富兰克林•罗斯福的几则轶事

　　南京师范大学 裴灵犀 董晓波选注

　　1. The art of making enemies

　　Franklin D. Roosevelt was asked by his secretary whether he had heard that one of Roosevelt’s old friends was saying some very nasty things about him. Roosevelt said, “Is that so? When did this happen?” His secretary said, “Oh, the past few weeks.” Roosevelt leaned back in his chair, took a puff from that long cigarette holder which he always carried, blew out a thoughtful ring or two, and said. “That’s strange. I don’t recall ever doing him any favor. ”

　　树敌的艺术　

　　富兰克林•D•罗斯福的秘书问他是否知道他的一位老朋友在散布恶言中伤他。罗斯福说，“是吗？那是什么时候的事？”他的秘书说，“啊，就在前一两个礼拜。”罗斯福欠身靠在椅背上，拿起他老是带在身边的长烟斗叭了两口，一边沉思，一边吐出一两个烟圈，然后说，“这倒是怪事了。我记得不曾帮过他什么忙嘛。”

　　2. Message to Moscow

　　This was in the days of the great friendship between that United States and the USSR. The following telephone conversation is reputed to have taken place between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. Franklin D. Roosevelt calls up and gets the chief operator of Minsk, and he says, “Chief Operator of Minsk?” ”Ya?鄄ah!” “Connect me with the chief operator of Pinsk.” And the call went from Minsk to Pinsk to Stalingrad, and finally it got through to the great ball in Moscow where Stalin was. Then Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the wire and he says, “Hello, Joe? Frank! Giants three, Dodgers① nothing.”

　　跟莫斯科通电话

　　在美国和苏联最真诚友好的日子里，人们盛传着富兰克林•D•罗斯福和约瑟夫•斯大林之间的一次电话交谈。富兰克林•D•罗斯福接通了明斯克市总机，他说：“是明斯克总机接线员吗？”“是的！”“请接平斯克市总机。”电话从明斯克市转到平斯克，又从平斯克转到斯大林格勒。最后接通了莫斯科大会堂，找到了斯大林。然后富兰克林•D•罗斯福拿起话筒说：“喂，是约瑟夫吗？我是富兰克林，‘巨人队’三分，‘躲闪队’零分。”　

　　3. Roosevelt’s greatness

　　A hillman told me the other day that Roosevelt was the greatest man ever lived. “Greater’n② Jesus Christ,” he said solemnly. “Christ said, ‘Follow me and ye③ shall not want.’④ Roosevelt says, ‘Set⑤ down, boys, and I’ll hit to ye. ’”

　　罗斯福的伟大之处

　　一天有个山区居民告诉我，罗斯福是历史上最伟大的人物。“他比耶酥基督更伟大，”他庄重地说。“基督说，‘跟从我，你必不至缺乏。’罗斯福说，‘坐下吧，小伙子们，我将使你们交上好运。’”

　　注释：

　　1. “Giants”和”Dodgers”均为美棒球队的名称。

　　2. Greater’n = Greater than

　　3. ye = you

　　4. 《圣经》旧约•诗篇第二十三篇第一节载，“The lord is my shepherd I shall not want. ”

　　5. set = sit