《乔布斯传》翻译笔记：挖角百事的求贤持久战

第十四章迈克·马克库拉（Mike Markkula）开始为自己寻找接班人，他和乔布斯几经选择，挑中了百事公司百事可乐部门总裁约翰·斯卡利John Sculley，他的百事挑战（Pepsi Challenge）推广活动在广告宣传方面取得过巨大胜利（an advertising and publicity triumph）。为了挖角来这位产品营销专家，乔布斯展开了持久而猛烈的求贤攻势。乔布斯这段持续数月之久的“求爱之旅”（courtship）最终成功，乔布斯与斯卡利的甜蜜期（honeymoon）持续了几个月，但好景不长，两人性格和价值观的差异很快让两人出现了分歧。回顾乔布斯的求贤之旅，他是怎样最终说服个性谨慎的斯卡利的呢？

【英语原文】

Sculley uttered one last demurral, a token suggestion that maybe they should just be friends and he could offer Jobs advice from the sidelines. “Any time you’re in New York, I’d love to spend time with you.” He later recounted the climactic moment: “Steve’s head dropped as he stared at his feet. After a weighty, uncomfortable pause, he issued a challenge that would haunt me for days. ‘Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?’” Sculley felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. There was no response possible other than to acquiesce. “He had an uncanny ability to always get what he wanted, to size up a person and know exactly what to say to reach a person,” Sculley recalled. “I realized for the first time in four months that I couldn’t say no.” The winter sun was beginning to set. They left the apartment and walked back across the park to the Carlyle.(Chapter 13 Enter Sculley: Courtship)

【译文】

斯卡利最后还是有一些犹豫，所以他象征性的提议也许他们可以只做朋友，他可以从旁观者的角度给乔布斯提建议。“每次你来纽约，我都会愿意跟你见面聊聊。” 斯卡利后来描述了事情发展的高潮。“乔布斯低着头盯着脚看，我们之间有了一段沉重尴尬的静默，然后他抛给我一个问题，让我好几天都无法释怀。他问我：‘你是愿意剩下的半辈子卖糖水，还是愿意抓住这个机会改变世界？’” 斯卡利觉得乔布斯的话像是狠狠一拳打在他的胃上。除了默许，他不可能再有别的反应。“乔布斯有那种超凡的能力，他总是能得到自己想要的东西，他能准确的判断一个人，也懂得如何劝说才能抓住一个人的心。“斯卡利回忆道，”我后来意识到，这是四个月的时间里，我第一次无法开口说不。”冬日暖阳渐渐就要下山了，他们离开公寓，穿过公园，走回了卡莱尔酒店。

【翻译笔记】

1. demurral：名词 demurral 表示“反对、异议；犹豫、顾虑”，特指经过深思熟虑后正式提出的反对意见（considered expression of opposition, a formal objection）。动词形式为demur 提出异议（也可用作名词），常用作法律词汇。

Apart from the one small protest, which ended after some gentle placard-waving, there has been no whisper of public demurral. 除了一个小规模的抗议之外，没有其他任何公众抗议的流言。而这次抗议也只是挥舞了几下标语就结束了。

All articles held in house are deemed to give up, Party A has the right to handle, Party B is without demur definitely. 房屋留置的一切物品均视为放弃，甲方有权处置，乙方绝无异议。

2. sideline：作名词时，表示球场边线，副业（a subsidiary line of merchandise），局外人的观点。

球类运动术语中的边线球 sideline ball 属于界外球的一种。sideline product 指副业产品，一家公司兼营其它业务可以说sideline in。sidelined investors 指的是持观望态度的投资者。sideline还可以用作动词，表示（由于受伤）退出比赛；把…排除在核心之外。

He runs a profitable sideline selling postcard to tourist. 他在干一个有收益的副业----向游客出售明信片。

As a journalist , I was on the sidelines during the political crisis. 我是记者，在这一政治危机时期我是目睹一切的局外人。

3. Sculley and Jobs：

乔布斯为了游说斯卡利加入苹果说的那句极具煽动性的“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?”至今为人津津乐道，不过斯卡利任职苹果最广为人知的事迹，就是把乔布斯扫地出门赶出了苹果，斯卡利也因为招无数非议。乔布斯与斯卡利在关系的甜蜜期也曾经这样一唱一和过：“Sculley confided that if he hadn’t become a businessman, he would be an artist. Jobs replied that if he weren’t working with computers, he could see himself as a poet in Paris.”