Arctic antics

北极圈的幽默

Greenlanders say Donald Trump should have asked them first

格陵兰人说唐纳德·特朗普应该先问他们

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

岛民们知道他关于购买格陵兰岛的言论不是开玩笑

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.

当唐纳德·特朗普总统说美国可能会购买格陵兰岛时，大多数丹麦人认为这是个笑话。格陵兰岛是一个自治岛屿，占丹麦领土的98%。丹麦首相梅特·弗雷德里克森(Mette Frederiksen)认为这一想法“荒谬可笑”。当特朗普回应称她“令人讨厌”，并取消对哥本哈根的访问时，他的潜在东道主惊呆了。但许多格陵兰人却不以为意。

词汇

Nasty/  极差的；恶心的

“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).

格陵兰岛前总理阿莱卡•哈蒙德(Aleqa Hammond)表示:“我从一开始就知道，这是要认真对待的。”这并不是美国总统第一次提出这样的购买计划。1946年，哈里•杜鲁门(Harry Truman)出价1亿美元(相当于今天的13亿美元)收购格陵兰岛。

 

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，该岛只有5.7万居民，但随着俄罗斯潜艇再次出现在北极，以及中国梦想着在新开辟的无冰海域建设一条“极地丝绸之路”，该岛的战略重要性日益增强。丹麦负责格陵兰的对外事务和国防。北约成员国身份曾让格陵兰人睡得安稳，但由于特朗普破坏了这个联盟，他们的安全就不那么确定了。

词汇

NATO/北大西洋公约组织（North Atlantic Treaty Organization）

 

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.”

包括现任总理基姆•基尔森在内的格陵兰岛争强好胜的立法委员们一致认为，格陵兰岛的主权是不可出售的。但令他们感到受宠若惊的是，外人对此感兴趣，他们坚持自己与所有来者谈判的权利。正如哈蒙德所说:“如果特朗普想讨论格陵兰岛，让他来这里，而不是丹麦。”

词汇

Feisty/争强好胜的

Flattered/受宠若惊开心的

Parley/和谈，商谈

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，丹麦纳税人每年向格陵兰提供逾6亿美元补贴。但这种依赖并没有阻止岛上的政客们追求自己的利益。去年，Kielsen先生找到了中国承包商，为格陵兰岛机场进行升级改造。这吓坏了北约，丹麦迫使格陵兰岛转而寻找丹麦承包商。Kielsen联盟中的一个政党举行了游行以示抗议。想要独立的格陵兰人说，扩大经济合作伙伴的范围可以使他们不再依赖丹麦的援助。

 

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.

资深左翼人士Aqqaluk Lynge表示，与特朗普的口角可能会让丹麦人和格陵兰人更加欣赏对方。例如，这可能会提醒那些抱怨补贴北极同胞的丹麦人，不要把补贴当成理所当然。

 

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，格陵兰主要出口海鲜。当特朗普开玩笑说，他不想在格陵兰建造一座以自己名字命名的摩天大楼时，他肯定是在说真话。真正的经济机遇在于，正在消失的冰川正在开发其矿产资源，包括稀土，可能还有石油和天然气。在格陵兰出生的地质学家米尼克•罗辛(Minik Rosing)注意到了这一具有讽刺意味的现象。罗辛曾将全球变暖称为一场“骗局”，贪婪地觊觎着这片土地，并将其不断升值的价值归功于不断融化的积雪。然而，他也认为，一位更圆滑的美国领导人可能会说服格陵兰人以牺牲丹麦人的利益为代价，升级与美国的关系。

词汇

Tactful/机智的；圆滑的

 

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.

也许。但如果他们决定成为美国的一部分，他们将会受到文化冲击。格陵兰人不仅有北欧人的社会福利观念;他们还禁止私人拥有土地。