Anand Giridharadas: A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they collided

翻译人员: Yuanqing Edberg 校对人员: Min WANG

"Where are you from?" said the pale, tattooed man.

“你从哪儿来的？“ 那个脸色苍白，带有纹身的男人问道。

"Where are you from?"

”你从哪儿来的？“

It's September 21, 2001,

这是二零零一年，九月二十一日，

10 days after the worst attack on America since World War II.

是美国在二战后受到的最严重袭击之后的 第十天。

Everyone wonders about the next plane.

每个人都怀疑会不会有下一架飞机。

People are looking for scapegoats.

人们在寻找替罪羊。

The president, the night before, pledges to

总统在前一个晚上宣誓

"bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies."

“把我们的敌人绳之以法 或者用正义感召我们的敌人。“

And in the Dallas mini-mart,

在达拉斯的一个小店，

a Dallas mini-part surrounded by tire shops and strip joints

这个小店的周围 有车胎商店和脱衣舞厅。

a Bangladeshi immigrant works the register.

一个孟加拉国移民在 收款处工作，

Back home, Raisuddin Bhuiyan was a big man, an Air Force officer.

在家乡，Raisuddin Bhuiyan 是一个 魁梧的男人，曾是一个空军军官，

But he dreamed of a fresh start in America.

但他梦想在美国有一个新的开始。

If he had to work briefly in a mini-mart to save up for I.T. classes

他只是想在小杂货店暂时工作，为I.T课程

and his wedding in two months, so be it.

和两个月后的婚礼存下一些钱，就是这样。

Then, on September 21, that tattooed man enters the mart.

然而，在九月二十一日， 那个纹身的男人走进了杂货店。

He holds a shotgun.

他举着一把猎枪。

Raisuddin knows the drill:

Raisuddin知道该怎么做：

puts cash on the counter.

他把现款放到了柜台上。

This time, the man doesn't touch the money.

这一次，这个男人对钱不感兴趣。

"Where are you from?" he asks.

“你从哪儿来的？”他问道。

"Excuse me?" Raisuddin answers.

“对不起？” Raisuddin 回答说。

His accent betrays him.

他的口音出卖了他。

The tattooed man, a self-styled true American vigilante,

纹身的男人，自愿的 美国民间复仇者，

shoots Raisuddin in revenge for 9/11.

为了911复仇而向Raisuddin射击。

Raisuddin feels millions of bees stinging his face.

Raisuddin感觉有上百万个蜜蜂 在咬噬他的脸。

In fact, dozens of scalding, birdshot pellets puncture his head.

事实上，是几十片滚烫的 弹珠粒射入了他的头里。

Behind the counter, he lays in blood.

在柜台后面，他倒入了血泊中。

He cups a hand over his forehead to keep in the brains

他的一只手罩在前额，

on which he'd gambled everything.

想起他为之孤注一掷的一切。

He recites verses from the Koran, begging his God to live.

他背诵可兰经的片段， 祈求他的上帝让他活着。

He senses he is dying.

他意识到自己正在死亡。

He didn't die.

但他并没有死去。

His right eye left him.

他失去了右眼，

His fiancée left him.

他的未婚妻离开了他。

His landlord, the mini-mart owner, kicked him out.

他的雇主，杂货店的主人 解雇了他。

Soon he was homeless and 60,000 dollars in medical debt,

不久他就变成一个无家可归的人 而且有6万美元的医疗债务，

including a fee for dialing for an ambulance.

还包括叫救护车的费用。

But Raisuddin lived.

但 Raisuddin活了下来。

And years later, he would ask what he could do to repay his God

几年以后，他开始问自己 怎样去回报他的上帝，

and become worthy of this second chance.

并且让这个重生的机会变得更有价值。

He would come to believe, in fact,

事实上，他开始相信

that this chance called for him to give a second chance

这个机会是让他 给另一个我们认为

to a man we might think deserved no chance at all.

不值得再有机会的人一个重生的机会。

Twelve years ago, I was a fresh graduate seeking my way in the world.

