爱华网伊斯兰堡，巴基斯坦-酒店里的早餐时分，我在取玉米片的时候遇到了一些麻烦。装玉米片的是个底部带把手的圆柱体容器，按下把手玉米片才会流出来，而把手卡住了。我深感挫败，于是放弃了准备走开，但差点撞到一位年轻女人身上，她刚才应该看到了我的窘境。
"Dui Bu Qui," (excuse me), she said, addressing me in Mandarin, before simply opening the top of the container and ladling out her cornflakes.
“对不起。”她用普通话跟我讲到，然后直接打开了容器的盖子，用勺子盛出了玉米片。
She then returned to a table of what looked to me like Chinese businessmen. She was by far the smartest-dressed at the table, the translator I assumed, while the men-ruddy faced, a bit rough around the edges, and looking a little uncomfortable in dark suits and ties-were fairly typical of the traders or small town entrepreneurs I'm more familiar with on trips to provincial China.
之后她回到了一张看起来坐着中国商人的桌边。她是桌上穿着最漂亮的，我猜也许是翻译。男人们脸色红润，细节处不够精致，看起来穿着黑色西装系着领带让他们感到有点不适。他们是非常典型的商人或者小镇企业家，我在中国旅行时对他们非常熟悉。
I looked further around the restaurant. There were several more tables of what looked to me like Chinese businessmen, while at the back, more discretely seated, was a more polished group, Chinese diplomats or bankers perhaps, pouring over some documents. (Possibly the latest photos of the American stealth helicopter downed in the Osama bin Laden raid, one colleague mischievously suggested. The Chinese military is allegedly anxious to get a look at the plans for the sophisticated chopper that was capable of evading radar detection).
我环顾了下酒店，还有好几桌看起来像是中国商人的桌子。而在后面，零星坐着一群更加优雅的人，也许是中国外交官或者银行家。他们在翻看着某些文件。（一位同事开玩笑地说，也许是最新的在围剿本拉登时坠毁的美国隐形直升机的照片。中国军方已经迫不及待地想要看看能躲过雷达侦测的先进直升机的设计图了。）
The reason I mention this is because this restaurant, in one of Islamabad's best and most secure hotels, has always been an anthropologists dream.
我提到这些的理由是因为，这是伊斯兰堡最好最安全的酒店之一，它一直以来都是人类学家的梦想之地。
At any one time the scene provides a wonderful insight into what's going on, who's up and who's down in turbulent Pakistan. Journalists, diplomats, business people and spooks rub shoulders around the buffet table with Pakistani government officials and bearded frontier tribesmen in flowing robes.
不论何时，这样的场景让人可以深刻地洞察到，在动荡的巴基斯坦中的沉浮变迁。
记者、外交官、商人、鬼魂、巴基斯坦政府官员和身着平滑长袍满脸胡须的边境部落的人一起在餐桌边熙熙攘攘。
On a recent morning, there were several tattooed Western men with shaven heads and bull-necks, some sort of security for one of the aforementioned I assumed, for whom "low-key" was clearly not part of the training.
最近一天早晨，出现了几个有纹身的西方男人，头是修理过，脖子很粗。我猜应该是前面提到的某个人的保镖。很明显，“低调”并不在这些保镖的训练课程中。
China, Pakistan’s ‘all-weather friend’
It’s been like this over the many years I've been coming to Pakistan, and staying at this hotel, but I've never seen so many Chinese at the breakfast buffet.
中国，巴基斯坦的全天候盟友。
我到巴基斯坦住在这家酒店这么多年来都是这样的，但我从来没在餐厅里看到这么多的中国人。
One look at the newspapers lying around the restaurant, and it’s easy to see why the Chinese are so welcome here.
在酒店随便找份报纸看看就能知道为什么中国人在这里如此受欢迎。
"China urges US to respect Pak sovereignty," headlined Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper Thursday. While the Express Tribune declared: "China endorses Pakistan's response to US raid."
“中国敦促美国尊重巴基斯坦的主权”这是《巴基斯坦黎明报》周二的头条。而《快讯报》称：“中国认可巴基斯坦对美国围剿行动的反应。”
There has been much Pakistani praise of their "all-weather friend" in Beijing.
在北京巴基斯坦有着更多对他们“全天候盟友”的赞赏。
Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has been in Beijing this week and just clinched a deal in which China will provide Pakistan with 50 fighter jets to the tune of $20-25 million a pop.
