2020年经济学人 印度契约劳工斗士斯瓦米·阿涅维什(1)

Swami Agnivesh (Vepa Shyam Rao), champion of India’s indentured¹ labourers, died on September 11th, aged² 80.

印度契约劳工斗士斯瓦米·阿涅维什（韦帕·施拉姆·拉奥）于9月11日逝世，享年80岁。

The hindu life-stage of sanyasa, or renunciation, is traditionally the last. The elderly lay aside their material possessions and take up a spiritual existence, perhaps in some remote ashram in the forest or the hills. Vepa Shyam Rao, as he was then, was only 30 when he took the title of Swami, or monk³, put on saffron robes and travelled to Haryana, in northern India. His mission was still not quite in focus, but his philosophy was.

传统上，印度教徒人生的最后阶段是遁世，或者说是弃绝。老年人把他们的物质财产放在一边，开始一种精神上的生活，也许是在偏远的森林或山区的道场。当时的韦帕·施拉姆·拉奥在30岁时获得了斯瓦米（修道士）的头衔，穿上藏红色的僧袍，前往印度北部的哈里亚纳邦。他的使命还不完全清晰，但他的人生观已经明确了。

He had gladly renounced⁴ his life as a lawyer and lecturer in management studies in Kolkata, reducing what he owned to his robes and a bagful of books. His career and his things he could lightly put aside. But the world and its problems, no. His life from that moment was focused on some of the hardest parts of that world. The stone quarries⁵ outside Delhi, for example, where men, women and children were paid five rupees a day to dig out, shift and break great blocks of stone, as though they were beasts of burden.

他欣然放弃了在加尔各答当律师和管理学讲师的生活，只剩下一件长袍和一大包书。他可以轻松地把他的事业和他的东西放在一边。但是世界和它的问题，不行。从那一刻起，他的生活就集中在世界上一些最艰难的地方。例如，在德里郊外的采石场，男人、女人和孩子每天拿5卢比来挖出、搬运、打碎大块的石头，他们就好像是负重的畜类。

The unventilated, deafening⁶ carpet workshops where labourers were sometimes chained to the looms⁷ and locked in at night. Silk factories where hands already white with blisters⁸ plunged⁹ repeatedly into scalding water to reel the fibres from the cocoons¹⁰, and tanneries where arms were burned with toxic¹¹ chemicals. Outside his penetrating¹² gaze, but mentioned in whispers, were the punishments for working slowly: a blow on the head from a brick, a beating while tied to a neem tree, or simply non-payment of the pitiful few coins that were supposed to have been earned.

在通风不良、震耳欲聋的地毯车间，工人们有时被锁在织布机上，晚上被锁在里面。在丝绸工厂里，工人已经满是水泡的手不断地投入滚烫的水中，从蚕茧中提取纤维，还有皮革厂，工人的手臂被有毒化学物质烧伤。在那穿透性的目光之外，阿涅维什还秘密得知对慢工的惩罚：用石头砸头，绑在楝树上打，或者仅仅是不付那少得可怜的几枚工人本该挣来的硬币。

1 indentured   

v.以契约束缚（学徒）( indenture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Africans became indentured servants, trading labor for shelter and eventual freedom. 非洲人成为契约上的仆人，以劳力交换庇护及最终的自由。 来自互联网
• They are descendants of indentured importees. 他们是契约外来工的后代。 来自互联网

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

4 renounced   

v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• We have renounced the use of force to settle our disputes. 我们已再次宣布放弃使用武力来解决争端。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Andrew renounced his claim to the property. 安德鲁放弃了财产的所有权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 quarries   

n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石

参考例句：

• This window was filled with old painted glass in quarries. 这窗户是由旧日的彩色菱形玻璃装配的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They hewed out the stones for the building from nearby quarries. 他们从邻近的采石场开凿出石头供建造那栋房子用。 来自辞典例句

6 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

7 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 blisters   

n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡

参考例句：

• My new shoes have made blisters on my heels. 我的新鞋把我的脚跟磨起泡了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His new shoes raised blisters on his feet. 他的新鞋把他的脚磨起了水疱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

10 cocoons   

n.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的名词复数 )v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The silkworms have gone into the bushes to spin their cocoons. 蚕上山了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In two more days the " little darlings" would spin their cocoons. 再得两天，“宝宝”可以上山。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

11 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

12 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。