十二年以后， 我是一个初出茅庐的 研究生，在这个世上寻找我的道路。

Born in Ohio to Indian immigrants,

我在俄亥俄的印度移民中出生，

I settled on the ultimate rebellion against my parents,

我对父母的一套由衷地反感，

moving to the country they had worked so damn hard to get out of.

搬到了他们劳心费力离开的国度。

What I thought might be a six-month stint in Mumbai stretched to six years.

我原以为只是在孟买六个月的暂留， 却延长到了六年。

I became a writer and found myself amid a magical story:

我成为一个作家而且发现自己 置身于一个神奇的故事中：

the awakening of hope across much of the so-called Third World.

来唤醒被称为第三世界的希望。

Six years ago, I returned to America and realized something:

六年前，我回到美国并且意识道一些事：

The American Dream was thriving,

美国梦非常兴旺，

but only in India.

但只是在印度。

In America, not so much.

在美国，却并非如此。

In fact, I observed that America was fracturing

实际上，我观察到美国正在破裂

into two distinct societies:

成两个显著的社团：

a republic of dreams and a republic of fears.

一个梦想的共和国 和一个忧患的共和国。

And then, I stumbled onto this incredible tale of two lives

而后我碰巧遇上了这两个人 的令人不可思议的故事

and of these two Americas that brutally collided in that Dallas mini-mart.

这两个美国人在达拉斯小杂货店 残酷地相撞，

I knew at once I wanted to learn more,

我立刻知道我想了解更多的情形。

and eventually that I would write a book about them,

最终我会写一本有关于他们的书，

for their story was the story of America's fracturing

因为他们的故事是美国破裂的见证，

and of how it might be put back together.

并且该如何在让它完整起来。

After he was shot, Raisuddin's life grew no easier.

在Raisuddin被射击后，他的生活 更艰难了。

The day after admitting him, the hospital discharged him.

医院在第二天就让他出去，

His right eye couldn't see.

她的右眼看不见，

He couldn't speak.

他还不能说话。

Metal peppered his face.

金属灼烧了他的脸。

But he had no insurance, so they bounced him.

但他没有医疗保险，于是他们 拒绝了他。

His family in Bangladesh begged him, "Come home."

他的远在孟加拉国的家人求他“回家”

But he told them he had a dream to see about.

但他告诉他们他要实现他的梦想。

He found telemarketing work,

他找到了电话营销工作，

then he became an Olive Garden waiter,

后来他又做了橄榄花园餐厅的服务生，

because where better to get over his fear of white people than the Olive Garden?

因为让他结束对白种人的恐惧， 还有比橄榄花园更好的地方吗？

(Laughter)

（笑声）翻译解释：橄榄花园餐厅是 美国连锁意大利餐馆，以中产阶级白人为顾客。

Now, as a devout Muslim, he refused alcohol,

作为一个虔诚的穆斯林，他拒绝酒精饮品，

didn't touch the stuff.

从不接触那玩意儿。

Then he learned that not selling it would slash his pay.

但他后来得知不卖酒会减少他的收入。

So he reasoned, like a budding American pragmatist,

于是他做了让步，像美国实用主义的萌芽，

"Well, God wouldn't want me to starve, would he?"

“嗯，上帝不想让我挨饿，是吗？”

And before long, in some months, Raisuddin was that Olive Garden's

不久，在某些月份，Raisuddin 成为橄榄花园餐厅

highest grossing alcohol pusher.

酒精销售总额最高的服务生。

He found a man who taught him database administration.

他找到了一个男人教他数据库管理。

He got part-time I.T. gigs.

他有了一份I.T半工兼职。

Eventually, he landed a six-figure job at a blue chip tech company in Dallas.

最终，他在达拉斯一家蓝筹股 公司找到一份6位数字的工作。

But as America began to work for Raisuddin,

但是当美国开始成全Raisuddin时，

he avoided the classic error of the fortunate:

他避免了幸运的古典错误：

assuming you're the rule, not the exception.

