制售假鈔的藝術家丨經濟學人精讀
文 / 梁洋Earnest
導讀
在服務員眼裡，他是個騙子，用假錢濫竽充數，但是「騙」亦有道——他只「騙」陌生人；
在瑞士人眼裡，他是個人才，藝術觀念超前，所畫作品勝過真錢良幣，甘願傾囊相助；
在收藏家眼裡，他是搖錢樹，一張「鈔票」反覆易手，便可賣出上萬美元，價值不菲；
在當權者眼裡，他是刺頭兒，欲以百萬假鈔席捲大街小巷，罪大惡極，必得而拘之，以絕後患。
他，就是已故鈔票藝術家——J.S.G.博格斯。
下面請賞析《經濟學人》這篇Obituary: His money or his art?
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通讀
His money or his art?
James Stephen George Boggs, an artist and trickster, was found dead on January 23rd, aged 62
① A HAMBURGER and Coke with Steve Boggs was a disconcerting event. To begin with he preferred to be called "Boggs", just straight. He also had a way of opening his eyes a little wider than normal, giving his thin face an unnerving, even devilish look. And then, when the eating was done and the bill came, he would take out his wallet, unfold the notes, and put one on the table in a way that portended something profound and strange.
② At first glance, the note would look normal. It was not. The portrait on it might be of Mr Boggs himself, or Martha Washington instead of George. The bank name might be "Federal Reserve Not", or "Bank of Bohemia". The plate serial number might be "EMC2" or "LSD". All this delicate copying and subverting had taken up to ten hours of Mr Boggss time, working on special paper with the finest-tip green and black pens. (He later shifted to limited-edition prints, a little speedier.) The result was now proffered to pay for his food.
③ To the bemused waitress, he would politely explain that he was an artist. He could pay her with official money if she wanted. But he believed in producing something beautiful; and having spent so much time on this drawing of money, wasnt it worth the value it declared?
④ Nine out of ten times, the offer was refused. If it was accepted, Mr Boggs would note down time and place on the blank back of the drawing, ask for a receipt and take any change he was "owed". After a day, he would call one of many avid collectors of his works; he would sell the collector, at a roughly fivefold mark-up, the receipt and change; and from those clues the collector, if he wished to buy the drawing, would have to track down the new owner. Receipt, change and drawn note, when reunited, became joint proof of the drawings value, confirmed by the transaction; and would then change hands, typically, for tens of thousands of dollars.
⑤ This elaborate charade ensured that Mr Boggs never sold his drawings. He "spent" them at "face value" in exchange for goods and services, cheekily challenging the value ascribed to money. The inspiration dated from 1984, when a waitress in Chicago accepted his sketch of a dollar bill on a napkin for a doughnut and a coffee. She even gave him a dime in change, which he kept as a lucky charm. After that, wherever he was in the world, he drew the local currency and threw down his challenge.
⑥ Early on he struggled, unwashed, hungry and heavily in debt. But by 1999 his drawings had paid for more than $1m-worth of goods, including rent, clothes, hotels and a brand-new Yamaha motorbike. He thanked the Swiss, who discovered him in 1986 and were often delighted to accept original art rather than "real" money.
⑦ He was cautious, however, about dealing with anyone he already knew. He preferred to offer his exchange to people who had never heard of him, even though they might just scrumple his precious note into a pocket. And his main aim was to raise disquieting questions about the notion of exchange itself. What was money really worth? What supported a dollar bill, other than faith? Was the value of anything just subjective? When salesmen told him they didnt accept art, he would point out the beauty of official notes, with their scrolls and arrow-clutching eagles. When shopkeepers demanded only "real" money, he might launch into the non-reality of time and space, too. To his long-time tracker and biographer, Lawrence Weschler, he was "just short of being a con man—but no more so than anyone else in the art world, or for that matter in the world of finance—which, of course, is the whole point."
Feat counterfeit
⑧ A simpler view was taken by the authorities. This looked like counterfeiting to them. In Britain, where he lived for several years, he was arrested and put on trial at the Old Bailey for "reproducing" the currency. He argued back that it was the "real" notes that were reproductions: his drawings were originals, never meant to be the real thing. He was acquitted, as he was when he faced similar charges in Australia.
