时代周刊:外界坐视不理 叙利亚为此付出了多大代价(1)

The Price of Inaction in Syria

外界坐视不理 叙利亚为此付出了多大代价

By Angelina Jolie

文/安吉丽娜·朱莉

A few months into the Syrian conflict in 2011, I visited the Jordanian border at night,

2011年，叙利亚冲突爆发不过三五个月，我便星夜兼程去了约旦边境，

where shell-shocked Syrian families were crossing under cover of darkness to avoid sniper fire.

不少仍未从震惊中回过神来的叙利亚家庭正企图在夜色的掩护下通过边境，以躲避狙击手的火力压制。

A medic at the border post told me about a family who’d recently arrived.

边防哨所的一名医护人员对我讲述了最近刚到边境的一个家庭的故事。

They carried with them their wounded 8-year-old son and his amputated leg.

和他们一同赶路的是他们8岁的儿子，小孩受了伤，一条腿已经只剩半截。

His leg had been severed¹ in an airstrike.

他的腿是被空袭炸断的。

He’d begged them to bring it with them as they fled, in the hope that it could somehow be reattached.

他央求父母逃命时带上他的那截断腿，希望将来有一天还能重新接上。

At the time, I hoped that stories like his might force the world’s rich and mighty² countries to intervene to stop the violence.

当时，我还抱有一丝希望，以为他那样的故事或许能够激发列位大国强国抱打不平，平定叙利亚的干戈。

But now, nearly a decade later, it strikes me as a metaphor³ for the Syrian conflict itself:

然而，如今，时间已经过去了将近10年，我突然觉得，小男孩的故事不过是整个叙利亚冲突的一个缩影：

the shattered innocence⁴ of a generation of children;

一代孩子的纯真变得支离破碎；

the irreversible damage inflicted⁶ upon a secular⁷, multiethnic society;

一个世俗的多民族社会遭受了无可挽回的损失；

and the years of pleas for help that have gone unanswered.

年复一年的求助得不到回应……

I’ve been to the Syrian region some 10 times since the conflict began.

冲突爆发以来，我往返叙利亚地区大概已有10次。

At first, the families I met were hopeful.

起初，我遇到的家庭（对战争结束）还怀抱着些许希望。

They said, “Please, tell people what is happening to us,”

他们说，“请把我们的遭遇告诉大家，”

trusting that once the truth was known, the world would come to their rescue.

他们以为，一旦真相大白，世界就会向他们伸出援手。

But hope curdled⁸ into anger and the struggle for survival:

然后，逐渐的，希望变成了愤怒，变成了生存线上的挣扎：

the anger of the father who held his baby up to me, asking, “Is this a terrorist? Is my son a terrorist?”

变成了把孩子抱到我面前质问我，“这是恐怖分子吗？我儿子是恐怖分子吗？”的父亲眼中的怒火，

and the pain of families I met who faced daily choices about which of their children would get scarce food and medicine.

变成了每天都要面临究竟把少得可怜的食物和药分给哪个孩子的家庭的痛苦。

We’ve seen countless⁹ images of Syrian children asphyxiated¹⁰ by gas,

我们看过无数有关叙利亚儿童被毒气窒息身亡，

maimed by shrapnel, drowned on the shores of Europe or–as I write–freezing to death in the cold of Syria’s Idlib province.

被弹片炸成残废，在欧洲海岸溺水身亡，又或是，像我的文章所写的那样，在叙利亚伊德利卜省的严寒中被冻死的照片。

None of it has been enough to override¹¹ the brutal¹² indifference¹³ of the competing forces and interests contributing to the destruction of Syria.

却没有一张唤醒无情冷漠，互相较劲的势力及利益方的良知，叙利亚的毁灭却是他们一手造成的。

Far from healing Syria’s wounds, the response of some external powers has been to inflict⁵ further injuries, bloodying¹⁴ their hands in the process.

尽管有一些外部势力做出了反应，但他们非但没有治愈，反而加深了叙利亚的伤口，因为他们自己的手也染上了叙利亚人的鲜血。

1 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

3 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

4 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

5 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

6 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

7 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

8 curdled   

v.（使）凝结( curdle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The milk has curdled. 牛奶凝结了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Terror curdled his blood. 恐惧使他心惊胆颤。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

10 asphyxiated   

v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的过去式和过去分词 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人

参考例句：

• The men trapped in the mine were asphyxiated by gas. 那些困在矿井中的人因瓦斯中毒窒息死亡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The men in the coal-mine were asphyxiated by the bad gas. 煤矿坑里的工人们为毒气所窒息。 来自辞典例句

11 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

12 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。

13 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

14 bloodying   

v.血污的( bloody的现在分词 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• Hizbullah rouses region-wide cheers for bloodying Israel's nose. 真主党让以色列满鼻流血，整个地区为之鼓舞喝彩。 来自互联网