时代周刊:波特兰抗议者自述(1)

I was shot by federal agents while protesting in Portland

我在波特兰抗议时被联邦特工枪击了

By Ellen Urbani

文/艾伦·厄巴尼

Our president wants you to believe I am a terrorist,

我们的总统想让你们相信我就是个恐怖分子，

a professional agitator¹ stalking the Pacific Northwest.

一个潜伏在太平洋西北地区的职业煽动分子。

Four days before federal agents shoot me in Portland, Ore.,

联邦特工在俄勒冈州波特兰枪击了我，就在他们枪击我的四天前，

I riffle through the garage, shooing spiders from my son's snowboarding helmet.

我还在车库里上蹿下跳，试着将蜘蛛从我儿子的滑雪头盔上赶走。

Will it buckle² beneath a steel baton³?

滑雪头盔会被钢制的警棍敲扁吗？

I press my daughter's swim goggles⁴ to my face, testing the fit.

我又把女儿的泳镜放在脸上比划了下，看是否合适。

Can they repel⁵ tear gas?

这副泳镜能挡住催泪瓦斯吗？

I run my hands over my husband's life jacket.

我用手摸了摸我丈夫的救生衣。

Can it stop a bullet?

救生衣能挡住子弹吗？

I don't yet realize how many other moms are slipping oven mitts⁶ into backpacks

不知道还有多少母亲会把隔热手套塞进背包

(to minimize burns when tossing aside flaming grenades and tear-gas canisters),

（为了最大限度地减少被扔出来的燃烧的手榴弹和催泪瓦斯烧伤)，

how many dads are hoisting⁷ leaf blowers from sheds (to clear tear gas),

不知道有多少父亲会拿出棚屋里的吹叶机（为了吹散催泪瓦斯），

how many teens are gathering⁸ plastic toboggans to shield themselves from officers in combat fatigues⁹

也不知道有多少中学生在开始收集塑料雪橇，为了保护自己不受身穿作战服，

aiming stun-grenade launchers through temporary fencing around the federal courthouse.

躲在联邦法院周围的临时围栏后瞄准震撼弹发射器的警察伤到。

This is what happens when you rattle¹⁰ the barricade¹¹ that policy makers¹² hide behind,

这就是你朝后面躲着政策制定者的路障冲击时会发生的情况，

screaming "Black lives matter," protesting for 60-plus nights the brutal¹³ tactics officers use

这就是你口中高喊“黑人的命也是命”，一连60个晚上抗议警察

to kill Black men on camera and Black women in beds.

杀害镜头里的黑人和睡梦中的黑人时采用的残忍策略时会发生的情况。

The night I am shot, the sky shimmers¹⁴ with a leftover¹⁵ Fourth of July firework

我被打中的那天晚上，天空还曾闪烁零星的7月4日（国庆节）的烟花，

lit by a privileged son whose college closed in the spring.

放烟花的是我的一个儿子，他所在的大学今春就已停学。

He is here because Black lives matter to him

他之所以会过来是因为他认为黑人的命也很珍贵，

but also because he senses the video game he now plays nightly has sprung to life and he won't be left out.

同时也是因为他感觉到他如今经常在夜晚玩的视频游戏已经活跃起来，他不会再有被排斥的感觉了。

That boy is pretext¹⁶, he and his friends tossing plastic water bottles at stone walls,

这个孩子，这个和朋友往石墙上扔塑料水瓶的孩子只是个借口，

justification¹⁷ for an elite¹⁸ force to quell¹⁹ a gathering of Black people and their allies at the door of the same courthouse

是特种部队平息黑人及其盟友聚集在法院门口抗议的理由，

where four years earlier the white militiamen who led an armed takeover of another federal building in Oregon

就在四年前，煽动武装占领俄勒冈州另一座联邦大楼的白人民兵

were acquitted²⁰ of any wrongdoing in a 41-day siege.

持续围困联邦大楼41天后得到的判决结果却是无罪。

I listen to a Black man on the Justice Center steps invoke²¹ the memory of John Lewis

聆听一个黑人站在司法中心台阶上的演讲唤起了我们对约翰·刘易斯的记忆，

while thousands of doctors, veterans, teachers, attorneys stand peacefully, our hands in the air.

成千上万的医生、退伍军人、教师和律师和平地站在下面，高举着我们的双手。

1 agitator   

n.鼓动者；搅拌器

参考例句：

• Hitler's just a self-educated street agitator.希特勒无非是个自学出身的街头煽动家罢了。
• Mona had watched him grow into an arrogant political agitator.莫娜瞧着他成长为一个高傲的政治鼓动家。

2 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

3 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

4 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

5 repel   

v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥

参考例句：

• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。
• Particles with similar electric charges repel each other.电荷同性的分子互相排斥。

6 mitts   

n.露指手套，棒球手套，拳击手套( mitt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I'd love to get my mitts on one of those. 我很想得到一个那样的东西。
• Those are my cigarettes; get your mitts off them. 那是我的香烟，别动它。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 hoisting   

起重，提升

参考例句：

• The hoisting capacity of that gin pole (girder pole, guy derrick) is sixty tons. 那个起重抱杆（格状抱杆、转盘抱杆）的起重能力为60吨。 来自口语例句
• We must use mechanical hoisting to load the goods. 我们必须用起重机来装载货物。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 fatigues   

n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服

参考例句：

• The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练，而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句

10 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

11 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

12 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 shimmers   

n.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的名词复数 )v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The hot pavement sent up shimmers. 晒热的道路浮起热气晃动的景象。 来自辞典例句
• Sunlight shimmers on the waters of the bay. 阳光在海湾的水面上闪烁。 来自辞典例句

15 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

16 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

17 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

18 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

19 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

20 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

21 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。