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Sean Connery is in favor, J. K. Rowling is against. Ewan McGregor and Emma Thompson don’t really want it, but Annie Lennox and the boss of British Airways sort of do. And everyone is dying to know: Where does Andy Murray stand?
肖恩·康纳利(Sean Connery)支持，J·K·罗琳(J. K. Rowling)反对。伊万·麦格雷戈(Ewan McGregor)和艾玛·汤普森(Emma Thompson)并不真正希望，但安妮·莱诺克斯(Annie Lennox)和英国航空的老板比较希望。而且所有人都迫切地想知道，安迪·穆雷(Andy Murray)支持哪一方呢？
Eight weeks before a referendum on whether Scotland should break away from Britain and become an independent country, the yes and no camps have stepped up their campaigning — not just down at the grass roots, but among the stars.
距离苏格兰全民公投是否脱离英国成为独立国家还有八个星期，双方阵营已经开始了宣传攻势——不仅面向草根阶层，也在明星中展开。
In this age of celebrity culture and disdain for politicians, endorsements from film stars, pop stars, sports stars, any kind of stars really (including imagined ones like the hobbit Frodo Baggins, who, on the authority of The Edinburgh Evening News, backs Scottish independence) have been keenly courted on both sides — even if the pronouncements don’t always have the desired effect.
在这个名人文化盛行，对政治家普遍鄙夷的时代，双方都拼命寻求影星、流行歌手、体育明星等各种明星的支持，这其中也包括虚构人物，比如《爱丁堡晚报》[Edinburgh Evening News]就让弗罗多·巴金斯[Frodo Baggins]支持苏格兰独立。然而明星们的声明并不总是能收到预期效果。
When David Bowie, who is English and lives in New York, asked the model Kate Moss to dress up in his old Ziggy Stardust outfit, collect a music award in London on his behalf and read out a statement with the plea “Scotland, stay with us,” he was told in the Scottish Twittersphere to go “back to Mars.”
大卫·鲍伊(David Bowie)是英格兰人，定居纽约，他让模特凯特·摩斯(Kate Moss)穿他以前的齐基·星尘(Ziggy Stardust)造型的服装，代表他到伦敦去领一项音乐奖，并读出他的一份声明，请求“苏格兰，和我们留在一起吧”，苏格兰人在Twitter上纷纷表示让他“回火星去吧”。
As the Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle, an independence backer, put it: “I completely respect Bowie’s right to express views on independence, just as I’d respect Iggy Pop’s opinions on the CERN particle accelerator.”
苏格兰喜剧演员弗兰基·博伊尔(Frankie Boyle)支持独立，正如他所说：“我完全尊重鲍伊对独立问题发表观点的权利，正如我尊重伊基·波普(Iggy Pop)对欧洲核子组织对粒子加速器发表观点的权利一样。”
Scotland has been England’s junior partner in Britain since 1707. But three centuries is no time at all in the view of many Scots, who have demanded self-determination, on and off, ever since. That prospect is now nearer than ever with a vote on Sept. 18. So far, most polling has given the stay-united camp the advantage, though many of them show at least a fifth of voters have yet to make up their minds.
自1707年以来，苏格兰就成了英格兰在英联邦中的小伙伴。但是在很多苏格兰人看来，三个世纪的时间根本不算长，从1707年以来，苏格兰人不时要求民族自决。9月18日的公投意味着这种景象已经前所未有地近在眼前了。到目前为止，大多数民意调查认为主张继续保持联合的阵营占优，不过其中多项调查表明，至少有1/5的投票者还没拿定主意。
It is unclear how much sway celebrities hold in a debate that wrestles with questions such as whether an independent Scotland could keep the queen and the British pound but get rid of nuclear submarines and austerity. Many of the international stars don’t even live in Scotland.
