鐵娘子撒切爾夫人
Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s longest-serving and only woman prime minister, has died aged 87 after suffering a stroke, prompting a flood of tributes from across the globe. Leaders lined up to pay their respects to the former prime minister, who revolutionised the UK economy during an 11-year tenure, as she rolled back the state and put in place some of the country’s most radical and controversial reforms.
各國領導人紛紛向這位英國前首相表達敬意。在其長達11年的任期中，撒切爾領導了英國經濟的革命，縮減了政府職能，並實施了該國最為激進、最有爭議的一些改革。瑪格麗特•撒切爾***Margaret Thatcher***因中風去世，享年87歲，在世界各地引發了一陣哀悼浪潮。撒切爾是英國任職最長的首相，也是唯一的女首相。
David Cameron, UK prime minister, described the former Conservative prime minister as the “greatest peacetime prime minister”.
英國現首相戴維•卡梅倫***David Cameron***把這位前保守黨首相稱為“英國和平時期最偉大的首相”。
“[She] took a country that was on its knees and made Britain stand tall again. We can’t deny that Lady Thatcher divided opinion. For many of us, she was and is an inspiration. For others she was a force to be defined against.
卡梅倫表示：“***她***臨危受命，讓英國重新站起來，再度屹立。不可否認，人們對她的評價各異。在我們許多人看來，她過去和現在都是一位鼓舞人心的人物。在其他人看來，她是一種特色鮮明的力量。
“But if there is one thing that cuts through all of this – one thing that runs through everything she did – it was her lion-hearted love for this country,” he said.
“但如果說有一箇中心貫穿著她的一生——在她所做的每一件事中都體現出來，那就是她對這個國家的無比熱愛。”
President Barack Obama said: “The world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend.”
美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬***Barack Obama***表示：“世界失去了一位積極倡導自由的領袖，美國失去了一位真正的朋友。”
The prime minister’s office announced that parliament would be recalled for a special session on Wednesday to pay tribute to Thatcher. Her funeral will be held at the end of next week at St Paul’s Cathedral.
英國首相辦公室宣佈，週三議會將召開一次特別會議，向撒切爾致哀。她的葬禮將於下週末在倫敦聖保羅大教堂***St Paul's Cathedral***舉行。
She will have a “full ceremonial funeral” with military honours as was afforded to the Queen Mother and Lady Diana. The British flag flew at half mast over Parliament to honour Thatcher as all UK political parties suspended campaigning for the local elections on May 2.
撒切爾將享有帶有軍事禮儀的“禮儀葬禮”，禮遇同王太后和戴安娜一樣。英國國會降半旗向撒切爾致哀，各政黨暫停針對5月2日地方選舉的競選活動。
Thatcher, who transformed Britain with her free-market revolution, had been in poor health since suffering minor strokes in 2002.
自從2002年患上中風以來，撒切爾的健康狀況一直很差。她曾以自己的自由市場革命改變了英國的面貌。
Statesmen past and present shared their memories of the woman dubbed the “Iron Lady”. Tony Blair, the second longest-serving postwar prime minister, called her “a towering political figure”. “Very few leaders get to change not only the political landscape of their country but of the world. Margaret was such a leader. Her global impact was vast.”
已卸任和在任的政治家們共同悼念有“鐵娘子”綽號的撒切爾。英國戰後任期第二長的首相托尼•布萊爾***Tony Blair***稱撒切爾為“一位偉大的政治人物。”“不但改變本國政治版圖、還改變世界政治版圖的領袖人物非常少，撒切爾就是其中的一位。她在全球播下了深遠的影響。”
George W. Bush, former US president, described her as a “great ally” who “strengthened the special relationship”.
美國前總統小布什***George W. Bush***稱撒切爾為一位“強化了美英特殊關係的偉大盟友”。
Thatcher had a particularly close relationship with Ronald Reagan, the former US president.
撒切爾與美國前總統羅納德•里根***Ronald Reagan***之間保持了一種極為密切的關係。
With Reagan, she helped bring about the end of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The British prime minister saw herself as the perfect intermediary between the two countries, having struck up constructive relationships with both Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet president, and a man with whom she told Reagan “we can do business”.
她和里根一道促成了蘇聯的解體和柏林牆的倒塌。這位英國前首相把自己視為美蘇兩國間的完美中間人，與里根和蘇聯總統米哈伊爾•戈爾巴喬夫***Mikhail Gorbachev***都建立了富有建設意義的關係。她告訴里根，戈爾巴喬夫是一個“我們能和他打交道”的人。
Mr Gorbachev said Thatcher helped end the Cold War: “Thatcher was a politician whose word carried great weight,” he said in a statement on his website. “Our first meeting in 1984 marked the beginning of a relationship that was at times difficult, not always smooth, but was treated seriously and responsibly by both sides.”
戈爾巴喬夫在自己網站上釋出的宣告中表示，撒切爾幫助結束了冷戰：“撒切爾是一位一言九鼎的政治家。我們在1984年第一次會面，隨後便開啟了一段時而棘手、並非一帆風順但雙方都認真負責予以對待的關係。”
Lech Walesa, Poland’s former president and anti-communist freedom figure, said Thatcher was key in hastening the fall of the Iron Curtain: “She was a great person. She did a great deal for the world, along with Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Solidarity, she contributed to the demise of communism in Poland and central Europe.”
波蘭前總統、反對共產主義的自由派人士列赫•瓦文薩***Lech Walesa***表示，撒切爾在加速“鐵幕”***Iron Curtain***倒塌的過程中發揮了關鍵的作用：“她是一位偉人。她為世界做出了巨大的貢獻，她與羅納德•里根、教皇約翰•保羅二世***Pope John Paul II***和波蘭團結工會***Solidarity***一起，推動了波蘭與中歐共產主義政權的終結。”
Her other great success abroad was in the Falklands War against Argentina, which invaded the islands in 1982. Thatcher defied resistance in her own cabinet to send a 25,000-strong task force to the tiny archipelago, which troops eventually recaptured after two months.
撒切爾在海外的其他巨大勝利，還包括1982年的英阿福克蘭群島戰爭***Falklands war，又稱馬島戰爭***。她不顧自己內閣的反對，向面積微小的福克蘭群島派出了2.5萬人的特遣部隊，最終於兩個月後奪回了該群島。
Her legacy was just as long-lasting at home. A succession of prime ministers, Labour and Conservative alike, have felt unable or unwilling to depart from the blueprint she established of a state serviced by privatised utilities and free of the stranglehold of organised unions.
撒切爾在國內留下的遺產同樣意義深遠。歷任首相，無論出自工黨還是保守黨，都感到不能或不願背離她為英國設定的藍圖——公用事業私有化，企業不受有組織工會的鉗制。