赏析版2011年7-12月经济学人文章(英汉双语对照)汇(21)

When their deaths are joined (and indeed eclipsed) by the death of a 20th-century dictator, perhaps that is comedy. Or maybe it is still tragedy

两位20世纪著名的极权主义反对者在同一星期内相继辞世，这是个悲剧；而他们的逝去跟20世纪的独裁者的离世搅在一起（实际上是被掩盖了），这可能是个喜剧。或者，这依然是个悲剧。

succumbed to oesophageal cancer on December 15th, aged 62, a victim of his vices and DNA (his father died of the same disease). North Korea's ailing "Dear Leader" perished on Saturday, aged 69. And on Sunday Havel, who had been battling various illnesses for over a decade, died aged 75.

克里斯多福·希欽斯、金正日和瓦茨拉夫·哈维尔在数天内相继辞世。先是希欽斯，12月15日，他因食道癌离世，享年62岁。患病原因一是酗酒，二是遗传——他的父亲死于同一种病。星期六，朝鲜有疾在身的―亲爱领袖‖寿终正寝，终年69岁。星期日，哈维尔在与多种疾病抗争十多年以后溘然离世，享年75岁。

But let's forget about North Korea for a second and consider Havel and Hitchens, two singular men, noisy and smart. It would seem there is otherwise little to connect them. In the 1970s and 1980s Havel personally experienced the heavy hand of communism, his time in prison matched only by Hitchens's time in the pub. The Soviet system Havel protested against as absurd was something Hitchens was inclined to romanticise from the safe distance of his perch at the Nation. Havel was a moralist, influential and admired, yet shy and soft-spoken. Hitchens was a skilled and combative rhetorician with an imperious flair. A polarising figure, his support for the war in Iraq (which Havel also supported) ultimately alienated him from the left. Havel was a Czech president; it is amusing to imagine Hitchens running for elected office. 让我们暂时不管朝鲜这茬，来细想下哈维尔和希欽斯，这两位非凡的人——闹腾而聪明。除此以外似乎没有什么能将两人联系起来。上世纪70年代和80年代，哈维尔经历了共产主义的严酷镇压，他身陷囹圄的时间跟希欽在酒馆晃荡的时间有的一拼。哈维尔反抗苏联体制，认为其荒谬不堪；而由于苏联体制苏联鞭长莫及，为《国家》杂志工作的希欽斯却倾向于将其浪漫化。哈维尔是道德主义者，有影响力且受人尊敬，不过他生性害羞，言语温和；而希欽斯则是位老练而好斗的雄辩家，盛气凌人。他还是一个分裂的人，由于支持伊拉克战争（哈维尔也支持），希欽斯最终为左派疏远。哈维尔为一国总统，而想象一下希欽斯竞选公职就会让人发笑。

Yet both men were effective polemicists, united by their faith in the power of language. Both believed in freedom, the rights of the individual and the uncompromising search for truth. Agree with them or not—and Hitchens enjoyed making it hard to agree—they held steadfast to their opinions. Time and age did not weaken them. Even as Hitchens grew increasingly ill, he had himself helped out of bed so that he could sit at his desk to continue his scribbling.

不过哈维尔和希欽斯都是让人印象深刻的辩论家，他们对语言的力量有自己的信仰。两位都相信自由、个人权利以及对真相的不屈探索。不管你同意还是不同意他们，这两人可谓―固执己见‖（而希欽斯对于别人无法认同其观点还特别享受）。岁月与年龄一点也没有影响他们的坚强，即便是病情加重之时，希欽斯也要独自从病榻挣扎起来，坐在书桌前奋笔疾书。

"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent," Ludwig Wittgenstein observed. In some cases this silence is imposed, politically and aggressively. Speechlessness is often the self-preserving hush of the powerless and oppressed. It is for these people that Havel and Hitchens often spoke. There is much to