本文用于学习交流。翻译由个人完成，如有不当，请指正。

参考的翻译有程红女士翻译的《遵命大臣》与破烂熊翻译的《是大臣》剧版字幕。特别感谢破烂熊字幕组的辛苦努力，可以说是大臣、是首相系列影视剧在中文世界的广泛传播离不开破烂熊字幕组翻译的优质字幕，其字幕优质程度无人能出其右。

Yes minister——是大臣，是一部英国政治情景喜剧，有半部是大臣治天下的称赞。观看是大臣，观众可以发现任何时间、任何地区的官僚问题都是极其相似的、充斥着腐败、结*党**营私、以权谋利。在BBC试播以后，是大臣以绝对的热潮先后制作了三部Yes minister，两部Yes prime minister，及小说。这是少有的以影视剧改编为小说的作品，也可以看做是对影视剧的补充。

书籍全文为Yes minister：The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister by the Right Hon. James Hacker MP。翻译为，是大臣：詹姆斯·哈克议员阁下的内阁部长日记。

October 24th 十月二十四日

At last I'm a Cabinet Minister.

终于等到了，我总算成了内阁大臣。

And today I had my first encounter with the Civil Service, and I must say I am very impressed.

今天，我第一次接触到公务员，我必须说，我对他们印象十分深刻。（encounter——名词，相遇、遭遇也可以理解为比赛交锋，因而遵命大臣中翻译为我与文官的初次交锋）

I got the call from Number Ten at about 9 a.m.， after a sleepless night, and immediately Frank Weisel and I caught the London train. I got a taxi to Number Ten, where I was asked by the PM to take over the Department of Administrative Affairs.

经过一夜无眠，我在上午9点左右接到了10号的电话，弗兰克·韦塞尔和我立即坐上了去伦敦的火车。我乘出租车去了十号，在那里，首相让我接管行政事务部。（Department of Administrative Affairs——剧中虚拟的部门，take over——接管）

This is an important post. In the Cabinet ranking,about eighth or ninth I should think. On the other hand, Martin reminded me(when he phoned to congratulate me)that the DAA is a political graveyard, a bit like the Home Office, and the PM may have over-promoted me -a vengeful move. I am determined to get a grip on the DAA and prove to the PM that I’m not so easily taken care of.

这是一个重要的职位。在内阁排名中，我想大概排第八或第九。另一方面，马丁提醒我(当他打电话祝贺我时), DAA是一个政治墓地，有点像内政部，首相可能过度提拔了我——这是一种报复行为。我决心稳稳掌握DAA，向首相证明我不是那么容易“被照顾的”。（vengeful——正式用词，心存报复的，grip——紧握，与on组成短语时表示对...有影响力、控制力）

I was expecting to be Minister of Agriculture as I've shadowed Agriculture for seven years, and have many good ideas about it, but for some inexplicable reason the PM decided against this.

我曾期望成为农业部长，因为我担任影子内阁农业大臣已经七年了，并且积累了很多好的想法。但是由于一些令人费解的原因，首相决定不这样做。（inexplicable——同incomprehensible，费解的、无法解释的）

[We found a memo from Sir Andrew Donnelly, Permanent Secretary of Agriculture, to Sir Arnold Robinson, Secretary to the Cabinet, imploring Sir Arnold to make sure that Hacker did not get Agriculture as he was too 'genned up’ on it. Cabinet Papers show that Sir Arnold managed to convey to the PM that it would be better for Hacker not to go to Agriculture because ‘he’s been thinking about it rather too long and is perhaps in a bit of a rut'-Ed.]

