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When our discussion turned to the sorry state of the economy and politics, he offered a few sharp opinions about the lack of strong leadership around the world.
当我们的讨论转移到当前经济和政治的糟糕局面时，他提出了一些尖锐的观点，说全世界都缺少强有力的领导。
"I'm disappointed in Obama," he said. "He's having trouble leading because he's reluctant to offend people or piss them off."
“我对奥巴马感到失望。”他说，“他的领导力出现问题是因为，他不愿意得罪别人或让那些人滚蛋。”
He caught what I was thinking and assented with a little smile: "Yes, that's not a problem I ever had."
他猜到了我在想什么，会心地笑着说：“是的，我就从来没有这种问题。”
After two hours, he grew quiet, so I got off the bed and started to leave.
两个小时以后，他话少了，所以我站起身准备告辞。
"Wait," he said, as he waved to me to sit back down. It took a minute or two for him to regain enough energy to talk.
“等等，”他又示意我坐下。过了一两分钟他才有力气讲话。
"I had a lot of trepidation about this project," he finally said, referring to his decision to cooperate with this book. "I was really worried."
“当初，我对这个项目有很多恐惧，”他最后说，指的是决定跟我合作写这本书的事，“我真的很忧虑。”
"Why did you do it?" I asked.
“那你当初为什么要做呢？”我问。
"I wanted my kids to know me," he said. "I wasn't always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.
“我想让我的孩子们了解我。”他说，“我不经常在他们身边，我希望他们知道这是为什么，并理解我做的事情。
Also, when I got sick, I realized other people would write about me if I died, and they wouldn't know anything.
另外，在我生病以后，我意识到如果我死了，其他人肯定会写我，而他们根本不了解我。
They'd get it all wrong. So I wanted to make sure someone heard what I had to say."
他们会全都搞错。所以我想确保有人能听到我想说的话。”
He had never, in two years, asked anything about what I was putting in the book or what conclusions I had drawn.
两年以来，他从未问过我在这本书里写了些什么或我得出了哪些结论。
But now he looked at me and said, "I know there will be a lot in your book I won't like."
但是此时此刻他看着我说，“我知道在你的书里会有很多我不喜欢的内容。”
It was more a question than a statement, and when he stared at me for a response, I nodded, smiled, and said I was sure that would be true.
这句话更多的是提问而不是陈述，他盯着我，等待一个答复，我笑着点了点头，说肯定会是那样。
"That's good," he said. "Then it won't seem like an in-house book.
“很好。”他说，“这样它就不会看起来像是本内部著作。
I won't read it for a while, because I don't want to get mad. Maybe I will read it in a year -- if I'm still around."
我一时半会儿不会读它，因为我不想被气疯。可能我一年后会读--如果我还在的话。”
By then, his eyes were closed and his energy gone, so I quietly took my leave.
说到这儿，他闭上了眼睛，已经没有力气了，于是我悄悄地离开了。
