《喬布斯傳》翻譯筆記:挖角百事的求賢持久戰(zhàn)
第十四章邁克·馬克庫拉(Mike Markkula)開始為自己尋找接班人,他和喬布斯幾經(jīng)選擇,挑中了百事公司百事可樂部門總裁約翰·斯卡利John Sculley,他的百事挑戰(zhàn)(Pepsi Challenge)推廣活動在廣告宣傳方面取得過巨大勝利(an advertising and publicity triumph)。為了挖角來這位產(chǎn)品營銷專家,喬布斯展開了持久而猛烈的求賢攻勢。喬布斯這段持續(xù)數(shù)月之久的“求愛之旅”(courtship)最終成功,喬布斯與斯卡利的甜蜜期(honeymoon)持續(xù)了幾個月,但好景不長,兩人性格和價值觀的差異很快讓兩人出現(xiàn)了分歧。回顧喬布斯的求賢之旅,他是怎樣最終說服個性謹(jǐn)慎的斯卡利的呢?
【英語原文】
Sculley uttered one last demurral, a token suggestion that maybe they should just be friends and he could offer Jobs advice from the sidelines. “Any time you’re in New York, I’d love to spend time with you.” He later recounted the climactic moment: “Steve’s head dropped as he stared at his feet. After a weighty, uncomfortable pause, he issued a challenge that would haunt me for days. ‘Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?’” Sculley felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. There was no response possible other than to acquiesce. “He had an uncanny ability to always get what he wanted, to size up a person and know exactly what to say to reach a person,” Sculley recalled. “I realized for the first time in four months that I couldn’t say no.” The winter sun was beginning to set. They left the apartment and walked back across the park to the Carlyle.(Chapter 13 Enter Sculley: Courtship)
【滬江譯文】
斯卡利最后還是有一些猶豫,所以他象征性的提議也許他們可以只做朋友,他可以從旁觀者的角度給喬布斯提建議?!懊看文銇砑~約,我都會愿意跟你見面聊聊?!?斯卡利后來描述了事情發(fā)展的高潮?!皢滩妓沟椭^盯著腳看,我們之間有了一段沉重尷尬的靜默,然后他拋給我一個問題,讓我好幾天都無法釋懷。他問我:‘你是愿意剩下的半輩子賣糖水,還是愿意抓住這個機(jī)會改變世界?’” 斯卡利覺得喬布斯的話像是狠狠一拳打在他的胃上。除了默許,他不可能再有別的反應(yīng)。“喬布斯有那種超凡的能力,他總是能得到自己想要的東西,他能準(zhǔn)確的判斷一個人,也懂得如何勸說才能抓住一個人的心。“斯卡利回憶道,”我后來意識到,這是四個月的時間里,我第一次無法開口說不?!倍张枬u漸就要下山了,他們離開公寓,穿過公園,走回了卡萊爾酒店。
【翻譯筆記】
1. demurral:名詞 demurral 表示“反對、異議;猶豫、顧慮”,特指經(jīng)過深思熟慮后正式提出的反對意見(considered expression of opposition, a formal objection)。動詞形式為demur 提出異議(也可用作名詞),常用作法律詞匯。
2. sideline:作名詞時,表示球場邊線,副業(yè)(a subsidiary line of merchandise),局外人的觀點(diǎn)。
球類運(yùn)動術(shù)語中的邊線球 sideline ball 屬于界外球的一種。sideline product 指副業(yè)產(chǎn)品,一家公司兼營其它業(yè)務(wù)可以說sideline in。sidelined investors 指的是持觀望態(tài)度的投資者。sideline還可以用作動詞,表示(由于受傷)退出比賽;把…排除在核心之外。
3. Sculley and Jobs:
喬布斯為了游說斯卡利加入蘋果說的那句極具煽動性的“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?”至今為人津津樂道,不過斯卡利任職蘋果最廣為人知的事跡,就是把喬布斯掃地出門趕出了蘋果,斯卡利也因?yàn)檎袩o數(shù)非議。喬布斯與斯卡利在關(guān)系的甜蜜期也曾經(jīng)這樣一唱一和過:“Sculley confided that if he hadn’t become a businessman, he would be an artist. Jobs replied that if he weren’t working with computers, he could see himself as a poet in Paris.”