從小鎮到世界之巔 誰塑造了梅拉尼亞川普
Former model Melania Trump will soon become the first foreign-born woman to be first lady of the United States in almost 200 years. Before the election campaign, many Americans knew little of Melania Trump or her country of origin, the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia, a tiny nation of fewer than two million people tucked among Austria, Italy and Croatia.
曾經身爲模特的梅拉尼亞·川普很快將成爲美國近200年來首位非本國出生的第一夫人。在大選之前，大多數人對梅拉尼亞·川普以及她的故鄉，也就是曾經屬於前南斯拉夫的斯洛文尼亞共和國並不甚瞭解。這是一個人口少於200萬的小國，身處奧地利，意大利和克羅地亞三國之間。
Visually, Slovenia is reminiscent of fairy tales: a little-known land of castles on hilltops and tall Christmas trees. As Slovenians see it, Melania Trump is putting their country on the map.
提起斯洛文尼亞，總讓人想起童話故事裏的場景和情節：一片被高高的聖誕樹包圍着、山頂上矗立着城堡的神祕土地。在斯洛文尼亞人眼中，梅拉尼亞·川普讓世界知道了這個國家。
“Slovenia, what is Slovenia? Is that a food? Is that a car? Nobody knows it's a country. Nobody knows it's a nation and nobody knows that Melania is from Slovenia,” said Jakob Susteric, the young CEO of a medical device company, out celebrating Christmas with friends in Ljubljana. “This is a big opportunity that our two million-nation basically gets its place in Europe, in the world, and people will know us,” Susteric said.
雅各布·薩斯特里克是一家醫療設備公司的CEO，他在盧布爾雅那和朋友們一起慶祝聖誕節。他說：“斯洛文尼亞是什麼？是食物名稱？還是汽車牌子？沒有人知道這是一個國家。沒有人知道梅拉尼亞來自斯洛文尼亞。所以這是個很好的機會，讓我們這個擁有200萬人的國家在歐洲乃至世界都受到關注。”
Stane Jerko, the photographer, who discovered Melania as a quiet teenager at a fashion show in 1987. She was 17.
攝影師斯塔內·耶爾克在一場時裝秀上發現了安靜靦腆的少年梅拉尼亞。她當時只有17歲。
“She was tall and slim, long hair and long legs, and that's why I found her suitable to be a photo model,” Jerko said, “I noticed not just her good looks but also - even though it may sound strange - her inner energy.”
耶爾克說：“她身材高挑，長髮飄逸，雙腿修長，這也就是爲什麼我覺得她適合做平面模特。雖然聽起來可能有點怪怪的，但我不僅注意到她的美貌，還注意到她有種內在的力量。”
That energy took her to the top.
這種力量讓她登上頂峯。
“It is my small contribution to America and its history,” Jerko told VOA. “She got going with the photos I took.”
耶爾克對美國之音表示，“這是我爲美國曆史做的一個小小的貢獻。有了我拍的照片，她才進一步發展。”
As first lady, Melania has said she wants to work on combating cyber bullying.
作爲第一夫人，梅拉尼亞說她希望在網絡霸凌問題上做些事。
“Because she was beautiful. She was a model, a lot of girls talked about this and they were also jealous,” said Petra Sedej, a friend and classmate at the Secondary School for Design and Photography in Ljubljana. “But she didn't react to this, and I think this is something strong inside of her, because she knew that she was good. And if you know that you are good, you don't need to prove this with words,” Sedej said.
梅拉尼亞的高中同學皮特拉·塞德吉這樣回憶到：“因爲她很漂亮，又是模特，很多女孩子就拿這個說事兒，她們也很是嫉妒。但是梅拉尼亞並沒有反擊。我覺得她內心有種強大的力量在支撐着她，因爲她知道自己是優秀的。如果你認爲自己是優秀的，你就不需要用言語來證明。”
“We talked about studying, about how to see the world, and she (as) a model, she knew that Slovenia was too small for her,” Sedej said as she showed a reporter around the school on a recent winter morning.
塞德吉說：“我們談論學習，談論世界。作爲模特，她知道斯洛文尼亞這個舞臺對她來說太小了。”
After Ljubljana, came Milan, then Paris, and finally New York where Melania Trump met the future U.S. President.
離開盧布爾雅那之後，梅拉尼亞先後來到米蘭、巴黎、紐約，並在那裏遇見了未來的美國總統唐納德·川普。
For many Slovenians, having one of their own in the White House means the image of America shines brighter than ever.
對於許多斯洛文尼亞人來說，有一位自己人入主白宮，意味着美國的形象更加光鮮。
“It expresses the message that America is sending from past years which is that America is a land of opportunities, so anybody that lives (in) and comes to America can achieve great things,” Susteric said.
薩斯特里克說：“它所傳達出的就是美國過去多年來所發出的信息：美國是一片充滿機遇的土地。任何人到美國都有可能成就大業。”
