英語成語“have an axe to grind” 【英文精義】

 

詹姆斯·喬伊斯的《尤利西斯》中有一段對一個愛爾蘭人（一個船主）的描寫：

Skin-the-Goat, assuming he was he, evidently with an axe to grind, was airing his grievances in a forcible-feeble philippic anent the natural resources of Ireland or something of that sort which he described in his lengthy dissertation as the richest country bar none on the face of God’s earth, far and away superior to England, with coal in large quantities, six million pounds worth of pork exported every year, ten millions between butter and eggs and all the riches drained out of it by England levying taxes on the poor people that paid through the nose always and gobbling up the best meat in the market and a lot more surplus steam in the same vein.

蕭乾與文潔若的譯文是:

——剝山羊皮——假定就是那位老板——顯然是別有用心。他以色厲內荏的申斥口吻，就愛爾蘭的天然資源問題什麽的，發泄了一通牢騷。他在一席冗長的論說中描述愛爾蘭是天主的地球上無與倫比的富饒國家，遠遠超過英國，煤炭產量豐富，每年出口的豬肉價值六百萬英鎊，黃油和雞蛋則共達一千萬英鎊。但是英國卻向愛爾蘭的窮苦人民橫征暴斂，強迫他們付出驚人的巨款，並把市場上最好的肉掠奪一空。另外還說了不少諸如此類誇張的話。

這描寫中的“with an axe to grind”是一個常用成語，其基本形式是“have an axe to grind”，有時寫為“have an ax to grind”，在各種書籍、報刊文章、甚至漫畫中都時常出現。各部字典、辭書對這成語有一定解說，但各部字典、辭書對其意思的解釋（至少從表麵看）又不盡相同。本文結合各部字典、辭書之說，以及書籍報刊中的實例來做一個綜合總結，將這成語的幾種相近但不盡相同的意思歸納如下：

1. 對某人某事有強烈的不滿、怨恨，並不餘遺力地發泄出來。這種解釋出現於麥格勞·希爾出版社（McGraw Hill）的美國成語字典（NTC's American Idioms Dictionary）。axe在這裏就表示怨恨、怨言；而grind在這裏就表示發泄怨恨、發表怨言、發脾氣，包括（用語言）詆毀、攻擊怨恨的對象。這可能是這成語最原始的意思。這不太難理解，因為斧頭的確是很能傷人的武器，磨得越鋒利，就越能傷人。

2. 持有某種強烈的觀點、主張，並不餘遺力地努力使別人接受。這種解釋出現於劍橋在線英語字典、麥克米蘭（macmillan)在線英語字典、朗文（Longman）在線英語字典。我們可以把這種意思理解為第一種意思的引伸、推廣，即認為某人持有某觀點、主張，實際來源於不滿、怨恨；或甚至認為這些觀點、主張無異於不滿、怨恨；亦即暗示那些強烈的觀點、主張有深刻局限，是基於個人情緒、狹隘的立場、先入為主的判斷等，而不是理性、開放、公正、客觀、係統、全麵的思考和研究。換句話說，axe在這裏就表示成見、偏見、陋見；而grind在這裏就表示頑固堅持、頑固推行。不過這不等於說那些觀點、主張背後一定有不可告人的自私目的。這是這成語最常見的用法。

3. 有什麽事情要同別人討論、爭論。這種解釋出現於麥格勞·希爾出版社（McGraw Hill）的成語字典（NTC's American Idioms Dictionary），但我沒有能夠在任何報刊書籍中找到明顯的實例，因而懷疑這隻是前麵兩種意思的一種幽默或自嘲、自謙用法。

4. 有某種暗藏的、常常是自私的目的。這種解釋出現於韋伯斯特（Merriam-Webster)在線英語字典、科林斯（Collins)在線英語字典、布拉克·馬斯克出版社（Blackmask）的成語字典（Dictionary of Phrase and Fable）、美國傳統成語字典(The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms)。

下麵是一些具體報刊書籍中的實例，有上下文幫助我們更好地理解這個成語的意思。

例一
【摘自“紐約客”雜誌2012年的一篇文章。當文章作者對他的被采訪的對象 - 一個基金會的負責人 - 提到一封有人對基金會不利的來信時，那個被采訪的對象辯解說這種來信都是不可信的，因為來信人是個因為無能而被基金會開除的人，這種人自然是會“have an axe to grind”，即心懷怨恨要發泄、報複。】

When I mentioned this letter to Neilson, he scoffed. “It’s just nonsense,” he said. “Obviously, any employee who’s been removed from their position due to performance issues is going to have an axe to grind.”

