又中又英 | Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan | 褚簡寧

　　The late US President John F. Kennedy famously said victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, popularized the proverb which dates back a very long time. He used it in 1961 after the Bay of Pigs invasion. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a botched CIA-backed invasion to overthrow Cuba's Communist leader Fidel Castro. About 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs but Cuban forces killed or captured most of the exiles. Kennedy used the proverb "victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan" when he accepted responsibility for the botched invasion after he faced harsh criticism.

　　The expression "victory has a thousand fathers" means everyone will rush to claim credit when something, such as a project or campaign, succeeds. That's why it has a thousand fathers. But no one wants to take the blame when something fails. They all distance themselves from the defeat. That's why the defeat is an orphan. A botched invasion is a failed invasion that was clumsily or incompetently planned. A US political commentator used the proverb after the Democratic Party soundly beat President Donald Trump's Republican Party in the recent midterm Congressional elections.

　　To "soundly beat" means to thoroughly defeat a competitor. All the different factions of the Democratic Party, including the leftists, centralists, and traditional Democrats, claimed credit for the victory to win control of Congress from the Republicans. This could cause infighting among party members. Many Republicans are blaming each other or Trump for their defeat. Trump has not accepted full responsibility for his party’s loss.

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　　前美國總統約翰甘迺迪，曾說過一句名言：勝利有千個父親，失敗卻是個孤兒（victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan）。於1963年遇刺身亡的甘迺迪，令這一句源遠流長的諺語重新流行起來。他在1961年豬灣入侵事件（Bay of Pigs invasion）後用到這句話。豬灣入侵事件（Bay of Pigs invasion）是個搞砸了的（botched）入侵事件，由中情局支援，企圖推翻古巴的共產領袖菲爾德．卡斯特羅。大約1500名受中情局訓練的古巴流亡者在豬灣登陸，但古巴軍殺死或俘虜了大部分的流亡者。甘迺迪面對嚴厲的批評，便用了諺語「勝利有千個父親，失敗卻是個孤兒」（victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan）來承擔這次拙劣入侵（botched invasion）的責任。

　　習語"victory has a thousand fathers"是指當某事，例如一個企劃或戰役成功後，人人都爭着領功，因此它有一千個父親；但當某事失敗，卻無人想承擔責任，他們全都跟失敗保持距離，因此失敗是個孤兒。A botched invasion是個笨拙或規劃不當而失敗的進攻。當民主黨在最近的中期國會選舉，徹底擊敗（soundly beat）總統特朗普的共和黨後，一個美國政治評論人就用到了這個諺語。

　　"Soundly beat"是指徹徹底底地擊敗一個對手。民主黨的不同派系，包括左翼、中間派以及傳統民主黨人，全都把從共和黨手中奪回國會控制權的勝利，歸功於自己。這可以導致黨內人員的內訌。許多共和黨人對於他們的失敗，都在互相怪責，或歸咎於特朗普。特朗普並未為其黨的失敗承擔全部責任。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