2021年经济学人 穆里德·巴尔古提-四处流浪的游子(4)

In 1996, after the Oslo peace accords (a compromise he detested) he returned at last to Ramallah. He tried to coax¹ joy out of himself, as hens were coaxed² with barley³, but it was hard. Was he returning as a guest, a citizen, or a refugee? In the city, he got lost. On the drive north from the border checkpoints the land was bare and chalky; he had remembered it leafed with green “in twenty languages of beauty”.

1996年，在《奥斯陆和平协议》之后，他终于回到了拉姆安拉，他十分痛恨这份协议。他想骗自己快乐起来，就像用大麦哄母鸡一样，但这太难了。他是以客人、公民还是难民的身份回来？在城市里，他感到迷茫。从边境检查站驱车北上，土地光秃秃的好似白垩；他记得路边葱郁的绿叶可以用“二十种美丽的语言”描述。

Was his memory playing him false? At his birth-village, Deir Ghassanah, where he gave a reading, the villagers mobbed him, but they did not know him. In the main square, daubed with Hamas slogans, he seemed to see the past squatting⁴ in the sun, like a dog forgotten by its owners. He wanted to pick it up and urge it towards the future.

是记忆欺骗了他吗？回到出生地代尔加萨纳(Deir Ghassanah)，他在那里举行了一场诗歌诵读，村民们将现场围的水泄不通，但没人认识他。主广场上写满了哈马斯的口号，他似乎看到了过去的时光匍匐在阳光下，就像一只被主人遗忘的狗。他想把它捡起来，催促它走向未来。

The last place he lived in was Amman, Jordan’s capital, where he was buried. He was still angry, with a sort of numb⁵ despair, at the condition of Palestinians, the moral turpitude⁶ of the Palestinian Authority and Israel’s boot on the neck, controlling everything.

他最后居住的场所是约旦首都安曼，他死后葬在了那里。他对巴勒斯坦人的处境，巴勒斯坦权力机构的道德败坏，以及以色列强行控制着一切感到很愤怒，带着一种麻木的绝望。

He accepted that he would always be in a state of uprootedness. But there was one sure place he belonged, where he could retreat from ugliness, or abuse, or tedious waiting at some checkpoint: his inner space. There he reassured⁷ himself that quiet simplicity⁸ could be eloquent⁹. Even silence could.

他还是接受了将永远处于漂泊的宿命。但有一个地方确实是他的归处，在那里他可以躲避丑陋、谩骂或在某个检查站漫长的等待，那里就是他的内心世界。在那里，他让自己相信，简短、朴素的表达也可以有说服力。即使是沉默不语。

1 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

2 coaxed   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱

参考例句：

• She coaxed the horse into coming a little closer. 她哄着那匹马让它再靠近了一点。
• I coaxed my sister into taking me to the theatre. 我用好话哄姐姐带我去看戏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

4 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

6 turpitude   

n.可耻；邪恶

参考例句：

• He was considered unfit to hold office because of moral turpitude.因为道德上的可耻行为，他被认为不适担任公务员。
• Let every declamation turn upon the beauty of liberty and virtue,and the deformity,turpitude,and malignity of slavery and vice.让每一篇演讲都来谈自由和道德之美，都来谈奴役和邪恶之丑陋、卑鄙和恶毒。

7 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

9 eloquent   

adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的

参考例句：

• He was so eloquent that he cut down the finest orator.他能言善辩，胜过最好的演说家。
• These ruins are an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war.这些废墟形象地提醒人们不要忘记战争的恐怖。