【英语语言学习】妇女的勇气

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

 

Operas are often centered on tragic¹ heroines who die or take their own lives at the end of the story. But "Thumbprint," a new chamber² opera, takes that formula and turns it around. This opera is based on the true story of a young, illiterate³ Pakistani who was the victim of a terrible honor crime. Jeff Lunden reports she took on the system and ultimately triumphed.

 

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE⁴: Mukhtar Mai is from a small tribal⁵ village in Pakistan. In 2002, her brother was accused of sexually molesting⁶ a woman from a wealthy landowning clan⁷. What happened next was horrifying⁸, says Kamala Sankaram, who wrote the music and plays the lead role in "Thumbprint."

 

KAMALA SANKARAM: For retribution, the village council decided⁹ that Mukhtar should be gang-raped by four of the men of this clan. And what is supposed to happen for a woman after this has taken place is that not only has she shamed herself, she's brought dishonor to the rest of her family as well. She's shunned¹¹ from her village, and the only course of action for her to take is to take her own life.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC FROM THE OPERA, "THUMBPRINT")

 

LUNDEN: Far from being the end of Mukhtar Mai's story, in many ways it was just the beginning.

 

SANKARAM: Not only did she defy tradition by choosing not to kill herself, she actually, despite the fact that she's illiterate, despite the fact that she had no knowledge of the laws of her country, she took her case to court and she won.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC FROM THE OPERA, "THUMBPRINT")

 

LUNDEN: Sankaram and her librettist¹² Susan Yankowitz both came to Mukhtar Mai's story separately. Sankaram had written a song cycle based on Mai's autobiography¹³, while Yankowitz wrote a monologue¹⁴ about her for Seven, a theatrical¹⁵ evening sponsored by Vital Voices Global Partnership¹⁶, an NGO that works with women leaders around the world.

 

Cindy Dyer is its vice¹⁷ president for human rights.

 

CINDY DYER: What she experienced is actually very common. Women are being violated and brutalized even today, and the problem is that many women do not have access to help and they are afraid to seek help. And so her courage in seeking help is so inspirational to others.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC FROM THE OPERA, "THUMBPRINT")

 

LUNDEN: In telling Mukhtar Mai's story, Kamala Sankaram has taken elements of Hindustani music from Ragas to Qawwali devotional songs and fused them with Western operatic forms.

 

SANKARAM: So, there are flavors of India and Pakistan in there even though it's still written for Western opera singers.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC FROM THE OPERA, "THUMBPRINT")

 

LUNDEN: The title, "Thumbprint," comes from a pivotal moment in Mukhtar Mai's story when she goes to the police to report the rape¹⁰, says librettist Susan Yankowitz.

 

SUSAN YANKOWITZ: When she's there, she realizes she does not know how to sign her name to the document. And it has never really occurred to her that this was a disadvantage in any way, that this was a problem. But in the context of the police and the judge and a court, she understands how important it is. She does sign the document with her thumbprint, and in doing so, she understands the power and importance of education.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC FROM THE OPERA, "THUMBPRINT")

 

LUNDEN: With the money she won from the settlement, Mukhtar Mai set up schools and a foundation to serve the impoverished¹⁸ people in her community. But Cindy Dyer of Vital Voices says...

 

DYER: Different entities¹⁹ have use every tool in their arsenal²⁰ to try to shut this organization down and try to silence Mukhtar Mai.

 

LUNDEN: And that's why librettist Susan Yankowitz says it's important to tell Mai's story.

 

YANKOWITZ: Because of the fact that she - one single person, one body, one voice, made this enormous change in Pakistan. She was really the first. She's the first woman to ever bring her rapists to court.

 

LUNDEN: After today's matinee performance of "Thumbprint," Mukhtar Mai will speak to the audience herself via Skype. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC FROM THE OPERA, "THUMBPRINT")

 

SIMON: You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News.

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

3 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

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 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

6 molesting   

v.骚扰( molest的现在分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• He was accused of sexually molesting a female colleague. 他被指控对一位女同事进行性骚扰。 来自辞典例句
• He was charged with molesting a woman. 他被指控调戏妇女。 来自辞典例句

7 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

8 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

9 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。

10 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

11 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 librettist   

n.(歌剧、音乐剧等的)歌词作者

参考例句：

• The musician and the librettist were collaborators. 音乐家与剧作者通力合作。
• Italian-born American composer and librettist whose operas include The Medium(1946) and The Consul(1950). 梅诺蒂，吉安卡洛生于1911意大利裔美国作曲家和歌剧词作者，其歌剧作品包括女巫（1946年）及领事（1950年）

13 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

14 monologue   

n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白

参考例句：

• The comedian gave a long monologue of jokes.喜剧演员讲了一长段由笑话组成的独白。
• He went into a long monologue.他一个人滔滔不绝地讲话。

15 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

16 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

17 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

18 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

20 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。