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  3. The region around the Belgian city of Waterloo is busily preparing to commemo

The region around the Belgian city of Waterloo is busily preparing to commemo

游客2023-12-28  10
问题    The region around the Belgian city of Waterloo is busily preparing to commemorate the 200th anniversary of one of the major battles in European military history in 2015. But weaving a path through the preparations is proving almost as tricky as making one’s way across the battlefield back then, when the Duke of Wellington, as commander of an international alliance of forces, crushed Napoleon.
   A rambling though dilapidated farmstead called Hougoumont, which was crucial to the battle’s outcome, is being painstakingly restored as an educational center. Nearby, an underground visitor center is under construction, and roads and monuments throughout the rolling farmland where the sides once fought are being refurbished. More than 6,000 military buffs are expected to reenact individual skirmishes.
   While the battle ended two centuries ago, however, hard feelings have endured. Memories are long here, and not everyone shares Britain’s enthusiasm for celebrating Napoleon’s defeat.
   Every year, in districts of Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium, there are fetes to honor Napoleon, according to Count Georges Jacobs, a prominent Belgian industrialist and chairman of a committee responsible for restoring Hougoumont. "Napoleon, for these people, was very popular," Mr. Jacobs, 73, said over coffee. "That is why, still today, there are some enemies of the project."
   Belgium, of course, did not exist in 1815. Its Dutch-speaking regions were part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while the French-speaking portion had been incorporated into the French Empire. Among French speakers, Mr. Jacobs said, Napoleon had a "huge influence—the administration, the Code Napoleon," or revision of the legal system. While Dutch-speaking Belgians fought under Wellington, French speakers fought with Napoleon.
   That distaste on the part of modern-day French speakers crystallized in resistance to a British proposal that, as part of the restoration of Hougoumont, a memorial be raised to the British soldiers who died defending its narrow North Gate at a critical moment on June 18, 1815, when Wellington carried the day. "Every discussion in the committee was filled with high sensitivity," Mr. Jacobs recalled. "I said, ’This is a condition for the help of the British,’ so the North Gate won the battle, and we got the monument."
   If Belgium was reluctant to get involved, France was at first totally uninterested. "They told us, ’We don’t want to take part in this British triumphalism,’" said Countess Nathalie, a writer who is president of a committee representing four townships that own the land where the battle raged.
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答案    2015年是欧洲军事史上一场重要战役的200周年。眼下，比利时的滑铁卢地区正在紧锣密鼓地筹备该场战役的纪念活动。然而，推进筹备工作犹如当年穿越战场一般艰难。其时，威灵顿(wellington)公爵率领(反法)盟军大败拿破仑(Napoleon)。
   霍古蒙特农庄对战役的胜负发挥了决定性作用，如今人们正煞费苦心地将这座规模宏大但破旧不堪的农庄改造为教育中心。不远处，一座地下游客中心正在施工。绵延起伏的农庄曾经战火纷飞，而今，散布其间的道路、纪念性建筑都在修葺。6000多名军事爱好者将会重演滑铁卢独特的战争画面。
   虽然滑铁卢战役已过去了两个世纪，但是，旧恨未泯，心结难去，并非人人都像英国那样热衷于庆祝拿破仑的溃败。
   今年73岁的乔治-雅各布斯伯爵(Count Georges Jacobs)是比利时著名实业家，担任霍古蒙特重建委员会主席。他指出，在比利时的法语区瓦隆(Wallonia)，每年都会举行拿破仑纪念活动。他边喝咖啡边说：  “这里的人很崇拜拿破仑。所以，时至今日，还有人反对重建计划。”
   毫无疑问，1815年比利时尚未建国。其荷语区隶属尼德兰王国(the Kingdom of the Netherlands)，法语区则归并于法兰西帝国(the French Empire)。雅各布斯先生称，在法语区，拿破仑具有巨大的影响力；无论是他的治国之道，还是《拿破仑法典》，他的法制体系改革。荷语区居民在威灵顿公爵麾下作战，而法语区居民则与拿破仑并肩而战。
   1815年6月18日，在战争的关键时刻，不少英军士兵为保卫北门关隘牺牲，威灵顿大获全胜。因此英国方面建议，重建霍古蒙特时，为英军阵亡将士建立一座纪念碑。但这一提议遭到当时法语区民众的抵制，反感之情不言而喻。雅各布斯回忆道：“委员会的每次讨论都充满了火药味，我说：  ‘这是获得英国帮助的条件。’结果北门之战获胜了，我们有了这座纪念碑。”
   如果说比利时只是不情愿参与此事，那么法国起初则是完全不感兴趣。当年发生激战的区域现归属四个镇管辖，这四个镇成立了一个委员会，主席是伯爵夫人纳塔莉(Nathalie)，她还是一位作家。她说：  “法国人放话，  ‘英国人耀武扬威，我们不凑热闹’”。
解析    滑铁卢战役是欧洲乃至世界战争史上的著名战役，位于比利时滑铁卢小镇的古战场也因此吸引大批游客。在战役200周年之际，当地对战场及周边地区进行修缮并策划举行盛大庆典，引发了各方争议。文章开篇设喻，指出筹备活动推进艰难堪比穿越当年战场，将历史与现实紧密联系到一起。在简要描述修缮及庆典规划情况之后，文章再次深度点题：旧恨未泯，心结难除。如前所述，  《纽约时报》的特写重在以今日之事态，核对昨日之背景，揭示明日之意义，长于背景介绍和分析解释，颇具深度和广度。在特写后半部分，文章借当地两位长者之口，通过他们的所见所感，结合对历史情况的追述，真实揭示了比利时法语区与荷兰语区民众，以及英、法与比利时各国政府对待庆典迥然不同的态度。这是一篇充满厚重历史感的新闻特写，全文追溯历史、解读时事。当然，这种当下与历史、主线与支线交织的写法也给翻译造成了一定困难。
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