? ? ?It so happened that I have fairly often had to change my name in the?course of my life and the first change occurred very early on. My?grandfathers on both sides were called Jacob, my Dutch grandfather?in the Latin form, Jacobus. It was therefore decided that I should be?called Jacob, in honour of one or both of them, as you like.?Accordingly when, after the delivery, the family doctor asked my?mother what I was to be called she said Jacob. When he returned in?the evening to see how mother and child were doing he asked how?little Jacob was getting on. To her great embarrassment my mother?had to tell him that it was no longer Jacob, but George. What had?happened was that on the way to register my birth my father?had changed his mind. I was born on the 11th of November, 1922,?Armistice Day, and being a war veteran he decided at the last minute in?a surge of patriotism to call me George in honour of the King of?England. It was typical of my father that he did this on his own?without first consulting my mother. The funny thing is that I never?liked the name George and at home and by my relations I was never?called by that name, but by the nickname Poek, which I was given?very early on. Another strange thing is that later, when I started?to read the Bible I felt a strong attraction to the personality of Jacob?and to some extent identified myself with him. This was even before?I knew that I was partly Jewish. Evidently the fact that my mother?called me by that name in the first hours of my life must have left an?impression. I have never liked the name George myself though this?may be due in part to the fact that in Holland it is an unusual name?and made me stand out from the beginning among my friends and?school fellows as somebody slightly different. I much prefer incidentally?to be called, as I have been for the last twenty-three years, by the?Russian version, Gueorgi, which sounds more attractive to my ears.

【碰巧的是，在我的一生中，我經(jīng)常不得不改變我的名字，而第一次改變發(fā)生在很早的時(shí)候。我兩邊的祖父都叫雅各布，也就是我的荷蘭祖父的拉丁語(yǔ)形式，雅各伯。因此，他們決定叫我雅各布，以紀(jì)念他們中的一個(gè)或兩個(gè)。因此，當(dāng)分娩后，家庭醫(yī)生問(wèn)我母親我將叫什么名字時(shí)，她說(shuō):雅各布。晚上他回來(lái)看看母子倆怎么樣了，他問(wèn)小雅各布怎么樣了。令母親非常尷尬的是，她不得不告訴他，那人不再是雅各布，而是喬治。事情是這樣的，在去登記出生的路上，我父親改變了主意。我出生在1922年11月11日，停戰(zhàn)日，作為一名退伍軍人，他在最后一刻決定叫我喬治，以表達(dá)對(duì)英國(guó)國(guó)王的敬意。我父親經(jīng)常這樣，他沒(méi)有事先和我母親商量就自己做了這件事。有趣的是，我從來(lái)都不喜歡喬治這個(gè)名字，在家里和親戚們都不叫我喬治這個(gè)名字，而是叫我波克，這是我很早就起的綽號(hào)。另一件有意思的事是，后來(lái)當(dāng)我開(kāi)始讀圣經(jīng)的時(shí)候，我感到雅各布的人格有一種強(qiáng)烈的吸引力，在某種程度上，我與他產(chǎn)生了共鳴。這甚至是在我知道自己有一部分猶太人血統(tǒng)之前。顯然，我母親在我生命的最初幾個(gè)小時(shí)就叫我這個(gè)名字，這一定給我留下了深刻的印象。我自己從來(lái)都不喜歡喬治這個(gè)名字，盡管這可能部分是因?yàn)樵诤商m，喬治這個(gè)名字是一個(gè)不同尋常的名字，從一開(kāi)始我就在我的朋友和同學(xué)中脫穎而出，成為一個(gè)有點(diǎn)不同的人。在過(guò)去的二十三年里，我更喜歡被俄文的格奧爾基(Gueorgi)稱呼，聽(tīng)起來(lái)更順耳一些。】

? ? ?From the very first my mother and her many relatives, in the first?place my grandmother, my aunts and my uncles, played the most?important part in my life. My father, though we loved him dearly and?stood in awe of him, was a rather remote figure of whom we children?saw comparatively little. This especially when, after a few years, we moved?to a new flat on the outskirts of the town and he transferred his?business to other premises in the centre. We then saw him only on?Sundays or for a short time at breakfast. In those days it was the?custom to put children to bed early and as he did not return home till?well after eight we were asleep and never saw him in the evening,?though he always came into our bedroom to cover us up and kiss us?goodnight.