⑨ America, though, hardly knew how to deal with him. In 1992 he had a madcap idea to flood Pittsburgh, where he lived then, with $1m in Boggs Bills, and see if they could get through five transactions (handlers would put thumbprints on the back). The Secret Service warned the city and raided his studio, seizing more than 1,000 pieces of work. They never returned them. The courts solemnly debated whether the drawings were closer to pornography—which might be censored, but also allowed as free speech—or evil non-returnable contraband, like drugs.
⑩ Mr Boggss career was blighted by fruitless appeals to try and get them back. His legal costs mounted. At his Old Bailey trial he had paid his lawyer with drawings for his services. He now started on a series of $1,000 Boggs Bills sporting a portrait of him by Thomas Hipschen, Americas chief engraver of banknotes (itself happily exchanged for a Boggs Bill), to cover a hearing in the Supreme Court, if he could get one. But he was also venturing closer to the edge, toting guns and using methamphetamines, and died before he had got that far.
? His art remained on the walls of Americas finest museums and of galleries all over Europe. His questions remained, too, evading easy answers.
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寫在精讀前
段落
全文共11段，可分為四個部分：
第一部分（第1-5段）：從博格斯快餐店用「假鈔」買單頻繁被拒經歷展開，繼而論述買賣鈔票畫的緣由和經過，體現博格斯的金錢觀及對價值的挑戰。
第二部分（第6-7段）：博格斯遇貴人（瑞士人），用「假鈔」脫貧致富（上百萬），但很少與熟人交易，旨在引發人們對貨幣價值的思考。
第三部分（第8-10段）：多國政府以造偽幣為由逮捕博格斯、查收其畫作，而博格斯屢次申訴無果，逼近墮落邊緣直至死亡。
第四部分（第11段）：博格斯畫作價值獲世人認可，但他對金錢價值的質疑和挑戰仍發人深省。
精讀
(1) 標題
標題實為：His money, or his art: that is the question.（那些是他的鈔票還是藝術，這是一個值得考慮的問題。）。文章標題看似是簡單的問句，實則引領全文，圍繞鈔票與藝術之爭，刻畫出一個真實反叛的鈔票藝術家形象。文中多次提到用餐後Boggs憑「假鈔」（DIY鈔票畫作）付賬的經歷，堪稱奇人軼事。起初，在大部分人眼中，那些畫都是假鈔偽幣而不是藝術。但後來，那些都成了價值連城的藝術品。因此，對於不同的人群，答案各不相同，但在主人公Boggs眼中，Those drawings are both his money (i.e. Boggs Bills) and his original art.
(2) And then, when the eating was done and the bill came, he would take out his wallet, unfold the notes, and put one on the table in a way that portended something profound and strange.
【解析】
參考譯文：之後，吃完飯賬單送來，他會先掏出錢包，再攤開鈔票，然後取一張放在桌上，像是在預示著某件深刻古怪的事情。
博格斯用實際行動告訴我們，買單要有儀式感，這並非是炫耀自己的鈔票畫，而是對藝術的敬仰。從寫作上看，該句下段寫博格斯用鈔票畫付款所引發的鈔票與藝術之爭埋下伏筆（「portended something profound and strange」），讀者便可想見下段關於博格斯與服務員交涉的情節。
(3) The portrait on it might be of Mr Boggs himself, or Martha Washington instead of George. The bank name might be "Federal Reserve Not", or "Bank of Bohemia". The plate serial number might be "EMC2" or "LSD".
