????在近代史上，一國領導人蔚為壯觀的財富王國突然大白于天下，這種事并不稀罕；非常可悲的是，這一幕其實屢見不鮮。薩達姆?侯賽因政權于2003年垮臺后，呈現在世人面前的同樣是金玉滿堂，珠寶成堆，建有私人動物園的宮殿和豪宅。2011年，利比亞、突尼斯和埃及的獨裁政權相繼崩潰后，人們看到了同樣的景象。

????但烏克蘭人說，他們希望把這一切保留下來，而不是摧毀掉。卡扎菲在的黎波里的豪宅被燒為平地，薩達姆的宮殿幾乎被洗劫一空，但烏克蘭的年輕人卻不辭辛苦地把每一件物品編入目錄，似乎是在盤點一家超市的商品。與阿拉伯革命后暴怒之下的焚燒和搶掠不同，烏克蘭的激進分子似乎決心把過去保存下來，作為一個給予未來領導人的警示。

????在亞努科維奇豪宅的宏偉大堂旁邊，矗立著幾尊身著銀色鎧甲的全尺寸騎士。米基堅科和她的朋友已經拉起了一道警戒線，圍住了所有貴重物品，其中包括一件巨大的象牙雕刻和一個純金打造，鑲嵌著琺瑯的圣經盒。米基堅科說：“前段時間守護這個地方的那幾個人整天醉醺醺的，所以我們不得不把他們趕了出去。”她還對我說，第一次進入這棟房屋時，她感受到了一股強烈的“文化沖擊”。“我參觀過俄羅斯圣彼得堡的冬宮博物館(Hermitage Museum)，在那里我什么都不能碰。在這里，我可以觸摸一切東西。”

????然而，盡管這些年輕人下定了保全這些財產的決心，但它的命運依然不確定。亞努科維奇及其政府的重要人物正面臨腐敗指控，屋內的許多文件和物品都需要作為呈堂證據。上周五，幾位軍事檢察官和政府官員趕來這里參觀，同時商討了加強安保、是否關閉這片區域，不再向公眾開放等問題。一位檢察官走進屋內，用他的iPhone手機拍攝了幾張照片。“難以置信，”他說。“老百姓連孩子的手術費都掏不起，而我們的總統竟然過著這樣的生活。太過分了。”

????不過，幾位守衛豪宅的激進人士說，他們依然拿不準烏克蘭新領導人到底應該怎樣處置這些財產。“目前有兩種意見，”24歲的亞瑟?佩雷韋爾佐夫說。他是一家國營電視臺的口譯員，同時在一家汽車租賃公司兼職。守衛房屋時，他晚上就睡在屋內。“有些人認為應該賣掉這些東西，用出售所得補償獨立廣場的受害者。”在上個月的流血暴動中，有大約80位示威者死于狙擊手槍下。臉色蒼白，身材清瘦的佩雷韋爾佐夫全副武裝，儼然一副軍人模樣，但他說自己并沒有接受過軍事訓練；像許多年輕的激進分子一樣，他的這套裝備是上個月在基輔獨立廣場示威期間從一隊自稱自衛的軍人手中獲得的。

????如果檢察官選擇關閉這塊區域，許多烏克蘭人很可能會非常失望。

????亞努科維奇倒臺兩個星期后，這片區域已經呈現出一派幾乎類似于節日的喜慶氣氛。在通往豪宅大門的道路上，一些頗具生意頭腦的烏克蘭人搭起了販賣飲料和烤香腸的攤位。游客甚至可以租一輛山地自行車，環繞這片土地轉上一圈。這個地方的確值得一游。大家會在沿途看到一座不知道亞努科維奇從哪里搞來的古希臘神廟。還有一個小教堂，教堂內的舊染色玻璃窗和雕花的木制長椅顯得別有情致。（財富中文網）

????譯者：葉寒

????

????Such discoveries of leaders' spectacular opulence are hardly unique in recent history; in fact, they've become sadly familiar. When Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed in Iraq in 2003, palaces and mansions revealed similar splashes of gold and marble, with similarly vast jewelry collection and (weirdly) private zoos. Ditto after the collapse of the dictatorships in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt in 2011.

????But Ukrainians say they want to preserve, rather than destroy. While Moammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli was burnt to the ground, and Saddam's palaces were heavily looted, Ukraine's young activists have painstakingly catalogued every item, as though they were taking inventory in a supermarket. Unlike the enraged burning and looting after the Arab revolutions, Ukrainian activists seem determined to preserve the past as a cautionary tale for future leaders.

????In the grand lobby of Yanukovych's mansion, next to full-sized knights in silver armor, Mykytenko and her friends have placed valuable items behind a cordon of Scotch tape. They include a huge carved elephant tusk, and a gold Bible case inlaid with enamel. "There were other people guarding this place who drank a lot of the wine, so we had to get them out," Mykytenko says, adding that she had "culture shock" when she first entered the house. "I'd been in the Hermitage Museum [in St. Petersburg, Russia] where I couldn't touch anything. Here, I could touch everything."

????Yet despite the determination of the young activists to preserve Yanukovych's property, its fate is uncertain. Much of the documents and items are needed for evidence in corruption trials being brought against Yanukovych and major figures in his government. On Friday, military prosecutors and government officials arrived to tour the grounds, and to discuss how to beef up the security and whether to close the area to the public. One prosecutor entered the house to snap photos on his iPhone. "Unbelievable," he said. "People don't have money for operations for their kids, and our president lived this way. It is too much."

????Still, the activists guarding the mansion say they remain uncertain over what Ukraine's new leaders should do with the property. "There are two opinions," says Arthur Pereverziev, 24, who works an interpreter at the state-run TV channel, and at a rental-car agency, when he is not guarding the house and sleeping inside it. "Some of us think the items should be sold, and the money should go to compensating the victims of Maidan," or Independence Square, where snipers killed about 80 protesters in last month's bloody climax of the uprising. Pale and lean, Pereverziev was dressed in full combat fatigues, but says he has no military training; like many young activists, he acquired his uniform from the self-proclaimed self-defense units in Kiev's Independence Square during the demonstrations.

????If prosecutors opt to close the area to the public, there are likely to be many disappointed Ukrainians.

????Two weeks after Yanukovych's downfall, the area has assumed an almost festive air. On the road leading up to the gates, enterprising Ukrainians have set up food stalls selling drinks and barbecue sausages. You can even rent mountain bikes, in order to cycle around the acres of land. It is worth the ride. On one part of the grounds, Yanukovych had placed an ancient Greek temple, whose provenance is unknown. And in another, there is a small chapel, with old, stained glass windows and carved wooden pews.