第一个加入中国共产党的美国人
By MARK MCDONALD 翻译：王童鹤 2012年07月16日
HONG KONG - The first American to join the Chinese Communist
Party turns 91 next month, and a new documentary, "The
Revolutionary," describes how a kid from Charleston, South
Carolina, ended up in a mountain cave playing gin rummy with Mao
Zedong.
香港——第一个加入中国共产党的美国人，下个月就91岁了。一部题为《革命者》(The
Revolutionary)的纪录片，讲述了生于南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿的李敦白(Sidney
Rittenberg)成为毛泽东窑洞牌友的历程。
He would later end up, twice, in Communist prisons, enduring
long stretches in solitary, "sitting there with your own potential
madness sitting across from you, watching you, knowing it's either
you or him."
在那以后，他两次身陷共产党的监狱，长期忍受孤独的煎熬，“你坐在那里，与随时可能发作的疯狂对峙，你心里明白，你战胜不了它，它就会战胜你。”
Sidney Rittenberg took an interesting career path, to say the
least. Arriving in China as a language expert for the U.S. military
just as World War II was ending, he stayed behind after the war to
join the Communist revolution.
即便用最平实的字眼来形容，也得说李敦白的职业轨迹很有趣。第二次世界大战即将结束时，他作为美军的语言专家来到中国。战争结束后，他留在中国，参加了共产主义革命。
A Chinese state television account says Mr. Rittenberg had a
come-to-Communism moment when he was still in the military. He was
outraged when he heard that a rickshaw puller had received just $14
in compensation from the Chinese Nationalist government when his
child was killed by a drunk driver, an American surgeon.
中国一家官方电视台讲述，李敦白是在服役期间突然觉悟共产主义的。当时，一名醉酒驾车的美军下士撞死了一个黄包车夫的孩子，国民党政府却只给了车夫14美元赔偿，得知此事，李敦白怒不可遏。
In a recent TedX video interview, Mr. Rittenberg said he felt he
was "fulfilling an historical need" and was excited by the chance
to have "my finger on the pulse of history."
在最近一次在TedX上接受采访的视频中，李敦白说，他觉得自己当时是在“满足历史的需要”，心情也非常激动，因为有机会“触摸历史的脉搏”。
Known in China as Li Dunbai - the phonetic expression of
Rittenberg - he trekked to the Communist guerrillas' mountain
sanctuary of Yan'an in 1946. He met Mao the day he arrived, he
said, and came to know him and the inner circle of senior Communist
leaders who were hunkered down there. At night they played gin
rummy, horsed around and watched Laurel and Hardy films.
李敦白这个中文名字是英文姓氏“里滕伯格”(Rittenberg)的音译。1946年，他跋涉到了共产党游击队占据的山区根据地延安。他说，自己抵达延安的当天，就见到了毛泽东，并渐渐认识了他，以及窝在延安的共产党核心领导成员。晚上，他们会打扑克牌、骑马兜风、看劳莱和哈迪(Laurel
and Hardy)的喜剧电影。
The leaders used him to polish and edit their messages into
perfect English. He later translated some of Mao's writings - the
Chairman even autographed his Little Red Book - and he worked for
the New China News Agency and Radio Peking.
李敦白奉命把领袖们的讲话润色、编辑成完美的英语，之后还翻译过一些毛泽东的文章。毛主席甚至还在李敦白的那本红宝书上签了名。李敦白还曾在新华通讯社和中国国际广播电台的前身北京广播电台工作过。
Mr. Rittenberg has always acknowledged that he was smitten with
the Communist party, especially in its relief efforts with the
poor.
李敦白始终承认，自己当时坚定地支持认同共产党，尤其认同共产党对穷人的扶助。
"It was clean as a whistle," he said in a Guardian interview, noting that the leaders in the early days lived simply and ate frugally.
在接受英国《卫报》(The Guardian)采访时，他说共产党“当时一尘不染”，指出领袖们最初生活简朴、饮食节约。
The Yan'an area, which served as the Communist base until 1948,
has now become a tourist attraction, although it has been sanitized
both physically and historically.
1948年前一直充当共产党根据地的延安地区，现在已经成了一个旅游名胜。不过无论是这个地方，还是那段历史，都已经经过了净化。
"They've virtually destroyed this museum to Chinese
revolutionary history," Mr. Rittenberg told my colleague Edward
Wong in 2010. "I think it's a real travesty."
2010年，李敦白对《纽约时报》记者黄安伟(Edward
Wong)说，“他们几乎毁掉了这座中国革命历史的博物馆。我觉得真的很荒唐。”
"The local tour guides will not allow anyone to criticize Mao,"
he said.
他说，“当地导游不允许任何人批评毛泽东。”
Mr. Rittenberg has often been asked for his impressions of Mao,
whom he has called "a great hero and a great criminal all rolled up
into one." He said Mao was personally aloof, spoke very slowly and
was "the best listener I have ever met." At times, he said, Mao
could be "hilariously funny."
李敦白经常被人问起自己对毛泽东的看法。他形容毛泽东“融大英雄和大罪犯为一身。”他说，毛泽东待人冷淡、讲话缓慢，而且是“我见过的最好的倾听者。”他说，毛泽东有时也会“十分搞笑。”
In 1956 Mr. Rittenberg married a Chinese woman, Wang Yulin,
after professing his feelings - against the advice of friends - in
a love letter. Still married, now living in Fox Island, Washington,
they have three daughters and a son.
