--’It’s the mistral ,’ said Caderousse, ’and it will be sure to last till to-morrow morning.’ He sighed heavily

‘噢，’卡德鲁斯摇摇头说道，‘暴风雨是决不会停的，现在刮的是西北风，肯定要到明天早晨才会停下来，说完他重重地叹了一口气。’‘哎!’

Love beauty; it is the shadow of god on the universe.--Gabriela Mistral

热爱美吧!美是上帝在宇宙中的影子。--米斯特拉尔

Suddenly he felt the fresh and sharp night air, and Dants knew that the mistral was blowing

突然间，唐太斯呼吸到了夜晚新鲜寒冷的空气，他知道这是海湾边冷燥的西北风。

||1:At a moment when Europe and America are trying to co-ordinate sanctions against Russia, the timing is nonetheless embarrassing.||2:The mighty Mistral-class vessels, 199m long, are not gunships.||3:But their capacity to carry and land hundreds of soldiers and over a dozen armoured tanks and amphibious craft, as well as to transport some 16 helicopters, greatly enhances power projection.||4:The first of the two ships, named the Vladivostok, will be ready for delivery to Russia in October this year; the second, more pointedly named the Sevastopol, in mid-2015.||5:Next month 400 Russian naval staff will arrive for training in Saint-Nazaire, the French Atlantic port where the vessels are being built.

||1:时值欧美强强联手制裁俄罗斯，现今的状况无疑是令人尴尬的。||2:威力强大的“西风级”舰船长达199米，却非炮艇。||3:但是，它可容纳成千上百的士兵，承载几十架装甲坦克和两栖飞行器，并能置放16架直升飞机，这大大提高了俄罗斯的力量投送能力。||4:第一艘“西风级”舰船名为Vladivostok，预计今年10月将抵达俄罗斯；第二艘名字更加霸气，叫Sevastopol，预计2015年中期竣工。||5:下月，400名俄罗斯海军将抵达圣纳泽尔Saint-Nazaire开始接受训练。圣纳泽尔是法国西部大西洋的港口城市，这批军舰也正是在此处修建的。

||1:Now, as the Ukraine crisis lurches on, the Mistral sale is creating fresh ructions.||2:At a meeting in Washington with John Kerry, America’s secretary of state, this week, Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, found himself forced to defend it.||3:Earlier this month, Victoria Nuland, Mr Kerry’s assistant secretary, said she had “regularly and consistently expressed our concerns” about the sale.||4:But Mr Fabius was having none of it.||5:France, he said on May 13th, would take firmness lessons from nobody: “the rule with contracts is that contracts which have been signed are honoured.”

||1:随着乌克兰危机事件的蔓延，“西北风”军售合同再引骚动。||2:本周于华盛顿和美国国务卿John Kerry的会晤谈话上，法国外交部部长Laurent Fabius不得不为本国此举加以辩护。||3:本月初，John Kerry的秘书助理Victoria Nuland就称自己“一直对此次交易忧心忡忡”。||4:然而，法国外交部部长Laurent Fabius却一点也不担忧。||5:5月13日，他还对外宣称法国向来自我立场坚定，不受外界所动摇：“于此合同有一准则，那就是已签订的合同必须兑现”。

||1:EVEN before France signed a deal in 2011 to build two Mistral-class assault ships for Russia, the idea prompted widespread unease.||2:Had Russia possessed such warships in 2008, boasted its naval chief, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, it would have won its war against Georgia in “40 minutes instead of 26 hours”.||3:Russia’s neighbours were accordingly troubled, but so were France’s closest allies.||4:In Paris before the deal, Robert Gates, then America’s defence secretary, had what he called a “thorough exchange of views” with the French: code for a serious disagreement.

||1:早在2011年法国刚签订对俄出售“西北风”级两栖攻击舰时，各地就纷纷表示不安。||2:俄罗斯海军主席Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky也吹嘘，若是2008年俄就拥有这些军舰，那么击败格鲁吉亚就不必26小时，而只需40分钟。||3:俄罗斯的邻国们同样因法俄交易合同而心头慌慌，就连法国最亲的同盟也略感紧张。||4:合同签订前， 后成为美国国防部长的Robert Gates于巴黎和法国负责人进行了一系列自称是“透彻详尽的意见交流”洽谈：就一个严重分歧的处理准则。

Mistral blows

兜售“西北风”

The possible sale by France to Russia of up to four Mistral-class assault ships, at up to $750m each, is stoking fear and mistrust.

法国可能向俄罗斯出售四艘西北风级两栖攻击舰（每艘售价高达7.5亿美元）的消息，激起了（这个地区）人们的恐惧和对法国的不信任感。

Van Gogh longed to meet Mistral , whose work he read and admired.

梵高曾经渴望和米斯特拉尔会面，因他读过后者的作品，十分仰慕。

The Saint-Nazaire shipyard, which builds the Mistral class, is in trouble.

建造西北风级两栖攻击舰的圣纳泽尔造船厂眼下正陷入困境。

Yet it is slightly pickier than rivals over whom to sell to (nothing like France’s sale of Mistral ships to Russia).

然而，德国在把武器出售给谁这方面比它的竞争对手稍微挑剔些，（不象法国向俄罗斯出售米斯特拉尔船）。

chrome Mistral

西尔左风（地中海北岸一种干冷西北风或北风)