文/叶子南 译/蔡力坚

敢问路在何方？
——美国大选感言

What Lies Ahead?—Some thoughts on the 2016 U.S. presidential election1

文/叶子南 译/蔡力坚

今天我们不是在庆祝任何一党的胜利，而是在庆祝一个人的成功，它并不代表任何事物的终结，但却预示未知的开端。不管你是特朗普的铁杆，还是希拉里的粉丝，都去街角的酒店买一瓶威士忌，喝个酩酊大醉，或为胜利者欢笑，或为失败者痛哭。

W e observe today not a victory of either party, but a celebration of the success of one man—which probably doesn’t symbolize an end to anything, but rather a beginning of the unknown.22作者写这句话的时候也许想到了肯尼迪就职演说的开头语：We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom—symbolizing an end as well as a beginning—signifying renewal as well as change. 句式有些相像，于是译文也套用了相应的结构。Whether you are a Trump supporter or a Hillary fan, go to a liquor store, buy a bottle of whiskey and drink it to the lees, either to unleash your joy, or to soothe your broken heart.

[2]一年多来，这位商人尽管丑闻缠身，口出狂言，体制不在他那边，传媒不在他那边，财团不在他那边，民调不在他那边，却逆流而上，最终击败了身经百战的政坛老将，打破了多少人期盼的女总统梦。你当然可以找到一些原因，比如性别歧视，比如境外干预，比如选民兴趣缺缺，比如联邦调查局致命的一击，这些都多少影响了选情，但是特朗普现象绝不是这些技术因素可以完全解释的。

[2] For over a year this business mogul has defied gravity3has defied gravity在这里表示“逆流而上”，行文安排的顺序有调整。. Nothing could spell doom for his campaign, not devastating scandals, nor his politically incorrect fiery talk. And indeed, nothing could stop him, not the political establishment, or big media, orbig money, or sagging poll numbers.4在中文里重复使用“不在他那边”，形成排比句式，不但不会给人以累赘的感觉，反而更加整齐有力，但在英语里似乎不宜如此重复，于是对整体结构作了调整。Against seemingly overwhelming odds, he pulled off a stunning upset5upset作为名词使用时最常见的含义是a state of being disappointed（失意），但也经常用来表示an unexpected result or situation，用在此处是表示 surprise win。over a seasoned political high fl yer and dashed the dream many had entertained that a woman would for the first time in history be at the helm of the country. While you might be tempted to attribute his unstoppable surge to gender discrimination, alleged outside interference, voter fatigue6fatigue的基本含义是（因对某事接触过多而变得）兴趣索然（a lessening in one’s response to or enthusiasm for something, typically as a result of overexposure to it）。参观博物馆多了，会产生museum fatigue；悲剧见多了，会产生tragedy fatigue；到处呼吁捐款，会产生donor fatigue，如此等等。, or a lethal blow to his opponent dealt by the FBI Director, the Trump phenomenon cannot be satisfactorily explained by these technicalities alone.

[3]那么到底什么是特朗普现象的主因呢？……