BEIJING —Just months before his fall from power, Bo Xilai asked the brother of his first wife to meet him at a government compound in the southwest metropolis of Chongqing.
北京——在失势前几个月，薄熙来曾要求他第一任妻子的哥哥前往中国西南部大城市重庆，到某座政府大院去与他会面。
Mr. Bo, the city’s Communist Party chief, pointed to a stack of papers and said he had forensic reports that proved the existence of a continuing plot to poison his second wife, Gu Kailai. Then he asked the other man to step into the yard and turn off his cellphone. The person suspected of masterminding the scheme, Mr. Bo said, was his son from his first marriage, Li Wangzhi, also known as Brendan Li, a graduate of Columbia University who was working in finance in Beijing.
时任重庆市委书记的薄熙来指着一叠材料说，他拿到了一些法医鉴定报告，可以证明有人一直在试图毒害他的第二任妻子谷开来。之后，他要求对方走进院子、关掉手机。薄熙来说，他怀疑投毒的幕后主使是他和前妻的儿子李望知（英文名为Brendan Li）。李望知毕业于哥伦比亚大学(Columbia University)，目前在北京从事金融行业。
The story, recounted in two recent interviews with Mr. Bo’s estranged first wife, Li Danyu, 62, deepens the Shakespearean dimension of a scandal that has gripped this nation and disrupted the party’s once-a-decade leadership transition.
在近期的两次采访中，薄熙来的前妻、62岁的李丹宇讲述了上述故事。之前那件政治丑闻轰动全国，还扰乱了中共十年一次的领导人换届，添上这样的情节之后，看起来就更像一出莎士比亚戏剧了。
In dynastic eras, palace upheavals were often catalyzed by paranoia and jealousies within the imperial family. From Qin Shihuang, the first emperor, to the Empress Dowager Cixi to Mao Zedong, China’s rulers have tended to suspect conspiracies against them and their close kin and have looked for assassins in the shadows. The same fears can arise within aristocratic Communist families today, especially among those vying for leadership positions.
在王朝时代，宫廷变故通常都是由皇室内部的迫害妄想和相互嫉妒引起的。从中国第一位帝王秦始皇到慈禧太后，再到毛泽东，中国的统治者往往会怀疑有人要谋害自己或自己的近亲，总是在寻找躲在暗处的刺客。当今的红色贵族家庭，特别是那些角逐领袖宝座的人，也会产生类似的恐惧。
Until his downfall, Mr. Bo was considered a contender for a top post during the handover of power that is taking place this autumn. But those hopes were dashed last spring when he was detained.
倒台之前，薄熙来一直被认为是今秋权力交接中某个最高职位的热门人选。但他在今年春季遭到拘押，这样的希望随之化为泡影。
On Sept. 28, the party announced it was expelling Mr. Bo, 63, and would prosecute him on a range of criminal charges. Ms. Gu, 53, has been convicted of murdering a British business associate, Neil Heywood; in a twist on the earlier suspicions, Ms. Gu confessed to poisoning him last November because she thought he was a threat to her son, according to officials.
今年9月28日，中共宣布，63岁的薄熙来已被开除党籍，并将可能面临一系列刑事指控。此前，53岁的谷开来已因杀害英国生意伙伴尼尔·海伍德而被定罪；官方称，谷开来承认于去年11月投毒杀害了海伍德，因为她认为海伍德对她的儿子造成了威胁。这样的说法可称是早期那些疑心病的一个新变态。
In the interviews, the first she has given to a news organization, Ms. Li spoke in detail about her marriage to Mr. Bo, giving a rare glimpse into the early life and thoughts of the son of a revolutionary leader and someone whom Ms. Li described as an idealist enamored of communism.
接受《纽约时报》采访时，李丹宇详细讲述了她与薄熙来的婚姻，让人们对这个革命领袖后代的早期生活和思想有了难得的了解。这也是李丹宇首次接受新闻机构的采访。按照她的描述，薄熙来是一个执迷共产主义的理想主义者。
Ms. Li, also a “princeling” child of a party official, said that although there has been a long history of enmity between her and Ms. Gu, her son never conspired to murder Ms. Gu.
