经济学人302:伊拉克的基督徒 几近消失

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　　伊拉克的基督徒

　　Nearly all gone

　　几近消失

　　The conquering jihadists are evicting³ or killing⁴ Mosul's last Christians

　　圣战者乘胜追杀摩苏尔的基督徒

　　At least he's alive—among the Kurds

　　至少他还活着—作为一个库尔德人

　　FEW of the Christian¹ women fleeing to safety in northern Iraq arrived wearing rings in their ears or on their fingers. Fighters of the Islamic State, the self-proclaimed new name of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), the jihadist group that captured Mosul last month, relieved them of just about everything valuable—except their lives.

　　在那些能成功逃亡到伊拉克北部安全区的女性基督徒当中，你几乎看不到有任何一个戴着戒指或耳环。上个月攻占了摩苏尔的极端圣战组织伊拉克与大叙利亚伊斯兰国更名后变成了伊斯兰国斗士，这帮人留下了那些逃难者的命却掳走了他们身上所有值钱的东西。

　　伊拉克的基督徒.jpg

　　A week ago the Christians in the city were told they had until July 18th to convert to Islam, pay a special tax, leave, or, in the words of a statement by the jihadists, they would have “nothing but the sword.” But then the jihadists changed their mind: paying the tax was no longer an option. All Christians were told by loudspeaker on July 18th that they all had to leave by the next day—or be killed.

　　一周之前，城里的基督徒们被告知在7月18号之前，他们要么改信伊斯兰教要么上缴特殊税款要么离开，否则用圣战者的原话讲他们面对的将“只有武力”。但后来圣战者们改变了主意：交特别税将不再被接受。7月18号那天基督徒们在扬声器里听到的是第二天必须离开，否则就会面临死亡。

　　The Arabic letter for N for Nassarah, meaning Christian, was spray-painted on their houses, with stencils⁵ declaring them to be “Property of the Islamic State”. Monks⁶ from the monastery⁷ of Mar⁸ Behnam, near Qaraqosh, south-east of Mosul, were allowed to take only the clothes they were wearing. “You have no place here any more,” the jihadists are reported to have said.

　　在阿拉伯语里N代表Nassarah，也就是基督徒的意思，而这个符号被用漏字板喷印在了基督徒们的房子上以表明这是“伊斯兰国财产”。来自坐落于摩苏尔东南部靠近Qaraqosh地区的马尔本赫纳姆修道院的僧侣们只被允许携带随身衣物离开。“这地方不属于你们了。”圣战分子们在报道中这样说到。

　　Some reckon that a decade ago there were around 60,000 Christians in Mosul; by June this year that figure is said to have fallen by half. Now, for the first time in over 1,600 years, the city will have been emptied of Christians. The Mar Behnam monastery dates from the 4th century. Other sects⁹, including Shia Muslims and Yazidis, who follow an ancient religion linked to Zoroastrianism, are being equally harshly treated.

　　一些人认为十年前摩苏尔有约六万基督徒；而到今年六月份为止这数字可能已经降了一半。如今，这是一千六百多年以来这座城市第一次一个基督徒都不剩。马尔本赫纳姆修道院的历史可以追溯到公元四世纪。其他诸如什叶派、雅兹迪派这些与拜火教的古老信仰有关联的宗派都被严厉地对待。

　　Most of Mosul's Christians have fled east and north to the nearby autonomous¹⁰ region of Kurdistan. “Here is the last chance Christians have for survival,” says Kaldo Ramzi Oghanna of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, a political party tied to one of the world's most ancient Christian denominations¹¹.

　　大部分摩苏尔城里的基督徒都向东或向北逃亡到附近的库尔德斯坦下辖的自治区内。“这是基督徒们最后的求生机会，”一位名为Kaldo Ramzi Oghanna来自亚述民主运动的人士如是说。此组织是一个与世界上最古老的基督教教派有关连的政党。

　　1.convert to 变换，转换

　　例句:Chemical energy may be converted to heat.

　　化学能可以转化为热能。

　　2.no longer 不再,已不

　　例句:The individual septum can no longer be seen.

　　各个间隔再也不能看出。

　　3.allow to 允许

　　例句:Apply solution to the tube and allow to become tacky.

　　在内胎上涂抹胶水并让它发粘。

　　4.report to 报告

　　例句:He submitted the report to the committee.

　　他向委员会呈交了一份报告。

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