【解析】
這裡涉及美元的相關知識和一些專業術語。
①不同面值的美元紙幣上的人物頭像和圖片：
1美元：美國國父、第1任總統——喬治·華盛頓（George Washington）
2美元：第3任總統、《獨立宣言》主要起草人、弗吉尼亞大學創辦人——托馬斯·傑弗遜（Thomas Jefferson）
5美元：第16任總統、首位共和黨總統、黑人奴隸制的廢除者——亞伯拉罕·林肯（Abraham Lincoln）
按理說，1美元鈔票上的頭像應是喬治·華盛頓，但偏偏被博格斯惡搞成了華盛頓他老婆——瑪莎·華盛頓（Martha Washington），美國首位第一夫人，嫁給華盛頓之前曾是弗吉尼亞最有錢的寡婦之一，從某種程度上，華盛頓是靠妻子上位。傳記作家海倫·布萊恩（Helen Bryan）曾這樣評論道：
歷史學家往往忽略這一令人發窘的事實，即倘若沒有瑪莎和前夫留給她的巨額財產，華盛頓恐怕根本無法達到後來他在社會、軍事和政治方面所獲得的顯赫地位。
②美國聯邦儲備系統（The Federal Reserve System），簡稱為美聯儲（Federal Reserve），負責履行美國的中央銀行的職責，擁有美元的發行權。博格斯的假鈔自然不是美聯儲發行的，所以是「Federal Reserve Not」。
③Bank of Bohemia：波西米亞銀行。地理上，波西米亞是捷克共和國的主要部分之一，但在很多人心裡，波西米亞就是色彩斑斕、元素混搭（如圖）：
④plate serial number：該鈔票紙板的序列號，分別是（高能預警！）——
⑤EMC2：E=mc2，愛因斯坦質能方程，揭示了物質質量與能量的關係。
⑥LSD：D-麥角酸二乙胺（Lysergic acid diethylamide），也稱為「麥角二乙醯胺」，常簡稱為「LSD」，是一種強烈的半人工緻幻劑。
(4) All this delicate copying and subverting had taken up to ten hours of Mr Boggss time, working on special paper with the finest-tip green and black pens. (He later shifted to limited-edition prints, a little speedier.) The result was now proffered to pay for his food.
【解析】
參考譯文：博格斯要花上長達十小時的時間，用特殊紙張和最尖的綠黑兩色畫筆對紙幣進行所有精緻的仿冒和顛覆。（他之後轉為進行限量版印刷，更快一點。）結果現在卻被拿來支付餐費。
此處使用了突降（anti-climax or bathos）的英文修辭，請仔細體會其幽默之處。
英語突降格作為一種常見的修辭手法，與層遞辭格恰恰相反，它採用突然下降的手法，使句意從嚴肅、深刻、重要等的概念中急轉到滑稽、平庸、瑣細等的概念上，從而造成一種語義的極大差異，以獲得詼諧幽默的交際效果。
用詞上，下面援引辭彙網站http://vocabulary.com的釋義，以便幫助大家區別proffer與offer——
下面大意就是，p[oliteness] + offer = proffer，proffer通常比offer更有禮貌，表慷慨包容之心，暗示他人可隨意接受或否定所提供的的事物。
(5) But he believed in producing something beautiful; and having spent so much time on this drawing of money, wasnt it worth the value it declared?
【解析】
第二段末提到，博格斯的鈔票畫耗時約半天，但卻被拿來支付餐費，這不由得讓博格斯反思：「這幅畫花了我那麼多心血，現在連飯錢都付不了，難道它真的不名一文？」事實上，追求鈔票之美讓博格斯成為了藝術的信徒，也使其完全理想化，忽視了世俗的金錢觀念。若是現在，我們很可能稱其為「傻子」，但誰又能料到，他這些畫作後來竟成了美國頂級博物館或畫廊的極品，向世人昭示著「哥就是傳奇」。
(6) This elaborate charade ensured that Mr Boggs never sold his drawings. He "spent" them at "face value" in exchange for goods and services, cheekily challenging the value ascribed to money.
【解析】
「this elaborate charade」指上文中「偽鈔」成功流通後，博格斯用餐館收據和零錢向他那些狂熱的收藏家們索要高價（在票面金額的基礎上加價五倍），但這卻是個假故事（charade）。事實上，博格斯從未真正賣過他的畫作，他都是以「假鈔」的面值去換取食物和服務，從而挑戰金錢的價值。不得不說，博格斯或許就是這樣一個極度自戀的藝術家。有些偏執，但不是可愛。
(7) Early on he struggled, unwashed, hungry and heavily in debt. But by 1999 his drawings had paid for more than $1m-worth of goods, including rent, clothes, hotels and a brand-new Yamaha motorbike.
【解析】
職業生涯前後，判若兩人的生活，博格斯的藝術信仰和才華終獲得世人認可，成功逆襲。
參考譯文：博格斯早年掙扎求生，邋邋遢遢，飢腸轆轆，債台高築。但到了1999年，他用畫作支付了包括房租、服裝、酒店和全新的雅馬哈摩托在內的價值數百萬的東西。
(8) And his main aim was to raise disquieting questions about the notion of exchange itself. What was money really worth? What supported a dollar bill, other than faith? Was the value of anything just subjective?