李丹宇也是一名人称“太子党”的共产党官员后代。她说，虽然自己和谷开来长期不和，自己的儿子李望知却从未有过杀害谷开来的图谋。
Another family member confirmed that Ms. Li’s brother had met with Mr. Bo and had been told of the alleged plot. He also insisted the son was innocent. The son and his uncle both declined to comment. Mr. Bo and Ms. Gu are under detention.
另一名家庭成员确认，李丹宇的哥哥曾和薄熙来见面，并且听薄熙来讲到了所谓的阴谋。这名家庭成员也坚称李望知是无辜的。李望知和他的舅舅都拒绝对此发表评论，薄熙来和谷开来则仍然在押。
Although she has no proof, Ms. Li said she suspected Ms. Gu was the one who first blamed her son for the perceived murder plot, and the so-called forensic evidence might have been provided by Wang Lijun, the former police chief convicted of helping cover up Mr. Heywood’s murder. Ms. Li said she feared Ms. Gu wanted to have her first son arrested or harmed.
虽然没有证据，李丹宇仍然怀疑，首先指责她儿子意图谋杀的是谷开来，而那些所谓的法医证据则有可能是王立军炮制的。这位前公安局长已因帮助掩盖海伍德谋杀案而被判刑。李丹宇表示，她担心谷开来想把李望知送进监狱，或是以其他方式伤害李望知。
“She can be that paranoid, ” Ms. Li said. As for Mr. Bo, she said, he was “good in nature and didn’t want to believe this evidence.”
李丹宇说，“谷开来确实有这么偏执。”说到薄熙来的时候，她表示，他“生性善良，因此不愿相信这些证据。”
Ms. Li spoke with nostalgia of her romance with Mr. Bo, which began when the two met in 1975, at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Ms. Li said she did not stay in contact with Mr. Bo after their bitter breakup in 1981.
李丹宇的言语之中洋溢着对两人浪漫情史的怀念之情。在文化大革命已近尾声的1975年，两人相恋，情史由是发端。李丹宇表示，1981年痛苦分手之后，两人没有保持联系。
The web of entanglements among the families reflects the insular nature of China’s “red nobility.” Ms. Li’s older brother, Li Xiaoxue, is married to Ms. Gu’s older sister, the daughter of an army general.
错综复杂的家族关系网反映了中国“红色贵族”圈子的封闭本性。李丹宇的哥哥李小雪娶了谷开来的姐姐，后者的父亲是一位将军。
Li Xiaolin, a lawyer associated with Ms. Gu and no relation to Mr. Bo’s ex-wife, said in a telephone interview that Ms. Gu and her family members believed she had been poisoned years earlier with a heavy metal substance.
与谷开来有合作关系的律师李肖霖在接受电话采访时说，谷开来和她的家人认为，之前的几年中，一直有人用某种重金属物质毒害她。李肖霖和李丹宇没有亲属关系。
He said that he did not know whom she blamed for the poisoning. Mr. Li said that Ms. Gu’s shaking hands, evident at the trial in August, were a result of the poisoning. Ms. Gu had even taken up knitting on her doctor’s advice to try to regain control of her hand muscles, he said.
李肖霖说，他不知道谷开来的指控对象是谁。他表示，8月出庭受审时，谷开来的双手明显在发抖，这就是中毒造成的。他还说，谷开来甚至接受了医生的建议，开始通过编织衣物来恢复对手部肌肉的控制。
Several people close to Mr. Bo’s family said they had heard Ms. Gu was poisoned at one time, and that there was extreme paranoia within the household in recent years. But three family friends who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they did not believe Ms. Gu was fabricating evidence about Ms. Li’s son. They said Ms. Li had long resented Ms. Gu and waged private attacks against Mr. Bo and Ms. Gu to discredit them.
与薄家关系密切的几位人士表示，他们听说过谷开来遭人毒害的事情，而最近几年，薄家的疑心病发展到了极其严重的地步。但薄家的三名友人表示，他们不相信谷开来捏造证据陷害李望知。他们说，李丹宇长期怨恨谷开来，还多次对薄熙来和谷开来进行私人攻击，目的是败坏他们的名声。这三名友人都要求匿名。
Ms. Li and Mr. Bo, whose elite families had known each other for years, began their love affair in 1975. Mr. Bo had just endured years of prison during the Cultural Revolution, when his father was purged, and was working in a factory.
