性隐喻惹风波 沃伦．巴菲特这样解读投资

“要在别人贪婪的时候恐惧，在别人恐惧的时候贪婪”，“退潮的时候，才知道谁在裸泳”……巴菲特这些关于投资的名言大家都很熟悉，他写给投资者的信也给了大家很多启发。但最近巴菲特开的一个玩笑却引发了大家的讥讽。其实他还经常这样说些怪比喻。

Warren Buffett sparked ridicule and outrage by comparing Heinz Kraft’s attempt last month to take over Unilever to a woman responding to sexual advances.
沃伦•巴菲特将亨氏食品公司上月试图收购联合利华的举动比作一位女性回应性骚扰，引发公众讥讽和愤慨。

The billionaire CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which is a major shareholder of Heinz Kraft, was asked by an interviewer on CNBC why the consumer goods company had made an offer for its Anglo-Dutch rival even though the latter was clearly not interested in a tie-up.
伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的首席执政官巴菲特是一位亿万富翁，同时他也是亨氏食品公司的一位大股东。他在接受CNBC记者采访时被问及为什么亨氏明知其对手联合利华没兴趣合并却仍发出邀请。

He responded by saying that “if a diplomat says yes, he means maybe. If he says maybe, he means no. And if he says no, he’s no diplomat.”
他回答说：“如果一个外交官说行，他的意思是可能行。如果他说可能行，那就意味着不行。如果他说不行，那他称不上一个外交官。”

He then added that “if a lady says no, she means maybe. And if she says maybe, she means yes. And if she says yes, she's no lady.”
他补充道：“如果一个女人说不，她的意思是有可能。如果她说有可能，她的意思是行。如果她说行，她就不是一个淑女。”

But if you were surprised by the billionaire’s crude comments (and perhaps also his implication that it's impossible to be both a lady and a diplomat) then dig into his rich backlog of letters to investors and you’ll find that he’s no stranger to sometimes questionable, and other times just weird, sexual metaphors.
也许你不敢相信亿万富翁会发表如此粗鲁的言论（也许他在暗示女人不可以当外交官），但当你读他很多封写给投资者的信时你会不难发现，他经常会说奇奇怪怪的话，有时会使用一些古怪的性隐喻。

In a 2004 letter to investors, he likened being caught out by an uNPRedictable market, to skinny dipping in the sea.
2004年他在写给投资者的一封信中，将在变化莫测的市场中犯错比作在海里裸泳。

“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked,” he wrote.
“只有当海潮褪去，你才会发现谁在裸泳。”他写道。

A year later, when explaining that Berkshire Hathaway aims to grow the value of its investments and earnings, Mr Buffett said:
一年以后，当巴菲特先生在解释伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的目标是增加投资的价值和公司利益时，他说道：

“In this ambition, we hope – metaphorically – to avoid the fate of the elderly couple who had been romantically challenged for some time. As they finished dinner on their 50th anniversary, however, the wife – stimulated by soft music, wine and candlelight – felt a long-absent tickle and demurely suggested to her husband that they go upstairs and make love. He agonised for a moment and then replied, ‘I can do one or the other, but not both.’”
“按照这个宏伟目标，我们的希望是——打个比方——一对很长时间没有激情的老年夫妇在吃完50周年纪念晚餐后，轻柔的音乐、蜡烛红酒等刺激了妻子很久未有的性欲，她对丈夫认真地提议到上楼做爱。丈夫犹豫了一会说道，‘上楼和做爱，我只能选一个。’”

Two years later, in a similar letter to investors, Mr Buffett compared unsuccessful business deals to "ugly" women saying:
两年后，在类似的给投资者的信中，巴菲特把不成功的交易比作“丑陋”的女性：

“A line from Bobby Bare’s country song explains what too often happens with acquisitions: 'I’ve never gone to bed with an ugly woman, but I’ve sure woke up with a few.'”
“Bobby Bare乡村歌曲中的一句歌词解释了收购过程中经常发生的事情：我从未和丑女一起上床睡觉，但我早上醒来的时候还是有过一些丑女躺在身边的。”

And while the 86-year old has perhaps become crasser – or at least more uninhibited – with age, he seems to have always had a penchant for odd references.
随着年龄的增长，86岁的巴菲特可能更粗鲁，或者至少更放任自己，但他一直喜欢用奇怪的事物来做比喻。

Even way back in 1985, he attempted to emphasise the importance of patience by using an off-the-wall reference to childbirth.
在1985年，他曾用一些关于分娩的异乎寻常的比喻来强调耐心的重要性。

“No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time,” Mr Buffett said. “You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant”.
“不管多有天赋或者多努力，有些事情就是需要时间来完成的，”巴菲特说道，“你不能通过让九个女人同时怀孕而只花一个月的时间要一个孩子。”

***巴菲特金句***

1. 要在别人贪婪的时候恐惧，而在别人恐惧的时候贪婪。

2. 如果你没有持有一种股票10年的准备，那么连10分钟都不要持有这种股票。

3. 要赢得好的声誉需要20年，而要毁掉它，5分钟就够。如果明白了这一点，你做起事来就会不同了。

4. 投资对于我来说，既是一种运动，也是一种娱乐。我喜欢通过寻找好的猎物来“捕获稀有的快速移动的大象。”

5. 只有退潮时，你才知道谁是在裸体游泳。

6. 当一家有实力的大公司遇到一次巨大但可以化解的危机时，一个绝好的投资机会就悄然来临。

7. 投资企业而不是股票。

8. 拥有一只股票，期待它明天早晨就上涨是十分愚蠢的。

9. 即使美联储主席偷偷告诉我未来两年的货币政策，我也不会为之改变我的任何投资作为。

10. 我喜欢简单的东西。