紐時賞析／戰火成為莫斯科人的日常伴奏

The war is background noise in Moscow, but it’s always present.

戰火成為莫斯科人的日常伴奏

Metro trains are running smoothly in Moscow, as usual, but getting around the city center by car has become more complicated, and annoying, because anti-drone radar interferes with navigation apps.

在莫斯科，地鐵列車一如往常暢行無阻，但要在市中心開車，已變得更加棘手且惱人，因為反無人機雷達會干擾導航應用程式。

There are well-off Muscovites ready to buy Western luxury cars, but there are not enough available. And while a local election for mayor took place as it normally would this month, many of the city’s residents decided not to vote, with the result seemingly predetermined (a landslide win by the incumbent).

手頭充裕的莫斯科人，準備好購買西方進口的奢華名車，不料供不應求。而推選市長的地方選舉儘管本月正常舉行，許多市民卻決定不投票，畢竟結果似早已注定（現任市長壓倒性勝利）。

Almost 19 months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Muscovites are experiencing dual realities: The war has faded into background noise, causing few major disruptions, and yet it remains ever-present in their daily lives.

俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭將近19個月後，莫斯科民眾正在歷經雙重現實：戰爭已隱遁成為背景雜音，雖未造成重大干擾，卻常存於日常生活。

There is little anxiety among residents over the drone strikes that have hit Moscow this summer, no alarm sirens to warn of a possible attack. When flights are delayed because of drone threats in the area, the explanation is usually the same as the one plastered on signs at the shuttered luxury boutiques of Western designers: “technical reasons.”

今夏襲擊莫斯科的數起無人機攻擊，並未在居民間引發多大焦慮，也沒有警報聲示警可能的攻擊。每當無人機威脅當地致使航班延誤，給出的解釋通常一如西方設計師的奢侈精品店關閉後貼出的告示：「技術原因」。

“We continue to work, to live and to raise our children,” said Anna, 41, as she walked by a sidewalk memorial marking the death of Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

「我們繼續工作、生活、養育子女」，41歲的安娜走過人行道上，向瓦格納傭兵集團領袖普里格津過世致意的紀念場所。

But for some, the effects of war are landing harder.

但對部分民眾來說，戰爭的影響更加沉重。

Nina, 79, a pensioner who was shopping at an Auchan supermarket in northwestern Moscow, said that she had stopped buying red meat entirely and that she could almost never afford to buy a whole fish.

79歲的尼娜靠退休年金維生，她在莫斯科西北部的歐尚超市購物時，自陳已完全放棄購買紅肉，且幾乎買不起整條魚。

“Just right now, in September, the prices rose tremendously,” she said.

「光是現在，9月裡，價格就一飛衝天」，她說。

When asked about the biggest problems facing Russia, more than half the respondents in a recent poll by the independent Levada Center cited price increases. The war, known in Russia as the “special military operation,” came in second, with 29%, tied with “corruption and bribery.”

根據獨立民調機構列瓦達中心近期的民調，被問到俄國面臨的最重大問題時，超過五成受訪者提到物價上漲。在俄國被稱為「特別軍事行動」的俄烏戰爭，則以29%排在第2位，和「貪汙與賄賂」相當。

“In principle, everything is getting more expensive,” said Aleksandr, 64, who said he worked as an executive director in a company.

64歲的亞歷山大自稱在一家企業擔任執行董事，他表示：「原則上，所有東西都愈來愈貴。」

Aleksei A. Venediktov, who headed the liberal Echo of Moscow radio station before the Kremlin shut it down last year, said that the government had engineered the war’s absence from political spaces.

維涅狄克托夫領軍的自由派廣播電台「莫斯科回聲」，去年遭莫斯科當局關台。他表示，政府透過精心策畫，讓戰爭從政壇上消失。

Venediktov said that even if changes on Moscow’s surface were hard to see and increasingly harder to discuss, people were truly transforming inside.

維涅狄克托夫說，即使莫斯科表面上不易看到改變，要討論也更加困難，但人們內在確實在轉變。

“People are starting to return to the Soviet practice, when public conversations can lead to trouble at work,” he said. “It’s like toxic poisoning — a very slow process.”

「民眾開始退回蘇聯的做法，那時公共對話可能導致工作遇到麻煩」，他說，「這如同中毒，是非常緩慢的過程」。

文／Valerie Hopkins 譯／高詣軒

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【高詣軒】

俄烏戰爭打了19個月，紐時周報選譯過不少篇描述烏克蘭現況的文章，以莫斯科為主題的相對較少。從本則報導可發現，莫斯科人對物價上漲的關心程度勝過「侵門踏戶」的烏克蘭無人機。

Well-off/rich/wealthy皆形容富裕，也可用well-to-do。Well-off有跟其他人相比的意味：children from well-off families；the new rich是暴發戶，有貶義。Wealthy和rich差別在於前者有錢的時間比較久。Well-to-do常用於書寫，替代rich，過去特指社經地位高的家庭：Only well-to-do families could afford to send their children to university.

Mercenary（傭兵）是可數名詞，形容詞指「唯利是圖的」。英國作家路易斯（C.S. Lewis）寫道：Heaven offers nothing that a mercenary soul can desire.

Engineer（工程師）當動詞時，意指以巧妙或祕密方式安排處理某個狀況或事件，有時含貶義：She had no idea that her downfall had been engineered by her deputy.