尼泊尔偏远地区灾民的艰难处境

尼泊尔偏远地区灾民的艰难处境

SINDHUPOLCHAK, NEPAL— Nepal is still coming to grips with the full extent of the devastation¹ and misery² caused by last Saturday’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake. Some of the hardest-hit communities have been cut off by landslides³, making it difficult to assess the precise toll⁴ of casualties and destruction.

A VOA News crew has been among the first to reach a few of the smaller, remote communities. The Sindhupolchak district, 100 kilometers east of Kathmandu, suffered greatly in Nepal’s worst quake in more than 80 years.

The small fishing village of Majigaon, on the banks of the Indravati River, exists on few maps. Now, it has been wiped off the map.

印德拉瓦迪河河岸的小渔村马迪甘在很多地图上都找不到，如今已经被从地图上彻底铲掉了。

All 50 stone and wood homes tumbled in an instant when the quake shattered Nepal.

当这场地震震撼尼泊尔时，这里的50座石质和木质房屋都在震动。

To reach Majigaon, a VOA news crew drove for hours over roads just cleared of landslides, and then hiked down a steep path on a terraced paddy field.

要想抵达马迪甘村，美国之音的一个新闻小组沿着泥石流被清除的道路驾车数小时，然后从一块阶梯稻田上的陡峭小路上下来。

Five people died there. One teenaged boy is missing and about 20 villagers were injured.

这个村子有5人丧生，一名少年失踪，还有大约20名村民受伤。

Akash Maji said that when those from Majigaon went to the closest town where aid was being distributed, they found it all already in the hands of relatively⁵ well-off shopkeepers whose properties were not seriously damaged.

阿卡什·麻吉说当马迪甘村的村民们来到有援助分发的最近城镇时，发现援助物资已经落入那些相对富裕且其财产受损不大的店主手中。

“We are in a helpless state. We don’t have a place to stay nor anything to eat,” said Maji.

“我们已经无依无靠，没有地方住，也没有东西吃。”

Majigaon has existed for generations, but the fishermen are now debating whether they should bother to rebuild here.

马迪甘村已经存在几代了，但这些渔民们现在在为是否在这里重建家园进行辩论。

“If we construct the same kind of structure, similar incidents are going to occur. We don’t have the money to build stronger houses. And who is going to care about us? If an NGO or some social agency comes forward to help us, we are saved. Otherwise we have nothing with which to survive,” said Narayan Krishna Maji, a quake survivor⁶.

“如果我们用同样的结构来建造房屋，那么类似的事故还会发生。我们没有钱建造更结实的房屋，谁会来关心我们呢？如果有非政府组织或社会机构来帮助我们，我们就能得救，否则我们没有立足所依靠的东西。”

In nearby Ratomatey, in the Himalayan foothills, 12 people died. None of the red clay and stone structures are habitable.

在附近Ratomatey的喜马拉雅山山麓，有12人丧生，这些红色泥灰和砖头建造的房屋都无法居住了。

There are not just human casualties but also livestock⁷ that have been lost. Trapped beneath fallen structures are goats, chickens and cows. A buffalo⁸ that survived has already been taken away. These things are a huge financial loss for people on a subsistence living.

不仅有人员伤亡，也有牲畜失踪。在下面坍塌建筑里被困的有山羊、鸡和牛，一头幸存的水牛已经被带走，对于仅可糊口的人们来说，这是巨大的财产损失。

Injured survivors⁹ wait for help. It may be days or weeks before it reaches them.

受伤的幸存者在等待援救，可能要等数天或数周才能等到援助前来。

On the road back to Kathmandu, a woman who had been extricated¹⁰ from the rubble¹¹ of her home was placed on the roadside.

在通往加德满都的道路上，一名被从自家房屋废墟中解救出来的妇女被安置在路边。

She had lain beside her dead husband for five days, suffering from what appeared to be a broken back.

她在自己死去的丈夫身边躺了几天了，因为背部受伤而痛苦不堪。

The town’s only ambulance was in service elsewhere. Without money to pay for transportation, there would be no ride to a hospital.

该镇唯一的救护车在其他地方忙着，因为没有坐车的钱，所以没人愿意让她搭车去医院。

A policeman finally flagged down a passing truck, convincing the reluctant driver to take her to the nearest medical center.

最终一名警察打手势让一辆过路的卡车停下，说服这名不情愿的司机将她带到最近的医疗中心。

The stretcher was lifted into the back for a bumpy¹² one-hour ride.

然后担架被放到车后去，需要颠簸一小时才能到达。

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

3 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

7 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

8 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

9 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

10 extricated   

v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The meeting seemed to be endless, but I extricated myself by saying I had to catch a plane. 会议好象没完没了，不过我说我得赶飞机，才得以脱身。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She extricated herself from her mingled impulse to deny and guestion. 她约束了自己想否认并追问的不可明状的冲动。 来自辞典例句

11 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

12 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。