【從一開(kāi)始，我的母親和她的許多親戚，我的祖母、我的姑姑和叔叔，他們?cè)谖业纳钪邪缪萘撕苤匾慕巧Ｎ业母赣H，雖然我們很愛(ài)他，也很敬畏他，但他卻是一個(gè)我們很少見(jiàn)到的人。尤其是幾年后，我們搬到了郊區(qū)的一套新公寓，而他把生意搬到了市中心的其他地方。我們只在星期天或早餐時(shí)見(jiàn)到他一小會(huì)兒。在那些日子里，孩子們?cè)缭缟洗菜X(jué)是一種習(xí)慣，他一直到八點(diǎn)多才回家，我們都睡著了，晚上見(jiàn)不到他，盡管他總是到我們的臥室里來(lái)，給我們蓋上被子，吻我們道晚安。】

? ? ?On Sundays he was often tired and preferred to stay at home with a?good book rather than accompany my mother on the long walks on which?she and her younger sister took us. His health was never very?good and much of his energy was taken up by the struggle to keep his?business going. He was up against many difficulties. He was a?foreigner and did not speak Dutch. He also knew very little about the?Dutch character and customs. This made him do things which in?Dutch eyes seemed strange and instead of attracting customers put?them off. These difficulties could have been to a large extent overcome?if he had taken the trouble to learn the language and been willing to listen?to my mother's advice, but this he stubbornly refused to do.?The truth of the matter is that, in spite of his Jewish origins, he did?not conform to the stereotype of the clever Jewish businessman.?Nevertheless at times his affairs flourished and then he was in high?spirits and spent money lavishly - much against my mother's sound?common sense. At other times things went less well and then he was?worried and depressed. It was my mother's great merit that among?these fluctuations of fortune and moods she managed to keep the?family boat on an even keel and sheltered us children as much as?possible from their consequences.

【星期天他經(jīng)常一副疲憊的樣子，寧愿呆在家里看一本好書(shū)，也不愿陪我母親和她妹妹帶我們?nèi)ド⒉?。他的健康狀況一直不太好，他的大部分精力都花在維持生意上了。他遇到了許多困難。他是個(gè)外國(guó)人，不會(huì)說(shuō)荷蘭語(yǔ)。他對(duì)荷蘭人的性格和習(xí)俗也知之甚少。這使得他做的事情在荷蘭人看來(lái)很奇怪，不但沒(méi)有吸引顧客，反而使他們望而卻步。如果他肯下工夫去學(xué)這門語(yǔ)言，并愿意聽(tīng)我母親的建議，這些困難在很大程度上是可以克服的，但他固執(zhí)地拒絕這樣做。事情的真相是，盡管他是猶太人，但他并不符合聰明的猶太商人的刻板印象。然而，他有時(shí)生意興隆，情緒高漲，花錢大手大腳——這與我母親相違。但在其他時(shí)候，事情不那么順利了，他就會(huì)擔(dān)心和沮喪。我母親最大的優(yōu)點(diǎn)是，在命運(yùn)和情緒的波動(dòng)中，她能使家庭保持平穩(wěn)，并盡可能地保護(hù)我們這些孩子不受其影響?！?/p>

? ? ?My father spoke French as a native and English well, though how?well I cannot judge since I myself did not learn to speak that language?till after his death when I was thirteen and went to live with his relatives?in Egypt. At home he spoke English with my mother, who,?like most Dutch people spoke English much better than French,?though she had learned both languages at school. We children spoke?Dutch both at home with our mother and relations and, of course, at?school and with our friends and as we saw comparatively little of our?father did not learn to speak English. So there existed a rather unusual?situation in our family where we children did not have a common?language with our father. This lack of direct communication did not?worry us very much as far as I can recall as, somehow, we managed to?understand each other.

