th December 2020

2020年12月某日

H. M. Treasury

于英国财政部

Dear B.C.，

亲爱的英国公民：

I write to you because accountancy is tiring my patience and I have developed some better schemes which will propel me to fame. It is melancholy to consider the bank statements and tax returns of common people while they hang in doubtful circumstances; and， only being trained to contend with positive numbers， I have not enjoyed examining the arrears， debts， and bankruptcies which now litter my desk， from which I can not extract my usual fees or benefits.

写信给你，是因为会计工作让我不胜其烦，我已想出了一些更好的方案，将会促我声名鹊起。斟酌普通人的存疑银行对账单和纳税申报单让人心情郁闷，而且，我仅仅是正在接受与正数打交道的训练而已，不喜欢审核如今摊满我办公桌的欠款、债务和破产文件，我无法从中抽取平时的费用或好处。

I do not pay much attention to the comings and goings of the world， but I am perfectly capable of an inference： the nation is suddenly very poor. There may be some root cause of our fiscal decline， some point of origin， but I am not one to speculate on grave matters of that sort. Between you and I， my only wish is to avoid these people who clearly spend their money irresponsibly and have， for some reason， stopped contributing to their local economies， much to the loss of everyone involved. Businesses are sinking left， right， and centre because the population has developed an unaccountable love of the hearth and home.

我对世事的兴衰起伏其实并不那么在意，但我完全有能力做出推断：国家突然很穷了。我们的财政收入下降或许有其根源，其来有自，但我可不想去揣测这类严肃的问题。不妨悄悄告诉你吧，我唯一的愿望是避开那些明显花钱不负责任之人，这些人由于某些原因，不再为当地经济做贡献了，弄得所有牵涉之人都损失惨重。企业山穷水尽、危机四伏，原因就在于民众莫名其妙地迷上了温情脉脉的居家生活。

On a cold morning in November， taking my daily exercise before taking my toast and tea， I passed the black railings of Downing Street， which—have you been there？—looks out on the well-enclosed and confined land of St. James’s Park. I thought it very quiet for a Monday morning， but the unaccountable emptiness afforded me some benefits. In the absence of a crowd， I took notice of the road， pavement， and doorway which leads to the Prime Minister. As his white hair flashed across the dark window， I realised that a man of my training and experience， well-acquainted with numbers and profits—and working next door—could offer a humble proposal to stimulate our economy.

11月的一个寒冷早晨，在吃烤面包和早茶之前，我按着每天的惯例晨练，经过唐宁街的黑色栏杆——你去过那里吗？那儿正对着圣詹姆斯公园那片封闭而狭窄的土地。