TED演讲:见证现代奴役的照片(7)

 My interpreter told me their stories. We have no freedom, they said.  翻译告诉我他们的故事。我们没有自由，他们说道。

We hope still, though, that we could leave this house someday and go someplace else where we actually get paid for our dyeing. 可我们还是希望，哪天可以逃离这个屋子去其他的地方,在那里工作能拿到报酬

It's estimated that more than 4,000 children are enslaved on Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world.  据估计，有超过4000名儿童在沃尔特湖水库被奴役,那里是世界上最大的人工湖。

When we first arrived, I went to have a quick look.  我们一到那里，我就去看了个大概。

I saw what seemed to be a family fishing on a boat, two older brothers, some younger kids, makes sense right?  我看到似乎是一家人在船上捕鱼，两个哥哥，几个小点的孩子，挺像的吧？

Wrong. They were all enslaved.  错！他们都是奴隶。

Children are taken from their families and trafficked and vanished, 孩子们从家里被带出来被贩卖，

and they're forced to work endless hours on these boats on the lake, even though they do not know how to swim. 被迫在船上无休止的工作，他们在湖上工作，甚至还不会游泳。

This young child is eight years old.  这个小男孩8岁大。

He was trembling when our boat approached, frightened it would run over his tiny canoe.  当我们的船靠近的时候他在发抖，他怕我们的船会撞上上他的独木舟。

He was petrified¹ he would be knocked in the water.  他很害怕会掉到水里。

The skeletal tree limbs submerged in Lake Volta often catch the fishing nets, 湖面下浸着些树的枝干经常会挂住渔网，

and weary, frightened children are thrown into the water to untether the lines. Many of them drown.  这些疲惫、害怕的孩子们就被扔到水中去解开渔网。很多人都淹死了。

For as long as he can recall, he's been forced to work on the lake. 从他记事开始，就被迫在湖上工作。

Terrified of his master, he will not run away, and since he's been treated with cruelty all his life,  他非常害怕主人，不敢逃跑，由于他从小就被残酷对待，

he passes that down to the younger slaves that he manages. 他也用同样的方法对待比他小的奴隶。

1 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》