设想你就是规则，而不是例外。

In fact, he observed that many with the fortune of being born American

事实上，他观察到 很多幸运的生而为美国人的人们

were nonetheless trapped in lives that made second chances like his impossible.

尽管被困在生活中，但却 不可能取得像他一样的第二次机会。

He saw it at the Olive Garden itself,

他在橄榄花园餐厅看到了这种情况。

where so many of his colleagues had childhood horror stories

很多他一起工作的同事有着很可怕的童年

of family dysfunction, chaos, addiction, crime.

因为家庭的破灭，混乱，沉溺，犯罪。

He'd heard a similar tale about the man who shot him

他参加审判的时候

back when he attended his trial.

听到那个射击他的男人有相似的故事.

The closer Raisuddin got to the America he had coveted from afar,

Raisuddin 越接近到他从远方觊觎的美国，

the more he realized there was another, equally real, America

他越意识到一个同样真实的美国

that was stingier with second chances.

吝啬给予它的第二次机会。

The man who shot Raisuddin grew up in that stingier America.

射击Raisuddin的男人 成长在一个单亲家庭。

From a distance, Mark Stroman was always the spark of parties,

从外面看来，马克.斯托曼总是 派对上的闪光，

always making girls feel pretty.

总是让他的女孩们觉得自己很漂亮。

Always working, no matter what drugs or fights he'd had the night before.

他总是在工作，不管在前一天晚上 用过什么药物或者打过架。

But he'd always wrestled with demons.

然而他总是跟魔鬼在赌博。

He entered the world through the three gateways

他走进了使很多年轻的

that doom so many young American men:

美国人失败的三扇门：

bad parents, bad schools, bad prisons.

不负责任的父母，坏学校，坏监狱。

His mother told him, regretfully, as a boy

他的母亲很懊悔地告诉还是小男孩的他，

that she'd been just 50 dollars short of aborting him.

她只是缺少50块钱才没有打掉他。

Sometimes, that little boy would be at school,

有时，那个小男孩在学校

he'd suddenly pull a knife on his fellow classmates.

会突然对着他的同学抽出一把刀，

Sometimes that same little boy would be at his grandparents',

而有时同样的这个男孩 会在他的祖父母那里

tenderly feeding horses.

温柔地喂马。

He was getting arrested before he shaved,

在他开始剔毛之前，

first juvenile, then prison.

还是少年，就去了监狱

He became a casual white supremacist

他变成了一个随意的白人至上主义者。

and, like so many around him, a drug-addled and absent father.

跟他周围的人一样， 没有父亲，滥用毒品。

And then, before long, he found himself on death row,

不久，他发现他自己在死囚牢房。

for in his 2001 counter-jihad, he had shot not one mini-mart clerk,

因为他2001年的反异教徒，他 不是射杀了一个杂货店的收银员，

but three.

而是三个。

Only Raisuddin survived.

只有Raisuddin存活下来。

Strangely, death row was the first institution

奇怪的是，死囚牢房是

that left Stroman better.

让斯托曼变好的第一个学校。

His old influences quit him.

旧有的影响离开了他，

The people entering his life were virtuous and caring:

善意和关心的人们进入了他的生命：

pastors, journalists, European pen-pals.

牧师，杂志作家，欧洲的笔友，

They listened to him, prayed with him, helped him question himself.

他们听他诉说，与他一同祷告， 教他反思。

And sent him on a journey of introspection and betterment.

并且送给他反思和改造的杂志。

He finally faced the hatred that had defined his life.

他最终面对成就他一生的仇恨

He read Viktor Frankl, the Holocaust survivor

他读了维克托.弗兰克尔的 《大屠杀幸存者》

and regretted his swastika tattoos.

并且悔恨他的卍纹身，

He found God.

他找到了上帝。

Then one day in 2011, 10 years after his crimes,

在2011年，在他犯罪的十年以后，

Stroman received news.

