| As growing numbers of Chinese internet users lambasted the government’s handling of floods that engulfed parts of Beijing at the weekend the official death toll was on Thursday more than doubled to 77. |
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在越来越多中国网民抨击政府对上周末北京特大暴雨的处理之际，官方死亡人数在周四被上调一倍多，至77人。这场暴雨让北京一些地区变成一片汪洋。 |
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| The official death toll had stood at 37 since Sunday but many angry Beijing residents said it was underestimated. |
此前官方死亡人数自周日以来一直维持在37人，许多愤怒的北京市民表示，这个数字有低估之嫌。 |
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| People have taken to China’s Twitter-like microblogs in an outpouring of anger not seen since the high-speed rail disaster almost exactly a year ago that killed 40 people and exposed deep-seated distrust of the government. Like that accident, the flooding has acted as a catalyst for pitting the public against the regime which so rarely faces a broad, open challenge. |
人们纷纷到中国类似于Twitter的微博上表达愤怒，其激愤程度是几乎恰好一年前动车追尾碰撞事故以来未见的，那次事故导致40人死亡，并暴露出中国人对政府存在深层次的不信任。就像那次事故一样，这场暴雨成为催化剂，使公众站到极少面对大范围公开挑战的当权者的对面。 |
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| Last Saturday night, when torrential rains brought large parts of the capital’s transport system down and left thousands stranded far from home, there was no immediate response from the government. But private initiative sprang up, with residents offering those in need a lift from the airport, a place for the night or a warm meal. |
上周六晚间，特大暴雨使北京交通系统大面积瘫痪，让数以千计人无法回家，政府方面没有立即采取应对措施，但民间有不少自发行动，市民们让需要离开机场的人搭车，给他们一个下榻之处或者一顿饭菜。 |
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| Zhao Chu, a prominent blogger, described this as a tale of “two Beijings” – the bureaucratic and heartless face of the state, and a warm, caring city enlivened by private initiative. |
知名博客作者赵楚形容这是一则“两个北京”的故事：一个是政府既官僚又无人性的面孔，另一个是在民间自发行动的烘托下出现在人们眼前的温馨关爱的城市。 |
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| “When people naturally and warm-heartedly show compatriots’ love, hold out a helping hand, this moving situation is the legendary civil society,” he wrote. “Only such a civil society, driven by a high moral spirit, can be the basis of modern society and politics.” |
“当人们热情而自然地展现同胞之爱，伸出救援之手，人们应该明白，这种令人感动的场景就是传说中现代社会基本形态的市民社会，”他写道。“只有这种包含高尚道德精神的市民社会才是现代生活和政治的基础。” |
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| Others took the fate of Ding Zhijian, a magazine editor who is one of the most prominent flood victims, as a grim tale about everything that is wrong with China. Mr Ding, trapped in his flooded car, failed to get through to the police or the firefighters. He then called his wife, who knelt down and begged rescue workers in vain to rush to save him. Her husband drowned. |
还有人以最知名的暴雨受害人之一、某杂志编辑部主任丁志健的悲剧性遭遇为例，说明当今中国的种种问题。当时丁志健的汽车被困在积水中，他打不开车门，也打不通警方或消防队的报警电话，只能致电妻子求助。后来她妻子跪在救援人员面前求他们赶快营救，却无人响应。最终，她的丈夫溺水身亡。 |
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| “If the [government] is helpless in the face of a not very difficult situation, it means that there’s something wrong with the system. If the rescue workers can’t even be moved by the pleading of Ding Zhijian’s wife, it shows a lack of humanity,” wrote Wang Xiaoxin, an advertising professional, in an essay passed around on Weibo. She argued that such lack of human compassion was partly caused by the deficiencies of China’s system. “This is not the story of Ding Zhijian alone, it is the story of a society.” |
“消防、警察、急救等国家机器在面对一个并不复杂的情势时的无可奈何，表明了制度的缺陷；而救援人员在面对丁志健妻子下跪的苦苦哀求时的无动于衷，反映的则是人性的缺失，”广告专业人士王小心在一篇在新浪微博(Weibo)上流传的散文中写道。她提出，这种人性的缺失在一定程度上是中国当今制度的缺陷造成的。“这不是丁志健一个人的故事。这是一个社会的故事。” |
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| The government is trying to muzzle the criticism. Several microblog users were punished for forwarding jokes or criticism related to the disaster. One had her account closed for forwarding a satirical drawing which showed the equipment, such as hammers and a torch, that a Beijing resident should carry to be safe during the rainy season. |
政府正试图压制批评的声音。数名微博用户因转发与灾难相关的笑话或批评而受到惩罚。其中一名用户的账号被关闭，因为她转发了一幅漫画，上面画着北京市民在雨季应该携带什么装备（如锤子和手电筒）才能保证安全。 |
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| Fu Zhenghua, Beijing’s police chief, was quoted in official media issuing a warning to “severely strike at rumour-mongers using the internet to attack the party, state leaders and the current system”. |
北京市公安局局长傅政华通过官方媒体警告称，“如利用互联网……制造和传播政治谣言，攻击党和国家领导人及现行体制，情节严重的要依法严厉打击。” |
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| But many Beijing residents are in no mood to shut up. “That is an open confrontation with the people!” wrote one microblogger. |
但是许多北京市民无意沉默。“这是一场与人民的公开对抗！”一名微博作者写道。 |
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译者/何黎 |