又中又英 | Fast Friends | 褚简宁

　　When US President Donald Trump appointed Elon Musk, the world's richest person, as head of an unofficial department to cut government waste, the two became fast friends. Musk had spent about US$300 million to help Trump’s election campaign. But many political commentators said the friendship wouldn't last long because Trump and Musk made strange bedfellows. The term "fast friends" is used to describe two people who became close friends very quickly. The idiom "strange bedfellows" means an unusual political alliance between two or more people who are very different from each other or have different values.

　　The friendship ended last month after Musk finished his role as head of the unofficial cost-cutting department. He attacked a tax and spending bill going through Congress that would add more than US$3 trillion to America’s debt over the next ten years. Trump’s Republican Party, which has slim majorities in both Houses of Congress, passed the bill last week and Trump signed it into law. An angry Musk said he would start a new political party called the America Party to challenge the Republican Party and Democratic Party, giving voters a third choice.

　　Trump responded by saying Musk had gone completely off the rails, becoming a train wreck. When a train driver loses control, the train can go off the railway track. But if someone has gone off the rails, it means that person has started to behave in a strange and abnormal way. A train wreck describes a train severely damaged in an accident. But a train wreck also means something that has failed or a person with many serious problems in life.

　　美国总统当劳．特朗普委任世界首富伊隆．马斯克为非官方部门的领头，去削减政府开支浪费时，2人很快成为可靠的朋友（fast friends）。马斯克曾经花约3亿美元帮助特朗普的竞选活动。但许多政治评论员说，这段友谊不会长久，因为特朗普和马斯克更似同床异梦（strange bedfellows）。Fast friends是用来形容两个人很快便成为亲密的朋友。成语strange bedfellows是指两个或多于两个南辕北辙，或抱持不同价值观的人，建立了非一般的政治联盟。

　　上个月，当马斯克完成领导那削减成本的非官方部门之后，这段友谊亦随之结束。他攻击一个当时正在寻求国会通过的税务及开支草案，该草案会在未来10年增加3兆美元的美国债务。特朗普那在美国国会两院轻微占大多数的共和党，上星期通过了草案，特朗普亦已签署将之成为法律。愤怒的马斯克说，他将会开创一个新的政党名美国党，去挑战共和党和民主党，给予选民第3个选项。

　　特朗普回应说，马斯克已完全脱轨（off the rails），极其失败，如火车般撞成一团（train wreck）。若一个火车车长未能控制列车，火车便会偏离轨道；但若某人已gone off the rails，意即那人开始举止怪异、行为不轨。A train wreck是用来形容火车失事，严重损毁，但a train wreck也可以解作某事情失败了，又或指一个人生活过得一团糟。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁  
中译：七刻