苏格兰独立后是否要继续保留女王和英镑，但摆脱核潜艇和经济紧缩？在类似这样的讨论中，名人们究竟有多大影响力，目前尚不分明。很多国际明星根本就不生活在苏格兰。
In fact, when the yes campaign first unveiled its list of Scottish A-list supporters, including Mr. Connery, Brian Cox and Alan Cumming, opponents quickly pointed out that as nonresidents none of them could actually vote; voters with a primary residence in Scotland get a say, Scot or non-Scot, but Scots outside of Scotland don’t.
事实上，支持独立者最初透露自己阵营中的苏格兰裔顶级明星时——包括康纳利、布莱恩·考克斯(Brian Cox)和艾伦·卡明(Alan Cumming)——反对者们很快指出，他们都不是苏格兰的长期定居者，根本就没有资格投票；在苏格兰拥有主要居所(primary residence)的投票者才有资格投票决定独立或不独立，不住在苏格兰的苏格兰人没有投票权。
“We all love to go to the cinema, but what authority does a Hollywood star have on these issues?” asked James Mitchell, a professor of public policy at the University of Edinburgh. “The Scottish electorate is smarter than that.”
“我们都喜欢看电影，但一个好莱坞明星对这些问题能有什么权威？”爱丁堡大学公共政策教授詹姆斯·米歇尔(James Mitchell)说，“苏格兰投票者很聪明，能明白这一点。”
But Angus Robertson, campaign director for the referendum for the Scottish National Party, said that celebrity “ambassadors” do matter. “You can be snooty about film stars,” he said, “but they add color to the campaign, and that gets people engaged.”
但苏格兰民族党的公投宣传活动主管安格斯·罗伯逊(Angus Robertson)说，名人作为“大使”，的确有作用。“你可以看不起那些电影明星们，”他说，“但他们为选举活动增添了色彩，让人们更加投入。”
From the philosophers Adam Smith and David Hume to the creators of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, Scotland features prominently in Britain’s intellectual and cultural heritage. And many members of the creative elite have lined up behind the yes camp’s promise of a fairer, greener, more Scandinavian Scotland.
从哲学家亚当·斯密(Adam Smith)、大卫·休谟(David Hume)到彼得·潘(Peter Pan)、夏洛克·福尔摩斯(Shelock Holmes)的缔造者，苏格兰是英国知识与文化遗产的重要组成部分。许多创意届精英都支持独立阵营，因为它承诺一个更公正、更环保，更斯堪的纳维亚式的苏格兰。
Mr. Connery, who reportedly has a “Scotland Forever” tattoo and says he might move back to Scotland if it secedes, wrote in New Statesman recently that “the opportunity of independence is too good to miss.” Ms. Lennox, the lead singer of the Eurythmics, whose song “Sweet Dreams” has been heard at pro-independence rallies, said if an independent Scotland were to “create a more egalitarian society” it would set “an amazing example.” But she called herself an agnostic as to whether this could actually be achieved.
据报道，康纳利身上有“永远的苏格兰”字样的文身，他说，如果苏格兰脱离英国，他就可能搬回去，不久前他在《新政治家》(New Statesman)上撰文写道：“独立的好机会不容错失。”莱诺克斯是“艺术体操”(Eurythmics)的主唱，这个组合的歌曲《甜蜜的梦》(Sweet Dreams)可以在支持独立的集会上听到，她说，如果独立的苏格兰“能创造一个更平等的社会”，那会是“一个惊人的例子”。但她说，对于这个目标是否能够实现，她持不可知论的态度。
“The world is waiting for us, and I know Scotland is ready,” said Mr. Cumming, the stage and film actor, at the start of the pro-independence campaign in 2012.
“世界在等待我们，我知道苏格兰已经准备好了，”舞台剧和电影演员卡明曾在2012年一次支持独立的宣传活动开始时说。
Mr. Cox, who played the devious C.I.A. officer in “The Bourne Supremacy,” has become the throaty voice of a cartoon Scottie dog called Duggy Dug who features in a series of pro-independence video clips. In one of the more surreal ones, Dug is having a nap on his tartan when he has a nightmare about what Scotland would look like after a no vote. “Welcome to permanent austerity,” a banner reads as Mr. Cox’s voice runs down a bleak list: health care privatized, older Scots deprived of free bus passes and Dug’s Spanish dog friend Pepe deported after Britain left the European Union.
