a man as good as his enemies were venal

[webberpuma]

I would like to ask how to translate the last bit of the following sentence:

I prefer to cherish my other memory, of Mandela addressing the multitudes in Trafalgar Square, a man as good as his enemies were venal.
source: newyorker (因為我是新人，所以不能 post link）

"a man as good as his enemies were venal" 是用來形容曼德拉的好的，但為什麼是用 "his enemies were venal" 來形容呢？

感謝各位！

 

[Ghabi]

你好！venal並非形容曼德拉，這句話的意思是說"曼德拉是個大好人，正如他的敵人都是大壞旦"，兩者對比鮮明，絕不含糊。就是說，這個as聯繫的是兩個事實：

a) Mandela was good
b) his enemies were venal

and a) is as clear as b).

 

[webberpuma]

感謝你的解答！你解答後我對句子的意思清楚了許多！

 

[SuperXW]

我发现as...as 在英文里有时用来做对比，「性质相反，但程度相同」的对比。
其实这与中文用法并不一样。
地道的汉语并不会说「曼德拉是個大好人，正如他的敵人都是大壞旦」，也正因不会这样用，造成了我们对as...as的理解困难。
汉语只会说「曼德拉是个大好人，而他的敌人都是大坏蛋」，「曼德拉那么好，而他的敌人那么坏」，「曼德拉有多好，他的敌人就有多坏」之类的。