 

例二
【摘自“紐約客”雜誌2002年的一篇文章。文中的“我”即文章作者是一個采訪者，被采訪的對象也是一個記者。當該文章作者問被采訪者為什麽要使用這麽多匿名人士做他的消息來源時，被采訪者說那些為他提供消息的人如果公開姓名，會有丟工作的危險。該被采訪者辯解說，雖然他的消息來源是匿名的，但他做了很多核實工作，也研究了這些提供消息的人的動機，肯定了他們“don’t have an axe to grind” - 沒有什麽暗藏的動機。這是前麵列舉的第四種意思。】

Let me ask you something that people who read your pieces often wonder: Is it necessary to have so many unnamed sources?

It’s the way it works. People in sensitive positions want to tell the truth, but they don’t want to lose their jobs. They want to say what’s going on, but they have a wife, a kid, a mortgage. I think that the fact that they do try to tell the real story is a high form of patriotism. One good thing about our system, with the press and its freedoms, is that there are channels available for them. Our responsibility is not to abuse it — to vet what they say, to find facts to back it up, to get a sense of their motives and make sure that they don’t have an axe to grind. The reason people speak to me is that I protect people, and they talk to me. But I know people who’ve lost clearances for speaking to me, which for some people means that they can’t work. Anonymous or not, over the years my sources have been proved to be reliable. There’s the credibility of my sources, and there’s my credibility—both with my readers and with the sources themselves—built up over thirty-five years.

例三
【摘自十八世紀英國文學家亨利·菲爾丁的一部傳記。這裏說到菲爾丁在他的一部書的序言中抱怨人們硬要把他說成一首題為“The Causicade”的誹謗詩的作者。（菲爾丁很能搞笑，事實上那詩的確是他做的。）】

He had another axe to grind in the preface. He had been accused of writing a scurrilous poem, The Causicade (1744), inspired by:
the resignation of Sir John Strange from the office of Solicitor-General . . . [In the poem], many of the Judges and more prominent members of the Bar come in for ridicule and offensive references, and each of them was made to utter a panegyric on himself as the most fit person for the vacant post. Fielding angrily disavowed any knowledge of The Causicade's authorship. Though he naturally hoped for the approval of his colleagues in the law quite independently of any wish to defend himself against accusations that he had written The Causicade, he may nevertheless have been stimulated by the false charges to begin writing an ambitious legal work, An Institute of the Pleas of the Crown, which he announced for publication early in 1745. It never appeared. Murphy tells us that after Fielding's death, two folio volumes on the subject were in the possession of Fielding's half-brother John.

例四

【摘自“Psychiatric Times”一篇談論刊物編輯的文章。作者說到一個總編不應該簡單地拒絕有利害衝突的稿件。舉例說有個編輯說過，當他麵對有爭議的稿件時，他會讓有“strongly opposing view ”甚至有“axe to grind”的人來審稿，這樣才能發現稿件的弱點；這樣做是讓“bias”服務於“truth”。讀這個段落，我們不難體會到“have axe to grind”就是有比“strongly opposing view ”更強的觀點，而這些更強的觀點可以說充滿“bias”。】

Yet the job of the editor-in-chief is not to banish any psychiatrist - however brilliant and informed - who may have a potential COI. Rather, it is the editor-in-chief’s job to know of potential conflicts and to make executive decisions accordingly. One very experienced journal editor told me that in certain cases, it is useful to have a controversial article reviewed by someone who is known to have a strongly opposing view - maybe even an “axe to grind” - in order to ferret out weaknesses in the article. This amounts to using someone’s bias in service of the truth - so long as the bias is known, weighed carefully, and not allowed to determine the article’s fate.

