a spoof[1] hits china's web - and a star is born
原文：《基督教科学箴言报》2006年3月13日《一部走红中国网络的搞笑短片和一个明星的诞生》
译文：《参考消息》2006年3月14日第15版《网络搞笑短片挑战中国文化习俗》
by robert marquand | staff writer of the christian science monitor
beijing – an underground video sweeping chinese cyberspace has half the country ★cracking up[2].
网络上迅速走红的一部视频短片已经让半个中国乐开了花。
titled "a murder caused by mantou," the video is a spoof of a new film, "the promise," by famed director chen kaige.
这部短片的片名是《一个馒头引发的血案》（以下简称《馒头》），这是一部根据中国著名导演陈凯歌的新片《无极》改编的搞笑短片。
using satiric elements similar to monty python and the simpsons, （1）the spoof has flooded cyberspace in unanticipated and unstoppable waves. and in a culture where there is scant public ★lampooning[3], the video has brought intense debates, smiles - and serious threats of legal action.
这部短片运用了与巨蟒组喜剧团和《辛普森一家》类似讽刺手法，在互联网上掀起了一股意想不到和不可遏止的热潮。在一个鲜有公开讽刺他人传统的文化里，这部短片引发了激烈争论并带来了无数欢笑。而且还面临着
mr. chen, of "farewell my concubine" fame, directed "the promise" at a cost of $44 million, the most expensive film ever made in china.
因执导《霸王别姬》而享有盛誉的陈凯歌此次执导的新片《无极》耗资4400万美元，是中国电影史上成本最高的电影。
but it didn't live up to its title. （2）the martial-arts soap opera - set in medieval times and heavy on special effects – ★bombed[4]. most unforgivable, it opened amid an unprecedented media ★blitz[5] ahead of the recent lunar new year holiday, a time of great emotional anticipation in china. people took the hook, bought tickets ★en masse[6] - then left theaters, many said, feeling "cheated."
但这部电影有些名不副实。这部以古代为背景并运用了大量特技效果的功夫肥皂剧遭遇了滑铁卢。最让观众感到不可原谅的是，这部电影发动了规模空前的媒体宣传攻势，选在中国人充满期待的农历新年前夕上映。人们为电影的宣传攻势所打动，争相买票入场——走出电影院后，许多人感觉“上当了”。
enter hu ge. a shy, bespectacled young musician and audio salesman living in shanghai, he usually goes to the cinema only for foreign films. but he was lured by the press campaign of "the promise." he wished to view the "new masterpiece of china," as he told a friend. afterward, he felt exasperated. but he quickly got an idea for a lampoon.
再说短片的作者胡戈。胡生活在上海，是一个腼腆的、戴着眼镜的年轻音乐人和录音师。他通常去电影院只是看外国电影。但他还是禁不住《无极》宣传攻势的诱惑。他对朋友说，他希望看看这部“中国的新电影杰作”。看完后，他感到有一股莫名的愤怒。他很快产生了制作一部讽刺短片的想法。
so hu - a graduate of huzhong university in hubei, with a degree in "measurement and control technology" - went to work. over nine days he wrote, diced, and sliced, using two computers. he ★morphed[7] the medieval tale into a present-day story. （3）a wandering plot about a king, a duke, and a slave who all love a queen was compressed into a crime-solving tv drama in china.
于是胡戈，这名湖北华中科技大学检测及控制技术专业的毕业生说干就干。他花了9天时间，用两台电脑编写剧本、剪辑和处理视频。他把那个古代传说改造成一个现代故事。关于国王、公爵和奴隶与王后之间的曲折爱情故事被浓缩到中国一个案件侦破类电视节目中。
the king becomes manager wang, who runs a money-losing recreational center. the queen is the assistant manager. the slave is a city clerk. hu dubs all the voices. he throws in rap music, clips from the shanghai circus, einstein's theory of relativity, patriotic army recruitment posters, and a "brokeback mountain" homosexual allusion. all are ★grist[8] for an investigation "narrated" by the ★deadpan[9] host of "china legal report," which airs on prime-time tv.
