VOA常速英语2016--苏丹说唱歌手以歌为剑反对政府腐败

苏丹说唱歌手以歌为剑反对政府腐败

For South Sudanese rapper Lual D'awol, music can be an act of political defiance¹. He took thestage at a nightclub in Juba the day after soldiers stormed another venue² to stop hisperformance. On another occasion, his fans had to smuggle³ him out the back to avoid arrest. "Hip-hop is a type of music where you talk. You pass messages, and talk about the suffering ofthe people, and be the voice of the voiceless, basically. I feel like in South Sudan, there's a lot ofpeople who are voiceless, there's a lot of injustice⁴, a lot of unfairness." Lual is one of SouthSudan's most popular rappers. Raised in the United States, he returned to what was thensouthern Sudan in 2009 in hope of helping⁵ the country grow. South Sudan got itsindependence two years later but has known little besides war, poverty and corruptionsince. Lual’s lyrics⁶ push the boundaries of free speech in a country where perceived governmentcritics have been jailed, beaten or killed. The government banned one of Lual's most popularsongs, "Dowla Jadit," from playing on local radio stations. “Dowla Jadit” means “New Nation” inthe local Arabic language. In the song, Lual criticizes local officials who he says always reply, “Weare a new nation,” as an excuse for the lack of public services like water and electricity. Lual saidhe received death threats after releasing that song. It is just people trying to rattle⁷ me, tryingto scare me, and trying to get me to sing things that make no sense, or talk about falsenessand fake things that are not really happening, clubbing and what, but that is not the reality inSouth Sudan. Laul says he now wants to use his music to preach unity⁸. South Sudan isemerging from a 2?-year civil war that has divided the country by tribe. Lual is working on anew album, collaborating⁹ with producers and singers from the country’s various ethnicities. "Music brings people together ... and that is what we need right now, this time of peace andreconciliation. We need to unify¹⁰, and have that nationhood, that love for South Sudan, youknow? Because we are all South Sudanese at the end of the day. And if authorities try to stopLual from spreading his new message? "I just have to be myself. I cannot change for anyintimidation or any fear, because you only live once and I cannot live like a coward. Despitethe harassments, Laul is one citizen who’s not giving up on building his new nation.

对南苏丹说唱歌手路敖来说，音乐中可表达对政治的反抗。在前一晚苏丹士兵再次捣毁路敖演出夜店后，路敖转战朱巴的另一夜店。另一方面，路敖的歌迷还要暗中保护他以免他被逮捕。Hip-hop是一种可以表达观点的音乐。你可以通过hip-hop传达信息，诉说人民的疾苦，为那些有苦无处说的人们传递声音。我觉得，苏丹有很多无处诉说疾苦的人，有很多不公。路敖是苏丹最受欢迎的说唱歌手之一。路敖在美国长大，他2009年回国，以期帮助国力强大。那时候的苏丹还叫南苏丹。两年后，南苏丹虽然取得了独立，但战乱不断，深陷贫穷，官员腐败。路敖的歌词打开了苏丹关于自由言论的边界，因为那时候敢于批评政府的人不是难逃牢狱之灾，就是要遭受暴打甚至面临死亡。路敖最出名的一首歌“Dowla Jadit”被苏丹政府明令禁止，不准在地方电台播放。这首歌在当地的阿拉伯语种意为“崭新的国家”。在这首歌中，苏丹批评当地政府官员总是玩弄所谓“我们是一个崭新国家”的噱头作为借口，来回避苏丹缺乏水电等公共服务的缺口。路敖说，这首歌发布后，他曾受到过死亡的威胁。总有一些像苍蝇似的人对我喋喋不休，想要恐吓我，让我去唱一些毫无意义的歌，做无稽之谈，或是睁着眼睛说瞎话。但那些并不是苏丹的现状。

路敖说，现在他想要用他的音乐来宣扬团结的观念。南苏丹经历旷日持久的内战后，被不同部落划分开来。路敖最近正在准备一张新专辑，想与苏丹不同种族的制作人和歌手通力合作。 “音乐可以将人们团结在一起，而团结正是我们当下亟需的，为了和平与和解。”我们要团结起来，为了这个国家，为了对这片土地的爱。因为归根结底，我们都是南苏丹的子民。但是如果政府当局想要阻止路敖传播他的新信息呢？我还是得做自己。我不能因为恐吓和胆怯而改变，因为人只能活一次，我不能做懦夫。尽管路敖一直受到威胁的骚扰，但他一直都没有放弃构建自己心中崭新的国家。

1 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

2 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

3 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

4 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

7 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

10 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。