Mandela, as someone once observed, is a combination of African nobility and British aris-tocracy. He has the punctilious manners of a Victorian gentleman. His patrician nature is on display most prominently in his dealings with President F.W. de Klerk. At the end of the first day of negotiations for a new constitution in 1991, Mandela gave De Klerk a dressing down: "Even the head of an illegitimate, discredited minority regime, as his is, has certain moral stan-dards to uphold." His wrath is cold, not hot; he does not explode at his foes, he freezes them out.

有人曾說，曼德拉是非洲上層階級和英國貴族的綜合體。他言行舉止帶有維多利亞時代紳士的精密細心和一絲不苟他高貴的天性在和戴克拉克總統交手時尤其表露無遺。1991年，第一天談判新憲結束後，曼德拉狠狠訓斥戴克拉克：「即使像他那種不合法、慘遭汙衊的政府，也要堅持某些道德標準。」他的憤怒是冷靜的，不是火爆的；他不會對政敵砲火四射，只會讓對方知難而退。

At the same time, Mandela possesses a common touch that no amount of political coaching can inculcate. When Mandela speaks at banquets, he makes a point of going into the kitchen and shaking hands with every dishwasher and busboy. On countless occasions, he will stop in the middle of a street or hallway to talk with a little boy. "How old are you" he will say. "Four," the boy might whisper. "Ah, you're a big man, man!" he will reply with a smile. "And what did you have for breakfast today"

但同時，曼德拉具有一種很平凡的特質，再多政治歷練也學不來。當曼德拉到宴會中發表演說時，他一定不忘到廚房和每一位洗碗工和雜役握手。在無數場合，他會在馬路中間或在走廊上突然停住腳步，和一個小男生交談。「你幾歲啦？」他會問道。「四歲。」男孩小聲回答。「啊，你已經是個大人囉，男子漢！」他微笑回答。「你今天早餐吃了些什麼？」

Mandela rarely practices the modern politician's art of telling his listeners what he thinks they want to hear. To black audiences, he declares that democracy and majority rule will not change the material circumstances of their lives overnight. At the same time, he informs white audi-ences that they must take responsibility for the past and they will have to reconcile themselves to a future of ma-jority rule.

曼德拉很少搞現代政客「見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話」那套說話藝術。對黑人聽眾，他宣稱，民主和多數統治，不會在一夕之間改變他們生活的物質環境。同時，他又告知白人聽眾，他們要為過去負責，也要為未來的多數統治做出妥協。

Even as Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday July 18, his mind seemed both on the past and on the future; he thought back to his fallen comrades who did not live to share his victory and ahead to how he would contrive to forge one nation out of a divided land. His moment of triumph gratifies him but comes with unsought conse-quences. While in jail, Mandela was surrounded by armed guards who never took their eyes off him. Now, wherev-er Mandela goes he is surrounded by armed guards who never take their eyes off him. In a sense, he has exchanged one form of prison for another, and the revolutionary who was a threat to the state has become the prisoner of fame and power. In the midst of his election he lamented the fact that he did not have time to play with his beloved grandchildren.

就在曼德拉7月18日歡度九十大壽之際，他的心思似乎不只著眼於過去，也放眼未來。他回想起過去那些出師未捷身先死的同志，他們無福分享他今日的榮耀，他也前瞻未來要如何從一個分裂的國土打造一個統一的國家。他勝利的時刻固然使他欣慰高興，但也帶來意想不到的後遺症。繫獄期間，曼德拉被武裝獄警牢牢盯住。如今不管曼德拉走到哪裡，武裝護衛也一刻不敢鬆懈。從某方面看，他從一種牢房換到另一種牢房，而這位一度是國家威脅的革命家，如今也被盛名和權勢所困。在他選舉獲勝時，他不禁感歎，沒時間和他最疼愛的孫子玩。

Photo shows coasters bearing the face of former presi-dent of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, as seen in a shop on July 13, 2008 in Johannesburg.

圖為南非約翰尼斯堡一家店面7月13日展售前總統曼德拉肖像所製作的紀念他九十大壽的杯墊。