斯托曼收到消息。

One of the men he'd shot, the survivor, was fighting to save his life.

一个被他射杀的男人，那名幸存者 在努力拯救他的生命。

You see, late in 2009, eight years after that shooting,

你看，在2009年，在射杀事件的八年之后，

Raisuddin had gone on his own journey, a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Raisuddin自己走上了去麦加朝圣的旅途。

Amid its crowds, he felt immense gratitude,

置身于朝圣的人群中，他无比感激，

but also duty.

而且也感到肩负重任。

He recalled promising God, as he lay dying in 2001,

他回想起2001年当他濒临死亡时 面对上帝许下的诺言，

that if he lived, he would serve humanity all his days.

如果他活着，他一生要为人类服务。

Then, he'd gotten busy relaying the bricks of a life.

然后他忙于构建人生，

Now it was time to pay his debts.

现在就是他向上帝付清他欠款的时候。

And he decided, upon reflection, that his method of payment

经过深思熟虑，他决定他的付出方式

would be an intervention in the cycle of vengeance

是介入穆斯林和西方之间

between the Muslim and Western worlds.

复仇的怪圈。

And how would he intervene?

他怎么做呢？

By forgiving Stroman publicly in the name of Islam

以以色列的名字和它的仁慈

and its doctrine of mercy.

公开地宽恕斯托曼

And then suing the state of Texas and its governor Rick Perry

然后起诉得克萨斯州及 州长里克·佩里

to prevent them from executing Stroman,

来阻止他们执行斯托曼死刑，

exactly like most people shot in the face do.

就像大多数的 在脸上遭到枪击的人一样。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Yet Raisuddin's mercy was inspired not only by faith.

虽然Raisuddin的仁慈不只是 从上帝而来的启示，

A newly minted American citizen, he had come to believe that Stroman

作为一个崭新的美国公民， 他已经开始相信斯托曼

was the product of a hurting America that couldn't just be lethally injected away.

是美国创伤的产物，并非 一针致死注射能带走的。

That insight is what moved me to write my book "The True American."

他的慧眼感动了我，让我想写 “真正的美国人“ 一书。

This immigrant begging America to be as merciful to a native son

这位移民恳求美国

as it had been to an adopted one.

对待本国的孩子 要像对外来的移民一样仁慈。

In the mini-mart, all those years earlier,

早在这些年以前，在小杂货店，

not just two men, but two Americas collided.

不只是两个男人，而是两个美国的相撞。

An America that still dreams, still strives,

一个美国依然有梦，依然努力，

still imagines that tomorrow can build on today,

依然想着明天能够建筑在今天之上，

and an America that has resigned to fate,

而另一个美国却引咎于命运，

buckled under stress and chaos, lowered expectations,

在压力，混乱，无所期待的捆绑下，

an ducked into the oldest of refuges:

躲进古老的避难所：

the tribal fellowship of one's own narrow kind.

部落联合的狭隘思想，

And it was Raisuddin, despite being a newcomer,

而Raisuddin，不只是一个新来者，

despite being attacked,

尽管被攻击，

despite being homeless and traumatized,

尽管是无家可归和心怀创伤的，

who belonged to that republic of dreams

但他属于他那个共和的梦想，

and Stroman who belonged to that other wounded country,

而斯托曼却属于另一个受伤的国度,

despite being born with the privilege of a native white man.

尽管他来自具有优越感的本土白人。

I realized these men's stories formed an urgent parable about America.

我意识到这些男人的故事 形成了一个关于美国的比喻。

The country I am so proud to call my own

那个我如此自豪称为我自己的祖国

wasn't living through a generalized decline

没有经过一般

as seen in Spain or Greece, where prospects were dimming for everyone.

在西班牙和希腊所见到的萧条， 在那儿每个人都前景黯淡。

America is simultaneously the most and the least successful country

美国在工业化的世界

in the industrialized world.

是一个最成功，同时也是 最失败的国家。

Launching the world's best companies,

具有世界上最好的公司，

even as record numbers of children go hungry.