[我们发现了一份由农业常任秘书安德鲁·唐纳利爵士写给内阁秘书阿诺德·罗宾逊爵士的备忘录，恳求阿诺德爵士确保哈克不会得到农业部长，因为他对农业太“熟悉”了。内阁文件显示，阿诺德爵士设法向首相传达了这样一个信息:对哈克来说，不去担任农业部长会更好，因为“他已经考虑农业问题太久了，可能有点墨守成规、当局者迷了”。——编者]（implore——正式用词、恳求哀求，同beseech, beg， gen——过时词汇，消息、情报，gen up——了解情况，rut——车辙，a rut——一个车辙，形容一个人墨守成规）

An official car met me as I came out of Number Ten,and I was driven straight to the DAA.I was met on the front steps by Bernard Woolley, who is to be my Private Secretary, and his assistant. He seems a likeable enough chap.

当我从十号出来时，一辆官方汽车迎接了我，我被直接送到了DAA。我的私人秘书伯纳德·伍利和他的助手在前门的台阶上迎接了我。他看起来是个非常可爱的小伙子。（likeable——十分可爱的、讨人喜欢的，chap——英式俚语，小伙子，称呼年轻男性）

To my surprise he instantly knew who Frank Weisel was, as we got out of the car, though he pronounced his name 'Weasel’, which always infuriates Frank.

令我惊讶的是，我们下了车，他立刻就知道弗兰克·韦塞尔是谁，尽管他把自己的名字念成“黄鼠狼”，这总是让弗兰克很恼火。（Weisel与Weasel发音相似，前者指的是弗兰克姓氏，寓意心灵手巧的、文静的、彬彬有礼的，后者是黄鼠狼，infuriate——使某人生气，同enrage）

We walked down miles of corridors. When we got to my office Frank had disappeared with the Assistant Private Secretary. Bernard assured me that Frank was being taken care of. They really are awfully nice and helpful.

我们走过了几英里长的走廊。当我们到达我的办公室时，弗兰克已经和助理私人秘书一起消失了。伯纳德向我保证弗兰克会得到合适的安排。他们真的极其友好和友善。（corridor——走道、过道）

My office is large, with a big desk, a conference table with lots of chairs around it, and a few armchairs arranged around a coffee table to form a conversation area. Otherwise, rather characterless. Bernard immediately went to the drink's cupboard.

我的办公室很大，有一张大桌子，一个会议桌，周围有很多椅子，几张扶手椅排列在茶几周围，形成一个谈话区。另一方面，也确实相当普通。伯纳德转即走向饮料柜。（Otherwise——一般翻译为否则，这里前后没有特别明显的对立情况，可以翻译为也、亦、另、以其他的方式，例如Bismarck, otherwise known as 'the Iron Chancellor'俾斯麦，亦称为 “铁血宰相”。characterless——无特色的、平凡的）

'A drink, Minister?'

“喝一杯吗，部长？”

I nodded. ‘Jim, ’I said, as I want us to be on first-name terms.

我点点头。 “吉姆，”我说道，因为我希望我们能直呼其名。（on first-name terms——直呼其名，形容两者关系很好）

'Gin?’ he said, mishearing me.

“金酒，”他说，听错了我说的话。（Gin——看过柯南的朋友应该不陌生这个酒种，对应的酒种为杜松子酒，柯南中翻译为琴酒，按照LOFTER博主Hithriel对各种中文翻译版的整理，有的翻译为鸡尾酒、有的翻译为“是不是叫做金”，有的翻译为“金酒”。这里采取金酒的翻译方法，语义也通畅些）

'No,’ I said, 'Jim. Call me Jim.’

“不，”我说， “吉姆。叫我吉姆吧。”

Bernard said: ‘If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather call you Minister, Minister.’

伯纳德说:“我想如果对于您来说都是一样的话，我宁愿叫你大臣，大臣。”

‘Minister, Minister?’ It reminded me of Major Major in Catch-22. Then I realised what he meant. I asked him, ‘Does that mean I have to call you Private Secretary, Private Secretary?’

