He Had to Cut Spending Six Times

[원문]:My most notable appointment was Mahlon Martin as director of finance and administration, arguably the most important job in state government after the governorship. Before I appointed him, Mahlon was city manager of Little Rock, and a very good one. He was black, and an Arkansan through and through--he always wanted to take the first day of deer season off from work. In tough times, he could be creative in finding solutions to budget problems, but he was always fiscally responsible. In one of our two-year budget cycles in the 1980s, he had to cut spending six times to balance the books. (My Life, Bill Clinton)


[원문역]: 나의 가장 탁월한 인사는 맬런 마틴을 재정국장으로 임명한 것이었다. 이 직위는 주정부에서 주지사 다음으로 중요했다. 임명 전에 리틀록의 시 행정관으로 성실하게 일한 그는 흑인이었고, 토박이 아칸소인이었다. 그는 사슴사냥 시즌이 시작되는 첫날에는 언제나 휴가를 받으려고 했다. 어려운 시절에는 예산 문제의 해결방안을 찾아내는 데서 창의력을 발휘하기도 했지만, 어디까지나 그는 예산 균형을 신봉하는 사람이었다. 그는 1980년대의 어느 2년 단위 회계연도에 수지를 맞추기 위해서 지출을 6분의 1로 줄이기도 했다. (빌 클린턴의 마이 라이프, 도서출판 물푸레)


[정역]: 전략...중략...그는 1980년대의 어느 2년 단위 회계연도에 수지 결산을 맞추기 위해서 여섯 번이나 지출을 줄이는 일을 하기도 했다.


[comments]::1)What on earth does the phrase "six times" mean? Is that the author's mention of multiplication (ex. six times six? Or does it simply mention the frequency? (how many times)


2)To the ears of the native speakers of English the controversy such as this might sound so odd. But to the ears and eyes of the speakers of English as the second language even such simple statement as this is not simple at all. Why? Because two conflicting assertions can't be reconciled nor compromised. (The truth is not to be negotiated on.)


3)The translator has got it wrong. Utterly wrong in that he or she has misconstrued the statement at issue {{he had to cut spending six times to balance the books.}} to mean to the effect that {{he had to cut spending to the extent of one sixth of the previous year to balance the books.}}


4)Nothing like that. The author only states that Mahlon "had to do the action of cutting the expenditures of the Arkansas state at six different times." In brief, the author Bill Clinton is merely talking about the frequency of Mahlon's budget behavior, not about the amount of the expense reduction.


5)In terms of the English syntax, there's something wanting in the translator's version of the statement at issue. To suit the Korean version, the original text should have been written like this:“He had to cut spending by six times the previous fiscal year."