例五

【摘自TS·艾略特致一個作者的征稿信。艾略特說他想要的是“have no political axe to grind”的人做的“more detached articles”。由此我們不難體會“have an axe to grind”就是與“detached”相反。“detached”是“超然”的意思，“have an axe to grind”當然就是“執迷”。】

Also: some time ago I saw an excellent article by you in Bifur on contemporary British politics. I have been wondering if you would consider writing something about politics for the Criterion. I do not want real professionals like Laski or the abler younger men of any party, so much as more detached articles by people like yourself, who have no political axe to grind, and are primarily students of literature, the arts and philosophy. Such a person might for instance, do a good essay on such a subject as Disarmament, or on the more general political conclusions to be drawn from the Simon report.

例六

【摘自“大西洋”雜誌2009年的一篇文章。文章討論幾個可能的美國最高法院大法官候選人，談到候選人Wood沒有“ideological ax to grind”（意識形態方麵的偏執），因而最可能被反對派接受。】

Of all these candidates, Wood and Karlan are probably the brightest lights, and Wood would be most palatable to conservatives. Cato's Ilya Shapiro, a former Wood student, said that she'd offer a "seriousness of purpose and no ideological ax to grind, this making her the best nominee for supporters of constitutionalism.

例七
【摘自威廉·薩默塞特·毛姆短篇小說 《一個有良心的人》。毛姆說道德家們的主張是出於既定立場而不是事實，他們甚至為了推廣自己的主張而歪曲事實。】

Moralists have an axe to grind; they must draw a moral. They think that if they say a thing often enough people will believe it. They are apt to state that a thing is so when they consider it desirable that it should be.

例八
【摘自弗裏德裏希·哈耶克（Friedrich Hayek）在的《通往奴役之路》（The Road to Serfdom）。哈耶克在該書的序言中解釋為什麽他要寫這麽一本反對計劃經濟的政治書，說因為那時提倡計劃經濟的大多是些“have an axe to grind ” - 固執於偏見 - 的人。】

This is the fact that the majority of economists have now for some years been absorbed by the war machine, and silenced by their official positions, and that in consequence public opinion on these problems is to an alarming extent guided by amateurs and cranks, by people who have an axe to grind or a pet panacea to sell.

例九
【摘自愛德華·摩根·福斯特《霍華茲莊園》。主人翁亨利·威爾科克斯認為拒絕安適的人都是出於偏執。】

"Self-denial is all very well as a means of strengthening the character. But I can’t stand those people who run down comforts. They have usually some axe to grind"

例十
【摘自亨利·詹姆斯《大使》。這裏的“with his or her axe to grind”應該理解為“每個人都有他的觀點、主張”。】

"Other persons in no small number were to people the scene, and each with his or her axe to grind, his or her situation to treat, his or her coherency not to fail of, his or her relation to my leading motive, in a word, to establish and carry on"

我所見到的對這成語的中文翻譯，有蕭乾、文潔若在喬伊斯的《尤利西斯》中（“with an axe to grind”）所譯的“別有用心”，和某中文譯者（網上所見，譯者不確，疑為王明毅、馮興元）在哈耶克的《通往奴役之路》中（“have an axe to grind”）所譯的“居心叵測”。我認為都很勉強。《尤利西斯》中的那個愛爾蘭人顯然就是對大英帝國心懷深怨於是毫無遮掩地發泄出來，並非口是心非，談不上“別有用心”。（蕭乾先生也許是在某個年代常因為有跟主流意識形態不合的言論而被帶上“別有用心”的帽子，久之對“別有用心”一詞的理解出現了偏差。）哈耶克隻是指責他的對手偏狹固執，不等於指責對手“居心叵測”。“偏狹固執”不過是人性的弱點，而“居心叵測”就近於邪惡了。真是如翻譯家何兆武所言，翻譯跟傳話一樣，轉一道手就打一個折扣，肯定和原著有很大的區別。我們還是效法何兆武先生努力學習外語，自己讀原文吧 - 今日之世，學外語倒是比何先生那年代容易得太多太多了。