关于林肯的五个流言

Five myths about Abraham Lincoln
关于林肯的五个流言

No American hero, with the possible exception of George "I Cannot Tell a Lie" Washington, has been more encrusted with myth than Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln did boast virtues that required little embellishment. He rose from obscurity through hard work, self-education and honesty. He endured venomous criticism to save the Union and end slavery. He died shortly after his greatest triumph at the hands of an assassin. But tall-tale-tellers have never hesitated to rewrite Lincoln's biography. On Presidents' Day, it's well worth dispelling some perennial misconceptions about the man on the $5 bill.
美国英雄中，除了可能做到“我没有撒过谎”的乔治·华盛顿外，谁得到的信任都比不上——被捧上神堂的——亚伯拉罕·林肯。林肯夸张地拥有未经雕饰的美德。他通过努力工作、自学，以诚实的品质，从卑微的位置往上走。为保卫联邦，为结束奴隶制，他忍受了恶毒的攻击。在赢得一生中最重要的胜利后，他死于暗杀。但夸张叙事的作者们从来不曾犹豫重写林肯传记。在总统日，消除一些——这男人的头像印在5美元纸币上——流言，是一件很有意义的事情。

1. Lincoln was a simple country lawyer.
流言1、林肯只不过是乡村律师

This durable legend, personified by laconic Henry Fonda in John Ford's film "Young Mr. Lincoln," dies hard. Lincoln's law partner William H. Herndon, looking to boost his own reputation, introduced the canard that Lincoln cared little about his legal practice, did scant research, joked around with juries and judges, and sometimes failed to collect fees. Lincoln himself may have compromised his legal reputation with his oft-quoted admonition "Discourage litigation."
精干利落的亨利·方达在约翰·福特的电影《少年林肯》中的表演，使该传言形象化，因此深入人心。林肯的合伙律师威廉姆·H·赫唐，为了吹嘘自己，造谣说林肯不关心自己的律师事务：调查潦草；与陪审员和法官开玩笑；有时候，还收不到账。林肯经常轻责自己“对官司漠不关心”，因此可能也糟蹋了自己律师的名声。

True, politics became lawyer Lincoln's chief ambition. Still, in the 1850s he ably (and profitably) represented the Illinois Central Railroad and the Rock Island Bridge Co. - the company that built the first railroad bridge over the Mississippi River - and earned a solid reputation as one of his home state's top appeals lawyers.
当然，律师林肯的第一追求是政治。然而，直到19世纪80年代，他成功地（也赚了一大笔）代表了伊利诺伊州中央铁路和洛克岛桥梁公司，该公司修建了第一条横跨密西西比河的铁路桥。这项业务确定了他在本州——属于顶级律师行列——的牢固地位。

Lincoln's legal papers testify to a diverse and profitable practice. Had he not been "aroused," as he put it, to speak out in 1854 against the pro-slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act before seeking a Senate seat, he likely would have remained a full-time lawyer and earned fame and fortune at the bar.
林肯的法律文件证明他业务多多、利润丰厚。1854年，在竞选参议员之前，如果他不“出头”，强烈反对拥奴的《堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案》，那么他就可以依然当全职律师，在法庭上名利双收。（《堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案》使奴隶制得以向北扩张，引起堪萨斯内战，进一步爆发了南北战争。——译者注）。

2. Lincoln was gay.
2、林肯是同性恋

Gay rights activist Larry Kramer has long speculated that Lincoln was gay, claiming in 1999 that he'd discovered Lincoln's love letters to onetime roommate Joshua Speed. The claim is reportedly featured in Kramer's forthcoming history of homosexuality, "The American People," but historian Gabor Boritt called Kramer's assertion "almost certainly . . . a hoax."
长久以来，同性恋权利活动家拉瑞·克拉梅认为林肯是同性恋。1999年，他声称发现了林肯写给以前室友——阿尔弗雷德·斯比特——的几封情书。在克拉梅即将出版的同性恋历史《美国人民》一书中，将突出该论断。但历史学家盖博·博瑞特说克拉梅的说法“基本肯定……胡说八道。”

Still, the idea persists. In 2005, "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln," written by queer theory professor C. A. Tripp - a colleague of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey - purported to prove that Lincoln was an active homosexual who married only to conform to 19th-century convention and continued flirting and sleeping with young men throughout his presidency. Tripp went so far as to suggest that Lincoln's sexual indifference is what contributed to his wife's mental illness.
但，这说法一直流传。2005年，一位酷儿理论教授C·A·特里普出版了《亚伯拉罕·林肯的隐秘世界》。该教授也是性学家阿尔弗雷德·金赛的同事。在书中，他一本正经地声明林肯是一位活跃的同性恋人士，他结婚只是要符合19世纪的风俗，并且在总统任职期间，继续和年轻男子调情、睡觉。特里普进一步深化，认为林肯妻子由于他的性冷落，才患上精神疾病的。（酷儿理论：最早与同性恋有关的一些理论、说法，随后引申至情色、男女等方面的研究，进一步指前卫观点。——译者注）

Is it true? And if it is, does it matter? According to Herndon, Lincoln exhibited a "powerful" attraction to women and was a regular customer in prairie brothels before his marriage at age 33. His first son was born just nine months after his marriage, which suggests enthusiasm if not experience. Then again, proving that a man loves women isn't the same as proving that he doesn't love men. Maybe it's best to throw up our hands - and remember that Lincoln's sexual orientation is but a small part of his historical legacy.
真的吗？就算真的，又怎样？据赫唐说，林肯对女人有“强烈的”吸引力；在33岁结婚前，他是牧场妓院的常客。结婚后9个月，他的长子就降生了，这说明即使他经验不够，也算热情如火。当然，证明一个男人爱女人，并不能证明他不爱男人。或许最好的办法是放开这个问题——要记住，林肯的性取向和其历史功绩几乎没有关系。