美国国家公共电台 NPR--A year later: How 3 elderly people in Ukraine are surviving in a time of war

A year later: How 3 elderly people in Ukraine are surviving in a time of war

Transcript¹

Not everyone can evacuate² when there is war. A year ago in Kyiv, NPR profiled three elderly residents who stayed behind — unwilling³ or unable to leave. A year later, we find out how they are doing.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

In the first month of Russia's war with Ukraine, the city of Kyiv was largely empty. About half of its nearly 3 million residents fled to western parts of Ukraine or abroad. But not everyone could evacuate. Many who stayed behind were elderly. They either couldn't or would not leave. NPR's Elissa Nadworny introduced us to some of those residents back in March of 2022. She recently traveled back to Kyiv to speak with them again.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE⁴: When I visited the Soviet-style apartment block a year ago, just a handful of residents remained. They were scared, in their 80s, too old to leave the city they'd spent their whole lives in.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

NADIIA YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: Nadiia Yerkhimovych was bedridden in an apartment on the third floor.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: "Even though my life isn't great, I don't want to die." Down the hall, her neighbors, Tamara Vasylenko, and her husband, Pavlo Komodovskyi, approached their situation with a bit more levity⁵.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

TAMARA VASYLENKO: Our age, we lived many, many years. Maybe enough (laughter).

NADWORNY: As I covered the war in Ukraine, I thought of them often. Were they still alive? Had their lives gotten better as the city of Kyiv had come back to life?

(SOUNDBITE OF TELEPHONE RINGING)

NADWORNY: So a year later, I stopped by their apartment building. Pavlo Komodovskyi greets us at his door, his plaid flannel⁶ shirt tucked in.

PAVLO KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Russian).

KOMODOVSKYI: (Through interpreter) Do not take off your shoes. We've got a vacuum cleaner for this.

NADWORNY: His sense of humor is just as dry as I remember.

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: "One of our defenders⁷ is wounded," he says, meaning his wife, Tamara, suffered a stroke this winter, spending seven days in the hospital.

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: Pavlo is a former military pilot, and he assures us he's still holding the defensive⁸ line.

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: He says "Tamara's healing has been slow. Sometimes she's fine, talking and reading; other times, she's confused, unable to speak."

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: "We're in our late 80s," he says. "What else can you expect?" While Tamara has been recovering, Pavlo has taken over the cooking. Tomorrow, he says, is a big day.

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: "I'm making borscht," he says. It's one of Tamara's favorites and a Ukrainian specialty⁹.

Last time I was here, you told me that being together was the most important thing in the war.

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: "Yes," he says, "nothing has changed about that."

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: Tamara has been listening from the kitchen, a wool shawl draped over her shoulders, her hair pulled back in a headband. She was hesitant to see us in her condition. But when we come and say hello...

VASYLENKO: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: ...She can't stop talking.

VASYLENKO: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: The stroke has led to what she calls a disease in her brain. A former English teacher, Tamara points to her head.

VASYLENKO: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: She explains the words she wants to say.

VASYLENKO: Different words. Different words.

NADWORNY: They're different words than the ones that come out. Pavlo has been encouraging her to talk and to read. The doctor said that would help. It also helps that Kyiv feels much safer, so they're no longer scared all the time, and their grandchildren come often to visit.

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: "We're sorry you're visiting under such circumstances," Pavlo says, as we leave. "But don't worry," he says with a defiant¹⁰ smile...

KOMODOVSKYI: (Speaking Russian).

NADWORNY: ..."We are holding the line."

(CROSSTALK)

NADWORNY: Down the hall in apartment 16, we're greeted with some better news.

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: When I first met 90-year-old Nadiia Yerkhimovych, she was bedridden, in need of medicine and diapers. But now...

MISHA YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: "...She can walk," her son Misha tells us.

M YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: "She can actually walk." Nadiia, a petite woman in a floral housecoat, greets us standing¹¹ with a walker.

You look so good.

She reaches out and grabs my hand.

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Through interpreter) I'm so happy that you came. When you came last time, I told all my friends and my children.

NADWORNY: Her son, Misha, in his 60s, lives with her and takes care of her.

M YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: "First, she carried me," he says, "and now I carry her." He explains that things have gotten much better for them from a year ago. Medical care is more accessible, but it's still a war.

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: "Sometimes I feel better," she says, "sometimes I feel worse. The power outages have been hard."

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: She points to the candles spread around the surfaces of her bedroom. And her building's elevator is broken. She really misses the outside. An open window just isn't quite enough.

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: "But I'm hanging in," she says, laughing.

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: "I want to live. Doesn't everyone?" It's helpful that she's lived through difficult times before.

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: "It's not my first war," she says. During World War II, she was just a child. And she tells us she got through that wartime by singing.

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Singing in non-English language).

NADWORNY: So she offers us a song now, "Prayer For Ukraine," a hymn¹² from 1885 about Russian oppression.

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Singing in non-English language).

NADWORNY: "Protect our beloved Ukraine," she sings. "Bless us with good fortune forever and evermore."

N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Singing in non-English language).

NADWORNY: Elissa Nadworny, NPR News, Kyiv.

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 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

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 levity   

n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变

参考例句：

• His remarks injected a note of levity into the proceedings.他的话将一丝轻率带入了议事过程中。
• At the time,Arnold had disapproved of such levity.那时候的阿诺德对这种轻浮行为很看不惯。

6 flannel   

n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服

参考例句：

• She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
• She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子，看上去楚楚动人。

7 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

9 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

10 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。