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He paid more than half a billion dollars for a yacht
他花了5亿多美元买了一艘游艇，
and $300 million for a goldencrusted chateau near Versailles,
又花了3亿美元在凡尔赛宫附近买了一座金碧闪闪的城堡，
all with money that he insists he earned on his own.
但他坚称，那些钱都是他自己挣的。
"If I'm corrupted, please show me the proof," he says.
“如果说我腐败，请出示证据，”他说。
"It is well known that King Salman and his sons and his team, they are super clean.
“众所周知，萨勒曼国王和他的儿子们，他的团队都是非常清白的。
Everyone in Saudi Arabia knows that."
这点沙特人是无人不知无人不晓。”
Whether shakedown or rough justice,
无论丽思卡尔顿事件是勒索还是粗暴的审判，
the Ritz episode eliminated his chief political rivals and cemented his power.
这一举动都一举铲除了王储的主要政治对手，又巩固了他的权力。
"It was a kind of coup d'état—a bloodless coup d'état—of the old system," says former ambassador Freeman.
“这是旧体制的一次政变，一次不流血的政变。”前大使弗里曼说。
But it also had the effect of rattling investor faith in the kingdom's stability.
但这次事件还是动摇了投资者对沙特社会稳定性的信心。
"All power that had been distributed under the previous constitutional arrangement very widely under a checks-and-balances arrangement
“在以前的宪法的规定下，在制衡安排下广泛分配的所有权力，
has been compressed and concentrated into the hands of one man, says Freeman."
都被压缩并集中在了一个人的手里。”弗里曼说。
That in turn undercut bin Salman's revamp of Saudi Arabia's economy, society and world status—
这反过来又削弱了本·萨勒曼改革沙特阿拉伯经济、社会和世界地位的努力——
all the things he came to the U.S. to promote.
而他这次来美国就是为宣传这些努力而来的。
Bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan calls for establishing a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest.
本·萨勒曼的“2030年愿景”计划呼吁的就是建立一个价值2万亿美元的，全世界规模最大的主权财富基金。
Half, he says, would be invested inside the kingdom—
他说，届时，一半资金用来投资沙特国内的事业——
he talks enthusiastically about the future of carbon fiber
他热情洋溢地谈论起了碳纤维的未来，
and plans to make Saudi Arabia the world leader in solar energy—
还计划让沙特阿拉伯成为世界太阳能的领导者——
and half in enterprises abroad.
一半用来投资国外企业。
He also wants to partially privatize Saudi Aramco in what would likely be the largest initial public offering in history.
他还希望将沙特阿美部分私有化，而这可能成为历史上规模最大的首次公开发行(IPO)。
But after the Ritz, the IPO came off the calendar and the U.S. tour went on.
但在丽思卡尔顿事件后，IPO就被从日程安排中撤了下来，美国之行则按计划继续。
IN MANHATTAN, the crown prince hit Starbucks with former mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
在曼哈顿，王储与前市长、亿万富翁迈克尔·布隆伯格在星巴克会了面。
He wore a blazer and a shirt open at the collar.
当时他穿的是一件运动夹克和领口敞开的衬衫。
It was full regalia at MIT, but a business suit in Seattle for Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
在麻省理工时王储穿的是全套正装，在西雅图和杰夫·贝佐斯、比尔·盖茨会面时穿的则是商务套装。
Clothes may not make the man, but if your message is modernity and flexibility, they say more than "reformer,"
着装或许不能代表一个人，但如果你想传达的信息是现代性和灵活性，那着装可比“改革者”这一称号更管用。
a label blanched of meaning by its application to a parade of more traditional Saudi royals.
因为“改革者”这一标签因适用于更为传统的一群沙特王室成员而失去了意义。
And bin Salman has turned heads.
本·萨勒曼吸引了不少的眼球。
"No one has said what he has been saying in the entire history of the kingdom,"
“在整个王国的历史上，都没有人说过他一直在说的那些话。”
says Bilal Y. Saab, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
中东研究所高级研究员萨博说到。
"It's significant."
“这点是很重要的。”
Bin Salman has made some concrete changes.
本·萨勒曼已经做出了一些具体的改变。
In June, women will drive on Saudi roads, independent from male chaperones.
今年6月以后，女性即使没有男性陪伴也能在沙特的马路上开车了。
Music festivals and movie theaters are opening,
尽管男女分开坐的问题仍然存在，
though questions remain about separate seating for men and women.
但音乐节和电影院仍在陆陆续续地开幕。
The kingdom's religious police are being reined in.
王国的宗教警察正在受到控制。
In a setting as sterile and controlled as Saudi Arabia,
在像沙特阿拉伯这样贫瘠且被高度控制的环境中，
these modest changes have generated genuine enthusiasm among activists, many of whom had been skeptical of bin Salman.
这些温和的改变已经点燃了积极分子，许多都曾对本·萨勒曼持怀疑态度，由衷的热情。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
