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SAN FRANCISCO — The esteemed venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, its star partner, John Doerr, once said, “is a family, with occasional disputes.”
旧金山——受人尊敬的风险投资公司凯鹏华盈(Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)的明星合伙人约翰·多尔(John Doerr)曾说，该公司“是一个偶尔会发生争论的家庭”。
Maybe, if by “family” you mean one of those clans where everyone is fighting for power and wealth. In Superior Court here, the case of Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins is beginning to look at little like “King Lear,” or at least “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
或许吧，如果这里的“家庭”指的是人人都在争权夺利的那种大家族的话。在这里的最高法院，鲍康如诉凯鹏华盈(Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins)一案现在开始有点像《李尔王》(King Lear)，或者至少是《与卡戴珊姐妹同行》(Keeping Up with the Kardashians)了。
For two weeks a former Kleiner junior partner, Ellen Pao, presented her evidence that she suffered from gender discrimination. Along the way, she portrayed the firm as a place riven by sexism and unseemly striving, and that heedlessly employed and encouraged an unsavory cad whom she had the misfortune to briefly date.
在两周时间里，作为前初级合伙人的鲍康如提交了证明自己遭到性别歧视的证据。在这个过程中，她说该公司是一个深受性别歧视和不正当竞争荼毒的地方，还疏忽地雇佣并鼓励过一名令人讨厌的无赖。她还不幸和那个人短暂约会过。
Now Kleiner’s lawyers have for the first time the opportunity to defend the beleaguered firm in a sustained way, and on Tuesday and Wednesday they made the most of it. They depicted Ms. Pao, 45, as combative and full of resentment, the kind of co-worker who begrudges a colleague for tending to his dying mother.
如今，凯鹏华盈的代理律师首次有机会以持续的方式，为这家身处困境的公司辩护。在周二和周三，他们充分利用了这一点。他们把45岁的鲍康如说成好斗且满怀怨恨，是那种会因为同事照顾病入膏肓的母亲而抱怨的人。
In this telling, Ms. Pao is less a victim of discrimination than a difficult and conniving employee who rejected advice to improve, and whom Kleiner clearly wishes it had tossed overboard sooner.
在这种叙述中，鲍康如更多的是一个难相处、放纵、拒绝忠告的雇员，而非歧视的受害者，并且显然，凯鹏华盈后悔没能早些将她踢走。
Ms. Pao is being cross-examined by Lynne C. Hermle, a partner in the Silicon Valley firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Ms. Hermle is well known in Bay Area legal circles for her success in defending companies from discrimination and retaliation claims. Part of her lore is that an opposing lawyer vomited repeatedly as motions persistently went Ms. Hermle’s way.
鲍康如正在接受奥睿律师事务所(Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)硅谷分公司合伙人琳内·C·赫尔姆勒(Lynne C. Hermle)的质证。赫尔姆勒在旧金山湾区的法律界很有名，因为她成功地帮多家公司摆脱了歧视和报复索赔。关于她的其中一个传说是，因为动议持续朝有利于赫尔姆勒的方向发展，对方律师多次呕吐。
Ms. Hermle’s cross-examination was lengthy, patient and relentless, seeking to undermine Ms. Pao’s case in all sorts of ways. It called her cold, territorial, untrustworthy, entitled and either passive-aggressive to colleagues or maybe just aggressive — the sort of person who an office that depends on relationships would be crazy to promote to a senior role.
赫尔姆勒的盘问时间很长、颇具耐性且相当尖锐，试图以各种方式破坏鲍康如提起的这桩诉讼案件。质证中，她称鲍康如冷淡、有地盘意识、不可信赖、自以为是，且对待同事不是消极对抗，可能就是直接对抗，并表示，对一家依赖人际关系的公司来说，将鲍康如这种人提升到高级职位会是相当愚蠢的。
Ms. Hermle said Ms. Pao had trouble with many others in the office. “You developed a very negative relationship with her,” the lawyer said, referring to a secretary. About another colleague, “Isn’t it true you called her a major problem?”
赫尔姆勒表示，鲍康如和公司里的其他很多人都有过摩擦。“你和她的关系变得非常差，”她提到一名秘书时表示。关于另一名同事，她问道，“你曾说她是个大麻烦，是不是？”
“I may have,” Ms. Pao conceded.
“有可能，”鲍康如承认。
Another email from a senior partner to Ms. Pao said: “You seem angry and the affair has become personalized. This is always the kiss of death.”
