“He is getting so embarrassing, tbh.”
“讲真，他现在太丢人现眼了。”
That was the text I woke up to this morning from a Canadian friend who, like me, has been living in the United States. She was talking about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and yesterday’s Time magazine bombshell report that he once wore brownface to an “Arabian Nights” party while a teacher at a private school in Vancouver in 2001. (Since Time’s story broke, other instances of Mr. Trudeau in blackface and brownface have surfaced, including a video.)
这是今天早上，我的加拿大朋友发来的短信，跟我一样，这位朋友也一直生活在美国。她说的是昨天《时代》杂志上关于加拿大总理贾斯汀・特鲁多的爆炸性新闻，2001年他在温哥华一所私立学校当老师时，曾经把脸涂成棕色参加一个以“一千零一夜”主题派对。（《时代》的报道曝光后，更多特鲁多把脸涂成黑色和棕色的照片流出，还包括一段视频。）
My friend was referring to how Mr. Trudeau is seen on the world stage, but especially in the United States, a country that had a tendency to pretend that Canada didn’t exist until Mr. Trudeau came along. And her text encapsulated a distinction I’ve noticed in how Americans have been receiving this story compared with Canadians. For Americans, Mr. Trudeau’s downfall from liberal media darling ― remember Rolling Stone’s 2017 cover, “Why can’t he be our president?” ― to disgraced politician has been swift. For Canadians, it has been a long time coming.
我的朋友指的是特鲁多在世界舞台上的形象，但特别是在美国，这个国家一直倾向于假装加拿大不存在，直到特鲁多的出现。她的短信概括出美国人与加拿大人在接受这个报道时的不同之处――这种差异我也注意到了。在美国人看来，特鲁多是一转眼从自由派媒体的宠儿沦为声名狼藉的政客（还记得《滚石》杂志2017年的一期封面《为什么他不能是我们的总统？》吗？）。在加拿大人看来，这是一个漫长的过程。
It all started back in 2015 when Mr. Trudeau won a surprising majority victory over the longtime Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Cozying up to then-President Barack Obama, the two young, charismatic world leaders had what the press affectionately called a “bromance.”
一切始于2015年，当时，特鲁多出人意料地以多数票击败了在任多年的保守党总理的斯蒂芬・哈珀(Stephen Harper)。他和时任美国总统巴拉克・奥巴马攀交情，以至于两位富有魅力的年轻领导人有了一段被媒体亲切称为“兄弟情”的关系。
But south of the border, excitement over Mr. Trudeau didn’t really reach its zenith until November 2016. Before that, the prime minister, with his self-described feminism and his openness to Syrian refugees, had cast himself as Canada’s answer to the charismatic and cosmopolitan liberalism of the Obama years. Now, however, for American liberals, he was no longer cute kid brother but foil: Mr. Trudeau offered the perfect juxtaposition to the crassness of Donald Trump. Every detail, from his luxurious hair to his stylish socks, seemingly served to emphasize their differences.
但在边境以南，对特鲁多的兴奋直到2016年11月才真正达到顶峰。在此之前，这位自我标榜为女权主义者、对叙利亚难民持开放态度的加拿大总理，将自己塑造为奥巴马时代魅力超凡的世界性别自由主义在加拿大的应答。然而，彼时对美国的自由派来说，他不再是可爱的小兄弟，而是衬托物：特鲁多为特朗普的愚不可及提供了完美的对比。从他浓密的头发到时髦的袜子，似乎所有的细节都在强调他们之间的差异。
It was in this spirit that Rolling Stone put Mr. Trudeau on its cover and Vogue did a sultry photo shoot with him and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. Talk of “Canadian exceptionalism” made the rounds ― the idea that while the United States was imploding, Canada was a beacon of hope in a world gone mad. It was a sentiment echoed by pundits on both sides of the border: Adam Gopnik wrote an essay in The New Yorker reminding Americans, “We could have been Canada,” while Stephen Marche, writing in the Toronto-based publication The Walrus, called Canada “the last country on Earth to believe in multiculturalism.”
正是基于这种态度，《滚石》杂志让特鲁多上了封面，《Vogue》杂志为特鲁多及其妻子索菲・格雷瓜尔・特鲁多(Sophie Gregoire Trudeau)拍了一组性感大片。关于“加拿大例外论”的讨论一时无两――大家认为美国正在崩溃，加拿大是一个疯狂世界的希望灯塔。这一观点成为了国境两边媒体上的专家共识：亚当・戈普尼克(Adam Gopnik)在《纽约客》发文提醒美国人，“我们本可以成为加拿大”；而斯蒂芬・马尔奇(Stephen Marche)在多伦多的出版物《海象》(The Walrus)称加拿大是“地球上最后一个相信多元文化主义的国家”。
On the world stage, things were bright. But back home, the love affair with Mr. Trudeau, for those who ever had one, was short-lived.
在世界舞台上，一切都是光明的。但在国内，对特鲁多先生的爱恋――对那些曾经拥有过的人来说，则是短暂的。
Characteristically for politicians, it started with a failed promise. In early 2017, the Trudeau government announced it wouldn’t be pursuing electoral reform, despite making it a major part of the Liberal Party platform. (The reforms were part of a broader effort to make Canada’s parliamentary system proportionately representative.)
