美国国家公共电台 NPR--Post Taliban takeover: Riding a bike is out of the question for Afghan women

Post Taliban takeover: Riding a bike is out of the question for Afghan women

Transcript¹

As Afghanistan's economy declines, more people are relying on bikes to get around. But women and girls who rode bikes before the Taliban takeover no longer have the option.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, in the 1990s, the country seemed to take a step backward in time. The group banned television, for example. This time around, Taliban rule has made it hard for people to afford fuel, so some Afghans are swapping² their cars for bicycles. NPR's Diaa Hadid reports.

DIAA HADID, BYLINE³: It's late afternoon, and folks head home from work the usual ways - bus, taxi, car and motorbike.

(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLES HONKING)

HADID: But weaving between them is a new kind of commuter⁴.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

HADID: A fellow with a turban and vest dashes through openings between cars with files in his basket. Another in tattered⁵ clothes carts a giant bag of apples strapped⁶ to the back of his bike. Teenage boys in school uniforms whiz down the road, racing⁷ each other.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOTOR RUNNING)

HADID: The commuters include 25-year-old Ahmad Fahim, who's pedaling home from his job as a radiologist. He scoots to the curb⁸ to talk to NPR producer Fazelminallah Qazizai.

AHMAD FAHIM: (Through interpreter) Most of my colleagues have bought bikes because the economy is so weak, and the fuel is expensive. Everyone's getting a bike.

HADID: Fahim says his salary was slashed⁹ last year because there just weren't that many paying patients. To save money, Fahim purchased a secondhand Chinese-made bike for $45. That's half his monthly wage. His situation is a small glimpse into how the economy has unraveled since the Taliban seized power in August last year. Western countries propping¹¹ up the previous Afghan government halted their aid. Sanctions on Taliban leaders caused banking¹² and trade to seize up. Then fuel and food prices rose after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The U.N. says most folks here are going hungry, and even those who are still working are feeling the squeeze. Afghans who might have taken a bus or a shared taxicab to get about the city are looking for something cheaper. And bike shops are doing a brisk trade, like the family operation run by 25-year-old Tawfik Shirzad. We meet him while he pumps the customer's deflated¹³ tires.

(SOUNDBITE OF AIR PUMPING)

HADID: Shirzad says he used to sell bikes for kids and teenagers. Now most of his customers are adult men. He's never been busier.

TAWFIK SHIRZAD: (Through interpreter) But it makes me sad. When people buy a bike from me, it means their livelihood¹⁴ is in trouble. I can't be happy.

HADID: Shirzad's shop has rows of gleaming new bikes. Green, blue and red bells dangle¹⁵ from a ceiling hook. His customers want none of that. They're here for the row of secondhand bikes in the corner, clunkers imported from India and China, their prices ranging from $5 to $20.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOTOR RUNNING)

HADID: On the streets, it's clear many cyclists are making do. Bikes are jerry-rigged together. Plastic crates¹⁶ are lashed¹⁰ on for baskets. Some headlights look enormous, like they've been taken from motorbikes. It's unclear how they wire them to work. Sidewalk booths for quick repairs have mushroomed through the city. One repair man complained that three other shops opened recently in his neighborhood, siphoning off business. Abdul Matin Amani's hole in the wall is one of those new repair shops.

(SOUNDBITE OF BIKE PART HITTING GROUND)

HADID: Amani gave up his taxi business because he couldn't afford to drive around anymore looking for customers.

ABDUL MATIN AMANI: (Non-English language spoken).

HADID: He says he learned to fix bikes in the mid-'90s, when the Taliban first seized power of Afghanistan.

AMANI: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

AMANI: (Non-English language spoken).

HADID: Back then, he says, Afghans also commuted¹⁷ by bike because the economy was in tatters. That first period of Taliban rule ended in 2001. And as the economy grew under the next two decades under Western-backed governments, Kabul's streets filled with cars and traffic jams. Fewer people were riding bikes.

But during that time, a growing number of Afghan women began cycling recreationally. They were pushing back on a notion in Afghan society that it was shameful¹⁸ for them to get on a bike - like 19-year-old Lama. We meet on a street and walk into a restaurant. She requests we don't use her full name because her family fears persecution¹⁹ at the hands of Taliban officials. She says she used to pedal her brother's bike around her Kabul neighborhood. She loved cycling in the rain.

LAMA: Riding a bicycle in the rain, it could really feel to me happy. So it was like a different world, different nature.

HADID: Now riding a bike is out of the question. The Taliban have told women to cover up and stay home.

LAMA: When you see other men can do that and you can't do that, it feels like injustice²⁰. It really hurts.

HADID: And while Lama knows all the men now riding bikes is a sign of economic ruin, for her, it's another reminder²¹ of all the things women can't do in the Taliban's Afghanistan.

Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Kabul.

1 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。

2 swapping   

交换，交换技术

参考例句：

• The slow swapping and buying of horses went on. 马匹的买卖和交换就是这样慢慢地进行着。
• He was quite keen on swapping books with friends. 他非常热衷于和朋友们交换书籍。

3 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。

4 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

5 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

6 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

8 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

9 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 propping   

支撑

参考例句：

• You can usually find Jack propping up the bar at his local. 你常常可以看见杰克频繁出没于他居住的那家酒店。
• The government was accused of propping up declining industries. 政府被指责支持日益衰败的产业。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

13 deflated   

adj. 灰心丧气的

参考例句：

• I was quite deflated by her lack of interest in my suggestions.他对我的建议兴趣不大，令我感到十分气馁。
• He was deflated by the news.这消息令他泄气。

14 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

15 dangle   

v.(使)悬荡，(使)悬垂

参考例句：

• At Christmas,we dangle colored lights around the room.圣诞节时，我们在房间里挂上彩灯。
• He sits on the edge of the table and dangles his legs.他坐在桌子边上，摆动著双腿。

16 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

17 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

18 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

19 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

20 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

21 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。