英国卫报:西班牙小镇为何成疫情重灾区(7)

But this was no idyll. The internet kept me, and the rest of the town, hooked on the minute-by-minute narrative¹ of death.

但这不是田园生活。互联网让我和镇上的其他人时刻关注着每分钟关于死亡的记述。

There were still loved ones to fret² about. The countryside was strangely still and hushed.

仍然有亲人在烦恼。乡间出奇地寂静无声。

There were no clanking tractors, petrol-powered bush-cutters, jangling goat bells, braying³ mules⁴ or cussing herdsmen.

没有铿锵作响的拖拉机，没有汽油驱动的割草机，没有丁当作响的山羊铃铛，没有嘶叫的骡子，也没有说脏话的牧民。

Most of the local farmers live in town, and could only leave to feed livestock⁵.

当地的农民大多住在城里，只能离开去喂牲畜。

I even missed things that normally bothered me.

我甚至想念那些通常会困扰我的事情。

Distant traffic and overhead flights– tiny pinpricks of moving light in the night sky – disappeared.

远处的车辆和头顶的飞机——夜空中移动的光点——消失了。

I was too far away from town to share the evening applause for health workers that boosted morale⁶ and upheld the sense of community.

我当时离市区太远，无法与大家分享晚上为鼓舞士气和维护社区意识的卫生工作者们鼓掌的掌声。

Just like in cities, loneliness hit people hard. My closest neighbour, Santi, is a self-sufficient countryman in his mid-70s.

就像在城市中一样，孤单沉重打击了人们。离我最近的邻居桑蒂是一位70多岁的自给自足的乡下人。

He moved in near to me a decade ago, doing up his small barn. Santi is a man who needs to talk.

十年前，他搬到我附近，整理他的小谷仓。桑蒂是一个需要聊天的人。

Before lockdown, most days he would have coffee at the petrol station cafe and, later, take a walk up the river with friends.

在禁闭之前，多数时候，他会在加油站的咖啡馆里喝咖啡，然后和朋友们沿河散步。

Now these were forbidden. “If you don’t speak, you start forgetting how,” he said after finding another reason to appear at my gate.

现在这些被禁止了。“如果不说话，你就会忘记怎么说话。”他找了另一个理由出现在我的门口后说。

Sometimes he sat on a nearby rock for an hour, waiting for some company.

有时他会在附近的石头上坐上一个小时，就为了等人来陪。

Santi has a fine sense of humour and I was grateful for his easy laugh, even as I fretted⁷ about how far a virus might travel on the wind.

桑蒂很有幽默感，我很感激他轻松的笑声，尽管我担心病毒会随着风传播多远。

Whenever we spoke⁸ of someone dying, he shrugged⁹. “People have always died,” he said.

不论何时我们聊到死去的人时，他都会耸肩。他说，“总是有人死去。”

But his health isn’t good and he was also scared.

但是他身体不好，他也很害怕。

On his visits into town, the grocer and baker¹⁰ made him stay in his car while they put his food in the boot.

他进城时，杂货店老板和面包师让他呆在车里，而他们把食物放在后备箱里。

There was no chatting. Isolation¹¹ is isolation, wherever you are.

没有人聊天。隔离就是隔离，无论你在哪里。

In Santo Domingo de La Calzada, the dead included Gregorio Saez, a well-known figure in a town where the Catholic church plays a central role.

在圣多明戈·德拉卡尔扎达，死者包括格雷戈里奥·萨斯，一个在天主教会发挥中心作用的城镇里的知名人物。

The 83-year-old was prior of the lay Brotherhood¹² of Saint Isidore the Farmer, which parades an image of their saint around town during its May fiestas.

这位83岁的老人是圣伊西多尔世俗兄弟会的长老，该组织在5月的节日期间在城镇各处游行展示他们的圣人的形象。

Santo Domingo’s five brotherhoods¹³, or cofradias, are an essential part of local life.

圣多明各的五个兄弟团体是当地生活的重要组成部分。

Some date back almost to the town’s founding by the 11th century shepherd-hermit, Saint Dominic of the Causeway, after whom the town is named.

其中一些可以追溯到11世纪的牧师隐士，圣道明创建小镇的时候，小镇就是以他的名字命名的。

1 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

2 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

3 braying   

v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击

参考例句：

• A donkey was braying on the hill behind the house. 房子后面的山上传来驴叫声。 来自互联网
• What's the use of her braying out such words? 她粗声粗气地说这种话有什么用呢？ 来自互联网

4 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

5 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

6 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

7 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

11 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

12 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

13 brotherhoods   

兄弟关系( brotherhood的名词复数 )； （总称）同行； （宗教性的）兄弟会； 同业公会

参考例句：

• Clubs became more like brotherhoods for the jobless and fans would do anything for them. 俱乐部变得更像是失业者协会，球迷愿意为其做任何事情。