“大臣，大臣？”这让我想起了《第二十二条军规》中的“梅杰，梅杰”（少校，少校；梅杰，少校）。然后我明白了他的意思。我问他，‘这是不是意味着我得叫你私人秘书，私人秘书？’（ 第二十二条军规，出自约瑟夫·海勒原著黑色幽默军事题材小说《第二十二条军规》。在该小说中，“第二十二条军规”是一支二战时期，驻扎在意大利皮亚诺扎岛的美国空军飞行部队的军中规定。该条军规规定：只有疯子才能获得免于飞行的优待，但必须由本人申请。此外，该条军规还规定所有飞行员必须要在服役期间飞满25次才能回国，但前提是必须绝对服从上级的命令。从“第二十二条军规”的内容中可以看出，“第二十二条军规”意味着荒诞、自相矛盾、带有欺骗性的悖论。另一方面，“第二十二条军规”也表示现代人荒诞不经的生存状态，以及无法摆脱的困境和难以逾越的障碍。因为在“第二十二条军规”的两项规定中，第一条“疯子才能获得免于飞行的优待，但必须本人提出申请”的这项规定，是根本不可能实现的。因为疯子不可能本人提出申请，本人提出申请的就不是疯子。所以这项规定是荒诞不经、自相矛盾、扭曲畸形的规定。而对于第二条“飞行员飞满25次可以回国，但必须服从上级命令”这项规定，小说中上级不断为飞行员增加飞行次数，永无休止。所以这项规定同样也是违背道德、灭绝人性、专横残暴的官僚体制规定。 ）

Bernard said I was to call him Bernard. I’m sure that in the course of time I'll persuade him to call me Jim.

伯纳德说我应该叫他伯纳德。我相信过段时间我会说服他叫我吉姆。（in the course of time——中的course理解为进程、进展，例如an event that changed the course of history 改变了历史进程的事件）

A moment later Sir Humphrey Appleby arrived. He is the Permanent Secretary of the DAA, the Civil Service Head of the Department. He is in his early fifties I should think but-somehow-ageless. He is charming and intelligent, a typical mandarin. He welcomed me to the Department.

过了一会儿，汉弗莱·阿普比爵士来了。他是DAA的常任秘书，该部的文官*长首**。我想他还不到五十岁，但不知怎的，却不老。他迷人又聪明，典型的政界内务官员。他欢迎我加入这个部门。（mandarin——政界要员；（尤指）内务官员，也指代中国旧时官员（满清时期）也表示普通话）

‘I believe you’ve met before,’ Bernard remarked. I was struck for the second time how well-informed this young man is.

“我相信你们以前见过，”伯纳德说。我第二次感到这个年轻人消息如此灵通。（remark——评论、特别的说、但并非很正式，有一些未经深思熟虑的意思，strike sb.——让某人印象深刻）

Sir Humphrey said, 'Yes, we did cross swords when the Minister gave me a grilling over the Estimates in the Public Accounts Committee last year. He asked me all the questions I hoped nobody would ask.'

汉弗莱爵士说:“是，我们去年有过交锋，大臣在公共账目委员会的预算问题向我质询，问的都是一些我不希望别人问的问题。”（cross ˈswords (with sb)（与某人）交锋，争论，grill——烤的意思，grill sb则是盘问、追问、责问、质问某人的意思，Estimate——估价、估计、这里是预算的意思）

This is splendid. Sir Humphrey clearly admires me. I tried to brush it off.'Well,’I said, ‘Opposition’s about asking awkward questions.’

这太棒了。汉弗莱爵士显然在恭维我。我试着不去理会它。“嗯，”我说，“质询就是应该问一些让人难受的问题。”（admire——欣赏的意思，这里参照《遵命大臣》的翻译，意译为恭维，awkward——使人难堪的，令人尴尬的）

'Yes,' said Sir Humphrey, and government is about not answering them.'

“是，对手就是要提问的，”汉弗莱爵士说， “而政府就选择不回答他们。”（此处补充剧版破烂熊的翻译，使文章流畅）

I was surprised. 'But you answered all my questions, didn’t you, ’I commented.