【我父親的母語(yǔ)是法語(yǔ)，英語(yǔ)也說(shuō)得很好，但我無(wú)法判斷他說(shuō)得有多好，因?yàn)槲易约褐钡剿ナ篮蟛艑W(xué)會(huì)說(shuō)這門語(yǔ)言，當(dāng)時(shí)我13歲，去埃及和他的親戚住在一起。在家里，他和我母親用英語(yǔ)交談。我母親和大多數(shù)荷蘭人一樣，英語(yǔ)說(shuō)得比法語(yǔ)好得多，盡管她在學(xué)校里學(xué)過(guò)這兩種語(yǔ)言。我們這些孩子在家里和母親及親戚們說(shuō)荷蘭語(yǔ)，當(dāng)然，在學(xué)校和朋友們也說(shuō)荷蘭語(yǔ)，因?yàn)槲覀兛吹礁赣H很少不會(huì)說(shuō)英語(yǔ)。所以，在我們的家庭中存在著一種相當(dāng)不尋常的情況，我們孩子和父親沒(méi)有共同的語(yǔ)言。在我的記憶中，這種缺乏直接溝通的情況并沒(méi)有讓我們太擔(dān)心，我們?cè)O(shè)法理解了對(duì)方?！?/p>

? ? ?I can remember only one instance when it caused me great grief and?mortification. The last three months of his life my father was in?hospital in The Hague, where we were living then, dying of lung?cancer, the result of a gas attack in the war. We knew he was going to?die as the doctors had told my mother that his case was hopeless from?the very beginning of his illness. Every day after school - I was at that?time in my first year at the municipal Gymnasium - I went to visit?him. He was lying in a cubicle with curtains around it which were?usually open. One day, as I was sitting at his bedside, he asked me to close?the curtain. Somehow I just could not make out what exactly it?was he wanted, however much I tried. The more I tried the less I?understood. He got angry with me and I felt desperate and was almost in?tears. Fortunately, the man in the next cubicle who, being ill?himself probably understood him better, told me what he wanted and?all was well. But I shall never forget this experience, especially as he?died shortly afterwards.

【我只記得有一次語(yǔ)言不通使我非常痛苦。我父親生命的最后三個(gè)月在海牙的醫(yī)院里，那時(shí)我們就住在那里，他死于肺癌，這是戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中毒氣襲擊的結(jié)果。我們知道他快要死了，因?yàn)獒t(yī)生從他生病的一開(kāi)始就告訴我的母親，他的病情是沒(méi)有希望的。那時(shí)我還在市立學(xué)校讀一年級(jí)，每天放學(xué)后我都去看望他。他躺在一個(gè)小房間里，四周掛著窗簾，窗簾通常是開(kāi)著的。一天，我坐在他床邊，他讓我把窗簾拉上。不管我怎么努力，我還是弄不明白他到底想要干什么。我越試越不明白。他對(duì)我生氣了，我感到絕望，幾乎哭了。幸運(yùn)的是，隔壁隔間的那個(gè)人可能更了解他，因?yàn)樗约阂采×耍嬖V了我父親想要干什么，一切都好。但我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記這次經(jīng)歷，尤其是他不久之后就去世了?！?/p>

? ? ?I suppose my father was always somewhat a stranger to me. As I've?said, he was very foreign and had nothing Dutch about him. But any?idea that I hated him and that this was my pyschological motive?for what I later did and that, as Leo Abse has written, the British?Secret Service provided 'full facilities for George Blake to commit?posthumous parricide', is absolute nonsense. My father's main?influence in my early life was to give me a great respect for Britain and?a dislike of Germany. That said, there is no doubt that I was closer to?my mother. We are similar characters, we have a lot in common. After?she was widowed at thirty-eight, I was the only man in the family. My?mother has always been very loyal to me, a good friend as well as agood mother.