国王变成经营着一个常年亏损的娱乐城的经理，奴隶成了一个市政府工作人员。胡戈对所有角色进行了重新配音。他还加入了饶舌音乐、上海马戏团表演的部分片段、爱因斯坦的相对论和充满爱国色彩的征兵海报，以及《断背山》式的同性恋影射。这一切构成了由在黄金时段播出的法制节目表情严肃的主持人“口述”的一个案件调查。
hu sent the film to friends for personal entertainment. but they posted it on the web. within a month, millions of chinese, nearly everyone on the internet, had seen it. young chinese especially found themselves in tears of laughter over "a murder caused by mantou."
胡戈出于个人娱乐的目的把这部短片发给了朋友。但他的朋友把它贴到了互联网上。在一个月之内，无数中国人——几乎所有上网的民众，都观看了这部短片。
the effect was something like "rowan & martin's laugh-in," a tv show popular in the late 1960s, with its famous line, "and now for something completely different." "mantou" is also inspired by hong kong director stephen chow's latest parody of martial-arts films, "kung fu hustle.
"all the movies of the spring festival didn't touch our minds or hearts," says ms. zhao, a graduate student in international studies. "we were very unhappy. but mantou was better than all the films of the spring, and made up for them."
一个国际问题在读研究生赵女士说，“所有贺岁片电影都没有让我们有些许感动。我们感到很失望。但《馒头》这个短片比在春节期间上映的所有电影都要好，弥补了它们的缺憾。”
mantou refers to steamed bread. the bread shows up in the first scene, when the die is cast. a very young peasant girl scavenging on a battlefield grabs a mantou from a dead soldier. a strange and morally ambiguous female sprite with 5-foot locks of hair that stand straight up, confronts the half-starved ★waif[10] and offers her a choice: she can have the power to receive whatever she wants. but if she agrees, she will never experience true love. without thinking, she takes the faustian bargain.
shortly after, we flash forward 20 years: the peasant is a queen, and there's nothing but anguish, regret, and special effects for another 122 minutes.
(at the end of the mystery, one of the comically grave morals read by hu is, "parents should caution their kids to be aware of a lady whose hair stands up and floats in the air. if they are asked anything by the lady, no matter what the question, they should answer 'no.' otherwise their lives may be ruined.")
china-wide discussions started on what aspect of "mantou" was funniest: some argued for the grave crime-show host, who appears so serious while attempting to unravel a ★kooky[11] spoof. others liked little details, like a crime show "surrender hotline" for the guilty.
but most liked the two ads that hu feathered in. one is an ad for hair gel showing the sprite manshen, a famous actress, who says, "the gel that cannot make your hair stand up is counterfeit. please check the brand manshen carefully when you buy it."
the other ad is for "straw shoes," and takes off on the slave, who seems for most of the movie to be running nearly at the speed of light (one reason for the einstein references). viewers are asked to buy "escape for your life" brand sports shoes.
（4）but the real-life drama of "mantou" hardly ends with its dissemination. because china does not have much tradition of humorous ★give and take[12], "mantou" was a terrific ★affront[13] to chen.
但《馒头》在现实生活中引发的故事不会因其结束传播而收场。因为中国并没有多少通过幽默的方式进行交流的传统，《馒头》对陈凯歌而言式一种公然的严重侮辱。
to have a spoof of his movie gain overnight mass appeal was very unsatisfying to the senior director. almost immediately, he began speaking about suing hu for copyright violation, and made a number of very cutting remarks about him.
通过调侃自己的电影在一夜之间讨得大众的欢心让这位资深导演难以容忍。他几乎毫不犹豫地提出要起诉胡戈侵犯版权，还对胡说了一些非常尖刻的话。
that went over very badly among ordinary chinese. （5）many said it wasn't hu's fault that chen made a bad movie, not to mention the misleading press campaign about it.
