英国卫报：残酷的斗羊世界(4)

I wandered on until I found a space that looked like it had, until quite recently, been an electronics or dried goods shop.

我继续往前走，直到我发现一个空间，直到临近，它看起来还是一个电子产品或干货店。

It was now brimming with sheep.

现在这里满是羊群。

Two men watching over them greeted me with curiosity.

两个看守羊群的人好奇地问候我。

Sofiane was over 6ft tall, built like a water tower, with a wide belly¹ and spindly legs.

索菲恩身高超过6英尺，身材像一座水塔，腹部宽大，腿部骨节粗壮。

Hafid, with his bulging², veiny³ neck and sweet eyes set in a flat-nosed, unbreakable face, bore an uncanny resemblance to a fighting sheep.

哈菲德的脖子鼓鼓的，长满了青筋，甜美的眼睛镶嵌在平坦的鼻梁上，牢不可破，与一只斗羊有着惊人的相似之处。

Neither appeared to notice when two young men across the street started pounding one another.

当街对面的两个年轻人开始互相殴打时，两人似乎都没有注意到。

When I introduced myself as a writer researching sheep fighting, Sofiane looked faintly disturbed, and suggested it wasn't an appropriate sport for women.

当我介绍自己是研究斗羊的作家时，索菲恩显得有些不安，并表示这不是一项适合女性的运动。

"Do research on peacocks instead," he sniffed⁴.

“不如研究一下孔雀吧，”他说道。

Nevertheless, they led me around the corner, lifted the clattering⁵ shutters⁶ of a garage door, and took me inside.

尽管如此，他们还是把我领到拐角处，掀开车库门上哗哗作响的百叶窗，把我带进去。

Two burly four-year-old rams⁸ rattled⁹ their chains and tried to butt¹⁰ at us.

两只粗壮的四岁公羊摇晃着它们的链子，试图向我们靠拢。

The sheep belonged to Hafid.

这些羊是属于哈菲德的。

Sofiane had retired¹¹ from sheep fighting five years ago.

索菲德五年前就已经退出了斗羊的行列。

It was against Islam, he said, to be cruel to animals; sheep were for slaughter¹², not sport.

他说，残酷对待动物是违反伊斯兰教的；羊是用来宰杀的，不是用来运动的。

Although he had quitit was clear he couldn't quite leave it behind.

虽然他已经退出了，但很明显他不能完全抛开它。

He still lived on the margins¹³ of the sport, pouring his broad-bellied frame into the same Lacoste tracksuits and Adidas trainers as the other handlers,

他仍然生活在这项运动的边缘，把他宽大的身躯塞进和其他驯兽师一样的拉科斯特运动服和阿迪达斯运动鞋里，

calling and messaging at all hours to track the ram⁷ market, and hosting kbabshis who sometimes drove 500 miles to see a match.

随时打电话和发信息来跟踪公羊市场，并接待有时驱车500英里来看比赛的kbabshis。

He drew the line, though, at watching fights and raising fighters.

不过，他对观看比赛和养育斗士划清了界限。

When a ram turns three, he is ready to fight, and his trainer shaves him and decorates him with henna.

当公羊长到三岁时，它就可以参加比赛了，他的训练师会给它剃毛，并用指甲花装饰它。

Designs range from the minimalist – a touch of red here and there – to the baroque.

设计的范围从极简主义——这里和那里的一抹红色——到巴洛克风格。

I once saw a sheep with a great white shark stencilled¹⁴ on his flank.

我曾经看到一只羊的侧腹上印有一条大白鲨的图案。

Another was led out wearing what looked like a freshly skinned cheetah¹⁵.

另一只羊被牵出来时，身上穿着看起来像刚剥了皮的猎豹。

The ram will toughen with age and experience, peaking around age seven.

公羊会随着年龄和经验的增长而变得坚韧，在7岁左右达到顶峰。

Lentils and long walks, Sofiane told me, were the keys to success.

Sofiane告诉我，扁豆和长时间的散步是成功的关键。

The ram reaches champion status when he has defeated a dozen foes¹⁶.

当公羊击败了十几个敌人时，它就达到了冠军的地位。

Then, the sport's most passionate¹⁷ fans will tell you, the mere¹⁸ mention of his name instils¹⁹ fear across all 48 provinces of Algeria.

然后，这项运动最热情的粉丝会告诉你，只要提到他的名字，在阿尔及利亚的所有48个省份中人们都会感到恐惧。

Heated neighbourhood and regional rivalries²⁰ play out on the pitch, with a particularly fierce enmity between sheep from the capital, Algiers, a latecomer to the sport, and the more established and deadly rams of Annaba, birthplace of champions and reigning²¹ capital of sheep combat.

激烈的邻里关系和地区竞争在球场上上演，来自首都阿尔及尔的羊与来自安纳巴的更成熟和致命的公羊之间有着特别激烈的敌意，安纳巴是冠军的诞生地和羊群战斗的卫冕之都。

Sofiane and Hafid started excitedly listing champions' names: "Vagabond!" "Macro!" "Sirocco!" Sofiane caught himself and grew quiet.

苏菲安和哈菲德开始兴奋地列出冠军的名字：“Vagabond！” “Macro！” “Sirocco！”索菲恩抓住自己，渐渐安静下来。

1 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

2 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

3 veiny   

adj.纹理状的

参考例句：

4 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 clattering   

发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Typewriters keep clattering away. 打字机在不停地嗒嗒作响。
• The typewriter was clattering away. 打字机啪嗒啪嗒地响着。

6 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

7 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

8 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

9 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

10 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

13 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

14 stencilled   

v.用模板印（文字或图案）( stencil的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He then stencilled the ceiling with a moon and stars motif. 他随后用模版在天花板上印上了月亮和繁星图案。 来自辞典例句
• Each cage was stencilled with the name and the brand of the bull-breeder. 每只笼子上都印有公牛饲养人的姓名和商标。 来自辞典例句

15 cheetah   

n.(动物)猎豹

参考例句：

• The cheetah is generally credited as the world's fastest animal.猎豹被公认是世界上跑得最快的动物。
• The distribution of the cheetah ranges from Africa to Central Asia.印度豹的足迹遍及从非洲到中亚的广大地区。

16 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。

17 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

18 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

19 instils   

v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instil的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Providing first instils a sense of obligation in that person to help in return. 先给予的做法可以灌输一种责任感给那个人，使其回过头来帮助对方。 来自互联网

20 rivalries   

n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new government was torn by rivalries. 新政府由于各派对立而四分五裂。 来自辞典例句
• Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting. 竞争会带来痛苦、仇恨，或者引起争斗。 来自互联网

21 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。