A Very Mighty Finn

By

Cigar smoke filled the mahogany1mahogany红木，桃花心木。coach, clinging to the reddish curtains and maroon2maroon褐紫红色的。upholstery3upholstery（沙发、软椅等的）垫衬料。. It was June 4, 1942, and Finland’s top commander was celebrating his 75th birthday. But rather than partying at a palace or posh4posh时髦的；奢侈的。hotel, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim and his colleagues had reason to meet in a secret railway siding5siding岔线；会车线。: Adolf Hitler had arrived unannounced, and Mannerheim wanted to avoid any indication that this was a formal state visit.Using the diplomacy and discretion6discretion谨慎。for which he’s now famed, Mannerheim charmed the führer for the good of his nation.

[2]His only way to save Finland from Russia was to ally himself with the Nazis, so Mannerheim played a delicate balancing game of keeping his troops strong while cordially7cordially热情友好地；热忱的。courting Hitler’s favor without a formal alliance. “Man-

红木车厢中弥漫着雪茄的烟雾，连浅红色的窗帘和褐紫红色的软垫也沾染了烟味，经久不散。这天是1942年6月4日，正是芬兰最高军事指挥官——卡尔·古斯塔夫·埃米尔·曼纳海姆的75岁生辰。但是他和同事没有选择私人府邸或是豪华酒店聚会庆祝，而是来到了一处秘密的铁路专用线上。这并非故弄玄虚，而是因为阿道夫·希特勒突然造访，而曼纳海姆并不想让外界误以为这是一次正式的国事访问。曼纳海姆素以高超的外事手腕和谨慎的行事作风为人所称道，这帮助他赢得了希特勒的青睐，进而维护了芬兰的利益。

[2]为了摆脱苏联对芬兰的影响，曼纳海姆不得不与纳粹合作。他一边竭力确保芬兰的军事力量不被削弱，一边热诚地给予希特勒帮助却又避免与其结成正式联盟，如同玩起了一场微妙的平衡游戏。“曼纳海姆对德国人非常警惕，这与1918年的情形别无二致。”《曼纳海姆：总统、战士和间谍》一书作者乔纳森·克莱门茨对OZY日报说道。“曼纳海姆与纳粹并非朋友，”克莱门茨继续说道，并且杜撰了一个含义复杂的表达——“合作交战协议”，借此说明德国与芬兰并非盟友，但为了抗击共同的敌人，两国之间确实存在军事合作。幸运的是，曼纳海姆生日当天有人偷偷录下了两人之间的对话。这也是希特勒为后世所知的唯一一份非公开场合的录音。希特勒素以慷慨激昂的公开演讲而闻名，但这段录音中他的语气却显得尤为平和亲切。

[3]芬兰人民对曼纳海姆推崇备至。

[4]战争时期，芬兰一直是一个独特的存在，这在很大程度上得益于曼纳海姆的努力。芬兰是唯一在1939年与苏联接壤，到1945年时仍保持独立的欧洲国家。当然，斯大林对于曼纳海姆拒绝进攻列宁格勒的举动大为欣赏也是原因之一。据汉鲁·劳特卡利奥的《芬兰与大屠杀》介绍，芬兰虽与德国结为联盟，但设法帮助本国的犹太人和几乎所有难民免受了纳粹迫害。总之，是曼纳海姆与希特勒的密切关系，使得纳粹左右为难，陷入了困境。生日当天，希特勒的突然造访让曼纳海姆很是为难，但他不动声色地偷偷将希特勒送到了私人沙龙上。期间，希特勒为感谢他过去一年以来给予纳粹德国的支持，送给他一辆奔驰轿车，曼纳海姆礼貌而谨慎地收下了礼物。但据曼纳海姆博物馆档案记载，1944年8月的总统就职典礼上，曼纳海姆所使用的座驾却并非那辆奔驰，而是他的帕卡德V12轿车。nerheim was extremely wary8wary谨防的；机警的；唯恐的。of the Germans, as he had been in 1918,” Jonathan Clements, author ofMannerheim:President, Soldier, Spy, tellsOZY9OZY为Ozymandias缩写，是一份为新生代量身打造的电子日报。. “He was no friend of the Nazis,” Clements says, but rather created the intricately worded “co-belligerency10belligerency交战状态。pact” that specified how Germany and Finland,while not allies, were militarily cooperating to fight the same enemy. Luckily for posterity11posterity后裔，子孙。, a tape was surreptitiously made of the men’s birthday conversation. It’s the only known recording of Hitler speaking privately and echoes a strangely intimate tone for a leader better known for feverish public speeches.

[3]The Finns can’t get enough of12getenough of对……感到腻烦。Mannerheim.

[4]Finland remained a unique case throughout the war, thanks largely to Mannerheim’s efforts. It was the only European country bordering the Soviet Union in 1939 that remained unoccupied in 1945, thanks in part to Stalin’s admiration of the marshal for refusing to attack Leningrad. The Finns also managed to side with Germany while being spared the persecution of their native Jews and nearly all their refugees,according to Hannu Rautkallio’s bookFinland and the Holocaust. Above all,it was Mannerheim’s chummy13chummy亲密的。relations with Hitler that kept the Nazis at bay14at bay走投无路。. He hid his embarrassment at the führer’s surprise birthday visit, sneaking him into his private saloon, and even when Hitler gifted him a Mercedes-Benz for choosing to ally with him in 1941, Mannerheim accepted his token graciously15graciously和蔼地；仁慈地；雅致地。, and discreetly. But in August 1944, when Mannerheim was elected president, he arrived at his inauguration16inauguration就职典礼。in his Sedan V12 Packard17帕卡德（Packard）是20世纪著名的豪华汽车品牌，其精湛无瑕的汽车生产工艺驰名于世，V12是指搭载12缸发动机。,not the Mercedes, according to Mannerheim Museum archives.

