美国国家公共电台 NPR--San Antonio residents create a touching Día de Muertos tribute to Uvalde

San Antonio residents create a touching¹ Día de Muertos tribute to Uvalde

Transcript²

In San Antonio, residents are honoring the 21 people killed in the Uvalde school shooting with Día de los Muertos altars.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

On this holiday, Dia de los Muertos, a time when families remember loved ones that have passed, people in South Texas have built public ofrendas, colorful altars to pay tribute to those who died in the Uvalde school shooting this year. Texas Public Radio's Jack³ Morgan visited the display.

JACK MORGAN, BYLINE⁴: At San Antonio's Muertos Fest, 80 altars were set up throughout the tree-shaded downtown site. They all had orange marigold flowers, painted skulls⁵, and most included some kind of food the departed loved to eat. But one of the displays was extra touching.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: These flowers here, right?

MORGAN: Twenty makeshift classroom desks honoring those who died in last May's elementary school shooting in Uvalde.

JENNIFER ARCE: I don't want to rehash those wounds. It was something I wanted to be very respectful for this project.

MORGAN: Jennifer Arce teaches art at Lanier High School. She and her students came up with the idea to honor the Uvalde victims. The altar comes in 20 large parts, one for every Uvalde student, and one for the teachers who died.

ARCE: Each student has their own individual desk. And then we have a teacher desk. That's for the two teachers.

MORGAN: Senior Lexie Mieto's desk honors fourth-grader Jacklyn Cazares. The picture of Jacklyn shows her in a formal white dress.

LEXIE MIETO: She wanted to be a vet⁶. And I know I really focused on that by putting, like, a paw print and then including the four dogs she had.

KYE BLACKBURN: To really look at those pictures and think that somebody went to an elementary school and did those things to those innocent children - really, it really hurts.

MORGAN: Kye Blackburn worked with Mieto. He says remembering them in this way is important.

BLACKBURN: We've actually looked up information on every individual student to make sure that we got everything right, what they liked. We made sure we got every detail of the students. So whenever their parents can look at that, they can feel like their child is with them.

MORGAN: Teacher Arce says she's very aware that school shootings happen more often.

ARCE: And that's something that always weighs heavy in the back of my mind because it could happen at my school one day. And I would do the same thing that those teachers did. I would protect my students.

MORGAN: At Muertos Fest, Santiago Jimenez Jr. sings on stage as people move through the displays.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SANTIAGO JIMENEZ JR: (Singing in Spanish).

MORGAN: Many stop at the Lanier altar, taking pictures. Some wipe away tears, remembering what happened in Uvalde when a gunman burst into the school, and for more than an hour, police stood by and did little. Leslie Kamara was taking it all in with her son and responded in a way perhaps only a mother could have meant.

LESLIE KAMARA: Every time I hear news like this, where my babies? Are they OK? How would I move heaven and earth to get to them? And all of that was brought to life in that massacre⁷ - These parents who couldn't get to their kids and the police who made no effort to get to these babies. And legislators fail over and over and over again to protect us and our babies.

MORGAN: A woman in a salmon-colored dress with flowery headgear moved slowly through the desks, dabbing⁸ at tears. Cynthia Cantu drove 4 hours from Brownsville to attend Muertos Fest.

CYNTHIA CANTU: I'm a teacher, a retired⁹ teacher. And this just touches my heart. It's hard.

MORGAN: She said seeing all the pictures of the children made her think of her own and their good fortune.

CANTU: As a mother of two children that have been able to see their lives in college and, as a professional, my daughter in her career, it is very touching. God bless the children and their parents.

MORGAN: Lanier art teacher Jennifer Arce said that the Uvalde parents of the slain¹⁰ children would be welcome to take home their child's desk if they want to. For NPR News, I'm Jack Morgan in San Antonio.

(SOUNDBITE OF CALEXICO'S "RITUAL ROAD MAP")

1 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

6 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

7 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

8 dabbing   

石面凿毛，灰泥抛毛

参考例句：

• She was crying and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. 她一边哭一边用手绢轻按眼睛。
• Huei-fang was leaning against a willow, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. 四小姐蕙芳正靠在一棵杨柳树上用手帕揉眼睛。 来自子夜部分

9 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。

10 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。