致我们在中国的读者：Mazel Tov！我们是真心的。大概吧。也许吧。谁知道呢？

BAYBAY CITY, LEYTE, PHILIPPINES — October 17, 2026

菲律宾莱特省拜拜市 — 2026年10月17日

Something interesting is happening at WPS News.

WPS News 最近发生了一件有趣的事。

We’re getting visitors from China.

我们开始收到来自中国的访问。

Ordinarily, when somebody visits an independent American news knowledge base operating out of the Philippines, we say thank you, offer them a metaphorical cup of coffee, and hope they don’t trip over the furniture.

通常，有人来到这个设在菲律宾的美国独立新闻资料网站，我们会表示感谢，象征性地请他们喝杯咖啡，再希望他们别被家具绊倒。

But our Chinese visitors are behaving rather interestingly.

不过，来自中国的访问情况有点特别。

Twenty views suddenly appear, scattered across different articles, one after another.

突然出现二十次浏览，分散在不同文章上，一篇接着一篇。

It’s almost as though somebody—or something—is marching through our archive collecting everything that isn’t nailed down.

感觉就像有人——或者某个程序——正在我们的档案库里逐篇搜集所有能拿到的东西。

And frankly, most of it isn’t nailed down.

坦白说，我们这里的大部分内容确实没有锁起来。

Welcome to WPS News!

欢迎来到 WPS News！

Are you an actual human being? Wonderful!

你是真正的人类读者吗？太好了！

Are you an automated crawler? Splendid!

你是自动网络爬虫吗？那也不错！

Are you collecting material for some enormous database? Marvelous!

你正在为某个庞大的数据库收集资料吗？妙极了！

Are you working for somebody in Beijing?

你是在为北京的某个机构工作吗？

Well, now. Isn’t that interesting?

哎呀，那可真有意思了，不是吗？

We don’t actually know who’s responsible for these visits.

事实上，我们并不知道这些访问究竟来自谁。

They could be ordinary readers, researchers, search engines, or automated systems.

他们可能是普通读者、研究人员、搜索引擎，也可能是自动化系统。

Traffic statistics don’t tell us everything.

网站流量统计可不会告诉我们所有答案。

But whoever you are, thank you for stopping by.

不过，无论你是谁，都感谢你的到访。

Our articles are free, our opinions are independent, and our editor has spent decades demonstrating a remarkable inability to shut up.

我们的文章免费开放，观点独立，而我们的主编几十年来一直在证明一件事：他就是管不住自己的嘴。

Which brings us to a favorite expression.

这就引出了我们最喜欢的一句话。

Mazel tov!

Mazel tov！（恭喜！）

It’s a Yiddish expression, derived from Hebrew, traditionally used to offer congratulations or good wishes.

这是一个源自希伯来语的意第绪语表达，传统上用来表示祝贺或美好的祝愿。

This editor developed a rather flexible appreciation of the phrase more than fifty years ago, thanks to Joe Haldeman’s 1974 science-fiction story The Mazel Tov Revolution, published in Analog.

五十多年前，本主编读到了乔·霍尔德曼发表于1974年《Analog》杂志的科幻小说《The Mazel Tov Revolution》，从此对这个词产生了一种非常灵活的理解。

Ever since, we’ve appreciated its possibilities.

从那以后，我们就特别欣赏它的多种用法。

Delivered sincerely, it means congratulations!

真诚地说，它就是“恭喜你！”

Delivered with sufficient theatrical enthusiasm, a raised eyebrow, and perhaps a little Groucho Marx, it can communicate something considerably less congratulatory.

但如果配上夸张的戏剧腔调、挑起的眉毛，再来一点格劳乔·马克思式的讽刺，它表达的意思可就未必那么友好了。

Context, dear readers. Context!

亲爱的读者们，关键在于语境！语境啊！

So, to our Chinese readers, whether you’re studying American politics, investigating independent journalism, or wondering what peculiar creature operates this website:

所以，致我们在中国的读者：无论你是在研究美国政治、了解独立新闻，还是想知道究竟是什么怪人在经营这个网站：

Mazel tov!

Mazel tov！恭喜你们！

And to the automated crawlers: Please remember where you found the material.

至于自动网络爬虫：请记住这些资料来自哪里。

Attribution is appreciated, and financial support is welcome but never required.

我们欢迎注明出处，也欢迎自愿提供经济支持，但绝不强求。

As for governments everywhere that would prefer journalists to be quieter, readers to be less curious, and inconvenient questions to disappear?

至于世界各地那些希望记者少说话、读者少好奇、麻烦问题自动消失的政府呢？

We have some disappointing news.

我们有个可能让你们失望的消息。

The archive is still open.

我们的新闻档案库依然开放。

The editor is still talking.

主编依然在说话。

And apparently, somebody is still reading.

而且显然，还有人在继续阅读。

From Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines, we’re printing news and raising hell.

从菲律宾莱特省拜拜市出发，我们继续刊登新闻，继续大胆发声，继续把那些该问的问题问个明白。

If that annoys somebody in Beijing—or Washington, for that matter—well…

如果这让北京的某些人不高兴——或者让华盛顿的某些人不高兴——那么……

Mazel tov!

Mazel tov！恭喜啦！至于是真心祝贺，还是带点讽刺，就看你怎么理解了！

Cliff Potts
Editor-in-Chief, WPS News

克利夫·波茨
WPS News 主编