Unloading the loaded

 

A special report on global leaders 全球领袖特别报道 Unloading the loaded（注1） 大宰有钱人 Catering to the whims of the rich is big business 迎合有钱人的突发奇想，是桩大买卖 Jan 20th 2011 | from PRINT EDITION Only the little people wear seatbelts 只有小人物才系安全带 THE seven-star Burj-al-Arab hotel in Dubai is not for those who like their elegance understated. The presidential suite is an explosion of gold, purple, marble and opulence. Some guests prefer it to the even more expensive royal suite (which is $18,000 a night), says a helpful member of staff, because the decor in the royal suite is even livelier. 迪拜七星级的帆船酒店，不是为喜欢低调的人准备的。它的总统套房金光灿灿、紫色斑斓、大理石装潢、富丽堂皇，视觉冲击力十足。一位乐于助人的员工称，某些客人更喜欢价格高达1.8万美元一晚的皇家套房，因为装修风格还要热烈明快。 When you are seriously rich it is hard to spend all your money, but some creative people will help you try. Quintessentially, a firm founded by Ben Elliot, a nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall（注2）, specialises in giving the rich whatever they want, wherever they are. Some requests—tea with Britain’s queen, for example—can be a bit difficult, says Mr Elliot. But if a client needs a life-size edible cake costume for a birthday bash, or wants to fly along the Great Wall of China, his global network of fixers will fix it. 要是你非一般有钱，那么花光所有钱并非易事，但某些富于创造力的人会帮你一试。举个典型例子，康沃尔公爵夫人的外甥Ben Elliot创建了一家公司，专为有钱人提供服务，无论要啥，无论在哪。Elliot先生说，某些要求——比方与英国女王一起喝茶——可能有点难度。但若客人想要一个真人大小、服装模样、还可食用的生日聚会用蛋糕，或想要沿中国长城飞上一圈，他遍布全球的协调人网络，就会搞定。 The financial crisis hurt sales of luxury goods, which fell by 8% in 2009. But Bain, a consultancy, estimates that in 2010 they grew by 10% worldwide, and by an astounding 30% in China, where the boom barely faltered. In the West the rich have cut back on ostentatious baubles and instead gone for experiences, such as yoga retreats in India or personal coaches to teach them about Buddhism, says Milton Pedraza of the Luxury Institute, a consultancy. China’s new millionaires have no such qualms. One retailer there started selling Smart cars covered in Swarovski crystals last year. 2009年，受金融危机所累，奢侈品销售下跌8%。但咨询公司Bain估计，2010年全球奢侈品销售则上涨10%，中国更是达到惊人的30%，其涨势仅趔趄了一下。咨询公司Luxury Institute的Milton Pedraza说，在西方，富人减少了奢华饰品开支，转而追求个人体验，例如到印度练瑜伽度假，或雇私人教练教授自己佛教知识。中国新一代百万富翁，却没有这种困惑。当地一家零售商，去年开始卖裹满施华洛世奇水晶的智能轿车。 What the rich lack is time, says a former personal assistant to celebrities. They may decide to go for a weekend in Thailand on the spur of the moment, and the personal assistant has to make it happen. Another popular time-saver is a medical concierge service. PinnacleCare, for example, will send a doctor “to your home, your office [or] your ski chalet”, says Bruce Spector, the founder. 一位曾为名人服务的私人秘书称，有钱人只缺时间。他们可能一时冲动，决定去泰国度周末，这位私人秘书就只好让美梦成真。而医疗礼宾服务，则是另一个受欢迎的省时办法。比如，PinnacleCare公司创始人Bruce Spector称，他们会送一位医生“到你的家、办公室甚或滑雪小屋”。 Rich people also want help with handling their money. Creating a fortune is often fun, but conserving it can be tedious, says Charles Lowenhaupt, an adviser to the wealthy. A family may have 100 members scattered over multiple jurisdictions and 150 trusts, making tax planning a trifle complex. 有钱人也需要人帮他们管钱。理财顾问Charles Lowenhaupt称，创造财富通常很爽，但省钱就乏味了。一个家族，成员可能达百人，分散在多个辖区，委托150个信托机构管钱，这让纳税计划有些复杂。 Yet the basic problems are the same everywhere. Mr Lowenhaupt recalls an acquaintance from China teaching him a Chinese saying, “rice paddy to rice paddy in three generations”. The acquaintance was surprised to learn that other cultures have similar proverbs. 然而，根本问题寰宇皆同。Lowenhaupt先生想起一位中国老相识教了他一句中国谚语：“富不过三代”。这人听说其他文化也有类似格言，很是惊讶。 注1：Unloading the loaded Unload有“卸货、卸船、摆脱负担、倾销”等意，而loaded既指“负载、负担”之意，在美国俚语中又指“阔绰的、富有的”，即the loaded = the rich。 考虑到Catering to the whims of the rich is big business.等句，表示现在许多公司专注向有钱人提供服务，比如文中提到的生日蛋糕，沿长城飞行，医疗礼宾服务等，满足他们的突发奇想，也就是向有钱人“倾销”商品；又从插图配文Only the little people wear seatbelts等句，表示这些公司正试图让有钱人“摆脱束缚”，解决时间不够、省钱太闷等麻烦，尽情花钱。 综上所述，标题一语双关，机巧有趣。故译为“挣脱束缚，尽情花吧” 注2：the Duchess of Cornwall 康沃尔公爵夫人，即查尔斯王子的夫人卡米拉