川霸是怎样炼成的？

畅销作家：

总统先生，难得阁下接受我这个“大左胶”的专访，何幸之有！

我没有阁下的大咀巴，却有

《纽约×报》去年度十大最畅销书榜首作者的美名。

这回想写当今强人……

川（一眼扫过）：

Congratulations. Your book sells like President Xi's in China.

Wait.

You sit like a Beijing bureaucrat.

And you breathe like someone who's always being recorded.

作家（一笑）：

阁下风趣。言归正传——

阁下十年间大起大落、大落大起，不让当年的小平同志。

这……

川（大笑）：

Let me tell you why.

First lesson: 

if people call you names, you're doing something right.

Second lesson: 

if they stop calling you anything, you're finished.

作家：

您是说，争议本身就是权力？

川：

Controversy is oxygen.

Silence is suffocation.

They tried silence on me once.

Didn't work.

作家（点头）：

白宫——您确实得而复失，又失而复得。很多人以为这是偶然。

川：

I prefer White House to White Palace.

Speaking of which—nothing about it was accidental.

I “lost” because I spoke too clearly.

I won back because they spoke too falsely.

作家：

也就是说，您不是靠“承诺”，而是靠“揭穿”。

川：

Exactly.

People don't believe promises anymore.

They believe exposure.

I expose the game—conveniently when I'm a moving part of it.

I move in. I move out. And I move on,

leaving those damned fools biting the dust behind me.

作家（略一停顿）：

那如果我说——另一位强人，靠的是“说好故事”，您怎么看？

川（眯眼）：

Ah.

Now you're talking about him.

He's a good friend of mine, you know.

作家：

我只是做个学术比较。

川：

He builds strength outward,

but keeps fragility inside.

I do the opposite.

I put chaos on the surface

so that stability can hide underneath.

作家：

“他”外强中干，对吗？

川：

Careful.

That phrase travels fast back

to your boss. 

Your upcoming book may not sell so well. 

作家（笑）：

……

川：

Look—

he wants to be feared.

I want to be unavoidable.

Fear decays.

Attention multiplies.

I enjoy catching global attention.

That's why you begged so nicely to interview me.

You're very good at begging.

No wonder you're Beijing's favorite American author.

作家：

阁下真会开玩笑。言归正传——

大大相信秩序。秩序弄不好，世界遭殃。

川：

Order is great—

until you turn everyone into a zombie.

He wants order without heartfelt applause.

I want heartfelt applause even without order.

作家：

所以阁下接受我这个“访客”，

是因为并不怕被看穿、被指斥是民粹霸？

川：

A "populist hegemon" ——

What an honor!

Yes, of course, 

I thrive on being seen through.

Your boss survives by not being questioned.

I pity him.

作家：

那您不担心——再度成为众矢之的？

川：

Guess what?

All those late-night shows make money off my split images.

I'm business-minded enough to welcome caricature.

My caricature sells.

I feel great.

作家：

叫座就是叫好。

这正是“川霸”的核心？

川：

You're not there yet.

The core is this:

I "lose" loudly.

I win loudly.

Your boss wins quietly—

and fears losing quietly.

Again, I pity him. 

作家（低声）：

本人的老板是本人。

（换来川霸三声鼓掌。）

川：

You're a puppet who's also a puppet master?

Marvelous.

Seriously—your boss is hitting 

the Great Wall he built himself,

if you know what I mean. 

作家：

阁下呢？

川：

Well, I was “fired” by voters once.

That made me real.

I roared back to the White House.

That made me even more real.

Your boss?

He's never been fired.

That makes him fragile.

作家：

脆弱？当今强人，舍大大其谁？

川：

There's something called an Achilles' heel.

Don't get me wrong—I respect ambition.

I just doubt insulation.

An insulated strongman is a joke.

A bad joke.

作家：

最后一个问题。

若果大大问：“如何永远赢？”

阁下的回应是——

川（站起身）：

I'd tell him this:

don't try to win forever.

Try to lose—and survive.

That's where real power lives.

Call me egocentric all you want,

but America projects its power on me,

not the other way around.

作家：

总统先生不吝接受专访，万分感谢——

川（挥手）：

Don't mention it.

The truth always sells better

when you call it fiction.

Get that?

作者：纫秋兰