我当时很惊讶。 “但你还是回答了我所有的问题，不是吗？”我评价道。

'I'm glad you thought so, Minister,’ said Sir Humphrey. I didn’t quite know what he meant by that. I decided to ask him who else was in the Department.

“我很高兴你这么想，大臣，”汉弗莱爵士说道。我不太明白他这话是什么意思。我决定问他部门里还有谁。

‘Briefly, sir, I am the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, known as the Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private Secretary. I too,have a Principal Private Secretary, and he is the Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly responsible to me are ten Deputy Secretaries, eighty-seven Under-Secretaries and two hundred and nineteen Assistant Secretaries. Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretaries are plain Private Secretaries. The Prime Minister will be appointing two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries and you will be appointing your own Parliamentary Private Secretary.’

“简单来说，大臣，我是常务次长，被称为常任秘书。伍利是你的首席私人秘书。而我也有一名首席私人秘书，他是常任秘书的首席私人秘书。直接向我负责的有10名副秘书、87名副秘书和219名助理秘书。普通私人秘书直接向首席私人秘书负责。首相会给你指定两个国会私人秘书，然后你会指定你自己的国会私人秘书。”

'Can they all type?’I joked.

“他们都会打字吗？”我开玩笑说。

‘None of us can type, Minister,’ replied Sir Humphrey smoothly.'Mrs McKay types-she is your secretary.’

“大臣，我们没一个会打字，”汉弗莱爵士平静地回答道。“麦凯夫人打字——她是你的秘书，”

I couldn’t tell whether or not he was joking. 'What a pity,’ I said. 'We could have opened an agency.’

我不知道他是不是在开玩笑。“真遗憾，”我说。“我们都可以开一家代理公司了。”

Sir Humphrey and Bernard laughed. 'Very droll, sir,’ said Sir Humphrey. 'Most amusing, sir,’ said Bernard. Were they genuinely amused at my wit, or just being rather patronising? ‘I suppose they all say that, do they?’ I ventured.

汉弗莱爵士和伯纳德笑了。“非常有趣，先生，”汉弗莱爵士说。“非常幽默，先生，”伯纳德说。他们是真的被我的风趣逗乐了，还是只因为我的比他们高一等的官位？“我猜他们都会这么说，是吗，”我大胆地说。（patronize——高人一等的，贬义）

Sir Humphrey reassured me on that. ‘Certainly not, Minister, ’he replied. 'Not quite all.'

汉弗莱爵士向我保证过。“当然不是，大臣，”他回答道。“并不是这样。”

I decided to take charge at once. I sat behind my desk and to my dismay I found it had a swivel chair. I don’t like swivel chairs. But Bernard immediately assured me that everything in the office can be changed at my command-furniture, décor, paintings, office routine. I am unquestionably the boss!

我决定现在履行正事。我坐在书桌后面，令我沮丧的是，我发现书桌上有一把转椅。我不喜欢转椅。但是伯纳德立即向我保证，办公室里的一切都可以根据我的命令进行改变——家具、装饰、绘画、办公室日常事务。我毫无疑问是这里的大老板！（take charge——接管掌管的意思，意译为谈正事会更符合语境）

Bernard then told me that they have two types of chair in stock, to go with two kinds of Minister -'One sort folds up instantly and the other sort goes round and round in circles.’On second thoughts, perhaps that was another of Bernard’s little jokes.

伯纳德接着告诉我，他们有两种椅子可供选择，分别与两种大臣的坐椅相配，一种可以很快折倒，另一种可以不停地转圈。转念一想，也许这又是伯纳德的一个小玩笑。（Hithriel 总评各种翻译版写道：大家对“折叠椅”型大臣的理解有所不同。破烂熊版和上译版强调的是“折叠椅”大臣和“旋转椅”大臣截然相反的特点，所以将“原地转圈”的反面理解为“雷厉风行”或者“上台不久就下台”。我认为“雷厉风行”的说服力比“坐上去就垮”更强。学林和三联版译为“可以折叠”，强调的似乎是大臣“容易变通/屈服”，我认为也说得通。 所以此处的笑话，在于一种大臣是上台就垮台，政治生涯短暂，例如前英国首相特拉斯，上台不久就被折起收到一边，另一种大臣是原地转圈，虽然在政坛活跃但是在原地踏步）

