美国国家公共电台 NPR A Story Of Crisis And Resilience, Told Through Music

A Story Of Crisis And Resilience, Told Through Music 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0005:00repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

An American named Alex Ebsary was visiting a refugee camp in the Kurdistan region of Iraq a few years ago, when he heard a young man playing the saz. The saz is a traditional string instrument that usually has six or seven strings². This saz had only two strings.

ALEX EBSARY: And I said something like, you know, your playing is beautiful. And he said yes, but if I had all the strings, I'd make you cry.

MARTIN: Ebsary was moved by that encounter. And last month, he went back to that region with a small team, this time on a mission to record the music and the stories of refugees. It's a project they're calling Music in Exile.

EBSARY: They can be anyone from somebody who knows how to sing a few songs to professionals. We've recorded several professionals.

MARTIN: Through a friend, Alex Ebsary heard about Barakat Ali, a Yazidi musician. Yazidis are an ethnic³ minority group that's been targeted by ISIS and subject to brutal⁴ treatment. Ali joined Alex Ebsary on the line for an interview with us from Dohuk. The city isn't far from the village where he and his family have been living since ISIS forced them from their home near Sinjar Mountain in 2014. You'll notice he calls Sinjar Mountain Shingal.

BARAKAT ALI: I was living at the north side of the mountain. So that when they invaded south side, we saw the other people - they're running from that side. And we asked them, why you running? They said, there's a group of terrorists. They called ISIS. They came with many heavy weapons, many armed trucks. So they attacked us. We couldn't stand against them, so we just run.

MARTIN: Barakat and his family had a choice - either go to Sinjar Mountain to hide in the caves or go to the Kurdistan region of Iraq. They chose Kurdistan, which ended up saving their lives because Sinjar Mountain became the site of a massacre⁵ soon after. Barakat Ali now lives in Bebani (ph). It's a town not far from Mosul. He lives there with his family and his brothers' families in an unfinished building - no windows, no doors. They rely on donations for food.

Did you take your instrument with you when you left your home?

ALI: Oh, no, I'm sorry I didn't take them. I had three piece of this instrument we call it the saz. I left all of them back in home, so ISIS broke them because they know that was a part of our culture. They want to wipe out everything.

MARTIN: Have you been able to find instruments there to play?

ALI: Yes. One friend bought this for me because he knows I don't have a fund to support myself to buy this instrument for myself. So he bought it and presented it to me as a gift.

MARTIN: Alex and his team recorded two songs of yours. I want to play a little bit of - of one of them, and then we'll talk after that. You wrote this one, I understand, for children who've been captured by ISIS.

ALI: Yes, it's for kidnapped and children.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ALI: (Singing in foreign language).

MARTIN: There's a lot of pain in that song.

ALI: Yes.

MARTIN: Can you tell me what it's called?

ALI: It's a dedication⁶ for the kidnapped are still in the captivaries (ph) with the ISIS and for the children who died thirsty and hungry in Shingal Mountain.

MARTIN: How has your music, how you think about your instrument and singing and the act of making music - how has that changed for you over the past couple of years?

ALI: It's sadness, you know. Sometimes I feel very sad about what happened to Yazidis. So I'm just playing this music and singing to forget myself - to not be so worried and cry about these things.

MARTIN: Barakat Ali has applied⁷ to the U.N. office of migration⁸. He's hoping to immigrate⁹ to the United States. His music is part of a project founded by Alex Ebsary and journalist Sasha Ingber. It's called Music in Exile. And if you want to know more, you can check out a link on our website npr.org.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ALI: (Singing in Foreign Language).

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

5 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！

6 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

7 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 immigrate   

v.（从外国）移来，移居入境

参考例句：

• 10,000 people are expected to immigrate in the next two years.接下来的两年里预计有10，000人会移民至此。
• Only few plants can immigrate to the island.只有很少的植物能够移植到这座岛上。