which civilized persons and nations must be prepared to fight if they aren’t to perish. Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have reminded the rest of the free world that a liberal and democratic inheritance that is taken for granted by its citizens runs the risk of being taken at will by its enemies.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为他敢于战斗。在强调对话、外交和妥协的文明社会，战斗本不应是一种美德。但世界并不总是文明的：如果文明人和文明国家不想灭亡的话，就必须有为某些事情战斗的准备。泽连斯基和乌克兰人民已提醒自由世界的其他国家，被公民视为理所当然的自由和民主遗产可能会被敌人随时夺走。
We admire Zelensky because he rouses the better angels of our nature. His leadership has made Joe Biden a better president, Germany a better country, NATO a better alliance. He has shaken much of the United States out of the isolationist stupor into which it was gradually falling. He has forced Europe’s political and mercantile classes to stop looking away from Russia’s descent into fascism. He reminds free societies that there can still be a vital center in politics, at least when it comes to things that matter.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为，他唤醒了我们本性中的善良天使。他的领导已让拜登变成一名更好的总统，德国变成一个更好的国家，北约变成一个更好的联盟。他已唤醒了正在逐渐陷入孤立主义麻痹状态的大部分美国人。他已迫使欧洲的政治和商业阶层不再对俄罗斯走向法西斯主义的现实视而不见。他提醒自由社会，政治上仍能有一个必不可少的中间，至少在事关紧要的问题上。
We admire Zelensky because he maintains a sense of human proportion befitting a democratically elected leader. Note the contrast between his public encounters with journalists, cabinet members, foreign leaders and ordinary citizens, and the Stalinist antics of the Putin court. In the ostentatious trappings of Russian power we see the smallness of the man wielding it: the paranoia and insecurity of a despot who knows he may someday have to sell his kingdom for a horse.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为，他保持着一种与民选领导人相称的人情味。他在公开场合与记者、内阁成员、外国领导人和普通公民接触的方式，与普京宫廷上斯大林式的滑稽可笑举止形成鲜明对照。在炫耀俄罗斯力量的外表下，我们看到的是那个玩弄权力男子的渺小，看到的是一个暴君的偏执和不安全感，他知道可能会在某日，他不得不用他的国家来换取他想要的东西。
We admire Zelensky because he models what a man should be: impressive without being imposing; confident without being cocksure; intelligent without pretending to be infallible; sincere rather than cynical; courageous not because he is fearless but because he advances with a clear conscience. American boys in particular, raised on preposterous notions of what manhood entails, should be steered toward his example.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为，他树立了一个男人的应有榜样：有气概，而不咄咄逼人；自信，而不自以为是；有才智，而不假装一贯正确。真诚，而不愤世嫉俗；勇敢，不是因为他无所畏惧，而是因为他问心无愧地前进。在关于什么才是男子气概的荒谬观念下长大的美国男孩们尤其应该向他学习。
We admire Zelensky because he holds out the hope that our own troubled democracies may yet elect leaders who can inspire, ennoble, even save us. Perhaps we can do so when the hour isn’t quite as late as it is now for the people of Ukraine and their indomitable leader.
我们钦佩泽连斯基是因为，他让我们看到了希望，我们自己陷入困境的民主国家也有可能选出能够激励人、使人更高尚，甚至拯救我们的领导人。也许我们早一点就能这样做，而不是等到我们也面临乌克兰人民和他们不屈不挠的领导人现在面临的情况时。