【我想我父親對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)一直有點(diǎn)陌生。我說(shuō)過(guò)，他是個(gè)外國(guó)人，一點(diǎn)荷蘭味兒也沒(méi)有。但是，任何認(rèn)為我恨他，認(rèn)為這是我后來(lái)行為的心理動(dòng)機(jī)，以及里奧·阿布塞所寫(xiě)的，英國(guó)特勤局“為喬治·布萊克弒父提供了全套設(shè)施”的想法，都是一派胡言。我父親對(duì)我早期生活的主要影響是讓我對(duì)英國(guó)懷有極大的尊敬，而對(duì)德國(guó)懷有厭惡之情。同時(shí)毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)的是，我和我的母親更親近。我們性格相似，有很多共同點(diǎn)。她三十八歲喪偶后，我成了家里唯一的男人。我的母親一直對(duì)我很關(guān)照，是一個(gè)好朋友，也是一個(gè)好母親。】

? ? ?My mother's relations formed a close-knit family who, though not?always agreeing, were very much taken up with each other and we saw?a great deal of my grandmother, my aunts and uncles not to mention?great aunts and uncles and cousins of various degrees of proximity.?Being the eldest of her grandchildren, I was, from the very beginning,?my grandmother's favourite. She was a tall, handsome woman with a?high colour and beautiful white hair. Always dressed in long black?gowns, as was the fashion for elderly women in those days, and?walking with a black ebony stick because of a knee complaint, she had?a rather imposing presence. She was a woman of strong character and?always said exactly what she thought. Her children loved and?respected her, but were a little bit afraid of her, as my grandfather?must have been, who was, by all accounts, a mild and gentle?mannered man. I simply adored her. My sisters and cousins were less?enthusiastic and I think deep down resented the fact that I was her?favourite. The family had no money of its own and she lived on a widow's pension from the Rotterdam municipality. Every month she?had to go to the town hall to collect her pension. She would always?take me with her and make a bit of an occasion of it. The town hall?with its monumental staircase and long vaulted corridors with white?and black marble tiles and heavy oak doors impressed me very much.?It made me feel rather important, a kind of reflected glory that I too?was in some way connected with this imposing building from which?the town was governed. After she had received her money she would?always take me to Heck's, one of the largest tearooms in Rotterdam in those?days, where a small orchestra played light music and she treated?me to cream cakes or icecream. My early life was not without male?influence, in spite of my father's remoteness, as my two uncles?devoted a lot of their free time to me. In summer they would take me sailing?in their boat on the river Maas or for long bicycle rides along?the straight roads and dykes along the canals which linked the many?villages and small towns around Rotterdam. In winter, when there?was ice, they took me with them when they went skating which I had?learned to do quite well at the early age of five. My eldest uncle was?then studying to become a hydrotechnical engineer. I remember?visiting him with my grandmother while he was doing practical work?draining polders. He was wearing high rubber boots and living in a?wooden shed and what with all the sticky mud and water around it did?not seem to me a profession I wanted to follow. When he finished his?studies he was sent out by the Dutch government to the West Indies,?got married and passed out of my life. My other uncle joined his?brother-in-law's grain firm, also got married and later successfully set?up his own grain business. He continued to play a role in my life till he died?at the end of the Sixties. Both my uncles were very tall and it was?my great hope as a boy that when I grew up I would be as tall as they?were. For a long time I prayed every night that I might grow to be at?least six feet tall. Although I myself never grew taller than about five?foot seven, these prayers have evidently not been entirely without?effect. One of my sons is six foot and the youngest, born in Russia, is?six foot two.

