小肉球近來比較忙，今晚又要去社區大樓管委會臨時會旁聽，唉，這種開會時間可真要俺這夜貓子的命呀。

不過，俺留意到近來台灣人為英國《經濟學人》（The Economist）的一篇文章而舉國大驚小怪起來，俺大呼嘖嘖。這類文章有什麼呢？國際報章雜誌經常如此批評各國領導人。

俺終於抽空讀了原文，讀後初步感想有二：(1) 台灣人很愛大驚小怪；(2) 台灣人的英文翻譯不是普通的差。

去年總統大選期間, 民進黨拿了一篇英文報導搞出 "女羅賓漢" 議題, 小肉球首度見識到某些台灣人的 "一廂情願式誤譯功夫", 當時, 俺就頗想來個抓錯, 可惜沒時間遂願.

昨兒個匆匆簡譯《經濟學人》文章一下：

Ma the bumbler
A former heart-throb loses his shine
Nov 17th 2012 | TAIPEI

小肉球評: Bumbler 這字並不是強烈的貶辱, 指一個人很努力, 拼命想做好, 卻跌跌撞撞老犯錯, 以致到目前都仍然做不好.  heart-throb 指馬英九以前粉絲有多多, 這個前偶像現在卻失去他的光環.  哪個笨蛋把 bumbler 譯成 "笨蛋"?  bumble 的語義和 fumble 接近, 是客觀地評論行為, 非主觀的人身攻擊.

WHEN he was first elected in 2008, Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, offered Taiwanese high hopes that the island’s economy would open a new chapter. He promised ground-breaking agreements with China to help end Taiwan’s growing economic marginalisation. At the time, Mr Ma’s image was of a clean technocrat able to rise above the cronyism and infighting of his party, the Kuomintang (KMT). He was a welcome contrast to his fiery and pro-independence predecessor, Chen Shui-bian, now in jail for corruption.

小肉球簡譯: 指馬英九初上台, 形象清新, 人民對他期望過高, 指望馬英九把台灣帶領出經濟逐漸邊緣化的境地.

Five years on, and despite being handily re-elected ten months ago, much has changed. In particular, popular satisfaction with Mr Ma has plummeted, to a record low of 13%, according to the TVBS Poll Centre. The country appears to agree on one thing: Mr Ma is an ineffectual bumbler.

小肉球簡譯: 五年過去了, 雖然10月前順利連任, 民調根據 TVBS 落至新低 (13%), 國人對他的共識是: 馬英九是一位效率不彰、躓仆不斷的國家舵手.

Ordinary people do not find their livelihoods improving. Salaries have stagnated for a decade. The most visible impact of more open ties with China, which include a free-trade agreement, has been property speculation in anticipation of a flood of mainland money. Housing in former working-class areas on the edge of Taipei, the capital, now costs up to 40 times the average annual wage of $15,400. The number of families below the poverty line has leapt. Labour activists have taken to pelting the presidential office with eggs.

小肉球簡譯: 老百姓的生活沒有改進, 薪資十年來滯留原點, 與大陸改善關係的最明顯衝擊並非陸資湧進, 而是房地產投機; 勞工階級買不起住家; 貧窮底線以下的家庭戶數激增; 勞運者訴諸向總統府丟雞蛋.  (俺看台灣新聞與名嘴評論, 怎麼有人把 a decade 說成 "一個世代" 了呢?  真是太亂來、太不精準了.)

Exports account for 70% of GDP. So some of Taiwan’s problems are down to the dismal state of rich-world economies. Yet Mr Ma’s leadership is also to blame. He has failed to paint a more hopeful future, with sometimes hard measures needed now. Worse, he frequently tweaks policies in response to opposition or media criticism. It suggests indecisiveness.

小肉球簡譯: 台灣國內生產毛額的七成靠出口, 所以台灣的經濟問題有些是可以歸咎於富裕國家的經濟慘景的.  但是馬英九的領導也必須負責, 他有時不夠強硬, 最糟的是他一碰到媒體批評就朝令夕改, 這表示他缺乏決斷力.

Public anger first arose in June, when Mr Ma raised the price of government-subsidised electricity. Few Taiwanese understood why, even though Taiwan’s state-owned power company loses billions. In the face of public outrage, Mr Ma postponed a second round of electricity price rises scheduled for December. They will now take place later next year.

小肉球簡譯: 今年六月引起民憤, 馬英九當時要提高電價, 很少台灣人明白他為什麼要這麼做, 台電是國營, 虧損數十億美元.  面對民憤, 馬英九就擱置12月預定執行的第二輪電價漲幅, 但今年延期, 明年仍舊會漲.

