美国国家公共电台 NPR A Father Vows To Save His Daughter From A Marriage He Forced Her Into

A Father Vows² To Save His Daughter From A Marriage He Forced Her Into

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Child marriage is illegal in India, but it still happens to girls in rural areas. NPR has been following one family in northern India over the past year. There are three child brides in that family. And today we bring you the story of the eldest³ daughter, Durga. Like her little sister, she's been able to delay moving in with her husband by going to a boarding school. But Durga's situation is dire⁴. She wants to end her marriage entirely⁵. And as NPR's Nurith Aizenman reports, the man who's trying to help her is the same man who got her into the marriage - her father.

NURITH AIZENMAN, BYLINE⁶: Lumbaram is fretting⁷ over his eldest daughter, Durga, like a mother hen.

LUMBARAM: (Foreign language spoken).

AIZENMAN: "Did you take a water bottle," he calls out. "Here, take this one." She's a college student, and she's heading into the city to take a final exam. Ugh (ph), says Lumbaram, she was up studying till 3 a.m.

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) Every exam. She does this for every exam. Finally, I told her, now you have to go to bed so you're not exhausted⁸ for the test today.

AIZENMAN: Durga turns to him. Papa, is it time to go, she says. Yeah, says Lumbaram. He watches as Durga steps into their open-air kitchen for a quick drink, dipping a metal cup into a clay pot. Then he walks her out onto the dirt road, where his brother is waiting on a motorbike to drive her.

LUMBARAM: (Foreign language spoken).

AIZENMAN: "OK, child, go," he says. "Do well, and may God help you succeed."

But as he watches Durga disappear in a cloud of dust, Lumbaram's eyes fill with emotion. This test she's about to take is one of the final steps in a plan he's been laying for the last six years because Lumbaram has been on a quest to rescue Durga from a terrible mess that he got her into. Back when Durga was 15 years old, Lumbaram forced her to marry a man who was way older, had barely been to school and had a reputation as a heavy drinker.

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) My parents were putting so much pressure on me.

AIZENMAN: They were having a hard time finding a wife for Lumbaram's younger brother. In the village, all marriages are arranged, so they got Lumbaram to help out by making a trade with another family. That family gave a girl to marry his brother; Lumbaram gave Durga to marry one of the men on their side. It's a typical setup. Durga, she says she went through the whole ceremony in a state of shock, too upset to brush her hair, to change into her dress, so they just pulled it on her over her regular clothes.

DURGA: (Through interpreter) I told my father I won't do it. Papa said, no, you have to. And then my grandparents came in the room, and they said, you don't have a choice. Everyone gets married like this. You're not special.

AIZENMAN: They said to you, you're not special?

DURGA: (Foreign language spoken, laughter).

AIZENMAN: "Yeah," she says, "I'm not special." Talking about it, it's suddenly too much.

DURGA: Please.

AIZENMAN: "Please," she says, "I don't want to remember."

DURGA: (Foreign language spoken).

AIZENMAN: Sometimes she thinks, how could a betrayal like this happen? But it did happen. And Lumbaram, he felt the same way. Something about the way Durga's husband was touching⁹ her hand during the ceremony - it seemed sleazy.

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) This man was not to my liking¹⁰.

AIZENMAN: As soon as the wedding was over, he took Durga aside.

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) I said I will fix this.

AIZENMAN: You made her a vow¹. You said, I will figure out a way to get you out of this.

LUMBARAM: Yes.

AIZENMAN: Lumbaram's a bookish guy, loves reading Indian philosophy. But he'd had to drop out of middle school to work as a construction laborer¹¹. So when it came to his eldest daughter...

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) I always wanted to find a way to educate her.

AIZENMAN: And a few months before Durga's wedding, this charity - it's called the Veerni Institute - had offered the answer, proposing to put up village girls at a boarding school in the city. Every other father in the village said, no way.

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) But I said never mind. I'm sending Durga.

