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The folks who successfully bid $2.3m for lunch with Warren Buffett can expect a convivial event filled with jokes, investment wisdom and life advice, according to those who have won in previous years — but they had better keep an eye on their soft drinks.
成功投标230万美元与沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)共进午餐的人们，可以期待一段欢乐的时光，充满了笑料、投资智慧和人生建议，但他们最好盯紧自己的软饮料——这是往年的中标者介绍的“经验”。
This year’s annual auction was won by a Chinese online games development company called Dalian Zeus Entertainment, which can take up to eight people to meet the legendary investor.
中国网游开发公司大连天神娱乐(Dalian Zeus Entertainment)赢得今年的年度拍卖，中标者可以带至多8人会晤巴菲特这位具有传奇色彩的投资者。
Since Mr Buffett began the tradition in 2000, his lunches have raised $20m for Glide, a San Francisco charity supporting the city’s poor and homeless.
自巴菲特在2000年开启这一传统以来，这些年来他的“拍卖”午餐已为Glide（一家旧金山慈善机构，支持该市的穷人和无家可归者）筹集了2000万美元。
Monsoon Pabrai’s most vivid memory from her lunch was that Mr Buffett pinched her Cherry Coke, thinking it was his. She was 12 at the time. Her hedge fund manager father, Mohnish Pabrai, took his two daughters along after he and a friend won with their $650,100 bid in 2007.
梦松•帕波莱(Monsoon Pabrai)对那顿午餐的最生动记忆是，巴菲特拿起她的樱桃可乐(Cherry Coke)喝了起来，以为那是他自己的。那年她才12岁。当时，身为对冲基金经理的父亲莫尼什•帕波莱(Mohnish Pabrai)和一个朋友在2007年以65.01万美元中标后，带上自己的两个女儿与巴菲特共进午餐。
Now, partly inspired by that lunch, Ms Pabrai is doing an internship at the investment office at University of California, Los Angeles, and hoping to go into the world of endowments, but she also remembers Mr Buffett’s advice outside the sphere of investments.
部分是在那顿午餐的激励下，如今帕波莱女士正在美国加州大学洛杉矶分校(UCLA)的投资办公室实习，并希望进入捐赠基金的世界，但她也记得巴菲特在投资范畴以外的建议。
“He said the greatest decision we would make is who to marry,” she recalls. “Now every time my sister and I go on dates, that echoes in our heads.”
“他说，我们一生中将要做出的最大决定是与谁结婚。”她回忆道，“现在，每当我和姐姐出去跟别人约会，那条建议就会在我们的脑海里产生回音。”
Guy Spier, who bid with Mr Pabrai, recalls “the way the air vibrates” around Mr Buffett. Mr Spier has since written a book on what he has learnt from Mr Buffett, both personally and through following his value investment principles, and he puts some of his professional success down to the lunch.
当年与帕波莱联合投标的盖伊•施皮尔(Guy Spier)对巴菲特周围的气场记忆犹新。施皮尔后来写了一本书，介绍他从巴菲特那里学到的东西——无论是个人层面的哲理，还是因遵循巴菲特价值投资原则而得到的收获。他将自己的一部分职业成功归功于那顿午餐。
“The world is not a fair place,” he said. “Who you hang out with counts. Hanging out with people better than you counts. Somebody knows that I had lunch with Warren Buffett, at the margin that makes it more likely that they will want to hang out with me.”
“世界不是一个公平的地方，”他表示，“你跟谁打交道是重要的。与比你更优秀的人打交道很重要。有人听说了我曾与巴菲特共进午餐，至少这使得他们更有可能想要与我打交道。”
The price of breaking bread with Mr Buffett began rising dramatically after the auction switched to eBay in 2003, opening it up to fans from all over the world. This year’s winning bid is 838 per cent higher than that paid in 2003 by David Einhorn, the famed short seller, and the highest bid ever was $3.5m in 2012.
自拍卖活动在2003年转至eBay进行、让世界各地的粉丝都能投标以来，与巴菲特一起吃饭的价格就开始戏剧性上涨。今年的中标价格比2003年知名卖空者戴维•艾因霍恩(David Einhorn)付出的价格高838%。历年来的最高出价是2012年的350万美元。
The cost of the meal itself, now donated by steakhouse chain Smith & Wollensky, has risen more modestly. Restaurant food prices are up 41 per cent over the same period, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. But even at the highest price tag, winning the auction can be worth every cent.
午餐——如今由牛排连锁餐厅“史密斯与沃伦斯基”(Smith & Wollensky)捐赠——本身的开销上涨更为温和。根据美国劳工统计局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的数据，同期餐厅食品价格上涨了41%。但是，即使以最高的价码中标，赢得这场拍卖也可能物超所值。
Mr Buffett surprised a two-time winning bidder — a hedge fund manager from Virginia named Ted Weschler — by offering him a job at the end of their second meal. Mr Weschler is now in line to take over some investment duties at Berkshire Hathaway when Mr Buffett retires as chief executive.
巴菲特曾给两度中标的弗吉尼亚州对冲基金经理泰德•韦施勒(Ted Weschler)一个惊喜：在他们的第二顿午餐结束时向他提供了一个职位。如今，韦施勒将在巴菲特从首席执行官职位上退休之后，接手伯克希尔哈撒韦(Berkshire Hathaway)的一部分投资职责。
Duan Yongping, the Chinese electronics entrepreneur turned investor, has stayed away from airline stocks after discussing Mr Buffett’s own disastrous foray into the sector with him at lunch in 2006. “I love to talk to him,” Mr Duan said. “He uses the most simple words to explain the most complicated things.”
从中国电子行业企业家转型为投资者的段永平，在2006年与巴菲特共进午餐时，讨论了巴菲特自己投资航空公司的灾难性经历，自那以来段永平一直避开航空公司股票。“我爱与他交谈，”段永平表示，“他能用最简单的语言来解释最复杂的事情。”
Glide’s co-founder Janice Mirikitani said at the launch of the auction last week: “The divides are getting bigger between the haves and have-nots. Mr Buffett inspires others who have the means to help bridge that divide.”
Glide联合创始人贾尼丝•美里木谷(Janice Mirikitani)上周在发起拍卖时表示：“富人与穷人之间的差距越来越大了。巴菲特激励其他有能力的人士帮助弥合这一鸿沟。”
Mr Spier declined to put a figure on the return on investment from his winning bid, but he is certain of its value. “We could give that money to Harvard or Yale,” he said, “but it would not even buy you a plaque. It would only buy you lunch with the Dean.”
施皮尔拒绝量化与巴菲特共进午餐的投资回报，但他对这个机会的价值确信无疑。“我们可以把那笔钱捐给哈佛(Harvard)或耶鲁(Yale)，”他说，“但它连一块牌匾都买不到，只够你与院长共进午餐。”
