埃罗尔·马斯克：埃隆·马斯克那位才华横溢却又“邪恶”的父亲：英语精读讲义

We often see Elon Musk and his siblings pictured with their mum, Maye Musk.

我们经常看到埃隆·马斯克和他的兄弟姐妹与母亲梅耶·马斯克合影。

Yet their relationship with their father is much more complicated.

然而，他们与父亲的关系却要复杂得多。

Errol Musk is a brilliant engineer

埃罗尔·马斯克是一位才华横溢的工程师，

who undoubtedly passed on his genes to his famous son. 短語搭配

毫无疑问，他将自己的优良基因遗传给了他那著名的儿子。

He has also been described by Elon as evil.

他也被埃隆描述为邪恶的人。

This is the story of how he helped shape the richest man in the world.

这是一个关于他如何帮助塑造世界首富的故事。

Errol was born in Pretoria,

埃罗尔出生于南非比勒陀利亚，

South Africa to an army sergeant father and a British mother

父亲是一名陆军中士，母亲是英国人，

whose family is famed for their intellect.

其家族以才智闻名。

Errol and Maye grew up in the same neighborhood.

埃罗尔和梅耶在同一个社区长大。

He fell for her supermodel looks. 短語動詞

他迷上了她超模般的外貌。

She became a well-known fashion model and a dietitian.

她成了一位知名的时装模特和营养师。

The two dated on and off at university. 習語

两人在大学期间分分合合。

According to Maye,

据梅耶说，

Errol relentlessly pursued her hand in marriage, 習語

埃罗尔坚持不懈地向她求婚，

telling Elon's biographer Ashlee Vance,

她告诉埃隆的传记作者阿什利·万斯，

"He just never stopped proposing."

“他就是一直不停地求婚。”

Reminiscent of Elon's pursuit of his first wife Justine

这让人想起埃隆对第一任妻子贾斯汀的追求，

while they were at university together in Canada.

当时他们一起在加拿大上大学。

Justine described to biographer Vance how Elon would call her insistently,

贾斯汀向传记作者万斯描述了埃隆当时如何执着地给她打电话，

saying,

说，

"You always knew it was Elon because the phone would never stop ringing.

“你总是知道那是埃隆，因为电话会响个不停。

The man does not take no for an answer. 習語

这个男人不接受拒绝。

You can't blow him off. 短語動詞

你打发不了他。

I do think of him as the Terminator. 文化背景

我确实认为他就像终结者。

He locks his gaze on to something and says,

他只要盯上什么东西，就会说，

"It shall be mine."

‘它将是我的。’”

Bit by bit, 短語搭配

一点一点地，

he won me over. 短語動詞

他赢得了我的心。

Nine months after Errol and Maye tied the knot, 習語

埃罗尔和梅耶喜结连理九个月后，

Elon came into the world.

埃隆降生到了这个世界。

They knew their son was special from a very young age,

他们在儿子很小的时候就知道他很特别，

as Errol told South African radio station 702's

正如埃罗尔告诉南非702广播电台

The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield.

布鲁斯·惠特菲尔德主持的《The Money Show》那样。

He's always been a very deep thinker.

他一直是个非常有深度的思想者。

And when he was very small,

当他很小的时候，

for example,

例如，

he would ask me

他会问我

"Where is the whole world?"

“整个世界在哪里？”

Good question.

问得好。

It's a very good question.

这是个非常好的问题。

Yeah.

是的。

I'm talking about when he was three or four.

我说的是他三四岁的时候。

Yeah.

是的。

And these sort of questions

这类问题

made me realize he is a little different.

让我意识到他有点与众不同。

The Musk family lived comfortably in Pretoria,

马斯克一家在比勒陀利亚生活得很舒适，

thanks to Errol's successful engineering business

这要归功于埃罗尔成功的工程业务

and his work as a real estate developer.

以及他作为房地产开发商的工作。

According to Elon,

据埃隆说，

his father has an extremely high IQ

他的父亲智商极高，

and is a talented electrical and mechanical engineer.

是一位才华横溢的电气和机械工程师。

Elon benefited immensely from his father's skill.

埃隆从父亲的技能中获益匪浅。

Errol used to take him and his brother Kimbal to his engineering job sites 語法

埃罗尔过去常带他和弟弟金巴尔去他的工程施工现场，

where they learned how to lay bricks, 短語搭配

在那里他们学会了如何砌砖、

install plumbing,

安装管道、

and put in electrical wiring.

以及铺设电线。

It was also Errol who introduced Elon to the world of computers.

也是埃罗尔将埃隆带入了计算机世界。

When Elon was 11,

埃隆11岁时，

he insisted that his dad take him to learn how to use the new computers that had just come out. 講解

他坚持要父亲带他去学习如何使用刚问世的新型计算机。

He was far too young to attend a course hosted at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, 語法

对于参加约翰内斯堡金山大学举办的课程来说，他实在太小了，

but his dad managed to book him a spot through his engineering connections. 短語搭配

但他父亲通过他在工程界的人脉设法为他预留了一个名额。

Errol recounted what happened when Elon went to that lecture.

