[2008.06.14] Capital idea for a present 阿斯塔纳更名记

Kazakhstan
哈萨克斯坦

Capital idea for a present
首都更名赠总统

Jun 12th 2008 | ALMATY
2008年6月12日|阿拉木图
From The Economist print edition
摘自《经济学人》印刷版

Aw shucks, you shouldn’t have…I couldn’t possibly accept
哦，呸，你本不应该……我可能不接受

WHAT do you give a man who has everything, or at least the seemingly permanent presidency of a big Central Asian republic? You rename its capital in his honour, of course. That is how Sat Tokpakbayev, a member of the one-party parliament and former Kazakhstani defence minister, wanted to mark the 68th birthday next month of President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
对一个拥有一切的人物，或者至少表面上是一个中亚共和大国的终身总统，您会赠送他什么礼物呢？当然，为纪念其本人，您会以他的名字来命名首都。此举正是一党议会议员和前哈萨克斯坦国防部长萨特•托克帕克巴耶夫（Sat Tokpakbayev）想要在下月为纪念努尔苏丹•纳扎尔巴耶夫(Nursultan Nazarbayev)总统68岁诞辰所要做的。

In suggesting in parliament that Astana change its name to “Nursultan”, Mr Tokpakbayev achieved the near-impossible: distinguishing himself for sycophancy from the mass of other well-wishers, not least those in parliament. His proposal was at once enthusiastically endorsed by an estimated 90% of the deputies. (The others, all also members of the president’s party, Nur-Otan, must be ruing their absence that day.)
托克帕克巴耶夫在议会中建议阿斯塔纳更名为”努尔苏丹”，并在这一近乎不可能的事情中达到了目的：同众多祝福者（尤其是议会成员）的阿谀逢迎举动相比，托克帕克巴耶夫的做法的确别出一格。他的提议立即获取约90%议员的狂热支持(纳扎尔巴耶夫领导的祖国光明党（Nur-Otan）其他所有成员对诞辰当日的缺席必将会懊悔不已)。

Mr Tokpakbayev and his supporters point to precedents. Russia has St Petersburg, named after Peter the Great’s patron saint, America has Washington, neighbouring Turkmenistan has the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi, named for its late dictator. But Kazakhstan’s opposition newspapers scoffed. Respublika, a weekly, recommended that the circus clowns take a holiday so the parliamentarians could take their place.
托克帕克巴耶夫和他的支持者举出一些先例。俄国有以彼得大帝的守护圣徒彼得命名的圣彼德堡，美国有华盛顿，邻国土库曼斯坦在里海有以前独裁者命名的土库曼巴希港（Turkmenbashi）。不过，哈萨克斯坦国内的反对派报纸对此嘲笑不已。Respublika周报建议马戏团的小丑们应去度假，然后议会议员便可取而代之，进行表演。

With Kazakhstan facing an economic slowdown and galloping inflation, many observers wondered whether parliament might not find more urgent topics to discuss. But Mr Nazarbayev has turned down parliament’s petition. “The decision to change the name will be made by another generation,” he said. This has given rise to speculation that the suggestion was merely intended to burnish the image of a man not known for self-effacing modesty.
哈萨克斯坦正面临着经济衰退和通胀加剧等问题，许多观察员怀疑议会是不是找不到更为迫切的话题加以讨论。然而，纳扎尔巴耶夫拒绝了议会的呈请。他说：”改名决定应由另一代人作出”。这一做法已引发人们猜测，纳扎尔巴耶夫的建议只是在帮助一个对不求闻达的的谦逊品性不知一二的小人塑造形象而已。

Be that as it may, Astana, which will celebrate its tenth anniversary as Kazakhstan’s capital next month, is used to name changes. It has been called Akmolinsk, Tselinograd and Akmola. Mr Nazarbayev himself renamed it Astana (“capital”). A more fitting gift might have been to rename the presidency: the “Nursultanate”, perhaps?
即使如此，阿斯塔纳仍将在下月举行仪式，以庆祝其作为哈萨克斯坦首都十周年的纪念日。阿斯塔纳曾多次改名，分别被称为阿克莫林斯克 (Akmolinsk)、切利诺格勒（Tselinograd）和阿克莫拉(Aqmola)。纳扎尔巴耶夫本人亲自给其更名为阿斯塔纳(“首都”)。一个更为合适的礼物也许是给总统的职务更名为：”努尔苏丹化”，或许？

译者：captain21   http://www.ecocn.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=12116&extra=page%3D1