跟《经济学人》学英文：2024年07月20日这期 What a $600m wedding says about India’s attitude to wealth

What a $600m wedding says about India’s attitude to wealth

The Ambani nuptials enticed everyone from Justin Bieber and Shah Rukh Khan to John Kerry

nuptials：美 [ˈnʌpʃəlz] 婚礼；（nuptial的复数）

enticed：美 [enˈtaɪsd] 诱使；吸引（entice的过去式和过去分词）

原文：

WHEN BEYONCÉ performed at a pre-wedding party for Isha Ambani in

2018, India was agog. Merely receiving an invitation conferred bragging

rights on status-obsessed business leaders and politicians. The cost of the

nuptials, with countless ancillary events, was said to be in excess of $100m.

That is a staggering sum for almost anyone—but not the Ambani family,

which owns a controlling interest in Reliance Industries, the country’s most

valuable company, dominating everything from telecoms to oil refining.

Despite some anti-rich finger-wagging, many Indians appear to have viewed

the event, which even the maharajas of yore would envy, as evidence that

India—and Indian business—could once again glitter.

当碧昂斯在2018年伊莎·安巴尼的婚前派对上表演时，印度非常兴奋。仅仅收到一份邀请就给了那些迷恋地位的商业领袖和政治家们吹嘘的权利。婚礼的费用，加上无数的辅助活动，据说超过1亿美元。这对几乎所有人来说都是一个惊人的数目，但对安巴尼家族来说却不是，该家族拥有信实工业公司的控股权，该公司是该国最有价值的公司，控制着从电信到炼油的所有行业。尽管有些人反对富人，但许多印度人似乎已经将这一事件视为印度——以及印度商业——可以再次发光的证据，即使是昔日的王公也会羡慕这一事件。

学习：

agog：极度兴奋的，充满期待的

这里的 “agog” 是指极度兴奋、急切或充满期待的状态。

例子：When the news of the surprise concert by a famous band spread, the whole town was agog with excitement and anticipation.
（当著名乐队的惊喜演唱会消息传开时，整个小镇都充满了兴奋和期待。）

conferred：授予；（confer的过去式和过去分词）

ancillary：美 [ˈænsəleri] 辅助的；支持的；补充的；

bragging：自夸；吹牛的人；傲慢的态度

bragging rights：炫耀的权利；吹嘘的资本

in excess of：超过；多于；超出

staggering：令人震惊的；难以置信的；

controlling interest：控股权益

finger-wagging：指手画脚；斥责；指责

maharaja：美 [ˌmɑ(h)əˈrɑ(d)ʒə] 印度王子；土邦统治者；

yore：昔日；往昔；昔时；

glitter：闪烁；闪耀；闪光

原文：

You might therefore have expected the months-long knot-tying celebrations

of Isha’s brother Anant, which concluded on July 14th, to provoke a

similarly positive response. It featured even more international stars (Katy

Perry, Justin Bieber and Rihanna), more bling (outfits embroidered in gold

along with enough golf-ball sized rubies, diamonds and emeralds) and a

higher price tag (the figure $600m has been bandied about).

因此，你可能会期待伊莎的兄弟阿南特长达数月的喜结良缘庆祝活动(于7月14日结束)会引发类似的积极回应。它有更多的国际明星(凯蒂·佩里、贾斯汀比伯和蕾哈娜)，更多的珠宝(用黄金刺绣的服装，以及足够高尔夫球大小的红宝石、钻石和翡翠)，以及更高的价格标签(6亿美元的数字已经流传开来)。