这给中国民众留下了非常负面的印象。许多人表示，这不是胡戈的问题，而是陈凯歌自己的电影太差，更别提他的电影在媒体上进行宣传时带有误导性质。
hu was just being funny, they said, and reversing the unhappy feelings of the chinese people about "the promise." hu himself kept trying to apologize, but was never given the formal chance.
chinese netizens formed support group websites. on sina and sohu, the two biggest internet servers, support for hu by the end of february was overwhelming. when asked on a sohu.com forum, "which film do you like better, 'mantou' or 'the promise?' " 88.9 percent said "mantou." （6）more than 85 percent said chen was making "too big a fuss" by threatening to sue.
中国网民成立了支持胡的网站。根据中国两家最大的互联网服务商的调查，截至2月底，支持胡戈的网民占绝大多数。对网站的提问：你更喜欢哪部电影，《馒头》还是《无极》？88.9%的答案是《馒头》。超过85%的网民认为，陈凯歌扬言要打官司是“小题大做”。
one chat-room commentator stated that, "except for the special effects, and the super actors and actresses, 'the promise' is not special. works with no spiritual value are rubbish. it's a waste of people's time and life, no matter who the director is!"
chen withdrew his threat to sue. his producers are now talking about suing over property rights.
陈凯歌放弃了要诉诸法律的威胁。但现在他的制片人谈论着要就侵犯知识产权提起诉讼。
china youth university law professor yang zhizhu argues that mantou is actually a different film entirely from "the promise," and that by dubbing it throughout, hu changed the meaning of the scene - and therefore it may not be a legal violation.
novelist su tong, who wrote "raise the red lantern," made into a film by another famous director, zhang yimou, said （7）he started off on hu's side, but has not liked how one-sided the debate has become. "chinese celebrities are always expected to behave and perform perfectly," he says. "i feel a little sorry for chen now."
小说家苏童（他的小说《妻妾成群》曾被另一位著名的大导演张艺谋改编为电影《大红灯笼高高挂》）说，他开始也支持胡戈，但不希望这场辩论像现在这样一边倒。他说：“人们总是期望中国的名人尽善尽美。我现在觉得这对陈凯歌有些过分。”
notes：(according to longman dictionary of contemporary english)
[1]spoof n. a funny book, play, or film that copies something serious or important and makes it seem silly
[2]crack up v. adv. to laugh a lot at something, or to make someone laugh a lot: every one in the class just cracked up.
[3]lampoon vt. to criticize someone or something in a humorous way that makes them seem stupid: the prime minister was frequently lampooned in political cartoons.
[4]bomb vi. if a film, play, event etc bombs, it is not successful: his latest play bombed on broadway.
[5]blitz n. a big effort to make people notice something or buy something: a media/marketing/advertising etc blitz
[6]en masse adv. if people do something en masse, they do it together: the management team resigned en masse.
[7]morph vt. vi. to develop a new appearance or change into something else, or to make something do this: [+into] the river flooded its banks and morphed into a giant sea that swamped the town.
[8]grist n. [(all) grist for the mill] something that is useful in a particular situation: any publicity is good—it’s all grist for the mill.
[9]deadpan adj. sounding and looking completely serious when you are saying or doing something funny
[10]waif n. someone, especially a child, who is pale and thin and looks as if they do not have a home
[11]kooky adj. looking silly or crazy
[12]give-and-take n. a willingness between two people or groups to understand each other, and to let each other have or do some of the things they want: in any relationship there has to be some give-and-take.
[13]affront n. [usu. singular] a remark or action that insults or offends someone: [+to] the comments were an affront to his pride.
《参考消息》译文：
（1） 这部搞笑短片在互联网上掀起了一股意想不到和不可遏制的热潮。
（2） 这部以古代为背景并运用了大量特技效果的功夫肥皂剧遭遇了滑铁卢。
（3） 关于国王、公爵和奴隶与王后间的曲折爱情故事被浓缩到中国一个案件侦破类节目中。
（4） 但是《馒头》在现实生活中引发的故事不会因其结束传播而收场。
（5） 许多人表示，这不是胡戈的问题，而是陈凯歌自己的电影太差，更别提他的电影在媒体上进行宣传时带有误导性质。
（6） 超过85%的网民认为，陈凯歌扬言要打官司是“小题大做”。
（7） 他开始也支持胡戈，但不希望这场辩论像现在这样一边倒。