想去圣埃斯科巴度假吗?

⊙ By Ewa Lalik

翻译：Wendy

想去圣埃斯科巴度假吗?

⊙ By Ewa Lalik

翻译：Wendy

Do You Want to Visit San Escobar?

美英发音 适合泛读

语速：175词/分钟

暑假到了，亲，你考虑好出游目的地了吗？要不小编给你推荐一个？到圣埃斯科巴去吧。这是加勒比海的一个小国，首都是圣多苏比托，国旗是红、黑、白、绿四种颜色，它的主打出口商品是西红柿和葡萄酒。没听说过吗？它的历史确实不长，还不到一年呢，它的存在出自波兰外长之口……

Host: Today, let’s head to the nation of San Escobar. It’s located somewhere in the Caribbean, or at least, that’s what Poland’s Foreign Minister said at the United Nations the other day. True story—fake country.

Ewa Lalik is Polish. She’s a technology1)blogger in Warsaw. Ewa, Why did your Foreign Minister make up and talk about this fake nation of San Escobar, and all in the2)austere setting of the UN?

Ewa: It was just [sic] slip of a tongue. He told reporters that he had meetings with officials from nearly 20 countries, and he said that he met with some Caribbean nation called San Escobar.

Host: Yeah, well…did he explain why he said that?

Ewa: Uh, not there, no, but, later he said that it was just a slip of a tongue, and he was tired, and, that he had in mind St. Kitts, and Nevis, a small Caribbean country known in Spanish as San Cristóbal y Nieves. It sounds similar to San Escobar, I think.

Host: The3)Twitterati have been having a4)field day with this non-existent country. What have the5)pranksters done to add to San Escobar’s fake back story?

Ewa: Yes, they made up almost everything, including history, even economic info.

Host: Info like major exports?

Ewa: Yes, like tomatoes and wine. It’s a small country between Mexico and Guatemala with, like, 300,000 citizens, with main cities as Esperal, Santo Subito, currency San Escobarean Pesos.

Host: Does it seem like the kind of place like6)Poles would want to visit this time of year? Ewa: Yes, of course, ’cause it’s [sic] very warm country, and Poles are7)tagging themselves in the biggest San Escobarean cities as we speak. For example, the capital of San Escobar, Santo Subito, or beautiful beach areas, so, yes, I…I think it’s now the most popular country for Poles to be in.

Host: As long as we’re talking fake news, I wonder if San Escobar supports Poland’s candidacy to the Security Council注.

Ewa: Ah, yes, of course. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of San Escobar said San Escobar is Poland’s strongest8)ally. It’s probably because big similarities in Polish and Escobarean history. Poland is the only country that recognises San Escobar as a country.

Host: Do you know what the reaction was when the Foreign Minister kinda brought this up? Were people in the room like, “Wha…what’s he talking about?”

Ewa: In that moment I think that nobody noticed that, so, it was later that Twitter called this mistake.

Host: Yeah, well, that kinda worries me about the people sitting at the United Nations—“Well, OK, San Escobar…”

Ewa: Not only you. Not only you. A lot of Poles are worried about this.

Host: Well, when you’re too stressed out with the real news, you can always think about the beautiful country of San Escobar in the Caribbean, I suppose.

Ewa: Yes, you can always go for vacation in San Escobar.

Host: In your mind.

1) blogger ['blɒgə(r)] n. 博主

2) austere [ɒ'stɪə(r)] adj. 严肃的

3) Twitterati [twɪtə'rɑːtɪ] n. 网络达人，推客精英

4) feld day 忙碌的一天，愉快的一天

5) prankster ['præŋkstə(r)] n. 开玩笑者，恶作剧者

6) Poles [pəʊ] n. 波兰人

7) tag [tæg] v. 给……加标签

8) ally ['ælaɪ] n. 拥挤者，支持者

注：目前波兰正在积极争取2018–2019年东欧地区唯一一个联合国安理会非常任理事国的名额。

见招拆招

习语学习：a slip of the tongue

大家想象一下，舌头打滑了，那会是什么情况？当然就是舌头不听话，一下子说错话了。习语a slip of tongue正是通过这个传神的形象比喻，表达“失言，口误”的意思。它既可指生理上的失误，即舌头一时转不过来，也指人一时思想开小差，说错了话，如：It was a slip of the tongue when I said John’s fancée is Anna; I meant Hannah.（我把约翰的未婚妻说成安娜，我原本想说汉娜的，那是口误。）

参考译文

主持人：今天，我们一起前往圣埃斯科巴吧，那是位于加勒比海的一个国家，或者说，至少波兰外交部长前些日子在联合国是这么说的。故事是真的，但这个国家是虚构的。

伊娃·拉里卡是波兰人，她是华沙一个科技博客的博主。伊娃，为什么你们的外交部长会编造并谈论圣埃斯科巴这样一个虚构的国家，而且是在联合国这么严肃的场合？

伊娃：这只是一次口误。他告诉记者，他曾与来自近20个国家的官员会面，他说其中有叫圣埃斯科巴的加勒比海国家。

主持人：哟，他有没有解释为什么会这样说？

伊娃：呃，没有，当时没有，但后来他说那只是一次口误，他那时很疲劳，心里想的是加勒比海小国圣基茨和尼维斯，其西班牙语发音为“San Cristóbal y Nieves”。我觉得这听起来很像圣埃斯科巴。

主持人：这个现实中并不存在的国家使网络达人忙活起来了，这些恶作剧制造者为圣埃斯科巴的虚构背景故事加了些什么内容？

伊娃：是的，他们编撰出了差不多所有的背景资料，包括该国的历史，甚至还有经济方面的信息。主持人：比如主要出口货物这类的信息？

伊娃：是的，比如说出口西红柿和葡萄酒。人们称这是一个位于墨西哥和危地马拉之间的小国，人口约30万，主要城市有埃斯佩尔、圣多苏比托等；货币为圣埃斯科巴比索。

主持人：这听起来像不像是波兰人想在这个季节去看看的地方？

伊娃：确实，当然，因为那是一个气候温暖的国度，现在波兰人都是会用上这类标签，声称自己正在圣埃斯科巴的大城市度假，比如说圣埃斯科巴首都圣多苏比托，或者美丽的海滨地区等，所以，是的，我……我觉得现在对波兰人来说，它是最热门的国家。

主持人：既然我们在谈论虚假新闻，我想知道圣埃斯科巴是否支持波兰进入安理会？

伊娃：啊，当然支持，圣埃斯科巴外交部说圣埃斯科巴是波兰最坚定的盟友，这大概是因为波兰与圣埃斯科巴有着相似的历史，而波兰又是唯一承认圣埃斯科巴的国家。

主持人：在你们的外长提到这个国家时，你知道大家有什么反应吗？在场的人有没有说：“什么？他在说什么？”

伊娃：在那一刻，我想没有人留意到这个问题，是网友后来在推特上发现了这个错误。

主持人：是的，嗯，这倒是让我有点担心在联合国的那些人：“呃，好吧，圣埃斯科巴……”

伊娃：不仅仅你，不仅仅是你，很多波兰人都担心这个问题。

主持人：好吧，我想，如果大家对真实的新闻感到“压力山大”，那总可以想想在加勒比海的美丽国度——圣埃斯科巴。

伊娃：是的，大家随时可以去圣埃斯科巴度假。

主持人：在你的想象中。