学习：

knot-tying：打劫；喜结良缘

bling：奢华高档的首饰或服装

outfit：服装

embroiderd：刺绣；（embroider的过去分词）

rubies：红宝石色；（ruby的复数）

emerald：美 [ˈɛmərəld] 绿宝石；翡翠

bandied：打来打去；往复投掷；（bandy的过去式）

bandy out: 消息传开

这里的 “bandy about” 意思是到处传说、随意散布（某个数字或信息）。

例子：Rumors about the company’s impending merger were being bandied about by employees in the break room.
（关于公司即将合并的传言在员工的休息室里到处流传。）

price tag：价格标签；成本；代价

原文：

It also contributed handsomely to India’s booming matrimony business,

which generates perhaps $130bn a year in revenues; only food makes up a

bigger share of Indians’ retail spending. Behind the innumerable beautiful

saris at the Ambani wedding were thousands of designers, tailors and

seamstresses; behind the dances and elaborate backdrops were thousands of

choreographers, musicians and carpenters. The assorted festivities filled

hotels, private jets, a fleet of golf carts and at least one cruise ship.

它还为印度蓬勃发展的婚姻事业做出了巨大贡献，每年创造约1300亿美元的收入；只有食品在印度的零售支出中占据了更大的份额。在安巴尼婚礼上无数漂亮的纱丽背后，是成千上万的设计师、裁缝和女裁缝；在舞蹈和精心制作的背景背后，是成千上万的舞蹈指导、音乐家和木匠。各种各样的庆祝活动充斥着酒店、私人飞机、一队高尔夫球车和至少一艘游轮。

学习：

handsomely：慷慨地；相当大地；

contribute handsomely to：做出巨大贡献

matrimony：美 [ˈmætrəˌmoʊni] 婚姻；婚姻状态；配偶关系

innumerable：美 [ɪˈnuːmərəbl] 无数的；很多的；数不胜数的；

saris：卷布；（sari的复数）

seamstresses：美 [ˈsimstrəs] 女裁缝；（seamstress的复数）

elaborate：细致的；讲究的

backdrops：背景；（backdrop的复数）

choreographer：美 [ˌkɒrɪ’ɒɡrəfə®] 编舞; 编舞者; 舞蹈指导

carpenters：木匠；（carpenter的复数）

assorted：各式各样的；各色的；混合的；

private jets：私人飞机

cruise ship：游轮

原文：

Yet instead of awe and pride like six years ago, the reaction this time was

considerably more mixed. As the Juggernaut, an online publication,

summed it up, it “shows us the power of Asia’s richest family. But it also

gave us the ick.”’

然而，与六年前的敬畏和自豪不同，这次的反应要复杂得多。正如一家在线出版物《the Juggernaut》所总结的那样，它“向我们展示了亚洲最富有家族的力量。但这也让我们感到恶心。”

学习：

juggernaut：美 [ˈdʒəɡərˌnɔt] 重型货车；（Juggernaut）黑天神像

这里的 “give us the ick” 意思是让我们感到反感或厌恶。

例子：Her constant bragging about her wealth gave me the ick.
（她不断吹嘘自己的财富让我感到反感。）

原文：

It wasn’t just the Juggernaut that felt a bit icky. India’s prime minister,

Narendra Modi, did make an appearance at one of the events leading up to

the ceremony. But the Gandhi family, which leads the left-of-centre political

opposition, pointedly did not. Foreign political leaders who attended were

mostly former ones (Sir Tony Blair, Boris Johnson). A few seemed an odd

fit. John Kerry, America’s former climate envoy, was rubbing shoulders with

Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil

company, at an event bankrolled by wealth derived primarily from

Reliance’s giant petrochemicals operation that, to complicate matters further,

refines oil from Russia.

