The rue(街，街道) Gabriel Péri in Saint-Denis is typical of a northern Paris suburb. Skinned lambs’ heads are lined up(排成一排，排列) in the butcher’s window; T-shirts in a wire basket go for €2 ($2.30) at a discount shop; bootlegger(私酒贩子，走私者)s flog(出售，兜售) contraband(违禁品，走私货) cigarettes on the pavement. Here, in an eight-storey housing estate(八层住宅楼群) in the capital’s most populous(人口稠密的) banlieue(法国贫困郊区), Jordan Bardella grew up. The 30-year-old’s journey from shy, pale-faced teenager to head of the populist-right National Rally (RN) is remarkable(非凡的，引人注目的). On July 7th it could take a further twist(出现新的转折): Marine Le Pen, his mentor, will learn whether an appeals court uphold(维持（判决），支持)s her ban on running for office(禁止竞选公职) over misuse of European funds(滥用欧洲资金丑闻). If so, next April Mr Bardella will be the RN’s candidate for the French presidency.
圣但尼的加布里埃尔·佩里街是典型的巴黎北郊景象。肉铺橱窗里摆着一排剥了皮的羊头；折扣店的铁丝筐里T恤衫卖2欧元（2.30美元）；人行道上小贩兜售走私香烟。正是在这里——这座首都人口最稠密郊区的八层住宅楼里——乔丹·巴德拉长大成人。这位30岁的年轻人从害羞、面色苍白的少年成长为极右翼国民联盟的领导人，其历程令人瞩目。7月7日可能迎来新的转折：他的导师玛丽娜·勒庞将得知上诉法院是否维持其因滥用欧洲资金而被禁止参选的判决。如果维持原判，明年4月巴德拉先生将成为国民联盟的法国总统候选人。
“I was in no way destined(绝非注定) to end up where I am today,” reflect(反思，思考)s Mr Bardella over coffee at the European Parliament, where he is an RN deputy. That the thought might have crossed his teenage mind(出现在他青少年时期的脑海中), he says, is “impossible”. By his own admission “very shy” at that age, he spent hours in his bedroom playing “Call of Duty” or “FIFA”. He did not attend any of the schools that groom(培养，训练) the French elite, and dropped out of university(从大学辍学). In Parisian circles, among peers called Charles or Arthur, Mr Bardella was “taunt(嘲笑，奚落)ed”, he says, over his working-class name(工人阶级名字): “I may have grown up ten minutes from the edge of Paris, but it was a different world.(我虽在巴黎边缘长大，但那是另一个世界。)”
“我绝无注定会走到今天这一步，”巴德拉先生在欧盟议会边喝咖啡边反思道，他是那里的国民联盟议员。他说，这种想法在少年时期“根本”不可能出现。他承认自己那时“非常害羞”，常常在卧室里花数小时打《使命召唤》或《FIFA》。他没有上过任何培养法国精英的学校，还从大学辍学。在巴黎圈子里，面对那些叫查尔斯或亚瑟的同龄人，巴德拉先生说他因为自己的工人阶级名字而“被嘲笑”：“我成长的地方离巴黎边界只有十分钟路，但那是另一个世界。”
Mr Bardella’s propulsion(推进，晋升) up the RN ranks is dizzying(令人眩晕的): he was a party member at 16, local hack(政治党棍，雇佣文人) at 18, head of the party’s list at European Parliament elections at 23 and elected RN president at 27. It was Ms Le Pen—the daughter of the party’s co-founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen—who made him her protégé(被保护人，门徒), and promoted him improbably young(在他难以置信的年轻时提拔他). Today Mr Bardella is a celebrity(名人，明星); he even dates an Italian princess(与意大利公主约会) of the Bourbon-Two Sicilies ex-royal house. Polls suggest that if he were the candidate, as the two leaders have agreed if Ms Le Pen’s ban is upheld, he would lead first-round voting by a crushing margin(压倒性优势)—and could, possibly, win the run-off(第二轮决选).
巴德拉先生在国民联盟内部的晋升速度令人眩晕：他16岁入党，18岁成为地方党棍，23岁成为欧洲议会选举的党内名单领袖，27岁当选国民联盟主席。正是该党联合创始人让-玛丽·勒庞的女儿勒庞女士将他收为门生，并在他难以置信的年轻时就提拔他。如今巴德拉先生已是名人；他甚至还与波旁-两西西里前王室的意大利公主约会。民调显示，如果他是候选人——按照两位领导人商定的，若勒庞女士的禁令维持不变——他将以压倒性优势领先第一轮投票，并有可能在第二轮获胜。