【解析】
博格斯向陌生人大肆宣傳他的鈔票畫，竟是為了引發人們對金錢的思考，即：
①錢價值幾何？
②除信仰外，什麼維繫美鈔價值？
③萬物價值是否唯心？
這三大問題就如同「我們是誰，我們來自哪裡，我們去向何方」的哲學問題，直指人類文明和起源，更能體現博格斯的傳奇和偉大之處。
(9) When salesmen told him they didnt accept art, he would point out the beauty of official notes, with their scrolls and arrow-clutching eagles. When shopkeepers demanded only "real" money, he might launch into the non-reality of time and space, too.
【解析】
參考譯文：售貨員告知他，他們不接受藝術，他便會用滾軸和緊握箭頭的老鷹圖案說明官方發行的紙幣之美。店主堅決索要「真」錢時，他可能也會開始談論時間和空間的非真實性。
中文有歇後語：「秀才遇上兵——有理說不清。」現在，這句話有了另外一種版本：「藝術家遇上售貨員和店主，紙幣之美說不清。」面對世俗之人，博格斯太過高估他們的審美和情趣，真是too young too simple。
(10) In Britain, where he lived for several years, he was arrested and put on trial at the Old Bailey for "reproducing" the currency. He argued back that it was the "real" notes that were reproductions: his drawings were originals, never meant to be the real thing.
【解析】
英國政府以「仿製」貨幣的罪名將博格斯逮捕，但他為自己辯護稱，自己的作品是原版，從未想要成為貨幣，相反是「真」錢構成了侵權，它才是真正的冒牌貨。這種邏輯表面合理，但多加思考，我們便可察覺出邏輯破綻，博格斯的畫作是按照紙幣的實際面值購買商品和服務，與貨幣一樣執行了價值尺度和流通手段的職能。因此，博格斯的行為已構成犯罪。
(11) To his long-time tracker and biographer, Lawrence Weschler, he was "just short of being a con man—but no more so than anyone else in the art world, or for that matter in the world of finance—which, of course, is the whole point."
【解析】
參考譯文：長期追蹤博格斯的傳記作家勞倫斯·韋施勒（Lawrence Weschler）這樣評價博格斯：他「還算不上是個騙財之人——他就是藝術界或金融圈的任何人，就他（仿冒鈔票）那件事來說——這就是重點。」
通常我們用英文表達「騙子」，可能會想到cheater [美] (someone who cheats)，但騙子有很多種，「騙錢的人」就是(a) con man：
A con man is a man who persuades people to give him their money or property by lying to them. (Collins Cobuild Advanced Learners English Dictionary [6th Edition])
文章導語部分提到「trickster」這個詞，通常指的也是「騙錢的人」：
A trickster is a person who deceives or cheats people, often in order to get money from them. (INFORMAL) (Collins Cobuild Advanced Learners English Dictionary [6th Edition])
這樣一來，文章導語部分對博格斯身份的鑒定（「artist and trickster」）似乎與傳記作家勞倫斯·韋施勒（Lawrence Weschler）的評價相悖。所以，視角不同，對人物的評價也是多元的。
(12) The courts solemnly debated whether the drawings were closer to pornography—which might be censored, but also allowed as free speech—or evil non-returnable contraband, like drugs.
【解析】
參考譯文：法院嚴肅考慮了這些畫作是否更近似於淫穢作品——也許會受到審查，但也會因言論自由而獲准——或像毒品這樣不可退還的有害違禁品。
「free speech」即「言論自由」，完整表達為：「freedom of speech」或「freedom of expression」。言論自由源於西方，是人權的重要內容，被列入包括聯合國《世界人權宣言》第19條、《公民權利和政治權利國際公約》以及各國憲法。1791年美國憲法修正案第一條把言論自由列為首要的公民權。
Freedom of speech is the right to articulate ones opinions and ideas without fear of government retaliation or censorship, or societal sanction. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.
The right to freedom of expression is recognized as a human right under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). (Wikipedia)
(13) But he was also venturing closer to the edge, toting guns and using methamphetamines, and died before he had got that far.
【解析】
參考譯文：但那時他也在冒險逼近崩潰邊緣，隨身配槍，吸食冰毒，還沒到那個地步就去世了。
methamphetamine即「冰毒」，為不可數名詞，但文章作者錯誤地使用了複數形式，請讀者注意！
冰毒，新型毒品的一種，又名甲基安非他明、去氧麻黃鹼，是一種無味或微有苦味的透明結晶體，純品很像冰糖，形似冰，故俗稱冰毒。吸、販毒者也稱之為「冰」。（百度百科）
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