[5]The cat-and-mouse18cat-and-mouse（像猫对老鼠般）恣意玩弄折磨，猫戏老鼠。game Mannerheim played with Hitler was just the culmination19culmination顶点；高潮。of a spectacular career for the 6-foot-4 war hero who hunted maneating tigers, squared up to spoke six languages and rode horseback through thousands of miles of unchartered21unchartered未得特许状的；不合规则的。Central Asia as a secret agent.On his 75th birthday, the government granted Mannerheim his official title,“Marshal of Finland,” and 53 years after his death, he was voted the greatest Finn ever by his countrymen.20square up to摆好打架的架势；坚决面对。Stalin,

[5]曼纳海姆精通六国语言，追捕过食人的老虎，对峙过斯大林，还曾驰骋在中亚绵延数千公里尚未对外开放的领地上搜集情报。与希特勒之间猫鼠游戏不过是这位身高一米九的战斗英雄精彩一生的顶峰时期。他在75岁生日之际，被政府授予“芬兰元帅”称号；逝世53周年之后，依然被芬兰人民票选为最伟大的芬兰人。

[6]The Marshal of Finland was born to Swedish-speaking aristocrats. His father ran off with his mistress, leaving the family bankrupt. But Mannerheim persevered, making his career in the imperial Russian army and serving the last of the czars. He traveled as a secret agent from St. Petersburg to China to spy for the Russians, crossing China on horseback and notably teaching the 13th Dalai Lama how to shoot a pistol.Mannerheim also led Finland’s defenses in its darkest hour at the ripe old age of 72, against the impossible odds of the 1939–1940 Winter War22Winter War冬季战争（二战时期苏联与芬兰之间的战争）。, when the country was up against Stalin’s heavily armed men. Finland’s 346,000-strong army went up against almost three times as many Russians and resisted longer than expected. The battle saw Mannerheim hailed a champion of Finnish liberty, and four years later, at age 77,he would accept the presidency to begin easing Finland from war to peace.

[6]曼纳海姆出生于芬兰一个以瑞典语为母语的贵族家庭。少年时，父亲携情妇私奔，家庭因此解散。但这位芬兰元帅并没有被生活打倒，他投身于俄军，成为了末代沙皇麾下的战士。后来，他受命于俄国，曾从圣彼得堡到中国秘密搜集情报。在这期间，他骑马穿越中国，并曾指导十三世达赖喇嘛使用手枪。1939年到1940年苏芬冬季战争爆发，面对全副武装的苏军，尽管获胜希望渺茫，但曼纳海姆以72岁的高龄率领芬军度过了那段尤为艰辛的岁月。当时，芬军不过34.6万人，而苏军规模是其3倍有余，但芬兰这支劲旅的抵抗力远超出预期。自此，曼纳海姆被盛赞为芬兰自由的捍卫者。4年后，77岁的曼纳海姆当选为芬兰总统，开始带领芬兰人民由战乱逐步走向和平。

[7]Today his reputation has taken on23take on承担；呈现；具有。mythic proportions, reflected in everything from comics and merchandise to the Kenyan filmBlack Mannerheim,in which all of the characters, including Mannerheim, are portrayed as Black.Yet Mannerheim’s personality remains obscure. Although his godmother arranged his marriage to a wealthy Russian-Serbian noble who bore him two children, the union ended in divorce,resulting in Mannerheim’s depression.But little else is known about the man’s personal life. “He didn’t appear to have many close friends,” says Eric Enno Tamm, whose bookThe Horse That Leaps Through Cloudsdocuments how he retraced24retrace追溯；折回；重描。Mannerheim’s epic Asian trek.

[8]Mannerheim’s intricately primed25prime事先交代。relations with Nazi Germany saved Finland from both Russia and Hitler—no mean feat26no mean feat绝非易事。. So while he may have struggled with marriage and friendships,he’ll forever be remembered by a grateful nation for his shrewd leadership and untiring dedication. ■

[7]如今，曼纳海姆的故事中开始掺杂虚构的成分。不管是漫画、商品，还是肯尼亚电影《黑人曼纳海姆》，包括主人公在内的所有人物都被塑造成了黑人。而对于主人公个性的描写却仍是模糊不清。曼纳海姆的教母曾为他介绍了一位俄罗斯-塞尔维亚血统有钱的贵族妻子，婚后两人育有两个孩子，但这段婚姻最后仍以失败告终。曼纳海姆因此一度意志消沉。除此之外，外界对于他的私人生活知之甚少。“曼纳海姆关系密切的朋友似乎并不多。”埃里克·埃诺·塔姆表示。塔姆著有《跃过云端的马》一书，该书记载了他追随曼纳海姆的脚步，重走当年史诗般的亚洲之旅的经历。

[8]曼纳海姆与纳粹德国之间如前所述错综复杂的关系使芬兰得以保全于苏联和希特勒之间，这绝非易事。所以说，尽管他婚姻不幸、朋友无几，但芬兰人民将永远铭记他高超的领导才能和不懈的奉献精神。 □