【我母親的親戚關(guān)系形成了一個(gè)親密的家庭，雖然有時(shí)意見(jiàn)不一致，但彼此之間非常親密。我們經(jīng)常見(jiàn)到我的祖母，我的姑姑和叔叔們，更不用說(shuō)那些親近程度不同的叔嬸姨和堂兄妹了。作為她孫輩中最年長(zhǎng)的一個(gè)，我從一開(kāi)始就是我祖母最喜歡的人。她是一個(gè)高大、英俊的女人，膚色鮮艷，一頭美麗的白發(fā)。她總是穿著黑色長(zhǎng)袍，這是當(dāng)時(shí)上了年紀(jì)的婦女的時(shí)髦裝束，走路時(shí)因?yàn)橄糁桓谔茨臼终?，她的儀態(tài)顯得相當(dāng)莊重。她是個(gè)性格堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的女人，心里想什么就說(shuō)什么。她的孩子們愛(ài)她，尊敬她，但也有點(diǎn)怕她，就像我的祖父一樣，大家都說(shuō)他是個(gè)溫文爾雅的人。我就是喜歡她。我的姐妹們和表兄弟姐妹們就沒(méi)那么熱情了，我想，在內(nèi)心深處，他們對(duì)我是她的寵兒感到憤恨。祖母沒(méi)有自己的收入，她靠鹿特丹市政府提供的養(yǎng)老金生活。每個(gè)月她都得去市政廳領(lǐng)養(yǎng)老金。她總是以此為契機(jī)帶著我一起出去。市政廳的巨大樓梯和長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的拱形走廊，白色和黑色的大理石瓷磚和沉重的橡木門給我留下了深刻的印象。這讓我覺(jué)得自己很重要，這是一種榮耀，因?yàn)槲乙埠瓦@座統(tǒng)治城市的宏偉建筑有某種聯(lián)系。收到錢后，她總是帶我去赫克的茶館，那是當(dāng)時(shí)鹿特丹最大的茶館之一，那里有一個(gè)小型管弦樂(lè)隊(duì)演奏輕音樂(lè)，她請(qǐng)我吃奶油蛋糕或冰淇淋。我的早期生活并不是沒(méi)有男性的影響，盡管我的父親很疏遠(yuǎn)，因?yàn)槲业膬蓚€(gè)叔叔把他們的很多空閑時(shí)間都花在了我身上。夏天，他們會(huì)帶我乘他們的船在馬斯河上航行，或者騎自行車沿著筆直的道路和運(yùn)河的堤壩長(zhǎng)時(shí)間騎行，這些運(yùn)河連接著鹿特丹周圍的許多村莊和小鎮(zhèn)。在冬天，有冰的時(shí)候，他們帶著我去滑冰，我在五歲的時(shí)候就已經(jīng)學(xué)得很好了。我的大伯當(dāng)時(shí)正在學(xué)習(xí)成為一名水利工程師。我還記得我和祖母去看望他的時(shí)候，他正在做著疏浚圩田的工作。他穿著高膠靴，住在一個(gè)木棚里，周圍都是黏糊糊的泥和水，這對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)似乎不是我想從事的職業(yè)。他完成學(xué)業(yè)后被荷蘭政府派往西印度群島，結(jié)了婚，從此離開(kāi)了我的生活。我的另一個(gè)叔叔加入了他姐夫的糧食公司，也結(jié)婚了，后來(lái)成功地建立了自己的糧食生意。他繼續(xù)在我的生活中扮演著一個(gè)角色，直到他在60年代末去世。我的兩個(gè)叔叔都很高，我小時(shí)候最大的希望是長(zhǎng)大后能和他們一樣高。有很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間，我每晚都祈禱自己至少能長(zhǎng)到六英尺高。雖然我自己的身高從未超過(guò)5英尺7英寸，但這些祈禱顯然并非完全沒(méi)有效果。我的一個(gè)兒子身高六英尺，最小的一個(gè)出生在俄羅斯，身高六英尺二?！?/p>