2021年经济学人 弱势的残酷--发展以牺牲为代价(1)

Books & arts

文艺板块

Book review

书评

The Peruvian Amazon

秘鲁的亚马逊热带雨林

The wood from the trees

雨林困境

Wars of the Interior. By Joseph Zarate. Translated by Annie McDermott.

《林内战争》。作者：约瑟夫·萨拉特。翻译：安妮·麦克德莫特。

Osman Cunachi was practising free kicks one afternoon in 2016 when thick black oil from a crack in a nearby pipeline¹ started oozing² into the Chiriaco river. The 11-year-old member of the Awajun tribe, the second-largest indigenous³ nation in Peru, heard that government engineers were paying people to clean up the spill. His family was one of dozens who waded⁴ into the water with buckets and plastic bottles. Sick from the fumes⁵, his four-year-old brother was the fi?rst to give up. Osman stayed in until it got dark, hoping to earn enough to buy a smartphone. In a photo taken that day he is covered in black smears⁶, smiling and swinging his bucket.

2016年的一个下午，奥斯曼·库纳奇在练习任意球时，稠密的黑油从附近一条输油管道的裂缝中开始渗入奇里亚科河。11岁的奥斯曼是秘鲁第二大土著民族Awajun部落的成员，他听说政府工程师正在花钱请人清理泄露的黑油。他的家人也加入了清理行列，一行几十人拿着水桶和塑料瓶蹚进奇里亚科河中。他四岁的弟弟因难耐黑油味而成为第一个放弃的人。奥斯曼一直呆到天黑，他希望挣到足够的钱买一部智能手机。在当天拍摄的一张照片中，浑身都是黑色污迹的奥斯曼微笑着摇晃水桶。

“It’s a perverse⁷ paradox⁸ of development that something as horrifi?c as an oil spill and the death of a river could temporarily benefi?t a town,” writes Joseph Zarate, a Peruvian journalist, in “Wars of the Interior”. Each of his chapters investigates how a commodity extracted from the rainforest— wood, gold, oil—has changed the lives of the locals, mostly for the worse. Mr Zarate acknowledges that these industries have helped Peru and its Amazonian neighbours grow and modernise⁹. But, he argues, too little thought has been given to the trade-off?s. Rifts¹⁰ in Peruvian society over the exploitation of natural resources too often end in violence. A war is raging between “ clashing visions of progress” , and indigenous people are losing.

秘鲁记者约瑟夫·扎拉特在《林内战争》一书中写道：“像石油泄漏和河流死亡这样可怕的事情却可能让一个城镇暂时受益，这是一个有悖常理的发展悖论。”他的每一章节都探讨了取自雨林的一种商品（木材、黄金、石油）是如何改变当地人的生活的，其中大多数人的生活实际变得更糟。扎拉特承认，这些产业帮助秘鲁及其亚马逊邻国实现了发展和现代化。但他认为，当地政府在权衡方面考虑的太少了。秘鲁社会在自然资源开发问题上的分歧往往以暴力收尾。一场战争正在“进步愿景的冲突”间肆虐，而土著人民正在输掉这场战争。

Many books about the Amazon cast its inhabitants as passive victims , or idealise them as guardians¹¹ of the forest. Mr Zarate does neither. His subjects don’t oppose development itself — Osman’s father wants him to become a petroleum¹² engineer — but rather the brutal¹³ way it has intruded¹⁴ on their lives. They are resilient and stubborn, but they are clearly outgunned. An Ashaninka chief sees no choice but to fi?ght illegal loggers who are chopping down trees on his tribe’s reserve. He gets killed. A Quechua potato farmer can’t imagine selling her land for a pittance¹⁵ so that a mining company can dredge up a yellow metal of no value to her. Her house is burned down. Doctors fi?nd dangerous arsenic¹⁶, lead and mercury in little Osman’s blood. He just wants to be “ a normal kid, and not be scared of getting a tumour¹⁷ one day”.

许多关于亚马逊河流域的书籍将当地居民视为被动受害者，或者把他们理想化为森林的守护者。扎拉特在自己的书中并没有采取任意一种描述。他笔下的主人公们并不反对发展本身，(比如，奥斯曼的父亲希望他成为一名石油工程师），他们反对的是发展对他们生活造成的残酷影响。他们坚韧而固执，但他们显然是被打败了。Ashaninka酋长认为，除了去惩罚那些在他的部落保护区砍树的非法伐木者，他们别无选择。结果他被杀害了。克丘亚部落的一名马铃薯种植户怎么也没想到，为了让一家矿业公司挖掘一种对她毫无价值的黄色金属，她会以微薄的价格卖掉自己的土地。结果她的房子被烧毁了。医生在小奥斯曼的血液中发现了危险的砷、铅和汞。小奥斯曼只想成为“一个正常孩子，他并不害怕自己有一天会得肿瘤”。

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 oozing   

v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出

参考例句：

• Blood was oozing out of the wound on his leg. 血正从他腿上的伤口渗出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wound had not healed properly and was oozing pus. 伤口未真正痊瘉，还在流脓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

4 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

5 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

6 smears   

污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤

参考例句：

• His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies. 他的证词里掺杂着诽谤、部份的事实和彻头彻尾的谎言。
• Anything written with a soft pencil smears easily. 用软铅笔写成的东西容易污成一片。

7 perverse   

adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的

参考例句：

• It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend.阻止这种健康发展的趋势是没有道理的。
• She gets a perverse satisfaction from making other people embarrassed.她有一种不正常的心态，以使别人难堪来取乐。

8 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

9 modernise   

vt.使现代化

参考例句：

• If it works,it would help to modernise the entire economy.这项（改革）一旦实施起效，将有助于整体经济的现代化进程。
• They attempted in vain to modernise these antiquated industries.他们企图使这些陈旧的工业现代化，结果劳而无功。

10 rifts   

n.裂缝( rift的名词复数 )；裂隙；分裂；不和

参考例句：

• After that, through the rifts in the inky clouds sparkled redder and yet more luminous particles. 然后在几条墨蓝色云霞的隙缝里闪出几个更红更亮的小片。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
• The Destinies mend rifts in time as man etches fate. 当人类想要再次亵渎命运的时候，命运及时修正了这些裂痕。 来自互联网

11 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

12 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

13 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

14 intruded   

n.侵入的，推进的v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 )；把…强加于

参考例句：

• One could believe that human creatures had never intruded there before. 你简直会以为那是从来没有人到过的地方。 来自辞典例句
• The speaker intruded a thin smile into his seriousness. 演说人严肃的脸上掠过一丝笑影。 来自辞典例句

15 pittance   

n.微薄的薪水，少量

参考例句：

• Her secretaries work tirelessly for a pittance.她的秘书们为一点微薄的工资不知疲倦地工作。
• The widow must live on her slender pittance.那寡妇只能靠自己微薄的收入过活。

16 arsenic   

n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的

参考例句：

• His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
• Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。

17 tumour   

n.(tumor)(肿)瘤，肿块

参考例句：

• The surgeons operated on her for a tumour.外科医生为她施行了肿瘤切除手术。
• The tumour constricts the nerves.肿瘤压迫神经。