它始于一个未能兑现的承诺，对于政客来说，这倒也常见。2017年初，特鲁多政府宣布不会进行选举改革，尽管这是自由党纲领的重要组成部分。（这些改革是使加拿大议会制度具有相应代表性的更广泛努力的一部分。)
Then, in 2018, Mr. Trudeau made one of his most shocking moves: purchasing the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which runs from Alberta to coastal British Columbia, as part of an expansion project to increase capacity and add portions of new pipeline. Coming from a prime minister who said he was committed to green energy and tackling climate change, the move angered environmentalists and some Indigenous nations who oppose the pipeline, including those who had supported Mr. Trudeau.
接着在2018年，特鲁多做出了他最惊人的举动之一：购买了跨山输油管道(Trans-Mountain pipeline)，该管道从亚伯达延伸至沿海的不列颠哥伦比亚省，是增加容量和增添部分新管道的扩建工程的一部分。作为一个曾表示致力于绿色能源及应对环境变化的总理，他的这一举动激怒了反对这条管道的环保主义者和一些原住民，包括那些曾经支持过特鲁多的人。
Mr. Trudeau’s public image as a liberal feminist committed to gender equality also took a hit with the more recent affair involving the Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. The details of this evolving and very Canadian political scandal are difficult to explain. But in brief, it started with allegations that Mr. Trudeau’s office tried to interfere in then-Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s investigation into the firm. The important part, for Mr. Trudeau’s brand, is that following the resignation of Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, a former Treasury Board president, from Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, the prime minister kicked them out of his party. For many, this was a shocking way to treat two of his most prominent female allies, including the country’s first Indigenous justice minister.
在不久前涉及蒙特利尔工程公司SNC兰万灵公司(SNC-Lavalin)的一件事上，特鲁多作为致力于性别平等的自由派女性主义者的公众形象也受到了打击。这一不断演变、颇具加拿大特色的政治丑闻细节很难解释。简言之，它起因于特鲁多的办公室被指控试图介入时任司法部长王州迪(Jody Wilson-Raybould)对该公司的调查。对特鲁多的形象而言，最重要的是继王州迪和前国库委员会主席、特鲁多内阁成员费普真(Jane Philpott)辞职后，这位总理把她们赶出了他的政党。在很多人看来，如此对待他最突出的两名女性盟友――其中包括加拿大首位原住民司法部长――着实令人震惊。
In Canada, these developments, as well as a host of others, have changed how liberals see Mr. Trudeau. He is far less popular than he was in 2015, a leader despised on the right and often ridiculed on the left.
在加拿大，这些事态以及许多其他事情已经改变了自由派对特鲁多的看法。他远不如2015年时那般受欢迎，已经成为一名被右派鄙夷又常遭左派奚落的领导人。
These stories, though, rarely made a stir in the United States. Occasionally, I’d see articles alluding to Mr. Trudeau’s troubles. Recently, Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix series “Patriot Act” featured an episode with Mr. Trudeau, in which he uncomfortably answers questions about the gap between his image and his policies. But overall, the American story of Mr. Trudeau as a “dream politician for the left,” as Mr. Minhaj put it, stuck. Until now, that is.
不过这些报道很少在美国引发关注。我只是偶尔瞥见暗指特鲁多麻烦事的文章。近来，哈桑・米纳季(Hasan Minhaj)的Netflix喜剧节目《爱国者法案》(Patriot Act)有一期专门讨论特鲁多，他在其中就特鲁多的形象和他的政策之间的差距给出了令人不安的回答。不过总体上，如米纳季所说，特鲁多身为“左派梦想政治家”的美国寓言还站得住脚。那也就是当时。
There are two ways this story will be understood, depending on which side of the border you’re on.
这件事将有两种理解方式，取决于你身处边境哪一边。
For many Americans, the story connects Canada to what’s often seen as a deeply ingrained American tradition: blackface. Down here, Trudeau’s brownface and blackface episodes are bursting the Canadian exceptionalism bubble. Slowly but surely Americans are learning we Canadians can be just like you: very, very racist.
对于许多美国人，这件事使加拿大与一项常被视为是根深蒂固的美国传统联系起来：涂黑脸。在这里，特鲁多的棕脸和黑脸在戳破加拿大例外主义的泡沫。美国人正慢慢但肯定地认识到，我们加拿大人也可以像你们一样：非常、非常种族主义。
For Canadians, though, the story is different. It also has bigger stakes, coming as it does in the middle of a federal election that has seen the Liberals and Conservatives neck-and-neck in the polls. It’s the latest in a series of scandals that have led many liberals to grow disillusioned and, yes, even flat out embarrassed by Mr. Trudeau.
而对加拿大人，这件事则不同。它还有更大的风险，它适逢联邦选举中期，民调显示自由派和保守派势均力敌。这是一系列丑闻中的最新一起，导致许多自由派人士感到失望，甚至可以说是对特鲁多感到难堪。
Sorry, Americans. As Canadians living in the United States, we tried to tell you: That dude you thought was your dreamy boyfriend? He’s not all he’s cracked up to be. And like you, we’re wondering, as Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party and the first person of color to lead a major party, put it: “Who is the real Mr. Trudeau?”
抱歉了，美国人。作为生活在美国的加拿大人，我们试着在告诉你们：那个你们以为是梦中情人的家伙？他并不像人们吹捧的那么好。并且像你们一样，我们也在想，如首位领导多数政党的有色人种、加拿大新民主党领袖贾格米特・辛格(Jagmeet Singh)所说：“哪个是真正的特鲁多？”