1956年，李敦白娶了一名中国姑娘，王玉琳。之前他不顾朋友的劝阻，写了一封情书向她表白感情。他们相守至今，育有三女一子，现居华盛顿州福克斯岛。
In all, Mr. Rittenberg spent 34 years in China, from the
Communists' victory in the revolution through the horrors of the
Great Leap Forward, the ensuing famine and the Cultural Revolution.
In various interviews over the years he has seemed sad, wistful,
angry and ashamed of the excesses and damage of those years.
李敦白前前后后在中国呆了34年，经历过共产党的革命胜利、大跃进的恐怖，以及紧随其后的饥荒和文化大革命。多年来的历次采访当中，谈到那些年的恶行和破坏时，他表现出来的情绪是悲伤、愁苦、愤怒，甚至是耻辱。
In the preface to his autobiography, he said that he, like
others, had "walked the Communist Road in the hope of creating a
new and better world."
李敦白在自传的序言中说，他像其他人一样，“走上共产主义道路，原因是希望建立一个更好的新世界。”
"But at the same time I want to paint a clear picture of the
evils that ensued," he wrote. "I saw them. I lived with them. In
some cases - to my shame and chagrin today - I participated in
them."
“但同时，我也希望清晰地描绘随之而来的罪恶，”他写道。“我见证了罪恶，与罪恶并存。某些情况下我还曾参与其中，这让今天的我感到耻辱和羞愧。”
The autobiography, written with the journalist Amanda Bennett,
is titled "The Man Who Stayed Behind."
他与记者阿曼达·贝内特(Amanda Bennett)共同撰写的这本自传题为《红幕后的洋人》(The Man Who Stayed
Behind)。
His first prison stint came when Joseph Stalin asked Mao to
arrest him as an agent of U.S. imperialism who had been sent to
sabotage the Chinese revolution.
他第一次身陷囹圄是因为约瑟夫·斯大林(Joseph Stalin)说他是美帝国主义派来破坏中国革命的间谍，要求毛泽东逮捕他。
His jailers drugged him to keep him edgy, awake, sleep-deprived.
"You're supposed to break down and confess," he said. "I broke
down, but I had nothing to confess. So it's kind of awkward."
狱卒对他用药，让他一直焦虑暴躁、无法入睡。“他们以为你会崩溃，然后招供，”他说。“我崩溃了，可我没什么好招供的。所以场面有点尴尬。”
His second prison term came at the behest of Mao's wife, Jiang
Qing.
他第二次入狱是因为毛泽东的妻子江青下令。
"A fantastic woman," he said of Madame Mao in one interview,
whereupon his wife interjected, "A horrible woman."
在一次采访中，他形容江青是个“了不起的女人”。此时他的妻子插嘴说，“可怕的女人。”
Mr. Rittenberg spent a total of 16 years in prison in China, and
now says with a rueful grin, "I hate to be a whiner, but it was too
long."
李敦白总共在中国的监狱里呆了16年。现在他苦笑着说，“我倒不想抱怨，可是时间真的太长了。”
Released in 1977, he returned to the United States in 1979 for a
vacation and wrote an essay for The Times about his initial
impressions. A Times story from 1979 that recounts his remarkable
tale is here.
李敦白在1977年获释，1979年回到美国度假，并曾为《纽约时报》撰文讲述自己的第一印象。1979年《纽约时报》也曾报道过他引人入胜的故事。
Mr. Rittenberg left China with his family for good in
1980.
1980年，李敦白携家人彻底地离开了中国。
Lucy Ostrander, the producer of the documentary, said she was
inspired to make the film after reading a profile of Mr. Rittenberg
written by Gary Rivlin in the business section of The Times in
2004.
这部纪录片的制片人露西·奥斯特兰德(Lucy Ostrander)说，她产生拍摄这部电影的念头，是因为读到了加里·里夫林(Gary
Rivlin) 2004年在《纽约时报》商业版发表的一篇介绍李敦白的文章。
The article detailed how Mr. Rittenberg had become a much
sought-after consultant for firms looking to do business in China.
His client list has since included Intel, Nextel, Microsoft and the
like.
文中详细介绍了希望拓展中国业务的美国企业争相聘请李敦白担任顾问的故事。从那以后，英特尔(Intel)、Nextel、微软(Microsoft)等公司相继成为了他的客户。
"We can see just about anybody we need to see in China because
people are curious to meet me," Mr. Rittenberg said of his
continuing access to Chinese business and political leaders.
李敦白表示自己总能接触到中国的商界和政界领袖，他说，“在中国我们几乎可以见到任何需要见的人，因为他们都很好奇，都想见我。”
John Zagula, a Washington venture capitalist, was one of those
who took counsel from Mr. Rittenberg.
华盛顿风险投资人约翰·查古拉(John Zagula)就曾向李敦白求教。
"If he bears scars from his time in prison," Mr. Zagula said,
"those are scars that he somehow has turned to be positive for him.
He's vital. He's engaged. He has a BlackBerry. He's totally with
it. He knows what's going on in the world."
查古拉说，“如果说他的狱中岁月留下了伤痕，他也通过某种方式把这些伤痕变成了对自己有益的东西。他很关键，有人脉，而且会用黑莓(BlackBerry)。他完全跟得上时代，了解世界的动向。”
A BBC interviewer asked Mr. Rittenberg last year whether a
Communist Party exists today.
去年，一位BBC记者问李敦白，今天还有没有共产党。
"Not by any definition I know of," he replied. "Today you don't
find much morality."
他回答说，“按照我了解的任何一种定义来判断，都已经没有了。今天没有多少道德底线。”
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