考克斯在《谍影重重2》(The Bourne Supremacy)中饰演一个狡猾的中情局官员，一直在为宣传独立的一个系列视频中一只名叫“达吉·达格”的苏格兰卡通狗配音。这个视频系列是超现实风格的，在其中一集里，达格躺在格子花呢上睡着了，做了个噩梦，梦见苏格兰公投不独立之后的样子。“欢迎来到永久经济紧缩的世界”，一条标语上面写道，考克斯的声音读出一个惨淡的单子：医疗健康私有化、苏格兰老人被剥夺免费乘坐公交的权利、达格的西班牙狗朋友皮普在英国脱离欧盟之后被驱逐出境。
On the other side, the antisecession movement has its own video, “Let’s Stay Together,” unveiled last week. It features the comedian Eddie Izzard and Ross Kemp, a soap-opera star and former husband of the newspaper editor Rebekah Brooks.
另一方，反对脱离英国的组织也有自己的视频，比如上周公布的《在一起》(Let’s Stay Together)。片中有喜剧演员艾迪·伊扎德(Eddie Izzard)和肥皂剧明星罗斯·坎普(Ross Kemp)，他的前妻是报纸主编丽贝卡·布鲁克斯(Rebekah Brooks)。
There have also been less predictable endorsements: After companies like Standard Life and Royal Bank of Scotland hinted that they might move jobs south of the border if Scotland secedes, Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, told the BBC that independence would be good for business: Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, has promised to scrap a tax on airline passengers. Mr. Walsh said, “So it’s probably going to be a positive development, if it does happen, for British Airways.”
还有一些不那么好预测的立场：标准人寿保险和苏格兰皇家银行等公司暗示，如果苏格兰独立，它们就将把业务转移到边境以南，之后，英国航空公司的所有者、国际航空集团的首席执行官威利·威尔士(Willie Walsh)在接受BBC采访时说，苏格兰独立会对公司的生意有好处，因为苏格兰的首席大臣亚历克斯·萨尔蒙德(Alex Salmond)承诺取消对飞机乘客的一项征税。威尔士说：“所以如果（独立）成真了，对英国航空公司来说可能是一种积极的发展。”
In both camps, stars admit to struggling with their decision.
在两个阵营中，明星们都承认为自己的决定煞费思量。
Mr. McGregor told The Daily Mail that he loves Scotland. “But I also like the idea of Great Britain, and I don’t know that it wouldn’t be a terrible shame to break it all up,” he said.
麦格雷戈对《每日邮报》说，自己喜欢苏格兰。“但我也喜欢大不列颠，我不知道如果它分裂了是不是一个可怕的遗憾。”
Ms. Thompson, whose mother is Scottish, suggested that she understands the “romance” of independence. “England was so awful to Scotland,” she told Spanish television, but added that erecting new borders in a shrinking world was not the answer.
艾玛·汤普森的母亲是苏格兰人，她说，自己了解独立中“浪漫”的一面。“英格兰曾经对苏格兰非常坏，”她在接受西班牙电视台采访时说，但补充说，在一个已经日益变小的世界里，树立新的国界并不是解决问题的办法。
The most notable recruit for the anti-independence campaign has been Ms. Rowling, the popular author of the Harry Potter books, who donated one million pounds to the cause.
反独立阵营最著名的成员要算是哈利·波特(Harry Potter)系列畅销书的作者罗琳女士，她向这个活动捐赠了100万英镑。
“The more I listen to the yes campaign, the more I worry about its minimization and even denial of risks,” Ms. Rowling wrote on her website. She is English but as a longtime Edinburgh resident is eligible to vote.