People are also worried that a national pension scheme is on course for bankruptcy in less than two decades. Yet Mr Ma cannot bring himself to raise premiums sharply, because of the temporary unpopularity it risks. When Mr Ma does try to appeal to Taiwanese who make up the island’s broad political centre, it often backfires with his party’s core supporters. Following public grumbles that retired civil servants, teachers and ex-servicemen were a privileged group, the cabinet announced plans to cut more than $300m in year-end bonuses, affecting around 381,000. The trouble was, veterans are among the KMT’s most fervent backers. Now some threaten to take to the streets in protest and deprive the KMT of their votes until the plan is scrapped. Meanwhile, Mr Ma’s clean image has been sullied by the indictment of the cabinet secretary-general for graft.

小肉球簡譯: 國人現在又必須擔心國民年金制度在廿年內破產, 可是馬英九又怕招惹民怨而不敢提高保費.   馬英九每每企圖迎合台灣多數民意, 卻又怕激怒國民黨的核心支持者 (按: 意指深藍).  老百姓對退休軍公教所享特權不滿, 行政院就宣佈削減其特權, 所影響人數約 38 萬.  問題出在榮民是國民黨的死忠支持者, 如今則威脅走上街頭, 不再票投國民黨.  與此同時, 馬英九的內閣秘書長林益世貪汙, 馬的清廉形象蒙塵.

Cracks are starting to grow in the KMT façade. Recently Sean Lien, a prominent politician, criticised Mr Ma’s economic policies, saying that any politician in office during this time of sluggish growth was at best a “master of a beggar clan”—implying a country of paupers.

小肉球簡譯: 國民黨的招牌也開始萌生崩解的癥象, 最近, 一名顯要政客連勝文批評馬英九的經濟政策, 說經濟不好, 選上當官也不過在做丐幫幫主罷了 -- 意指台灣是一個乞丐國家.

But the next election is four years away, and presidential hopefuls will not try to oust or even outshine Mr Ma anytime soon. After all, they will not want to take responsibility for the country’s economic problems. Nothing suggests Mr Ma’s main policies will change (or that they should), but his credibility is draining by the day.

小肉球簡譯: 總統大選尚餘四年 (按: 筆誤, 實為三年), 逐鹿者並不急著罷黜或比下馬英九, 畢竟沒人願意為經濟不好承擔責任.  目前並無跡象顯示馬英九會改變其主要政策 (他應該改), 而他的公信力也在一天一天地耗盡當中.

總評: 這篇OK啦, 俺終於讀了它, 還算公允, 外國政論經常這麼寫的, bumbler 絕對不是笨蛋.  當然, 俺不排除另一個可能性, 即台灣的英文水準其實沒有那麼差, 而是有心人想要馬英九當笨蛋, 所以誤譯成笨蛋. 

馬英九如果太在乎自己國人誤譯的話, 例如去向《經濟學人》抗議的話, 那可真就是笨蛋了.

* 經濟學人：bumbler形容行事猶豫 非笨蛋 (2012.11.21)

英國「經濟學人」回函給我國駐英代表處，指部分台灣媒體「不負責任地錯誤翻譯」bumbler一字為「笨蛋」，其實這字是形容「行事有猶豫」或「略帶困惑」，沒有侮辱的意思。 [小肉球按: 俺可不知我國駐英代表處怎麼解讀齊格勒的回函, bumbler 的字義不止於 "行事猶豫" + "略帶困惑", 它還有 "做事老凸槌" 的意思.]

外交部發言人夏季昌昨天說，在國外出差的「經濟學人」亞洲版主編齊格勒，回信給駐英代表處時特別以中文標示「笨蛋」二字；齊格勒說，這是「嚴重的錯誤翻譯」。

經濟學人這篇報導刊出後，駐英代表處第一時間主動與齊格勒聯絡，表達關切，盼當面溝通。

接獲齊格勒的來信後，駐英代表處將投書給經濟學人，引用國際權威機構的數據，說明馬英九總統任內台灣整體經濟表現。

一般來說, 具有公信力的國際媒體是不會更正其政評的, 去抗議乃多此一舉, 徒顯自家小氣. 

此外, bumbler 明明不是笨蛋, 明明你自己英文不好, 你解讀錯誤已算笨蛋, 卻還去抗議人家罵你笨蛋, 你等於告訴《經濟學人》你可真是笨蛋加笨蛋了.