VOA常速英语2014--150 Years After Defeat, Sochi Olympics Divide Native Circassians 索契的切尔克斯人（在线收听）

150 Years After Defeat, Sochi Olympics Divide Native Circassians 索契的切尔克斯人

SOCHI — As thousands of visitors enjoy the Winter Olympic venues in Sochi, there is a growing argument about the history of the land they were built on. Russia forcefully expelled the indigenous people of the region, a Muslim ethnic group known as the Circassians, 150 years ago.

索契 — 正当数千名游客观赏索契冬奥会的同时，有关这块土地的历史争议却没间断。150年前，俄罗斯驱逐了生活在当地、信奉穆斯林的切尔克斯人。

Stray dogs laze next to fly-bitten cows in the muddy roads, disturbed only by the occasional tractor or beaten-up car. There is a slow hiss and lingering smell from the old overground gas pipes that snake through the village.

Bolshoi Kichmai seems a long way from the futuristic ice domes of the Olympic Park, but it is only one hour from Sochi along twisting mountain roads.

Ninety percent of the residents are ethnic Shapsug Circassians, the indigenous Muslim people of the northern Caucasus.

尽管看起来距离奥林匹克公园似乎遥远，但是沿着蜿蜒的山路，博利绍.基希迈村距离索契其实只有一个小时。百分之九十的居民是切尔克斯人，他们是居住在北高加索切尔卡斯亚的穆斯林原住民。艾萨.阿契米兹是这个村庄民俗博物馆的馆长。他以自己的族裔为豪。

'Gallant soldier'

In the village folk museum, director Aisa Achmizov stokes the fire beneath a cauldron of soup. He speaks proudly of his race.

“The word Circassian can be translated differently, but here it has one meaning - gallant soldier,” he said.

阿契米兹说：“切尔克斯人这个字，有不同的翻法。但是它只有一个意思，那就是英勇的战士。”

Just a few villages like this survive near Sochi. The Circassian population was nearly wiped out in the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in 1860s.

1860年代俄罗斯征服高加索，切尔克斯人几乎被歼灭，只有少数村落幸存下来。

Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee from the beaches of Sochi on boats, and up to a third of these people drowned or starved to death. Georgia has officially recognized the expulsion as genocide.

成千上万人被迫乘船离开索契，大约三分之一的人不是溺死，就是饿死。格鲁吉亚已经正式认定：切尔克斯人被驱逐，是一种种族清洗。

Mixed reaction

Moscow has offered little recognition or apology, angering many of the millions of Circassians living overseas.

不过，俄罗斯并未提出道歉，此举让几百万名居住在海外的切尔克斯人感到愤怒。

In May this year the Circassians will mark 150 years since their defeat at the hands of Russian forces. But Circassian Governing Council local chairman Khalid Talif said few Circassians here appear interested in stirring up history.

今年五月是切尔克斯人败给俄罗斯人、被赶出这片河谷的150周年。不过切尔克斯理事会当地的主席塔里夫说，只有少数切尔克斯人有兴趣挑起历史争议。

"It is an historical fact that Circassians were defeated by Russian forces and became part of Russia," said Talif. "But now, you will not find one person here who wants to break away and be independent of Russia.”

塔里夫说：“切尔克斯人被俄罗斯人打败，并且成为俄罗斯的一部分，是历史事实。目前我们找不到一个想脱离俄罗斯、并且独立的人。”

Last week Chechen Islamist leader Doku Umarov invoked the history of the Circassians in calling for terror attacks against the Sochi Olympics -- saying the Olympic facilities were built on the bones of dead Muslims.

Aisa Achmizov of the folk museum said those sentiments have no place among the Circassians.

上个星期，车臣伊斯兰派领袖乌马罗夫引用切尔克斯人的历史说，索契建于死亡穆斯林的坟地上，他呼吁对索契冬奥运进行恐怖攻击。不过，艾萨.阿契米兹说，这些情绪性的挑衅不会获得切尔克斯人的认同。

"There is nowhere in the world where blood has not been spilt at some point in history," he said. “The Olympics is a question for the politicians, not for us.”

阿契米兹说：“历史上，没有一个地方没有被血洒过。拿奥运作文章是政客的事，不是我们。”

Inside the Olympic Park, organizers have erected a ‘Circassian House’ to showcase their culture. Asked by VOA at a news conference about Circassian concerns, Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov gave a robust defense.

主办者在奥林匹克公园内竖立起切尔克斯楼，以展示他们的文化。当被美国之音问到切尔克斯人对历史的关切，索契市长帕霍莫夫在记者会中极力提出辩护。

Last August, Circassians from all over the world came to a convention in Sochi, and not one person had anything bad to say, said Pakhomov, adding that “many visitors thought that the Circassians here are living better than they do. So everything you know is incorrect.”

帕霍莫夫说：“去年八月，来自全球的切尔克斯人到索契参加一个会议，没有一个人提出批评。大部分的人认为生活在索契的切尔克斯人过得比他们还好，因此，你所知道的是错误的。”

The debate over the historic fate of the Circassians in Sochi is happening far beyond the remote valleys of Bolshoi Kichmai, driven mainly by the diaspora overseas.

Circassians here appear more interested in self-preservation and teaching their culture to future generations.

有关在索契切尔克斯人历史命运的辩论，主要是由居住海外的切尔克斯人主导，当地的切尔克斯人比较热衷于自保，以及教育未来一代他们的文化。