索契冬奥会前前后后展示普京雄心

Conjuring up the ghosts of Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky and Peter the Great, Vladimir Putin put on a show last night to rival London and Beijing, with a simple message: Russia is back and as hungry as ever.

在昨晚这场可与伦敦奥运会和北京奥运会匹敌的演出上，托尔斯泰(Tolstoy)、柴可夫斯基(Tchaikovsky)、彼得大帝(Peter the Great) 之魂接连出场，弗拉基米尔·普京(Vladimir Putin)借此传递一个简单的信息：俄罗斯回来了，像昔日那样雄心勃勃。

In a feat reflective of the $51bn epic Sochi experiment itself, a giant troika of horses floated through the freezing air, the workers’ revolution was reimagined as a Malevich-inspired musical and an inflatable St Basil’s coalesced on the stage. Volcanoes spewed fire, fireworks lit up the stadium and soft flurries of snow fell on command from the sky. Mr Putin bowed and waved.

开幕式壮丽地史诗表演折射出索契冬奥会510亿美元的投入。三匹巨马飘过冰冷的空气，从马列维奇(Malevich)得到灵感、以工人革命为主题的音乐剧表演，以及舞台上出现的充气圣巴西尔大教堂。一个个小火山引燃了火炬台，烟花照亮整座体育场，安排好的细雪从天而降。普金向人们鞠躬并挥手示意。

If many have doubted Mr Putin’s decision to host the Winter Olympics in a tiny beachfront town that had little pre-existing modern day infrastructure, the president’s opening ceremony could be seen as a strong rebuke. Homage was made to Peter the Great and Russia’s Imperial capital St Petersburg – built against all architectural logic on a marshland – and the Stalinist skyscrapers of Soviet Moscow that remain standing to this day, as viewers were taken on the tumultuous ride that is Russia’s history.

当普金决定在一个缺乏现代基础设施的海滨小镇举办冬奥会时，也许有人曾有过怀疑，而这场开幕式可被视作总统的反驳。开幕式的表演展现了彼得大帝，俄罗斯帝都圣彼得堡（在沼泽地上克服建筑技术局限而兴建的城市），以及今天依然伫立在莫斯科的斯大林式的高楼，让观众们走马观花地一览俄罗斯历史。

The Sochi games have been among the more controversial in Olympic history, with western critics using them as a springboard to criticise Russia in particular on its human rights record.

索契冬奥会是奥运会历史上一次备受争议的比赛，西方的批评家们以它为跳板来批评俄罗斯，尤其指责其人权记录。

In perhaps a cheeky nod to critics of the country’s new “gay propaganda” ban, the ceremony featured music from tATu, a Russian pop duo who posed as faux lesbians during their peak in their early 2000s. Their song – “Not Going To Get Us” – played as Russia’s Olympic competitors made their entrance during the traditional Parade of Nations.

该国新出台的“禁同性恋宣传”法律招致了大量批评，或许是为了调侃这些批评，开幕式选用了tATu的音乐。tATu是一支俄罗斯流行音乐二人组，在21世纪初的巅峰时代曾假装女同性恋。当俄罗斯冬奥会的选手们踏入会场，进行传统的运动员游行仪式时，tATu的歌曲“别想阻拦我们”(Not Going To Get Us)响彻会场。

The opening ceremony may help Russia reclaim the Sochi narrative from critics who have highlighted the event’s shortcomings. In recent days, arriving journalists complained of yellow tap water, unfinished hotel rooms and shoddy construction work – evidence of a rushed job.

开幕式或许有助于俄罗斯从批评者那里夺回索契冬奥会的话语权，近日这些批评者抓住此次奥运会的缺陷大做文章。近日来，抵达索契的记者们纷纷抱怨自来水泛黄，酒店客房没完工，以及粗制滥造的施工——这都是赶工的证明。

The show was not without hitches. One of the five Olympic rings, in the form of giant snowflakes, initially failed to open properly.

开幕式并非一帆风顺。在巨大的雪花状奥运五连环中，有一环最初没能正确打开。

While the leaders in Mr Putin’s Olympic box included China’s leader Xi Jinping and Viktor Yanukovich, the embattled leader of Ukraine, major western leaders, including US president Barack Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel, skipped the party, sending junior delegations instead.

普京的冬奥会包厢里坐着中国国家主席习近平和陷入困境的乌克兰总统维克多•亚努科维奇(Viktor Yanukovych)，但美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)和德国总理安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)等主要西方国家领导人没有出席开幕式，而只是派出了低层官员组成的代表团。

Offsetting the lack of western luminaries, Mr Putin had gathered Russia’s rich and famous from the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres, Moscow film sets – and some from abroad. Svetlana Zakharova, the nation’s prima ballerina, danced, while Anna Netbrenko, Russia’s world-famous soprano, sang the Olympic anthem. Maria Sharapova, the tennis star, came from her residence in Florida and oligarch Roman Abramovich from the UK.

为了弥补西方要人的缺席，普京从莫斯科大剧院和马林斯基剧院、莫斯科电影界召集了俄罗斯的许多富人和名人，也有一些从国外应邀赶来。芭蕾舞首席女舞者斯维特拉娜•扎哈洛娃(Svetlana Zakharova)翩翩起舞，世界闻名的俄罗斯女高音安娜•奈瑞贝科(Anna Netrebko)演唱冬奥会会歌。网球明星玛丽亚•莎拉波娃(Maria Sharapova)从她在美国佛罗里达州的住所前来助阵，寡头罗曼•阿布拉莫维奇(Roman Abramovich)从英国赶来出席开幕式。

At the end of the three-hour ceremony, Russia put on a beautifully terrifying firework display set to the music of Tchaikovsky. As Mr Putin seemed to have proved, there are things Russia still does stupendously well: pyrotechnics most certainly included.

长达3小时的开幕式结束时，俄罗斯方面在柴可夫斯基音乐的伴奏下进行了美丽壮观的烟花表演。正如普京似乎已证明的那样，俄罗斯仍有许多事情能做得非常漂亮：烟火表演肯定包括在内。