“我愈是倾听支持独立阵营的宣传，就愈是担心它把可能存在的风险最小化，甚至否认存在风险的倾向，”罗琳在自己的网站上写道。她是英格兰人，但因为长期定居爱丁堡，所以有资格投票。
“Meanwhile, dramatically differing figures and predictions are being slapped in front of us by both campaigns, so that it becomes difficult to know what to believe,” she said, voicing a concern frequently heard on both sides. “If we leave, though, there will be no going back.”
“此外，两个阵营把截然不同的数字与预测摆在我们面前，让人很难判断该去相信什么，”她说起一个两方都经常说起的忧虑。“但是如果我们离开了，那就没法回头了。”
Some stars have decided to remain on the fence — not least because taking a side tends to lead to the sort of attacks Mr. Bowie suffered, with potential effects on their ability to sell tickets and maintain sponsors.
有些明星决定保持观望态度——特别是看到鲍伊表态后遭到了攻击，而且表态还有可能影响他们的票房销售和潜在赞助商。
Billy Connolly, Scotland’s most famous comedian, once joked about the Scottish Parliament, calling it a “wee pretendy Parliament,” only to be inundated with vitriol. The same happened to Mr. Murray, Britain’s top-seeded tennis player, who when asked whom he would support in the soccer World Cup replied, “Anyone but the English.”
比利·科诺利(Billy Connolly)是苏格兰最有名的喜剧演员，他曾经拿苏格兰议会开玩笑，说它是“我们假装的议会”，结果因此招来各种苛刻的批评。同样的事也发生在安迪·穆雷身上，他是英国排名最靠前的网球运动员，被问到他在世界杯上支持哪个队时，他说：“除了英格兰都支持。”
Few doubt that Mr. Murray, tellingly described as a Briton when he wins and as a Scot when he loses, is fiercely Scottish. He once bared his teeth, flexed his biceps and whooped Braveheart-style on the tennis court. But when Mr. Salmond, who watched him win Wimbledon last year, celebrated by unfurling a Scottish flag for the cameras, Mr. Murray was not amused. “It’s very difficult to have an opinion these days, because half the people will agree with you and half the people will think you’re an absolute idiot,” Mr. Murray told The Daily Mail.
显然，穆雷取胜时被人们当做英国人，失败时则被当做苏格兰人，毫无疑问，这非常苏格兰。他曾在网球场上露出牙齿，显示二头肌，像《勇敢的心》(Braveheart)里那样呼啸。但去年萨尔蒙德看到他赢得温布尔登公开赛后，对着镜头展开一面苏格兰旗帜以示庆祝，穆雷却并不高兴。“现在要发表意见非常困难，因为一半的人会赞同你，另一半人会把你当白痴，”他在接受《每日邮报》(The Daily Mail)采访时说。
By contrast, world leaders from the Chinese prime minister to President Obama have happily joined the fray, with both calling for a “united” Britain. Even Pope Francis has questioned whether the case for secession was strong enough (“Pope Says Nope,” The Daily Mirror’s headline read the next day).
相反，从中国总理到奥巴马总统在内的世界领导人都欢快地加入这场争论，二者都呼吁一个“统一”的英国。就连方济各教皇(Pope Francis)也质疑，分离运动是否足够强大（《教皇说“不”》，翌日的《每日邮报》以此为标题）。
Whatever camp they support, many Scots can’t help but relish all the attention they are getting. As the pro-independence dramatist David Greig put it after Mr. Bowie’s unionist plea: “The weird thing is, I’m feeling giddy that he noticed us,” Mr. Greig told The Guardian. “He noticed us. David Bowie mentioned Scotland! We exist! We’re real! He loves us! And we love him.”
不管他们支持哪个阵营，许多苏格兰人都为自己获得的关注而感到高兴。支持独立的戏剧演员大卫·格里格(David Greig)这样评价鲍伊主张统一的呼吁：“奇怪的是，我很高兴他注意到我们，”格里格在接受《卫报》(The Guardian)采访时说。“他注意到了我们，大卫·鲍伊(David Bowie)提起了苏格兰！我们存在着！我们是真实的！他爱我们！我们也爱他。”
