Arctic antics

北極圈的幽默

Greenlanders say Donald Trump should have asked them first

格陵蘭人說唐納德·特朗普應(yīng)該先問他們

The islanders knew his talk of buying Greenland was not a joke

島民們知道他關(guān)于購買格陵蘭島的言論不是開玩笑

Aug 24th 2019

MOST DANES thought it was a joke when President Donald Trump said America might buy Greenland, a self-governing island that forms 98% of Danish territory. Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, dismissed the idea as “absurd”. When Mr Trump reacted by calling her “nasty” and cancelling a visit to Copenhagen, his would-be hosts were stunned. But many Greenlanders were not.

當(dāng)唐納德·特朗普總統(tǒng)說美國可能會購買格陵蘭島時，大多數(shù)丹麥人認(rèn)為這是個笑話。格陵蘭島是一個自治島嶼，占丹麥領(lǐng)土的98%。丹麥?zhǔn)紫嗝诽亍じダ椎吕锟松?Mette Frederiksen)認(rèn)為這一想法“荒謬可笑”。當(dāng)特朗普回應(yīng)稱她“令人討厭”，并取消對哥本哈根的訪問時，他的潛在東道主驚呆了。但許多格陵蘭人卻不以為意。

詞匯

Nasty/ ?極差的；惡心的

“I knew from the start this was to be taken seriously,” says Aleqa Hammond, a former prime minister of Greenland. It was not the first time an American president had suggested such a purchase. In 1946 Harry Truman offered $100m for Greenland ($1.3bn in today’s money).

格陵蘭島前總理阿萊卡?哈蒙德(Aleqa Hammond)表示:“我從一開始就知道，這是要認(rèn)真對待的?！边@并不是美國總統(tǒng)第一次提出這樣的購買計劃。1946年，哈里?杜魯門(Harry Truman)出價1億美元(相當(dāng)于今天的13億美元)收購格陵蘭島。

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Today the island has only 57,000 inhabitants, yet it is of growing strategic importance, as Russian submarines reappear in the Arctic and China dreams of a “polar silk route” through newly ice-free seas. Denmark is responsible for Greenland’s external affairs and defence. NATO membership once allowed Greenlanders to sleep easy, but since Mr Trump has undermined that alliance, their security is less certain.

如今，該島只有5.7萬居民，但隨著俄羅斯?jié)撏г俅纬霈F(xiàn)在北極，以及中國夢想著在新開辟的無冰海域建設(shè)一條“極地絲綢之路”，該島的戰(zhàn)略重要性日益增強(qiáng)。丹麥負(fù)責(zé)格陵蘭的對外事務(wù)和國防。北約成員國身份曾讓格陵蘭人睡得安穩(wěn)，但由于特朗普破壞了這個聯(lián)盟，他們的安全就不那么確定了。

詞匯

NATO/北大西洋公約組織（North Atlantic Treaty Organization）

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Greenland’s feisty legislators, including Kim Kielsen, the current prime minister, all agree that the island’s sovereignty is not for sale. But they are flattered that outsiders are interested, and insist on their right to parley with all comers. As Ms Hammond says: “If Mr Trump wants to discuss Greenland, let him come here, not to Denmark.”

包括現(xiàn)任總理基姆?基爾森在內(nèi)的格陵蘭島爭強(qiáng)好勝的立法委員們一致認(rèn)為，格陵蘭島的主權(quán)是不可出售的。但令他們感到受寵若驚的是，外人對此感興趣，他們堅持自己與所有來者談判的權(quán)利。正如哈蒙德所說:“如果特朗普想討論格陵蘭島，讓他來這里，而不是丹麥?！?/p>

詞匯

Feisty/爭強(qiáng)好勝的

Flattered/受寵若驚開心的

Parley/和談，商談

As Mr Trump observed, Danish taxpayers send Greenland more than $600m a year in subsidies. But that dependence does not deter the island’s politicians from pursuing their own bargains. Last year Mr Kielsen found Chinese contractors for an upgrade to the island’s airports. That terrified NATO, and Denmark pressed Greenland to find Danish contractors instead. One of the parties in Mr Kielsen’s coalition marched out in protest. Greenlanders who want independence say that widening the range of economic partners could wean them off Danish aid.

正如特朗普所言，丹麥納稅人每年向格陵蘭提供逾6億美元補(bǔ)貼。但這種依賴并沒有阻止島上的政客們追求自己的利益。去年，Kielsen先生找到了中國承包商，為格陵蘭島機(jī)場進(jìn)行升級改造。這嚇壞了北約，丹麥迫使格陵蘭島轉(zhuǎn)而尋找丹麥承包商。Kielsen聯(lián)盟中的一個政黨舉行了游行以示抗議。想要獨(dú)立的格陵蘭人說，擴(kuò)大經(jīng)濟(jì)合作伙伴的范圍可以使他們不再依賴丹麥的援助。

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Aqqaluk Lynge, a veteran leftist, said the spat with Mr Trump might make Danes and Greenlanders appreciate one another more. It might, for example, remind Danes who moan about subsidising their Arctic cousins not to take them for granted.

資深左翼人士Aqqaluk Lynge表示，與特朗普的口角可能會讓丹麥人和格陵蘭人更加欣賞對方。例如，這可能會提醒那些抱怨補(bǔ)貼北極同胞的丹麥人，不要把補(bǔ)貼當(dāng)成理所當(dāng)然。

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Today Greenland exports mostly seafood. When Mr Trump joked that he did not want to build a skyscraper with his name on it in Greenland, he was surely telling the truth. The real economic opportunity is that vanishing glaciers are opening up its mineral resources, including rare earths and possibly oil and gas. Minik Rosing, a Greenland-born geologist, noted the irony in a man who once called global warming a “hoax” coveting territory that owes its rising value to melting snows. Yet he also thinks a more tactful American leader might persuade Greenlanders to upgrade their links with the United States at the expense of their Danish ones.

如今，格陵蘭主要出口海鮮。當(dāng)特朗普開玩笑說，他不想在格陵蘭建造一座以自己名字命名的摩天大樓時，他肯定是在說真話。真正的經(jīng)濟(jì)機(jī)遇在于，正在消失的冰川正在開發(fā)其礦產(chǎn)資源，包括稀土，可能還有石油和天然氣。在格陵蘭出生的地質(zhì)學(xué)家米尼克?羅辛(Minik Rosing)注意到了這一具有諷刺意味的現(xiàn)象。羅辛曾將全球變暖稱為一場“騙局”，貪婪地覬覦著這片土地，并將其不斷升值的價值歸功于不斷融化的積雪。然而，他也認(rèn)為，一位更圓滑的美國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人可能會說服格陵蘭人以犧牲丹麥人的利益為代價，升級與美國的關(guān)系。

詞匯

Tactful/機(jī)智的；圓滑的

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Perhaps. But were they ever to decide to become part of America, which for now seems highly unlikely, they would get a culture shock. Not only do Greenlanders have Nordic ideas about social welfare; they also ban private ownership of land.

也許。但如果他們決定成為美國的一部分，他們將會受到文化沖擊。格陵蘭人不僅有北歐人的社會福利觀念;他們還禁止私人擁有土地。

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