经济学人36:尼日利亚游记 A memoir of Nigeria

 　　Still in Books and Arts; Book Review;A memoir¹ of Nigeria；Madmen on the ground；

　　文艺；书评；尼日利亚回忆录；尼日利亚游记；

　　Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria. By Noo Saro-Wiwa.

　　《寻找仙境：尼日利亚游记》, Noo Saro-Wiwa 著。

　　Throughout her childhood and early teens, Noo Saro-Wiwa spent every summer in Nigeria. The flight back always came as a shock, as was the arrival itself. The noise, decay and corruption² of Lagos airport were unending, along with the insects, power cuts and the higgledy-piggledy way of living that was far too intimate for one brought up in Britain’s home counties.

　　孩提时代和少年时光的Noo，每年都要去尼日利亚度过她的夏季。到达尼日利亚和航班返回时的嗡嗡声一样让Noo感到厌恶。喧哗，肮脏的拉各斯机场永不停息，再加上昆虫和供电中断，这种杂乱无章的生活方式，对于从小在英国长大的noo说是陌生的。

　　Ms Saro-Wiwa would far rather have stayed in the family house in leafy Surrey, with its golf clubs and Leylandii trees, or holed up with her smart boarding-school friends from Roedean. But her mother thought of their Surrey home as the “house”, whereas their Nigerian home was “home”, a character-building “tropical gulag” with kerosene³ lamps, rice-and-okra soup, “body-temperature Coca-Cola” and a live-in tribe of cackling uncles and aunts. Home, that is, until Noo’s father, Ken⁴ Saro-Wiwa, a businessman and activist⁵ from the oil-rich region of Ogoni, was arrested, imprisoned⁶ and then hanged in 1995 for his outspoken⁷ political views. The trips back to Nigeria came to an abrupt⁸ stop.

　　Saro-Wiwa宁可呆在拥有高尔夫球具和Leylandii树的叶萨里郡家中，或者和来自罗丁寄宿制学校的淘气小伙伴们玩躲猫猫的游戏。但Saro-Wiwa的妈妈把这个叶萨里郡的家当成一座房子，而在尼日利亚的家才是真正意义上的“家”：标志性建筑“热带拉格”中的煤油灯和大米秋葵粥，暖暖的可乐，家族中长辈的高谈阔论--这才是真正意义上的家，直到Noo的父亲肯·萨洛-威瓦，这个来自于奥格尼的商人和活动家，因为他的直言不讳的政治言论，而逮捕入狱，随后又于1995年被处于极刑。尼日利亚的旅途才戛然而止。

　　For a decade afterwards, Ms Saro-Wiwa traded Surrey and Roedean for new destinations which she wrote up for “Lonely Planet” and “Rough Guides”. As the rest of the world became increasingly familiar, Nigeria appeared to her to have more and more mystique. Eventually, she just had to return to the country no sane⁹ tourist would set foot in.

　　随后的十年，Saro-Wiwa将叶萨里郡和罗丁做为新的旅行目的地，并写进“孤独的星球”和“旅游向导“中。随着对外部世界的逐渐了解，尼日利亚在Saro-Wiwa看来逐渐变得富有神秘。最终，她决定返回尼日利亚这个任何神志清醒的人都不愿意踏上旅途的国家。

　　“Looking for Transwonderland” is a search for enlightenment. Why are Nigerians such “a nation of ruffians”? Why is Lagos, their largest city, such a “disaster of urban non-planning” characterised by “impatience, armed robberies and overflowing¹⁰ sewage”? How do Nigerians survive in their own country, let alone thrive? It would be easy to focus on the colourful insanitythat is Africa’s most populous¹¹ nation. But Ms Saro-Wiwa is careful to avoid caricature. Curious, she travels out of Lagos to corners of the country many Nigerians never see: to the Transwonderland Amusement Park, to the beauty of the eastern mountains and to the northern city of Kano with its modestly covered women and its forest of ancient minarets¹². Along the way, she allows herself to be surprised by kindness and humour, making new friends who open her eyes to the passion, wit and ingenuity¹³ of her homeland.

　　“寻找仙境“是探寻文明之旅。为什么尼日利亚是“绑匪之国”?为什么以骚动，持枪抢劫和污水泛滥为特征的最大城市拉各斯被称作“无规划城市灾难”？尼日利亚人如何生存下去？更别说繁荣昌盛？这个非洲人口最多国家，不难得到世人的关注。Saro-Wiwa却小心翼翼的避免碰触任何夸张描述。让人称奇的是，她游历了连诸多尼日利亚人都不曾到过的拉各斯的各个角落：充满奇幻色彩的主题娱乐公园，美丽的东部山脉，北部城市卡诺戴着头巾的优雅妇女，稠密热带雨林中的远古宫殿。Saro-Wiwa惊叹于尼日利亚人民的善良幽默，并结交新朋友—他们展开双臂拥抱这个充满激情，智慧，富有创造力的国家。

1 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

4 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

7 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

8 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

9 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

10 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

11 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

12 minarets   

n.（清真寺旁由报告祈祷时刻的人使用的）光塔( minaret的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Remind you of a mosque, red baked bricks, the minarets. 红砖和尖塔都会使你联想到伊斯兰教的礼拜寺。 来自互联网
• These purchases usually went along with embellishments such as minarets. 这些购置通常也伴随着注入尖塔等的装饰。 来自互联网

13 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。