Two national tragedies struck Brazil late last week. In the city of Belo Horizonte, an overpass collapsed, killing two people. The following day, Brazil played Colombia in the quarter final of the World Cup. Brazil won the match – but Neymar, the team’s star and national posterboy, suffered a back injury that will keep him out of the rest of the tournament.
上周末，巴西发生了两场全国性灾难。在贝洛奥里藏特(Belo Horizonte)市，一座过街天桥坍塌，造成两人死亡。第二天，巴西队在世界杯足球赛四分之一决赛中对阵哥伦比亚，虽然赢得了比赛，但该队明星、全国海报男孩内马尔(Neymar)后背受伤，将缺席余下的比赛。
It is fair to say that, of the two incidents, Neymar’s fractured vertebrae has attracted far more media anguish than the shoddy workmanship that cost the lives of two of his fellow-citizens. Brazil seems to be living by the maxim of Bill Shankly, the legendary football manager best known for his time at Liverpool, who famously remarked: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death . . . I can assure you, it is much, much more important than that.”
可以说，在这两起事故中，内马尔椎骨骨裂在媒体上引发的痛苦之情，远甚于夺走两名巴西人生命的豆腐渣工程。巴西似乎践行着比尔•香克利(Bill Shankly)的著名格言：“有些人相信足球事关生死……我可以向你保证，它比生死重要得多。”香克利是有着传奇色彩的足球教练，最为人知的是带领利物浦队的那段时光。
The two incidents show why Brazil’s brilliance at football can be a curse, as well as a blessing. The reasons to celebrate the country’s footballing prowess are obvious. Brazilian teams have given joy to millions all over the world. The yellow jersey of the Seleção, even more than the Amazon or the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, is the nation’s calling card. But Brazil’s brilliant football has sometimes seemed to serve not as an inspiration to brilliance in other areas of life – but as an alternative.
这两起事故表明，为何巴西出色的足球表现既是福分，也可能成为诅咒。庆祝该国高超足球技艺的理由是显而易见的。巴西队给全世界数百万观众带来了欢乐。巴西的名片是巴西队黄色队服，其地位甚至高于亚马逊河或者里约热内卢(Rio de Janeiro)的海滩。但光彩夺目的巴西足球，有时似乎未能鼓舞该国在其他生活领域创造辉煌，反而成为一种替代品。
For a time, last year, it seemed as if Brazilians had finally tired of this game. During the Confederations Cup, a warm-up event for this year’s tournament, there were mass protests against the vast spending on staging the World Cup.
去年，巴西人似乎曾一度最终厌倦了足球运动。在为今年世界杯赛热身的联合会杯(Confederations Cup)期间，巴西发生了大规模抗议，反对举办世界杯的巨额支出。
While millions of Brazilians still live in shanty towns – without access to decent sanitation, healthcare, education and transport – Brazil had chosen to pour more than $11bn into building glistening new stadiums, as well as all the other facilities demanded by Fifa, the international football federation. The demonstrators called for “Fifa-standard” schools and hospitals, as well as the stadiums.
尽管数以百万计的巴西人仍住在破烂的贫民窟——没有卫生、医疗、教育和交通设施可言——但巴西决定投入逾110亿美元兴建崭新的体育场馆，以及国际足联(Fifa)要求的其它所有设施。示威者要求，除了体育场馆之外，政府也应建造“Fifa标准的”学校和医院。
However, predictions that these protests would be repeated on a similar scale during the World Cup itself have proved wrong. Instead, Brazil has become caught up in the melodrama of the football.
然而，世界杯举行期间还将发生类似规模抗议的预测，已被证明是错误的。相反，巴西已完全沉浸于这场足球“煽情剧”。
An absence of mass social unrest should not be a cause for regret. Brazilians have every right to take pride in their team and the staging of the tournament – which, despite the tragic accident in Belo Horizonte, has generally gone well. The risk is that the issues raised by last year’s demonstrations may be shoved to one side by the footballing euphoria.
没有发生大规模社会动荡，不应成为遗憾的理由。巴西人有充分理由为巴西队的表现和赛事的举办感到骄傲，尽管贝洛奥里藏特事发生了那起悲剧事故，但赛事总体上举办得不错。风险在于，去年示威所提出的问题可能被足球狂欢推到一边。
The protests last year were interesting and important because they highlighted the discontent and aspirations of millions of ordinary people. The Brazilian government’s reaction was also impressively mature. While the Turkish government, which was hit with similar social unrest at about the same time, reacted with hostility and conspiracy-theories, Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s president, acknowledged the legitimacy of the demonstrators’ demands and promised to work harder to meet their aspirations.