埃罗尔讲述了埃隆去听那场讲座时发生的事情。

Anyway,

总之，

he went and I left him there and took Kimbal and I went off to get a hamburger

他去了，我把他留在那里，带着金巴尔去吃汉堡了，

and we came back

然后我们回来了，

it's a three-hour long thing at Wits and we came back

金山大学的课程长达三个小时，我们回来时，

and everybody came out and nobody no Elon

大家都出来了，却没有埃隆的身影，

and we waited and waited and then finally you know went into those chilly halls of Wits

我们等啊等，最后你知道的，走进了金山大学那些冷飕飕的大厅，

and found this sort of sloping theater lecture hall rather

发现了一个有点倾斜的阶梯教室，

and there was Elon

埃隆就在那里，

with his jacket and tie off and his sleeves rolled up,

他脱了外套和领带，卷起了袖子，

and his long grey flannels,

穿着长长的灰色法兰绒裤，

you know four feet high,

你知道的，四英尺高的小个子，

talking to all these blokes from England. 用詞

在和这些来自英国的人交谈。

And when I walked up to them,

当我向他们走去时，

the one who some professor,

其中一个似乎是教授的人，

he didn't even bother to sort of introduce himself, 語氣意圖

他甚至都不费心自我介绍一下，

he just said to me

直接对我说，

this boy has to have one of these computers.

这孩子必须拥有一台这种计算机。

Anyway,

总之，

we got him one of the computers

我们给他买了一台这样的计算机，

and I got it at a discount thank God.

感谢上帝，我是打折买的。

Yeah.

是的。

With that computer,

有了那台计算机，

Elon taught himself how to program 語法

埃隆自学了编程，

and he was brilliant at it.

而且他在这方面才华横溢。

He scored an A+ on an aptitude test for programming and operating a computer

他在编程和操作计算机的能力倾向测试中得了A+，

when he briefly attended the University of Pretoria.

当时他在比勒陀利亚大学短暂就读。

According to Maye, he had to be retested

据梅耶说，他必须重新接受测试，

because the university had never seen such a high score.

因为大学从未见过这么高的分数。

Although from the outside,

尽管从外界看来，

it may have appeared Elon had a happy childhood,

埃隆似乎有一个幸福的童年，

he would say that it felt like misery,

但他会说那感觉就像是苦难，

thanks in large part to Errol. 短語搭配

在很大程度上要归咎于埃罗尔。

Maye and Errol divorced in 1979

梅耶和埃罗尔在1979年离婚，

when Elon was eight.

当时埃隆八岁。

She left what she described as an abusive relationship.

她离开了她所说的一段充满虐待的关系。

Maye struggled as a single mom.

梅耶作为单身母亲挣扎求生。

She said she'd cry when one of the kids spilled milk

她说，当某个孩子把牛奶弄洒时，她会哭，

because she couldn't buy more milk that day.

因为她那天没钱再买牛奶了。

She worked several jobs to support her three children,

她打了几份工来抚养她的三个孩子，

bought secondhand clothes,

买二手衣服，

and cooked cheap and nutritious meals for them like bean stews.

给他们做便宜又营养的饭菜，比如炖豆子。

After a couple of years,

几年后，

Elon felt sorry that his dad was living alone

埃隆可怜他爸爸独自生活，

and decided to move in with him in a suburb of Johannesburg. 短語動詞

决定搬去约翰内斯堡郊区和他一起住。

It was a decision he would come to regret. 短語搭配

这是一个他日后会后悔的决定。

Elon told Rolling Stone,

埃隆告诉《Rolling Stone》，

"He was such a terrible human being.

“他是个非常糟糕的人。

You have no idea.

你根本想象不到。

My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil.

我父亲会有精心策划的邪恶计划。

He will plan evil.

他会策划邪恶。

Almost every crime you can possibly think of, 語法

几乎你能想到的所有罪行，

he has done.

他都做过。

Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of,

几乎你能想到的所有邪恶之事，

he has done."

他都做过。”

Elon never specified what his father had allegedly done, 用詞

埃隆从未具体说明他父亲据称做了什么，

but says he wasn't physically violent toward him.

但说他没有对他施加过身体暴力。

This is what we do know about Errol.

关于埃罗尔，以下是我们所知道的。

He said he once shot and killed three people who broke into his home 短語動詞

他说他曾开枪打死三名闯入他家的暴徒，

and was later cleared of all charges on the grounds of self-defense. 用詞

后来因自卫而被洗清所有指控。

He also had a child with his stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhout from another marriage.

