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M.B.S.'s bizarre promotional film is not just a reflection of his royal ambitions.
MBS怪異的宣傳片不僅僅反映了他的王室野心。
His technophilia resonates with many young Saudis, and you can't really blame them.
他對技術的狂熱引起了許多沙特年輕人的共鳴，你不能真的責怪他們。
Their own cities sprang up almost overnight from obscure patches of desert.
他們自己的城市幾乎是在一夜之間從一片模糊的沙漠中崛起的。
Their grandparents watched in awe as black goo spurted up from the sand, instantly transforming one of the world's poorest countries into one of its richest.
他們的祖父母敬畏地看著黑水從沙子里噴出來，瞬間把世界上最貧窮的國家之一變成最富有的國家之一。
Why shouldn't they believe in flying taxis and artificial moons?
為什么他們不相信飛行出租車和人造月亮？
The last part of the Line video strikes a surprising note: images of congested urban highways and flyovers reminiscent of the dystopian 1982 film "Koyaanisqatsi," which presented modernity as a betrayal of the Earth.
這段視頻的最后一部分令人驚訝：擁擠的城市公路和立交橋的畫面讓人想起1982年的反烏托邦電影《失衡生活》，它將現代性表現為對地球的背叛。
The Line, according to the video, will save humanity from this nightmare, eliminating commutes and pollution and preserving 95 percent of the nature within its confines.
視頻顯示，The Line將使人類免于這場噩夢，消除通勤和污染，并保護95%的自然環境。
What the prince doesn't say is that there are already thousands of people living in harmony with nature in the same area: a tribal community that has been there for centuries and is now being replaced by the project.
王子沒有說的是，在同一地區已經有成千上萬的人與自然和諧相處：這個部落社區已經存在了數百年，現在正被該項目所取代。
One of these tribesmen made videos protesting the evictions - videos of a different sort, you might imagine, than the one M.B.S. has produced.
其中一個部落的人制作了抗議驅逐的視頻——你可以想象，這類視頻與MBS制作的視頻不同。
He was shot dead last year in a confrontation with Saudi security forces.
他去年在與沙特安全部隊的對抗中被槍殺。
Anyone who has spent time in Saudi Arabia's existing cities can sympathize with the desire to start anew. They are dusty and ugly.
任何在沙特阿拉伯現有城市待過一段時間的人都會同情重新開始的愿望，它們又臟又丑。
Narrow-minded clerics preside over corrupt bureaucracies that are resistant to change.
心胸狹窄的神職人員掌管著抵制變革的腐敗官僚機構。
But the Saudi landscape is already dotted with failed or abandoned megaprojects.
但沙特的土地上已經布滿了失敗或被遺棄的大型項目。
Some Saudis have responded to M.B.S.'s film with acid comments about the need to renovate the country's existing towns and neighborhoods before throwing billions into another Xanadu.
一些沙特人對MBS的影片做出了尖銳的回應，認為在向另一個世外桃源投入數十億美元之前，有必要對該國現有的城鎮和社區進行改造。
Jamal Khashoggi suggested as much in a column written with a co-author a few months before he was murdered.
賈馬爾·哈蘇吉在被謀殺前幾個月與一位合著者合著的專欄中提出了同樣的建議。
After M.B.S. finishes his presentation, a warm female voice describes life in the Line.
在MBS完成演講后，一個溫暖的女聲描述了在The Line里的生活。
The urban dystopia recedes, and happier images parade before us: misty mountaintops, waves lapping a pristine coast.
城市的反烏托邦漸漸退去，更快樂的畫面展現在我們面前：朦朧的山頂，海浪拍打著原始的海岸。
The film's final words, spoken as a multicultural parade of faces flickers across the screen, are deliciously preposterous: "A home to all of us - welcome to the Line."
這部影片最后一句話的聲音出現時，屏幕上閃爍著多元文化的面孔，這句話非常荒謬：“我們所有人的家——歡迎來到The Line。”
As I heard it, I couldn't help wondering about the woman who spoke those words.
當我聽到這句話的時候，我非常想知道說這些話的那位女性是誰。
Would she even consider moving to a remote desert city, to be subject to 24,7 surveillance and the whims of a murderous prince?
她會考慮搬到一個偏僻的沙漠城市，接受全天候的監視和一個兇殘王子的突發奇想嗎？
My guess is that she did what so many others who work for the Saudis have done: spoke her lines, picked up the check and fled.
我猜她做了很多為沙特工作的人都做過的事：說出了自己的臺詞，拿起支票，然后逃走。
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