经济学人:关于投资:利用现有资产孵化其他资产(1)

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　　Meat must be cured. 肉必须加以处理。

　　Wheat must be covered and buried. 麦子必须盖好并埋起来。

　　The buckskin that will clothe him in the future must be protected from moths² with the stink-glands of a skunk³. 今后将给他挡风遮雨的鹿皮必须要用臭鈾的臭腺保护起来，以便免遭蚊虫侵害。

　　Saving the fruits of Crusoe's labour entails⁴ considerable labour in its own right. 储存鲁滨逊的劳动果实需要他自己相当多的劳动。

　　Even after this care and attention, Crusoe is doomed⁵ to earn a negative return on his saving. 即便是有了这些关注和照料之后，鲁滨逊也注定会在他的储备上挣一笔负回报。

　　Mildew⁶ contaminates his wheat. 霉菌弄脏他的麦子。

　　Mice gnaw⁷ at his buckskin. 老鼠啃噬他的鹿皮。

　　"Rust⁸, decay, breakage...dry-rot, ants, keep up a never-ending attack" on his other assets. “生锈，腐烂，破损...干枯、蚂蚁”对他的其他资产“保持着一种永不停息的攻击”。

　　Salvation⁹ for Crusoe arrives in the form of a similarly ship wrecked¹⁰ "stranger". 鲁滨逊的救赎以一位同样是船只失事的“陌生人”形式到来。

　　The newcomer asks to borrow Crusoe's food, leather and equipment while he cultivates a farm of his own. 这位新人一边借鲁滨逊的食物，毛皮和装备，一边开垦出他自己的一块地。

　　Once he is up and running, the stranger promises to repay Crusoe with freshly harvested grain and newly stitched clothing. 一旦开始运转，这位新人承诺用刚收获的稻谷和新编织的布料偿还鲁滨逊。

　　Crusoe realises that such a loan would serve as an unusually perfect preservative¹¹. 鲁滨逊认识到，这样一笔贷款会相当于一次异乎寻常之完美的储藏。

　　By lending his belongings¹², he can, in effect, transport them "without expense, labour, loss or vexation" into the future,  通过出借他的财产，实际上，他能够“不破费、不劳动，毫无损失或烦恼”地将它们转移到未来，

　　thereby¹³ eluding¹⁴ "the thousand destructive forces of nature". 因而也就避开了“大自然中数以千计的破坏力量”。

　　He is, ultimately, happy to pay the stranger for this valuable service, lending him ten sacks of grain now in return for eight at the end of the year. 最后，他高高兴兴地为这次有价值的服务而给这位陌生人掏腰包，现在借给他十袋麦子，换取年底的八袋麦子。

　　That is a negative interest rate of -20%. 这是一种-20%的负利率。

　　If the island had been full of such strangers, perhaps Crusoe could have driven a harder bargain, demanding a positive interest rate on his loan. 如果岛上满是这类陌生人，鲁滨逊或许会进行一次更狠的讨价还价，为他的贷款求得一种正利率。

　　But in the parable¹⁵, Crusoe is as dependent on the lone¹⁶ stranger, and his willingness to borrow and invest, as the stranger is on him. 但是，在这个寓言中，鲁滨逊就像陌生人依赖他那样，依赖这位仅有的陌生人以及对出借和投资的意愿。

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