同样有许多孩子在挨饿。

Seeing life-expectancy drop for large groups,

看得见预期寿命在广大群体的下降，

even as it polishes the world's best hospitals.

却也同样有标榜世界上最好的医院。

America today is a sprightly young body,

美国的今天是活泼的年轻的身体，

hit by one of those strokes that sucks the life from one side,

却遭受了一记重击，让生命从一边溜走，

while leaving the other worryingly perfect.

从而留下另一边尽管完美，却让人忧虑。

On July 20, 2011, right after a sobbing Raisuddin

二 零一一年，七月二十日， 在哭诉之后，Raisuddin

testified in defense of Stroman's life,

作证为斯托曼的生命辩护，

Stroman was killed by lethal injection by the state he so loved.

斯托曼在他热爱的州被执行了致死注射，

Hours earlier, when Raisuddin still thought he could still save Stroman,

几个小时之前，当Raisuddin 依然 在思考他能救下斯托曼，

the two men got to speak for the second time ever.

两个男人有了第二次的谈话。

Here is an excerpt from their phone call.

这是他们电话的摘录。

Raisuddin: "Mark, you should know that I am praying for God,

Raisuddin:“马克，你该知道

the most compassionate and gracious.

我正在向最热忱和最荣耀的主祷告。

I forgive you and I do not hate you.

我原谅你，我不恨你。

I never hated you."

我从来都没有恨过你。“

Stroman: "You are a remarkable person.

斯托曼：“你是一个杰出的男人。

Thank you from my heart.

我从心底感谢你，

I love you, bro."

我爱你，兄弟。”

Even more amazingly, after the execution,

更令人惊奇的是，在死刑后，

Raisuddin reached out to Stroman's eldest daughter, Amber,

Raisuddin找到斯托曼的

an ex-convinct and an addict.

有过定罪前科，而且是个瘾君子大女儿，安泊，

and offered his help.

要求帮助她。

"You may have lost a father," he told her,

“你也许失去了一个父亲，” 他对她说，

"but you've gained an uncle."

“但是你得到了一个叔叔。”

He wanted her, too, to have a second chance.

他希望她也有第二次机会。

If human history were a parade,

如果人类历史是一次游行，

America's float would be a neon shrine to second chances.

美国的花车是一个 崭新闪亮的第二次机会。

But America, generous with second chances to the children of other lands,

但是美国，慷慨地把第二次机会 给了从其他国土来的孩子，

today grows miserly with first chances to the children of its own.

但吝啬地只给他自己的孩子一次机会。

America still dazzles at allowing anybody to become an American.

美国还是招摇地允许任何人变成美国公民。

But it is losing its luster at allowing every American to become a somebody.

但他失去了让任何一个美国人都成功的光亮。

Over the last decade, seven million foreigners gained American citizenship.

过去十年，七百万外国人获得了美国公民。

Remarkable.

非常好。

In the meanwhile, how many Americans gained a place in the middle class?

而同时，有多少美国人 挤上了中产阶级的班车？

Actually, the net influx was negative.

事实上，净流入是负值。

Go back further, and it's even more striking:

再往前回顾一下会更 令人吃惊。

Since the 60s, the middle class has shrunk by 20 percent,

从六十年代起，中产阶级 缩小了百分之二十，

mainly because of the people tumbling out of it.

主要是人们达不到那个水平

And my reporting around the country tells me the problem is grimmer

我所有的关于这个国家的报告 告诉我

than simple inequality.

问题比简单的不平等更严峻。

What I observe is a pair of secessions from the unifying center of American life.

我观察到的是美国生活的两个分裂体系，

An affluent secession of up, up and away,

一个是高高在上的富裕体系，

into elite enclaves of the educated and into a global matrix

汇集了受过教育的精英阶层，

of work, money and connections,

进入全球的关于工作，金钱和人脉的矩阵，

and an impoverished secession of down and out

和一个贫穷的分裂 潦倒的体系

into disconnected, dead-end lives

在自生自灭，穷途末路的生活里

that the fortunate scarcely see.