AIZENMAN: Now the school gave Lumbaram at least a temporary way to save Durga. He's told her husband, as long as she's getting a free education, I'm not sending her to live with you yet. And he's kept this up through Durga's college studies, which the charity has also paid for. But this is just a delaying tactic¹². Lumbaram's end game is to break the marriage, and that's requiring some delicate diplomacy¹³ that includes a dress. It's already pitch dark by the time Durga and her uncle ride back in from her exam. Lumbaram appears carrying something in a plastic bag, a surprise present for Durga. It's a dress, but not one of the hip¹⁴ city outfits¹⁵ Durga likes. It's the kind the village women wear - skirt down to the ankles, long, sheer veil to cover her hair and face.

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) She need to wear this through summer break because now that she's older, people won't appreciate it if she wears modern clothes.

AIZENMAN: Lumbaram wants to be extra careful to show respect for village ways because very soon, he's going to be seeking permission to completely upend them. Specifically, he's going to go before a group of elders known as the panches. Legally, they have no say. Child marriage is outlawed¹⁶ in India. Still, if Lumbaram were to try to end the marriage without the panches' OK...

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) The community would ostracize¹⁷ me for life. If my wife were to go to the well, no one would even help her get the water. It would be like being dead while you're still alive.

AIZENMAN: The panches' power is on display the day after Durga's exam at a memorial ceremony for Lumbaram's father. He died a week ago. Hundreds of people have come to pay their respects. Lumbaram spends most of his time tending to a tight circle of a dozen older men in white turbans. They're sitting on a carpet, smoking clove¹⁸ cigarettes, sucking on opium¹⁹ balls. These are the panches. Lumbaram makes a point of keeping their cups filled with water, but not once does he actually speak to them.

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) Oh, I'm not of the same level. They are panches. I can't even sit with them.

AIZENMAN: Still, the day is coming when he'll have to approach them about Durga. She's 21. There's only so much longer he can keep her from her husband. Lumbaram says he'll pull the trigger this fall, once her final exam results come in, because here's Lumbaram's bet - by waiting until Durga could get more schooling²⁰ than anyone in the village, he's hoping the panches will have to agree it would now be ridiculous to hold her to the marriage.

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) Everyone can see that she's educated and he's not, that this cannot stand.

AIZENMAN: And he also thinks the panches will go for it because he's already accomplished²¹ something remarkable²² for rural India. The proof - well, you can see it in this procession of women who are now making their way past the panches.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMEN: (Singing in foreign language).

AIZENMAN: They're headed to a wedding in a house next door, and the bride is not a child. They don't do that in this village anymore. All this time Lumbaram's been holding off his daughter's husband he's also been making the rounds of other fathers, convincing them to send their girls to the boarding school, too, essentially²³ getting them to rethink their entire attitude about girls. His village has now sent more girls to the school than any other in the area. And earlier this year, Lumbaram persuaded a bunch of the dads to publicly declare...

LUMBARAM: (Through interpreter) We will no longer marry girls underage. The mistake that I made, no one else will repeat it.

AIZENMAN: In other words, in his quest to save Durga, Lumbaram has already saved untold²⁴ numbers of other village girls. And it's not just the girls being saved or Durga.

How will you feel the day that you get her out of this marriage? How will that feel?

LUMBARAM: (Foreign language spoken).

AIZENMAN: "I'll be liberated," he says. "I will be free." Nurith Aizenman, NPR News.

1 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

2 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

3 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 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。

7 fretting   

n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的

参考例句：

• Fretting about it won't help. 苦恼于事无补。
• The old lady is always fretting over something unimportant. 那位老妇人总是为一些小事焦虑不安。

8 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

9 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。

10 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

11 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

12 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

13 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

14 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

15 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

16 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

17 ostracize   

v.放逐，排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike.他因不支持罢工而受同事排斥。
• She claims she's being ostracized by some members of her local community.她声称受到当地社区一些人的排挤。

18 clove   

n.丁香味

参考例句：

• If tired,smell a whiff of clove oil and it will wake you up.如果疲倦，闻上一点丁香油将令人清醒。
• A sweet-smell comes from roses and clove trees.丁香与玫瑰的香味扑鼻而来。

19 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

20 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

21 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

22 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

23 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

24 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。