国家地理 一次翻越世界屋脊的历史性旅行(3)

The Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan is one of the remotest inhabited landscapes on Earth. An extension of Badakhshan Province, it juts¹ some 200 miles between Tajikistan and Pakistan to touch the ice-capped ramparts of western China. Drawn³ by Russia and Britain as a buffer⁴ zone to separate their Asian empires in the 19th century, the corridor -- marooned⁵ by rugged⁶ geography, geopolitics, and time -- endures as a forgotten appendage⁷ of Afghanistan. About 17,000 farmers and nomads⁸ still live in its medieval pastures and rock-walled hamlets. It was my exit ramp² to South Asia.

阿富汗瓦罕走廊是地球上最偏远的有人居住的地方，是巴达赫尚省突出的一块地方，在塔吉克斯坦与巴基斯坦之间只有大约200英里长的狭长地带，东面就是中国西部冰雪覆盖的森严壁垒。这条走廊于19世纪由俄罗斯和英国绘制以作为他们帝国的势力在亚洲的隔离缓冲带。瓦罕走廊受崎岖的地理、地缘政治和时代所限制，一直成了阿富汗一个被遗忘的地方，仍然有大约17000名农民和游牧民住在这里的中世纪似的牧场与用石头围起的村子里。这里是我去南亚的必经之地。

We crossed the Tajikistan border at Ishkashim. Sixteen years had elapsed since I had trodden Afghanistan's dust as a war correspondent. It wasn't the land I remembered.

我们在伊什卡希姆通过了塔吉克斯坦的边界。自从我作为一名战地记者踩过阿富汗的尘土以来，已经16年过去了。这并非我记得的那块土地。

My Afghan memories cartwheeled among armed men in Hilux pickup⁹ trucks and the concussions¹⁰ of 500-pound bombs dropped by American B-52s. Walking through the war, I had stepped unconsciously around the domes¹¹ of silence that always encased the newly dead. By contrast, the Wakhan corridor -- poor, utterly¹² isolated¹³, and shielded from violence by the Hindu Kush -- seemed an oasis¹⁴ of peace. We hiked unafraid through fields of ripe wheat where men drove teams of oxen in circles, threshing sheaves in biblical fashion. Antique waterwheels milled their flour. The local Wakhi farmers were easygoing Ismailis, and the women went about unveiled. The farmers stacked the magnificent horns of wild Marco Polo sheep at sacred springs. Snow leopards¹⁵, not militants¹⁶, patrolled the snow peaks. Nobody carried guns. It was rural Afghanistan as it should be.

我的阿富汗记忆只有海拉克斯皮卡里的武装分子和美国B-52扔下的500磅大炸弹。在战地行走的时候，我曾经不知不觉就绕过了常常掩埋新死者的死寂的坟丘。相比之下，瓦罕走廊似乎是一块和平的绿洲，尽管贫穷、与世隔绝，也因兴都库什山的阻隔而免遭暴力。我们毫无畏惧地穿越成熟的麦田，当地男人们坚守着古老的打麦方式，赶着牛在那里一圈圈地走，古老的水车磨着面粉。瓦罕的农民是随和的伊斯玛仪派，妇女们进出抛头露面，农夫们在神圣的泉水边堆放着野生马可波罗绵羊的巨大羊角，雪豹（并非指激进分子）在雪峰上游走，没人带着枪。这本是阿富汗乡下该有的样子。

"We're in our glory times," said Dervish Ali, a sheepherder whose homestead clung like a swallow's nest to a steep riverbank. "In the 1990s we couldn't even afford tea. Now life is good."

牧羊人德尔维希·阿里说：“这是我们的辉煌时代，1990年代，我们甚至连茶叶都买不起。现在生活好多了。”他家的房子像燕子窝一样紧贴在陡峭的河岸上。

1 juts   

v.（使）突出( jut的第三人称单数 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A small section of rock juts out into the harbour. 山岩的一小角突入港湾。 来自辞典例句
• The balcony juts out over the swimming pool. 阳台伸出在游泳池上方。 来自辞典例句

2 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

5 marooned   

adj.被围困的；孤立无援的；无法脱身的

参考例句：

• During the storm we were marooned in a cabin miles from town. 在风暴中我们被围困在离城数英里的小屋内。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks. 埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。 来自辞典例句

6 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

7 appendage   

n.附加物

参考例句：

• After their work,the calculus was no longer an appendage and extension of Greek geometry.经过他们的工作，微积分不再是古希腊几何的附庸和延展。
• Macmillan must have loathed being judged as a mere appendage to domestic politics.麦克米伦肯定极不喜欢只被当成国内政治的附属品。

8 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

10 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

11 domes   

n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场

参考例句：

• The domes are circular or ovoid in cross-section. 穹丘的横断面为圆形或卵圆形。 来自辞典例句
• Parks. The facilities highlighted in text include sport complexes and fabric domes. 本书重点讲的设施包括运动场所和顶棚式结构。 来自互联网

12 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

13 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

14 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

15 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

16 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。