看不到任何幸运。

And don't console yourself that you are the 99 percent.

不要安慰你自己你是那个百分之九十九。

If you live near a Whole Foods,

如果你住得离“大千超市”很近，

if no one in your family serves in the military,

如果你家没人在军队，

if you're paid by the year, not the hour,

你不是按小时付薪而是按年付薪的话，

if most people you know finished college,

如果你认识的大多数人都完成了大学课程，

if no one you know uses meth,

如果你认识的人中没人使用甲基毒品，

if you married once and remain married,

如果你只结婚一次而且依然在婚姻之中，

if you're not one of 65 million Americans with a criminal record --

如果你不是六千五百万的具有犯罪 记录的美国人之一－

if any or all of these things describe you,

如果上述所有的事情都符合你，

then accept the possibility that actually,

那么接受这样一种可能性，

you may not know what's going on

你实际上可能根本不知道到底发生了什么，

and you may be part of the problem.

你也许就是这问题中的一部分。

Other generations had to build a fresh society after slavery,

以前的几代人不得不 在奴隶之后建立一个新的社会，

pull through a depression, defeat fascism,

从萧条中走出，反击法西斯

freedom-ride in Mississippi.

自由飘荡在密西西比。

The moral challenge of my generation, I believe,

我相信在我这一代人中，道德的挑战

is to reacquaint these two Americas,

是重新融合这两种美国人，

to choose union over secession once again.

再一次选择联合而不是分裂。

This ins't a problem we can tax or tax-cut away.

这不是我们能够用税收 或者减少税收能解决的问题。

It won't be solved by tweeting harder, building slicker apps,

它不能够以多用推特 或建立更完美的软件而解决，

or starting one more artisanal coffee roasting service.

或启动一个 手工咖啡烘焙服务能解决的。

It is a moral challenge that begs each of us in the flourishing America

这是一个道德挑战需要我们每个人 在美国的蓬勃发展中

to take on the wilting America as our own,

像Raisuddin努力所做的一样

as Raisuddin tried to do.

把凋零的美国当作我们的责任。

Like him, we can make pilgrimages.

像他一样，我们能做一次朝圣。

And there, in Baltimore and Oregon and Appalachia,

在巴尔的摩，俄勒冈 和阿巴拉契亚地区，

find new purpose, as he did.

发现新的目标，就像他一样

We can immerse ourselves in that other country,

我们可以投身于那样的异国，

bear witness to its hopes and sorrows,

见证了它的希望和悲伤，

and, like Raisuddin, ask what we can do.

并且像Raisuddin一样， 问问我们自己能做什么。

What can you do?

你能做什么？

What can you do?

你能做什么？

What can we do?

我们能做什么？

How might we build a more merciful country?

我们如何建立一个更仁慈的国家？

We, the greatest inventors in the world,

我们，世界最伟大的发明者，

can invent solutions to the problems of that America, not only our own.

能够发明解决美国问题的办法， 不只是对我们自己的。

We, the writers and the journalists, can cover that America's stories,

我们这些作家和杂志作者 能够讲述美国的故事，

instead of shutting down bureaus in its midst.

而不是身在其中，却做个局外人。

We can finance that America's ideas,

我们可以资助美国的梦想，

instead of ideas from New York and San Francisco.

而不必采纳纽约或旧金山的主意，

We can put our stethoscopes to its backs,

我们就能够针砭时弊，

teach there, go to court there, make there, live there, pray there.

说教，上法庭，在那儿居住，祈祷。

This, I believe, is the calling of a generation.

我相信，这就是召唤

An America whose two halves learn again

美国两个分开的一代重组

to stride, to plow, to forge, to dare together.

去一起奋斗，耕耘，开拓， 冒险。

A republic of chances, rewoven, renewed,

一个重新编织，更新的共和的机会

begins with us.

就从我们开始。

Thank you.

感谢大家

(Applause)

（鼓掌）