李丹宇和薄熙来都出身于精英家庭，两家是世交。两人的爱情故事始于1975年。薄熙来的父亲在文化大革命遭到清洗，他自己也坐了几年牢，当时刚刚获得释放，在一家工厂工作。
Ms. Li, whose family had also suffered, was working as a military doctor. “What he did a lot was he read the selected works of Marx and Lenin, ” Ms. Li said. “He was a simple and progressive young man.”
李丹宇当时是一名军医，她的家庭也在文革中遭受了打压。“他那时经常阅读马克思(Marx)列宁(Lenin)选集，”李丹宇说。“是一个朴实、上进的青年。”
Living in different cities because of their jobs, they wrote letters to each other every three days. In a poem, Mr. Bo ends with lines that reflect both political fervor and romantic feelings:
由于工作的原因，两人居住在不同的城市。他们每三天就给对方写一封信，薄熙来还在一首诗的末尾同时表达了自己的政治热情和浪漫情怀：
Ms. Li’s first name means “red cosmos.” They were married in September 1976 and had a son the next year.
“丹宇”意为“红色的宇宙”。两人于1976年9月结婚， 次年生下儿子李望知。
Mr. Bo enrolled in Peking University. He tried to read eight pages of English each day from library books, she said. He told her, “Eventually China will open to the world, so we have to learn.”
后来，薄熙来去北京大学读书。李丹宇说，当时他从图书馆借来了英文图书，争取每天读8页。薄熙来告诉她，“中国总有一天会向世界敞开大门，所以我们需要学习。”
The two moved into Zhongnanhai, the Beijing leadership compound, after Mr. Bo’s father became a vice premier. But Mr. Bo did not aspire to join those ranks, Ms. Li said. Mr. Bo switched from studying history to journalism.
薄熙来的父亲当上副总理之后，两人搬进了北京的领导人住地中南海。李丹宇表示，尽管如此，当时的薄熙来并不期望加入中南海那些人的行列。薄熙来从历史专业转到了新闻专业。
The end of the relationship began on their son’s fourth birthday, June 20, 1981. Mr. Bo surprised Ms. Li by asking for a divorce. “He felt very sad and cried and hugged us, ” she said. That night, he told her, “I have no feelings for you anymore.”
1981年6月20日，李望知4岁生日当天，两人关系开始破裂。薄熙来提出离婚，李丹宇觉得非常吃惊。她说，“当时他很伤心，边哭边抱紧我和儿子。”那天晚上，薄熙来告诉她，“我对你已经没有感觉了。”
Ms. Li refused to grant the divorce, though she moved out of Zhongnanhai. The case went to court. The divorce was completed in 1984. Ms. Gu, in a book she wrote, said she met Mr. Bo that year in Dalian. But Ms. Li said Mr. Bo might have been secretly seeing Ms. Gu when the two were at Peking University, while Mr. Bo was still married.
李丹宇搬出了中南海，但却不同意离婚。两人最后对簿公堂。1984年，法院判定两人离婚。谷开来在一本书中写道，1984年，她和薄熙来在大连相识。但李丹宇表示，很有可能，两人在北京大学读书期间就已经开始秘密交往，当时薄熙来还没离婚。
To try to stop the divorce, Ms. Li told officials that Ms. Gu had destroyed the marriage. In the interviews, Ms. Li said Ms. Gu, a lawyer, had threatened legal action if Ms. Li persisted.
为了避免离婚，李丹宇告诉相关官员，谷开来破坏了她的婚姻。李丹宇在采访中表示，身为律师的谷开来曾经威胁她，如果她坚持不离婚，就要采取法律手段。
Ms. Li said she “finally summoned enough courage to tell my story” after being contacted by this newspaper. Now, she and her son await the party’s final verdict on Mr. Bo.
李丹宇表示，在接到《纽约时报》的采访请求后，她“终于鼓足了勇气，可以讲述我的故事”。如今，她和儿子都在等待共产党对薄熙来的最终判决。
“In those early years it was pure love, ” she said. “Even though he didn’t see me for 30 years, I forget the bad things and remember the good. You don’t want to live with hate.”
“最初的几年，我们拥有纯真的爱情，”她说，“即便他30年都没来看过我，我还是忘掉了那些不愉快的事情，只记得那些美好的光阴。人不能生活在仇恨里。”
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