They're less prone to adultery than Americans but more forgiving when their politicians philander.

他們人比美國人少出軌，但當他們的政客拈花惹草時，他們比較寬容。

When Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France last week, he jumped into a group hug with his family and close supporters. But one key person was absent from the huddle: his wife. Cecilia Sarkozy's no-show (she did appear at a restaurant a few hours later) was the latest chapter in the president-elect's marital saga, involving evidence of infidelity on both sides.

當沙克吉上周當選法國總統時，他和家人及親近的支持者集體互相擁抱，但在這一群人中獨缺一位關鍵人物：他太太西西莉亞。雖然她幾個鐘頭後出現在一家餐廳，但她當時不見人影，已經成為這位新科總統婚姻傳奇的最新一章，證明雙方對婚姻不忠。

Two summers ago, Cecilia took a marital hiatus and was photographed with another man in Paris and New York. A French magazine reported that she left home after receiving an anonymous letter with "dates, names, places" of her husband's extramarital conquests. Other news outlets said that in Cecilia's absence, Nicolas — who takes office Wednesday — consoled himself with an attractive reporter from Le Figaro.

兩年前的夏天，西西莉亞做了婚姻逃兵，還被拍到和另一名男子在巴黎和紐約的身影。一本法國期刊報導，當西西莉亞接到一封匿名信，上面有她老公婚外情的「時間、名字和地點」後，她就離家出走。其他消息來源指出，西西莉亞不在家期間，五月十六日宣誓就職的沙克吉也和「費加洛報」迷人的記者暗通款曲。

According to the American stereotype, this is just another chapter in the French love affair with adultery. In fact, however, ordinary French people are just as keen on fidelity as Americans are. French women say in polls that fidelity is the top quality they seek in a mate, while among men, only a woman's "tenderness" rates slightly higher.

根據美國的刻板印象，這只不過是法國搞緋聞的外一章。實則，法國一般老百姓和美國人一樣重視守貞，法國女人在民調中說，貞潔是她們找伴侶時最重視的品質；至於男人，只有女人的「溫柔」所占比率略高。

　National sex surveys show that the French are more faithful than Americans during both courtship and marriage: 3.8% of married French men and 2% of women say they've had more than one sex partner in the last year, compared with 3.9% of men and 3.1% of women in the U.S.

全國有關性的調查顯示，不管婚前婚後，法國人比美國人要忠於婚姻，3.8%已婚法國男人和2%女人說，他們去年的性伴侶超過一位，相形之下，美國男人有3.9%，女人則有3.1%。

When the French do cheat, however, they handle it differently from Americans. The French are apt to think of infidelity as one of the predictable pitfalls of marriage and don't assume that cheaters should be tossed out of the house. Americans insist that "it's not the sex, it's the lying," the French are far less troubled by a few discreet lies to protect a spouse from unpleasant information.

但當法國人偷腥時，他們處理的方式和美國人不同。法國人傾向於認為，對婚姻不忠是可以預見的陷阱之一，因此並不認為，這些背叛婚姻的人應該趕出家門。美國人則堅持，「問題不在性，而在欺騙」，法國人對一些保護配偶不致接觸不快資訊的善意謊言較不在意。

Often, French voters aren't aware of what their leaders are doing behind closed doors. Strict privacy laws and a cozy relationship between politicians and the media scare the French press from saying much about the private lives of politicians.

法國選民往往不清楚他們的領袖關起門來到底在幹什麼。嚴格的隱私法，加上政客和媒體間水乳交融的關係，嚇得法國媒體不敢多談政治人物的私生活。

《詞解》
forgiving 寬容
philander 拈花惹草
huddle 互相簇擁
no-show 不見人影
saga 傳奇
hiatus 中斷
cheat 偷腥
pitfalls 陷阱
marriage vows 婚姻誓約
seducer 玩弄女性的人
extramarital trysts 婚外情