美国国家公共电台 NPR The Little Boy Who Escaped From Boko Haram

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Picture huge eyes, a beautiful smile and a sadness no child his age should have to endure. This is the story of a young boy who survived Boko Haram captivity¹ in Northeast Nigeria and military detention² afterwards. He shared his experiences with NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton.

OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON, BYLINE³: Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: How are you?

QUIST-ARCTON: How are you? I'm fine, thank you. How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I'm fine, thank you.

QUIST-ARCTON: You're fine, thank you.

This little boy is bright-eyed and polite. And he's learning English. He's probably around 6, but he doesn't know his age for sure, and there's no family here to tell us. This young boy's face crumples⁴, and his eyes cloud over and well up with tears when he tells me he, two brothers, a cousin and his mother were abducted⁵, and his father was killed by Boko Haram in Northeast Nigeria. For his own safety, we are not saying the boy's name or where he comes from.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Speaking Hausa).

QUIST-ARCTON: The memories make him weak, but he's a courageous⁶ boy and continues with his ordeal⁷.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Speaking Hausa).

QUIST-ARCTON: The young boy picks up his story and says after they killed his father, Boko Haram took them to the bush to a school in a village. It was a Quranic school. They were there for what he remembers as about a year. Then he, a brother and cousin decided⁸ to sneak⁹ out in the middle of the night. And that's how they escaped and reached a village where they were found by the Nigerian military.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Speaking Hausa).

QUIST-ARCTON: The brothers were taken to the main barracks in Maiduguri, the regional capital, and held in military custody¹⁰ for interrogation and investigation¹¹ for many months, says this survivor¹² of Boko Haram captivity. Still horrified¹³, he describes a harrowing time with the military and says former captives were herded¹⁴ in their dozens into small rooms. It was stifling¹⁵ hot, and babies were dying, he remembers. And again, his face creases¹⁶ into near tears at the memories as he furiously furrows¹⁷ his brow to stop crying. The young boy was released into the care of government social workers at a rehabilitation¹⁸ center supported by the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: (Singing in Hausa).

QUIST-ARCTON: Teachers hold classes and organize activities to try to keep the children happy and busy. But the boy says he misses his family, especially his brother, cousin and best friend who are still being held by the military and his mother who's still missing.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: (Speaking Hausa).

QUIST-ARCTON: Meanwhile, Borno State Commissioner¹⁹ for Higher and Special Education Ahmed Jaha says children across the region orphaned²⁰ or separated from their families by Boko Haram violence are top priority for the government. Otherwise, he warns, they could become the violent extremists of tomorrow.

AHMED JAHA: In our enlightened self-interest, these orphans²¹ - we either take care of them today, or from what I can see in Borno today, with more than 40,000 orphans, they are going to be a disaster that is going to consume everybody. They will be the great monsters that are going to consume all of us in the near future.

QUIST-ARCTON: UNICEF and other relief agencies are offering orphans and children like this young former Boko Haram captive counseling and encouragement.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Speaking Hausa).

QUIST-ARCTON: Before he skips off to join his classmates, the boy brightens up considerably²² when he starts discussing soccer. I want to be a soldier, he says first, then adds he wouldn't mind being a soccer player either. I'm quite good at heading the ball, and I'm a team player, he says. For just a moment, his boyish composure almost makes me forget who's speaking - an impressive child for all the suffering he's witnessed. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Maiduguri.

1 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

2 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

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 crumples   

压皱，弄皱( crumple的第三人称单数 )； 变皱

参考例句：

• This kind of paper crumples easily. 这种纸容易起皱。
• This kind of cloth crumples easily. 这种布易起绉。

5 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

6 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

7 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

10 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

13 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

14 herded   

群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动

参考例句：

• He herded up his goats. 他把山羊赶拢在一起。
• They herded into the corner. 他们往角落里聚集。

15 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

16 creases   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹

参考例句：

• She smoothed the creases out of her skirt. 她把裙子上的皱褶弄平。
• She ironed out all the creases in the shirt. 她熨平了衬衣上的所有皱褶。

17 furrows   

n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I could tell from the deep furrows in her forehead that she was very disturbed by the news. 从她额头深深的皱纹上，我可以看出她听了这个消息非常不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dirt bike trails crisscrossed the grassy furrows. 越野摩托车的轮迹纵横交错地布满条条草沟。 来自辞典例句

18 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

19 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

20 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

21 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

22 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。