一名高级合伙人在写给鲍康如的一封电子邮件中说：“你似乎有些生气，这件事变得个人化了。这种情况总是会导致失败。”
Yet another email thread was shown where Ms. Pao complained to a senior Kleiner partner, Matt Murphy, saying that “I should have been informed of and probably invited to Friday’s meeting. It’s not only polite, it creates a better process.”
在展示的另一个电邮链中，鲍康如向凯鹏华盈的高级合伙人马特·墨菲(Matt Murphy)抱怨说，“理应告知我，可能还应该邀请我参加周五的会议。这么做不仅礼貌，还会带来一个更好的过程”。
Mr. Murphy responded: “Seems like you are telling me what I need to do and that is not resonating with me.” He suggested talking in person, but Ms. Pao kept up the email barrage.
墨菲回复说：“你好像在告诉我，我需要做什么，但对此我并不认同。”他建议当面谈，但鲍康如继续用电子邮件狂轰滥炸。
Nor did Ms. Pao seem much interested in the cause of women in Silicon Valley. “Did you ever recruit a woman to a Kleiner portfolio company’s board?” Ms. Hermle asked.
鲍康如对硅谷的女性事业似乎也没多大兴趣。“你曾经为凯鹏华盈投资组合中的公司招过女董事吗？”
“I don’t believe so,” she replied. (She did however say at another point she brought in four female executives to help run companies.)
“我想没有，”她答道。（然而，她的确另外说过，招过四名女性高管，来帮助经营这些公司。）
In better times, Kleiner paid for a speech coach for Ms. Pao in an effort to help her “own the room,” something the firm viewed as a priority. That paid off for her at the trial, particularly earlier in the week when she was being questioned by her own lawyer. She spoke clearly and loudly, and smiled frequently.
在形势较好的时候，凯鹏华盈曾出钱为鲍康如请过一名演讲老师，试图帮助她“成为焦点”。公司当时视其为要务。庭审期间，此举为她带来了回报，特别是在她本周早些时候接受己方律师的讯问时。她表述清晰、声音洪亮，并频频微笑。
Under Ms. Hermle’s assault, the smiles largely disappeared and the responses became more clipped. Her memory grew more faint.
但在赫尔姆勒的攻击下，那些微笑多半都消失了，回答也变得更简短了。她的记忆变得更模糊了。
Ms. Pao is asking as much as $16 million in damages, plus unspecified punitive damages. She wanted $10 million to leave quietly at the end of 2011, testimony this week revealed.
鲍康如要求获得高达1600万美元（约合1亿元人民币）的损害赔偿，以及未指定数额的惩罚性损害赔偿。本周的证词披露，2011年底，她曾要求获得1000万美元，并保证拿到钱后安静地辞职。
Ms. Pao’s husband, Alphonse Fletcher Jr., whom she met, married and had a child with during the years covered by the trial, is a Wall Street financier whose hedge fund is bankrupt and has been accused of fraud. The judge in the case, Harold Kahn, has refused to allow discussion of Ms. Pao’s financial motives in filing suit, but Ms. Hermle asked him on Wednesday to reconsider. He will decide by Thursday morning.
鲍康如的丈夫小阿方斯·弗莱彻(Alphonse Fletcher Jr.)是华尔街的一名理财师，他的对冲基金已破产，他本人被指犯有欺诈罪。在庭审审视的那些年里，鲍康如和丈夫相识、结婚，并生了一个孩子。该案的法官哈罗德·卡恩(Harold Kahn)拒绝允许讨论鲍康如提起诉讼的财务动机，但赫尔姆勒周三建议他重做考虑。他将于周四上午做出决定。
The exhibits in the case continue to pile up. Evaluations, self-evaluations, summaries of meetings, messages to colleagues, messages to colleagues about colleagues, messages to friends about colleagues — there seems to be scarcely a word at Kleiner that was not committed to paper.
该案的证据仍在不断浮出水面。评估报告、自我评估报告、会议摘要、发给同事的信息、发给同事的关于同事的信息，发给朋友的关于同事的信息——在凯鹏华盈，似乎没有一句话不是落实在纸面上的。
And the jurors were taking more notes. A painter, a physical therapist, a prison nurse — they all seemed rapt on Wednesday, as they have been all along. What they really think, however, will not be known for some time. The trial has not even reached its halfway point yet, and Kleiner promises many witnesses in its defense.
陪审员在做更多记录。一位画家、一位心理治疗师、一位监狱护士——周三似乎都全神贯注，就像他们一直以来的那样。然而，他们的真实想法在一段时间内仍不得而知。这次庭审甚至还没有完成一半，凯鹏华盈承诺在辩护过程中将提供许多证人。