他还与他另一次婚姻中的继女贾娜·贝祖伊登豪特生了一个孩子。

He said his stepdaughter turned to him for comfort after a breakup with her boyfriend 短語動詞

他说，继女在和男友分手后向他寻求安慰，

and the child was conceived in the heat of the moment. 習語

这个孩子是在一时冲动下怀上的。

Errol has spoken out against Elon's portrayal of him, 短語動詞

埃罗尔直言不讳地反驳了埃隆对他的描绘，

telling the UK's Daily Mail,

告诉英国《Daily Mail》，

"Elon needs to grow up.

“埃隆需要长大。

He needs to get over himself. 短語動詞

他需要克服自我中心的毛病。

I'm not going to hit back. 短語動詞

我不会反击。

I'm going to wait until he comes to his senses. 習語

我会等他恢复理智。

He's having a tantrum like a spoiled child."

他像个被宠坏的孩子一样在发脾气。”

By the time Elon came to live with him after the divorce,

当离婚后埃隆来和他同住时，

Errol claimed he was making a lot of money in emerald mining.

埃罗尔声称他在绿宝石开采中赚了很多钱。

Business Insider reported that Errol owned half of an emerald mine in Zambia.

《Business Insider》报道称，埃罗尔在赞比亚拥有半个绿宝石矿。

And in another Business Insider article,

在《Business Insider》的另一篇文章中，

Errol said,

埃罗尔说，

"We had so much money we couldn't even close our safe."

“我们的钱多得甚至关不上保险箱。”

But according to Elon,

但据埃隆说，

his father didn't own an emerald mine.

他的父亲并没有绿宝石矿。

Elon tweeted that he had to work his way through college, 習語

埃隆发推文说，他必须半工半读完成大学学业，

ending up with a hundred thousand dollars in student debt, 短語動詞

最终背负了十万美元的学生债务，

and couldn't afford a second computer at his first company,

在他的第一家公司，他甚至买不起第二台电脑，

Zip2.

那家公司就是 Zip2。

He said when he emigrated from South Africa to North America,

他说，当他从南非移民到北美时，

he only had two thousand dollars in his pocket.

他口袋里只有两千美元。

Elon's goal was always to end up in the United States,

埃隆的目标始终是最终去往美国，

the home of all the exciting developments in technology.

那里是所有令人激动的科技发展的故乡。

To get to the States,

为了去美国，

he first went to Canada,

他首先去了加拿大，

his mother's birthplace.

他母亲的出生地。

Elon was just 17 years old when he arrived in Canada,

埃隆到达加拿大时只有17岁，

where he stayed with a cousin,

在那里他和一位表亲住在一起，

working on a farm in Saskatchewan.

在萨斯喀彻温省的一个农场工作。

He later made his way here to Toronto, 習語

后来他来到了多伦多，

where he obtained passports for his mother,

在那里他为母亲、

his brother,

弟弟，

and his sister to join him.

和妹妹办理了护照，让他们来与他团聚。

They lived for a time at 4000 Yonge Street in this rent-controlled apartment. 文化背景

他们曾在这座央街4000号的租金管制公寓里住过一段时间。

According to Maye,

据梅耶说，

Elon slept on the couch.

埃隆当时睡在沙发上。

His father did not wish him well. 短語搭配

他的父亲并不希望他好过。

In fact,

事实上，

Errol didn't think his son would make much of himself. 習語

埃罗尔认为他的儿子不会有什么出息。

Elon said his father told him he'd be back in South Africa in three months

埃隆说他父亲告诉他，不出三个月他就会滚回南非，

and that he was an idiot.

还说他是个白痴。

That idiot went on to found and run two of the most innovative and successful companies in the world, 講解

那个白痴后来创办并经营着世界上最具创新性和最成功的两家公司，

Tesla and SpaceX.

Tesla和SpaceX。

Some have suggested that Musk's image as the savior of humanity

有人提出，马斯克作为人类拯救者的形象，

by accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy

通过加速世界向可持续能源的过渡，

and by trying to colonize Mars,

以及尝试殖民火星，

might stem from his childhood pain. 短語搭配

可能源于他童年的痛苦。

Rolling Stone wrote,

《Rolling Stone》写道，

"Somewhere in this trauma bond is the key to Musk's worldview, 用詞

“这种创伤纽带中的某个地方，隐藏着理解马斯克世界观的钥匙，

creation against destruction, 表達脈絡

创造对抗毁灭，

of being useful versus harmful,

有用对抗有害，

of defending the world against evil."

保护世界免受邪恶侵害。”

Does his father now believe his son will succeed

他的父亲现在相信他的儿子会成功，

and go where no man or woman has gone before? 文化背景

并走向前人未至之境吗？

Is Elon going to get to Mars?

埃隆能去火星吗？

I mean, that's his big ambition.

我的意思是，这是他的宏大抱负。

He is.

他会的。

I don't think there's any doubt in it whatsoever.

我认为这没有任何疑问。

Yet,

然而，

it's unlikely Elon would take his father along for the ride. 習語

埃隆不太可能带他父亲一起踏上这段旅程。

Their relationship remains strained. 短語搭配

他们的关系依然紧张。