Driving into Tripoli is to drive into a ghost city. It looks like a set for a Hollywood apocalypse film.
开车到的黎波里，犹如进入一座死城。看来就像好莱坞拍摄世界末日影片的场景一样。
Instead of a bustling seaside capital of 1.5 million people, we drove Thursday past kilometer and kilometer of shuttered metal storefronts.
它不再是一座拥有一百五十万人口的繁华城市，当我们星期四开车一公里接着一公里地在市区巡行时，眼前所见，尽是些门窗紧闭的店面。
We arrived to find a city stripped of people.
我们看到的是一座荒无人迹的城市。
As shots rang in the distance, only an occasional car or pickup truck raced down glass-strewn streets.
远处传来的是阵阵枪声。偶而，有一辆汽车或小型卡车压着路面的玻璃碎片打这里经过。
Entering from the west, we met checkpoints every block. Tense rebels dressed in tee-shirts, shorts and sandals manned roadblocks improvised from mattresses, even school desks.
我们从西边驶入市区，每一个路口都设有检查哨。紧张的反政府武装的军人穿着套头汗衫，短裤和拖鞋。他们守着临时以床垫和学校书桌等物品堆成的路障。
Heavily armed, they were men from the mountains, unable to direct us to our hotel. Fifteen minutes after we left one beachfront hotel, a firefight erupted outside.
这些荷枪实弹、来自山区的人无法告诉我们如何回到我们住宿的酒店。在我们离开一家海边酒店15分钟后，那里就发生了枪战。
After four days of fighting in the capital, the rebels control about three-quarters of the city. But opposition ranges from single snipers to formations of entrenched Gadhafi loyalists.
经过四天的交火，反对派部队控制了大约四分之三的市区，但是他们仍旧面对从个别狙击手到忠于卡扎菲份子的有组织的对抗。
Our driver took a wrong turn and we soon were traveling alongside the avocado green and mustard yellow of Colonel Gadhafi's six square-kilometer base, breached by the rebels on Tuesday. The base's outer walls bore the signs of a heavy assault - blast marks, burn marks, and holes blown through reinforced concrete by rocket-propelled grenades. All vehicles outside the walls were charred wrecks.
我们的司机转错了方向，结果汽车沿着占地六平方公里的原本是卡扎菲大本营的地方行驶。这个基地上星期二被反政府军攻破。基地外的围墙，满是爆破和焚烧的痕迹，以及火箭榴弹爆炸穿透的弹孔。这些都见证了那场激烈的攻击。墙外的车辆都被烧得只剩下残壳。
While rebels gave journalists tours of the base's underground tunnels, snipers in another part of the sprawling compound blocked rebel attacks. All day long, rumors abounded in the city that the Gadhafi family had been cornered. Each rumor proved false.
反政府军引领着记者参观基地隧道，在基地的另外一边，狙击手正阻挠反政府军的攻击。城里不断有谣言说卡扎菲一家已被逼入困境。结果证明，这些都只是谣言。
Outside the base, we came to a traffic roundabout. With olive green field tents pitched on the grass, it was apparently a temporary rebel base. But the rebels were out fighting.
基地外，我们到了一处环形交叉路口，看到有橄榄绿的帐篷搭在草地上。显然这是反政府军的临时营地。里面的人员都出发打仗去了。
My car circled around slowly, rubber tires crunching on broken glass and spent brass cartridge cases. We passed dozens of smashed up and burnt out cars. Then, three large orange earthmovers blocked our exit. They had been parked sideways, their giant tires shot out, presumably by Gadhafi soldiers hoping to blunt the rebel onslaught.
我的车子沿着环形路口缓慢地开着，车轮压在破碎的玻璃和铜作的弹壳上卜卜作响。我们经过了十几辆被烧毁和撞毁的车辆。三辆桔黄色的推土机挡住我们的出路。它们横着停在路上，车胎被枪打破了。可能是忠于卡扎菲的士兵干的，目的在于阻挡反对派的攻势。
In the pocket of green in the traffic circle, I spotted eight corpses swelling in the bright Mediterranean sun. They were dressed in civilian clothes, probably rebels caught in a counterattack.
在交叉路口旁绿色的草地上，我发现了八具在地中海阳光下曝晒浮肿的尸体。他们都穿着平民服装，也许是在政府军反攻时阵亡的反政府军人员。
Our driver took another wrong turn. A huge heroic poster of Colonel Gadhafi suddenly loomed from a building, untouched. Within minutes, our car was surrounded by unidentified men carrying automatic weapons.
我们的驾驶又转错了方向。突然，我们看到一座建筑物墙上悬挂着卡扎菲完整无损的巨大画像。几分钟后，一群不明来路、手持自动武器的人包围了我们的车子。
Then, a rebel pickup truck convoy rounded a corner and sped toward us. I have never seen so many armed men packed in the back of a pickup truck.
然后，一辆反政府军的小卡车从街边一角疾驶过来。我从来没有见过一辆小卡车上装载这么多的人。
On seeing the VOA TV camera, they raised their right arms to flash V for Victory signs. They shouted "Allahu Akhbar" or God is Great.
当他们看见有美国之音标识的摄影机时，都举起右手，作出象征胜利的V字型，并且高呼“真主伟大”。
Soon we were on our way, going the wrong way down one-way streets, running red lights, to our hotel. Fifteen minutes and fifteen checkpoints later, we entered our destination.
我们继续赶我们的路。这次我们在单行道上逆行，又闯了红灯，朝我们酒店的方向驶去。我们整整走了15分钟，经过15个检查哨，才到达目的地。
Rebels had laid out a new welcome mat, the Colonel Gadhafi portrait that once graced the lobby wall.
酒店门口，反政府军铺上了一张新的迎宾地毯。那是卡扎菲的肖像，原来挂在酒店大厅墙上的。 |