2020年经济学人 产科医师凯瑟琳·哈姆林(2)

They all had terrible internal injuries, such as had not been seen in Europe, America or Australia since the 19th century. Here these were endemic, owing to the malnutrition¹ that meant the bodies of Ethiopian girls remained small. The attitude of the Ethiopian Orthodox church which encouraged child marriage—to keep girls virtuous², they insisted—only made things worse, as did the lack of obstetric care, especially in rural areas. Betrothed³ at eight or nine, girls would find themselves pregnant in their early teens.

他们都患有严重的内伤，这种情况自19世纪以来在欧洲、美国或澳大利亚从未发生过。在埃塞俄比亚，由于营养不良，女孩的身体仍然很小，在这里这是很常见的情况。埃塞俄比亚东正教鼓励童婚的态度-他们坚持认为这可以保持女孩的贞洁-还有产科护理的缺失，都使事情变得更糟，尤其是在农村地区。女孩们在八九岁就和人订婚，然后在十几岁的时候就怀孕了。

When they went into labour, sometimes with no one to help but a wogesha, a village doctor offering a potion made of herbs, it went on and on. There was nothing to do but squat⁴ and push, often for five or six days. If the fetus⁵ did not survive, the only reason the mother could eventually deliver was because babies get smaller when they are dead. But then, as she discovered, the mother wakes up to an even greater horror: her bed is soaked and stinks⁶. Her protracted⁷ labour has left her so badly injured that her vagina has ruptured⁸, her bladder is shredded⁹, her rectum torn. Urine and faeces leak out of her without cease. Soon, her husband leaves her.

当他们要分娩的时候，有时除了一名“沃格沙”之外没有任何人帮忙，“沃格沙”是提供草药制成的药剂的乡村医生，就这样循环往复。他们除了蹲坐着往外推之外，常常会持续五六天，别无他法。如果胎儿没有存活下来，母亲最终能够分娩的唯一原因是婴儿死后会变小。但是，当她醒来的时候，她发现了一件更可怕的事情：她的床又湿又臭。长期的分娩使她严重受伤，阴道破裂，膀胱破裂，直肠撕裂。尿和粪便不停地从她身上漏出来。不久，她的丈夫就会离开她。

Her family and her village community turn their backs on her. She lies on her bed, her legs drawn¹⁰ up to her chin to try to stem the flow; shame is her only company. The Hamlins would sit up late into the night in their little mudbuilt house in the hospital grounds, studying the history of obstetric fistula, as these injuries were known, which was first written about in 1550bc. They went over the evolution of the treatment, rereading the autobiography¹¹ of Marion Sims, who, in the 1850s had treated similar injuries among American slave women.

她的家人和她所在的村庄都背弃了她。她躺在床上，两腿抵着下巴，试图阻止水流；陪着她的只有羞耻。哈姆林一家常常在医院空地上的泥房里熬到深夜，研究产科瘘管病的历史，这些损伤就是产科瘘管病，它最早记录于公元前1550年。他们回顾了其治疗方法的演变过程，重读了马里昂·西姆斯的自传。在19世纪50年代，西姆斯曾治疗过患类似伤病的美国奴隶妇女。

1 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

2 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

3 betrothed   

n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She is betrothed to John. 她同约翰订了婚。
• His daughter was betrothed to a teacher. 他的女儿同一个教师订了婚。

4 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。

5 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

6 stinks   

v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• The whole scheme stinks to high heaven—don't get involved in it. 整件事十分卑鄙龌龊——可别陷了进去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soup stinks of garlic. 这汤有大蒜气味。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

9 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。