I decided that the time had come to be blunt and to tell them what’s what. 'Frankly,’I said, 'this Department has got to cut a great swathe through the whole of the stuffy Whitehall bureaucracy. We need a new broom. We are going to throw open the windows and let in a bit of fresh air. We are going to cut through the red tape and streamline this creaking old bureaucratic machine. We are going to have a clean sweep. There are far too many useless people just sitting behind desks.’

我决定是时候直言不讳地告诉他们我的意图了。“坦率地说，”我说，“我们这个部门必须全面打击以往白厅的沉闷的官僚工作作风。我们要拿把新扫帚，打开窗子，吹吹新鲜空气。我们要免去所有的繁文缛节，赋予这台已经吱吱作响的旧官僚机器新效能。我们要来一次大扫除。有太多无用的人只是坐在办公桌后。”（blunt——钝的，形容人直言不讳的，嘴直心快的，swathe——一长条，量词， cut a ˈswathe through sth——表示 把（某地的一大片）夷为平地；使……大部分遭受破坏，tuffy——沉闷的，streamline sth ——使（系统、机构等）效率更高；（尤指）使增产节约）

I became aware that I was actually sitting behind a desk, but I’m sure that they realised that I was not referring to myself.

我开始意识到我实际上是坐在桌子后面，但我确信他们能理解我指的不是我自己。

I explained that we had to start by getting rid of people who just make work for each other. Sir Humphrey was very helpful, and suggested that I mean redeploy them-which, I suppose, is what I do mean. I certainly want to reduce overmanning, but I don’t actually want to be responsible for putting people out of work.

我解释说，我们必须首先摆脱掉那些只是给彼此双方制作不必要工作的人。汉弗莱爵士很有帮助，并建议我将意思修改为对过剩人员的重新部署——我想，这确实是我的意思。我当然想减少人员过剩，但我实际上并不想承担让人们失业的责任。（make work——此处这样理解，troublemaker意思是带来麻烦的人，workmaker带来工作的人，这种工作是非必要的，实际上我们看到有一些公务员岗位是没有意义的，工作的内容是无意义的，这种岗位就是这样的，be responsible for——对……负责）

But, by the clean sweep and the new broom, I mean that we must have more Open Government. We made election pledges about this, and I intend to keep them. We must take the nation into our confidence. I said all this to Humphrey and Bernard who, to my surprise, were wholeheartedly in favour of these ideas.

但是，我所说的大扫除和新官上任三把火，是指我们必须有一个更加透明的政府。我们在竞选时就此许下承诺，我打算遵守这些承诺。我们必须让这个国家充分信任我们。我把这一切都告诉了汉弗莱和伯纳德，令我吃惊的是，他们完全赞同这些想法。（ take sb into your confidence在 牛津词典中表示为向某人吐露内心秘密（或隐私），此处还是充分信任为好）

Humphrey referred to my speeches on this subject in the House last year. And he referred to my Observer article, Daily Mail interview, and the manifesto.

汉弗莱提到了我去年在议会就这个问题发表的讲话。他提到了我在Observer发表的文章，每日邮报上的采访，和竞选宣言。（House——议会、国会，Observer英国《观察家报》是英国创刊最早的星期日报纸，Daily Mail《 每日邮报 》是在英国每日发行的老牌报刊）

I am most impressed that he knows so much about me.

他了解我这么多让我十分触动。

Humphrey then produced draft proposals, to implement my policy in a White Paper. I was flabbergasted.The efficiency of the Civil Service is quite astounding.They even plan, Sir Humphrey tells me, to call the White Paper 'Open Government’.