去年的抗议既值得关注，又有重要意义，因为它凸显了数以百万计的普通民众的不满和愿望。巴西政府的反应也很成熟，令人印象深刻。几乎在同一时间，土耳其也发生了类似的社会动荡，该国政府的反应充满了敌意，还搬出阴谋论作为挡箭牌。但是，巴西总统迪尔玛•罗塞夫(Dilma Rousseff)承认示威者要求的正当性，并承诺加倍努力满足他们的愿望。
Ms Rousseff is up for re-election this October. But her chances of victory have been clouded by widespread doubts over her ability to deliver the improvements in living standards that she has promised. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – Ms Rousseff’s charismatic predecessor – was able to boast about economic growth that averaged more than 4 per cent a year during his time in office, and rapid reductions in inequality. But excitement about the potential of Brazil has dimmed. The country is expected to grow by less than 2 per cent this year – feeble for a nation that aspires to be a dynamic emerging economy. Laments about shoddy administration and corruption are commonplace.
罗塞夫今年10月将参加连任竞选。但是，她曾承诺改善巴西民众的生活水平，但她兑现该承诺的能力受到广泛质疑，这给她竞选获胜的前景蒙上了阴影。魅力超凡的路易斯•伊纳西奥•卢拉•达席尔瓦(Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva)是罗塞夫的前任总统，有能力夸耀其任期内高于4%的年均经济增长率，以及不平等状况的迅速减轻。但目前，巴西潜力引发的兴奋已黯淡下来。预计该国今年增长率低于2%——对于一个希望成为动力十足的新兴经济体的国家而言是不足的。对于劣政和腐败的失望情绪十分常见。
Without a sustained record of achievement, Ms Rousseff badly needs a successful World Cup. Her appearance at the opening match of the tournament provoked boos and obscene chanting. Since then, she has kept her head down.
在没有连续取得成就的情况下，罗塞夫急切地需要世界杯足球赛圆满成功。她在世界杯开幕式上亮相时招来了嘘声和谩骂。此后她一直保持低姿态。
The president, however, is certain to reappear at the World Cup final in Rio on July 13. This time, she will be flanked by some impressive friends. Brazil will play host to a Brics summit, which has been scheduled for just after the World Cup – reportedly at the insistence of Xi Jinping, China’s football-loving president. A “power photo” with the leaders of Russia, China, South Africa and India could serve as a perfect opening to Ms Rousseff’s presidential election campaign.
然而，这位总统肯定会在7月13日的世界杯决赛中再次亮相。这一次，将有一些引人注目的朋友陪她出现。巴西将主办金砖国家(Brics)峰会，在世界杯结束之后立即开会——据称如此安排是在喜欢足球的中国国家主席习近平的坚持下做出的。与俄罗斯、中国、南非和印度领导人的“大人物合影”，可能成为罗塞夫总统竞选活动的完美开局。
There are, however, two big risks with this strategy – one to do with football, and one to do with politics. Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, who will come to the Brics summit, has just been elected by capitalising on the Indian public’s dissatisfaction with slow growth and corruption. The parallels with Brazil are uncomfortably close and the emergence of a Modi-like candidate in Brazil would be very threatening to Ms Rousseff.
然而，这一策略存在两大风险，一个与足球有关，一个与政治有关。即将出席金砖国家峰会的印度总理纳伦德拉•莫迪(Narendra Modi)，是刚刚利用印度公众对低增长和腐败的不满而当选的。印度与巴西异常相像，巴西若出现一位类似莫迪的候选人，将对罗塞夫构成很大的威胁。
Comparisons between the political economies of India and Brazil may prove a little abstract for most voters. But nobody will miss the symbolism of events on the football pitch. And, here too, things look dicey. Without Neymar, Brazil could easily lose to Germany in the semi-final tonight. The only thing worse than that would be to lose, in the final itself, to Argentina – Brazil’s neighbours and bitter rivals.
印度和巴西的政治经济状况对比，对大多数选民而言可能被证明有点儿抽象。但谁也不会错过足球赛胜负的象征意义。在这方面，形势也不大确定。没有了内马尔，巴西队可能在半决赛上输给德国队。唯一比这更糟糕的，将是在决赛中输给邻国、死对头阿根廷。
Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil’s coach, has said that winning the World Cup, is “the minimum requirement”. (Brazil also wants to play with style.) Win or lose, it would be wonderful if Brazil could take Mr Scolari’s refusal to accept second best – and apply it to other areas of life.
巴西队教练路易斯•费利佩•斯科拉里(Luiz Felipe Scolari)表示，捧得世界杯是“最低要求”。（巴西队还想踢出潇洒。）无论是赢是输，如果巴西能像斯科拉里那样拒绝接受次佳地位，并将这一原则应用于其他生活领域，那就太好了。