2020年经济学人 部落演员安东尼奥·萨尔瓦多(4)

The rubber barons¹ who had destroyed his family and much of the region in the early 20th century had been only the bloodiest² in a string of invaders³ and exploiters going back, he reckoned, to Columbus's time. And their place had now been taken by narcotraficantes, by loggers and miners doing "black" or illegal work while governments did nothing, and even by the tourists who took quick day-trips from the cities, threw their money around and left again, proclaiming that all was well.

安东尼奥认为，在哥伦布时代以来的一系列入侵者和剥削者中，在20世纪早期摧毁他的家人和这个地区大部分的橡胶大亨们是最血腥的一批人。他们的地方现在被毒贩子、伐木工和矿工所占据，这些人从事“黑色”或非法的工作，而政府却毫无作为，甚至还有城市里来的一日游观光游客，他们到处花钱后拍屁股走人，然后宣称这里一切都好。

All was not well. The Amazon, as he constantly repeated, was the lungs of the world, the great purifying filter of all its modern filth⁴. Those lungs had a cancer now, and if it went on growing both they, and all living things, would be finished. Like Karamakate, he had to pass on this truth to his white brothers. The rainforest and its tribes must be supported and protected against invaders.

一切都不好。正如他不断重复的那样，亚马逊是世界之肺，是现代一切污物的伟大净化器。现在这个肺患了癌症，如果情况继续恶化的话，亚马逊和所有生命都会终结。就像老卡拉马凯那样，他得把这个真理传递给他的白人兄弟们。必须支持和保护热带雨林及其部落，使其免受外来入侵。

He did not include among those the new illness that crept (from Brazil, the government feared), into his home town of Leticia, where Brazil, Peru and Colombia all met on the great river, and where most of the people were indigenous⁵. For a while, infection rates there were Colombia's worst. He caught it at the end of April. But he still had bigger worries. Often he felt like one of those dogs that went on barking, yap! yap! yap! Until everyone was tired of it. He refused to be patted quiet. As he spoke⁶ of the dog he writhed⁷ and barked, while his blue eyes continued to smile with a wisdom barely known in the wider world, and fast vanishing.

他没有把蔓延到自己家乡莱蒂西亚的新疾病（政府担心从巴西传来）包括在内，在那里，巴西、秘鲁和哥伦比亚都在这条大河上交汇，那里的居民大多是土著居民。有段时间，那里的感染率是哥伦比亚最高的。四月末，他感染了新冠肺炎。但是他有更大的担忧。安东尼奥常常觉得自己就像一只不停吠叫的狗。汪汪汪！直到每个人都厌倦了。他就是不肯安静下来。当他说到那条狗时，他就扭动着，叫着，而他蓝色的眼睛继续微笑，带着一种在大千世界里几乎不存在的智慧，很快就消失了。

1 barons   

男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨

参考例句：

• The barons of Normandy had refused to countenance the enterprise officially. 诺曼底的贵族们拒绝正式赞助这桩买卖。
• The barons took the oath which Stephen Langton prescribed. 男爵们照斯蒂芬？兰顿的指导宣了誓。

2 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

3 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

4 filth   

n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥

参考例句：

• I don't know how you can read such filth.我不明白你怎么会去读这种淫秽下流的东西。
• The dialogue was all filth and innuendo.这段对话全是下流的言辞和影射。

5 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 writhed   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He writhed at the memory, revolted with himself for that temporary weakness. 他一想起来就痛悔不已，只恨自己当一时糊涂。
• The insect, writhed, and lay prostrate again. 昆虫折腾了几下，重又直挺挺地倒了下去。