不仅仅是Juggernaut感觉有点恶心。印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪确实出现在仪式前的一场活动中。但是，领导中间偏左的政治反对派的甘地家族显然没有这么做。与会的外国政治领导人大多是前任(托尼·布莱尔爵士、鲍里斯·约翰逊)。有几个看起来很奇怪。美国前气候特使约翰·克里与世界最大的石油公司Saudi Aramco的首席执行官阿明·纳塞尔在一次活动中擦肩而过，这次活动的资金主要来自信实集团的巨大石化业务，更复杂的是，该业务从俄国提炼石油。

学习：
icky：黏糊糊的；令人不快的；讨厌的

make an appearance：短时间到场；露面；亮相

pointedly：带有明显意图地；故意地

这里的 “pointedly” 意思是明确地，故意地，或是带有明显意图地。

例子：She pointedly ignored his suggestion, making it clear she disagreed.
（她故意忽略了他的建议，明显表明她不同意。）

在上述句子中，“pointedly did not” 表示甘地家族明确地选择不出席该活动，这一行为是有意为之，以表达某种立场或态度。

envoy：美 [ˈenvɔɪ] 代表；使者；公使；

rub：摩擦；擦拭；磨擦；

rub shoulders with：和xxx 擦肩而过

bankrolled：提供资金；（bankroll的过去式）

原文：

Indeed, Anant’s matrimonial extravaganza looks likely to be the last of its

kind for a while. That is not just because he was the only remaining

unmarried child of Mukesh, the Ambani clan’s patriarch, and because no one

(with the possible exception of the family of Gautam Adani, India’s second

richest industrialist) can match the Ambanis’ deep pockets. Mr Modi’s

government has become increasingly aware of voters’ distaste for rising

inequality, which may have cost his Bharatiya Janata Party its absolute

majority in a general election earlier this year.

事实上，阿南特的婚姻盛宴在一段时间内可能是最后一次了。这不仅仅是因为他是安巴尼家族族长穆克什唯一的未婚子女，也因为没有人(除了印度第二富有的实业家高塔姆·阿达尼家族之外)能比得上安巴尼家族的雄厚财力。莫迪政府越来越意识到选民对不平等加剧的厌恶，这可能导致他的印度人民党(Bharatiya Janata Party)在今年早些时候的大选中失去绝对多数席位。

学习：

matrimonial： 美 [ˌmætrəˈmoʊniəl] 婚姻的；夫妇的

extravaganza：奢华的表演；盛大演出；

clan：氏族；家族；

patriarch：美 [ˈpeɪtriɑːrk] 家族领袖；族长；

industrialist：美 [ɪnˈdʌstriəlɪst] 实业家；工业家；工厂主

deep pockets：财力雄厚；有钱

distaste：厌恶；反感；不喜欢；厌倦

原文：

Strong GDP growth and a soaring stockmarket have created more wealth for

India’s rich, but not that many new jobs or wage gains for its poor. Between

Isha’s and Anant’s weddings India’s GDP per person rose from $2,000 to

$2,500 (not adjusted for inflation). By comparison, in the same period the

Ambani family fortune swelled from $47bn to $122bn.

强劲的GDP增长和飙升的股市为印度富人创造了更多的财富，但却没有给穷人带来多少新工作或工资增长。在伊莎和阿南特的婚礼之间，印度的人均国内生产总值从2000美元上升到2500美元(未经通胀调整)。相比之下，在同一时期，安巴尼家族的财富从470亿美元增至1220亿美元。

学习：

swell：膨胀；隆起；增大

原文：

More gallingly to many Indians, it has shot up by $10bn in the past month

alone. Reliance’s share price rose by 8% after the company’s Jio telecoms

business raised prices for its 470m customers. To the Ambanis, this may

have made their lavish family celebrations look like a bargain. To almost

everyone else, it makes them look disconnected from India’s economic and

social reality. ■

更令许多印度人不安的是，仅在过去一个月里，这一数字就飙升了100亿美元。在该公司的Jio电信业务为其4 . 7亿客户提价后，Reliance的股价上涨了8%。对安巴尼夫妇来说，这可能让他们奢华的家庭庆典看起来像是一笔交易。对几乎所有其他人来说，这让他们看起来与印度的经济和社会现实脱节。■

学习：

gallingly：令人恼火的是

后记

2024年7月24日12点04分于上海。