意總理夫人新書爆離婚內幕

The estranged wife of Premier Silvio Berlusconi says in a book published yesterday that it was her husband's alleged lies that pushed her to file for divorce at the outset of the sex scandal involving the Italian conservative leader.

In the book, Veronica Lario recalls how in April she made the decision after her husband failed to mention he would attend the birthday party of an 18-year-old model in Naples, telling her only about his official business in the southern city.

The premier's attendance at Noemi Letizia's party was later reported in the media and sparked a series of allegations over Berlusconi's purported fondness for young women.

Berlusconi, 72, has denied having any improper relationship with Letizia or any other women.

Tendenza Veronica, (Veronica's Trend), is a revised edition of a book first published in 2004 by journalist Maria Latella. In the new edition, she quotes Lario as saying that the Naples incident was only the latest problem in her relationship with her husband.

"It was the latest lie. Better then to try to seek a last way to respect myself, better to divorce," the 53-year-old Lario said. "He put me in this situation."

Lario, a former actress with whom Berlusconi has three children, said her husband's actions were embarrassing him at a global level.

"I cannot be his baby sitter and I cannot stop him any more from making himself ridiculous in front of the world," she said. "I'm done."

Latella told the reporters that the Naples party was "the turning point" for Lario.

"I asked her what about Noemi: 'Maybe she is your husband's daughter,'" Latella recalled. "Veronica's answer was: 'If she really were Silvio's daughter, I would open the door of my home, but I know she is not.'"

The public denunciation of Berlusconi that ensued wasn't the first time the usually private Lario openly complained about her husband's reported flirtations.

Two years ago, she received a quick and public apology from Berlusconi when she wrote an open letter to La Repubblica - a left-leaning paper fiercely critical of Berlusconi - complaining about her husband telling TV starlet Mara Carfagna: "If I weren't married, I would marry you immediately."

Carfagna is now Berlusconi's minister for equal opportunity.

Berlusconi has dismissed all the allegations as lies fabricated by the opposition and left-leaning media.

Although the scandal has been heavily played in the media for weeks, Berlusconi has so far kept his popularity in Italy largely intact. The center-right coalition, which won elections in the spring of 2008, has remained stable.

意大利總理、保守黨領袖西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼的妻子在昨日出版的一本新書中透露，丈夫的性醜聞剛剛曝光她便提出離婚，這是因爲他以前在說謊。

韋羅妮卡在書中回憶了自己在今年四月份做出此決定的前因後果。之前，貝盧斯科尼向她隱瞞了自己前往意大利南部城市那不勒斯參加一名18歲女模特生日派對一事，只稱自己是去處理公務。

隨後，總理先生參加諾埃米•萊蒂齊亞的生日派對一事被媒體曝光，並引發了一系列有關貝盧斯科尼好色的說法。

現年72歲的貝盧斯科尼否認自己與萊蒂齊亞或其他女性存在不正當關係。

最新修訂的《韋羅妮卡動向》一書於2004年首版，由記者瑪利亞•拉泰拉整理出版。在新版中，她引述拉里奧的話稱，那不勒斯事件只是兩人之間的一個新問題。

53歲的拉里奧說：“這是他的又一個謊言，所以我最好抓住最後的機會，維護自己的尊嚴，最好離婚。是他逼我這樣做的。”

拉里奧稱，丈夫的所作所爲使其在全世界面前顏面盡失。拉里奧曾是一名演員，與貝盧斯科尼育有三個孩子。

她說：“我不是他的保姆，我也不會再去管他做出什麼荒謬的事。我該做的都做了。”

拉泰拉在接受記者採訪時稱，“那不勒斯派對”事件對於拉里奧來說是一個轉折點。

拉泰拉回憶道：“我問她怎麼看待諾埃米，我說‘也許她是他的女兒’。但韋羅妮卡卻回答說：‘如果她真是西爾維奧的女兒，我會敞開家門歡迎她，但我知道她不是。”

之後，一向隱祕低調的拉里奧就此事公開譴責貝盧斯科尼，這已經不是她第一次公開譴責丈夫的調情行爲了。

兩年前，拉里奧曾寫了一封公開信給《共和報》，譴責其丈夫對電視新星瑪拉•卡爾法尼亞說“如果我還沒結婚，我會立刻娶你”的言論，之後，拉里奧收到貝盧斯科尼簡短的公開致歉信。《共和報》是一家左傾報紙，專門挑貝盧斯科尼的毛病。

目前，瑪拉•卡爾法尼亞在貝盧斯科尼政府中擔任機會平等部部長。

而貝盧斯科尼則反駁稱所有對他的指控都是反對黨派和左傾媒體捏造出來的。

儘管貝盧斯科尼的桃色新聞已被媒體大肆報道了好幾周，但他在意大利的支持率至今沒受到什麼影響。他所領導的意大利中右翼聯盟在2008年春季大選中獲勝，其統治基礎目前還很牢固。

Vocabulary:

purported:assumed to be such（傳言的；謠傳的）

outset: the beginning or start（開始，開端）

ensued: to follow in order; come afterward（隨後發生，繼起）