巴基斯坦总理优素福•拉扎•吉拉尼这周访问了北京，敲定了一项交易，中国将提供给巴基斯坦50架2000-2500万美元的战斗机。
The visit was organized some time back, but China has sought to maximize its diplomatic advantage following Pakistan's humiliation over the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and the subsequent crisis in U.S.-Pakistan relations.
这次访问是不久前安排的。巴基斯坦在围剿本拉登行动中蒙羞，进而造成美巴关系紧张，中国在此之后寻求将其外交优势最大化。
"China and Pakistan will remain forever good neighbors, good friends, good partners and good brothers," according to the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, quoted approvingly in newspapers here.
“中巴两国将永远是好邻居、好朋友、好伙伴和好兄弟。”本地新闻援引了中国总理温家宝的这段发言。
The authorities in Punjab Province have even declared they will no longer accept aid from the U.S., but only from friends who do no attach strings, read China.
旁遮普省的掌权者已经宣布他们将不再接受美国的援助，而只会接收来自中国这个没有附加条件的朋友的援助。
原创链接：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.com 翻译：Chinchilla
Of course China and Pakistan have long been close, with Beijing allegedly helping in the development of Pakistan's nuclear weapon program, but it has only been more recently that the economic relationship has really taken off. China is pouring cash into Pakistan's infrastructure and natural resources, and in a December visit the Chinese prime minister announced billions of dollars of proposed investments.
当然中巴友好已经很长一段时间，北京有嫌疑帮助巴基斯坦发展核武器，但是直到最近经济关系才开始升温。中国将大笔资金投向巴基斯坦的基础建设和自然资源。去年12月到访的中国总理宣布了数十亿美元的投资计划。
No wonder the crowds around that buffet are looking increasingly Chinese.
餐桌边的人群中中国人看起来越来越多也就不足为奇了。
Western diplomats, watching from their corner of the restaurant, seemed remarkably relaxed about the budding friendship between the two regional neighbors.
在酒店自己的角落里观察着的西方外交家们，看起来对这两个地缘性邻居之间不断发展的友谊出人意外地放松。
Whatever diplomatic advantage it may be seeking this week, China has welcomed the death of Bin Laden, and has every reason itself to be concerned about Islamic militancy across the mountains from its own Muslim areas. Western diplomats believe its private message to Gilani is likely to have been very different from the public platitudes.
不管中国本周在寻求着什么外交优势，中国都对本拉登的死亡表示欢迎，它完全有理由关心它自己的穆斯林地区群山中的伊斯兰教武装。西方外交官相信中国对吉拉尼私下传达的信息跟公开的陈词滥调完全不同。
And Chinese economic assistance can be double-edged.
中国的经济援助可能是把双刃剑。
Investment is primarily motivated by China's hunger for raw materials, and it is frequently accompanied by Chinese labor. Trade between the two countries is also heavily skewed in China's favor. Pakistani manufacturers cannot compete with the cheap Chinese goods flooding Pakistan's markets, leading traders to frequently grumble about quality.
中国对原材料的需求本质上刺激了投资。投资通常伴随有中国劳工。两国之间的贸易也严重偏向中国。巴基斯坦的制造业无法和涌向巴基斯坦市场的廉价中国货物竞争，商人们经常会抱怨质量问题。
Back at the breakfast buffet, the young woman who I'd (almost) bumped into at the cornflake dispenser, rose to leave with her entourage. She and a colleague carried between them a heavy bag that appeared to contain two Chinese tea sets – gifts, I assumed, for their would-be business partners in a country that for the moment needs every friend it can get.
让我们回到餐厅中，那位我在玉米片桶边差点撞到的年轻女士起身和陪同人员一起离开了。她和她的同事拎着一个沉重的袋子，看起来像是两套中国茶具。我猜是礼物，因为在这个国家中他们将是生意伙伴，而这个国家目前需要尽可能多的朋友。
评论翻译:
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网民评论：
Derek-381097
Yes, go to China. They make great friends with their neighbors. Just ask all those provinces that were once independent countries....
是的，去中国吧。他们和邻居是好朋友。只要问问那些曾经是独立国家的省份。
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Sanescience
Indeed. Pakistan is but a pawn in China's "contest" with India.
What will a future of this region look like when China must see to it's stability. I wouldn't want to be there to see it.
其实，巴基斯坦只是中国用来跟印度竞争的爪牙。
到中国必须注意稳定的时候，这块区域会变成什么样。我不想到那去看那个场景。