然后，汉弗莱提出了一些建议草案，以便在白皮书中实施我的政策。我大吃一惊。公务员的效率令人震惊。汉弗莱爵士告诉我，他们甚至计划将白皮书命名为“透明政府”。（flabbergasted——同 astonished大吃一惊的，astounding——同astonishing，令人大吃一惊的）

All of these draft proposals are available to me within thirty-six hours of the new government being elected and within minutes of my arrival at my office. And on a weekend! Remarkable chaps. I asked Humphrey who had done all this.

所有这些提案草案都在新政府当选后的36小时内和我到达办公室后的几分钟内提供给我。而且是在周末！多棒的小伙子。我问汉弗莱这都是谁干的。（Remarkable——同 astonishing令人大吃一惊的，显著的，引人注目的）

'The creaking old bureaucratic machine,’ he replied with a smile. ‘No seriously,Minister, we are fully seized of the need for reform and we have taken it on board.’

“吱吱作响的旧官僚机器，”他微笑着回答道。“不，说真的，大臣，我们充分认识到改革的必要性，并全力支持。”（ on ˈboard——有两种意思，一个是在船上，另一个是支持的意思例如y ou need to bring the whole staff on board. 你需要取得全体员工的支持）

I told him I was slightly surprised.

我告诉他我有点惊讶。

'I thought I'd have to fight you all the way,’ I said.

“我还以为需要不停的说服你们呢，”我说。

Sir Humphrey remarked that people have funny ideas about the Civil Service.

汉弗莱爵士评价说，人们对于公务员的确是有一些有趣的看法。

'We are just here to help you formulate and implement your policies, he explained.

他解释道:“我们只是来帮助您制定和实施政策的。”（formulate and implement——制定和实施）

He seems most sincere.

他似乎非常真诚。

The draft proposals, which I have brought home tonight to my London flat in a red box, include'Proposals for Shortening Approval Procedures in Planning Appeals’. Excellent. Sir Humphrey was able to quote from Hansard the rather amusing question which I'd asked earlier this year in the House:

今晚，我把装在红盒子里的建议草案带回了我在伦敦的公寓，其中包括“关于缩短规划上诉审批程序的建议”。非常好。汉弗莱爵士引用了英国议会议事录中我今年早些时候在议会提出的一个相当有趣的问题:

原文插图

此处为微信翻译

英国国会议事录 第487卷 第1102页 B栏

引自“哈克先生：首相是否知道计划所花的程序，使得在20世纪建一栋平房比在12世纪建一栋大教堂还要慢?”

对手*党**在狂笑 政府因羞愧而哭泣

[Actually they cried 'Bollocks'- Ed.]

[事实上，他们高喊“胡说八道”。——编者按]（Bollocks——男性的*丸睾**，下流语，等同于胡说八道）

As it's Saturday, we have arranged to start things properly on Monday morning. But they've given me six red boxes for the weekend, four to be completed by tonight and two more tomorrow. Bernard tells me that the previous Minister got a bit slack about the paperwork, especially during the election campaign.

由于今天是星期六，我们商定在星期一早上开始正式办公。但是他们给了我六个红盒子，其中四个要在今晚完成，另外两个明天完成。伯纳德告诉我，前任大臣这些工作有些敷衍，尤其是在竞选期间。（as——其含义比较多，随着，尽管，由于等等相差很大，这里前后文联系来看由于较好，slack——敷衍了事的，懈怠的）

I’m certainly not going to be slack! I shall be a good Minister.I shall read everything they give me to read.

我当然不会敷衍了事！我会成为一个好大臣。我会读完他们给我看的所有东西。

本部分是Open government章节的一部分，本章节由8篇日记组成，本部分是第三篇日记，反映了在被任命为DAA大臣后吉姆与文官体系的第一次正式接触，也展现了吉姆对于行政事务的积极热忱和手足无措——然而文官们却对大臣十分地了解。本部分对应剧版第一季第一集中吉姆刚刚搬到办公室的情节。没有剧中弗兰克韦塞尔的登场画面。