2021年经济学人 牧羊人阿吉图·古蒂塔(2)

The Mochena region was a closed place, still inhabited by descendants of Bavarians who ate dumplings, lived in chalets and spoke¹ a dialect of German.

莫切纳地区交通闭塞，那儿仍然生活着巴伐利亚人的后代，他们吃德国饺子，住木屋，说着德语方言。

They distrusted all strangers, including the regular pedlars who sold fabric² out of their vans.

他们对所有的陌生人都心怀戒备，包括那些经常开货车卖布料的小贩。

And they had never seen a black face except on Shrove Tuesday, when carnival³ was led by the betscho and betscha,

除了忏悔日，他们从来没有见过一张黑人面孔，当时的忏悔日是由贝塔和贝莎主持的，

one in a skirt, one with a tall goatskin hat and a false hump made of straw, both in blackface, who clowned to bring prosperity.

她们一个穿着裙子，一个戴着高高的山羊皮帽子，用稻草做出假的驼背，两人都涂成了黑脸，他们用滑稽的动作，以期为当地带来繁荣。

Now here among them was a real black woman, an Ethiopian refugee, living in the mountains alone with her goats.

如今，一个真正的黑人妇女出现了，她是个埃塞俄比亚难民，和羊群独自住在山里。

Well, she thought as she worked away, herding⁴ and milking and scrubbing, she could bring in prosperity too.

她一直觉得，一边放牧、挤奶、清洗，一边干活，她也能为当地繁荣贡献力量。

Her parents had gone to California; she had come here.

她的父母去了加利福尼亚；她来到了这里。

She had fled from Ethiopia in 2010 with nothing, determined⁵ to leave nostalgia⁶ behind and reinvent herself.

2010年，她一无所有地逃离了埃塞俄比亚，决心抛开故国情怀，重塑自我。

Her work back there, menaced by trigger-happy police and a warrant for her arrest,

在那里，她的工作受到了暴力的警察和逮捕令的威胁，

had been to defend nomadic⁷ herders whose grazing lands were being grabbed and leased to corporations by the government.

她的工作是为那些游牧牧民辩护，他们的牧场被政府抢夺并租给公司。

Neo-colonialism, in a word. But in Italy too land was being squandered⁸, good green land, as people left.

总之，这简直就是新殖民主义。但是在意大利，随着人们离开，土地被搁置。

So she did what her herding grandparents would have done:

所以她重拾了祖父母放牧为生的旧行当：

put her goats on communal⁹ pastures that had been abandoned, and let their munching¹⁰ and manuring gradually restore them.

把她的山羊驱赶到被遗弃的公共牧场上，通过羊群啃食和排便逐渐恢复了土地的生机。

The Mochena breed were not abundant milkers, but she soon had milk and yogurt to sell.

莫切纳山羊的产奶量并不高，但她很快就有牛奶和酸奶可以卖了。

Then came cheese, eventually 15 different kinds adapted to local tastes—of which her special treasures were the primo sale,

然后是奶酪，最终她自制了15种不同的奶酪来迎合当地人的口味——其中她的热卖品就是primo sale，

the first fresh salted ones, which tasted completely different in a week.

首批原创新鲜咸奶酪，这种奶酪的新鲜口感仅能维持一周。

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

3 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

4 herding   

中畜群

参考例句：

• The little boy is herding the cattle. 这个小男孩在放牛。
• They have been herding cattle on the tableland for generations. 他们世世代代在这高原上放牧。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

7 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

8 squandered   

v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He squandered all his money on gambling. 他把自己所有的钱都糟蹋在赌博上了。
• She felt as indignant as if her own money had been squandered. 她心里十分生气，好像是她自己的钱给浪费掉了似的。 来自飘（部分）

9 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

10 munching   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was munching an apple. 他在津津有味地嚼着苹果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Munching the apple as he was, he had an eye for all her movements. 他虽然啃着苹果，但却很留神地监视着她的每一个动作。 来自辞典例句