雙語暢銷書《我是馬拉拉》第16章:悲傷之谷(1)
16 The Valley of Sorrows
It all seemed like a bad dream.
一切都像是一場噩夢。We had been away from our valley for almost three months and as we drove back past Churchill's Picket, past the ancient ruins on the hill and the giant Buddhist stupa, we saw the wide Swat River and my father began to weep.
我們已經離開故鄉的河谷近三個月了。回鄉路上，我們行經丘吉爾的防禦堡壘、山丘上的古老遺蹟和巨大的佛塔。當看到寬廣的斯瓦特河時，父親開始抽泣。
Swat seemed to be under complete military control.
斯瓦特看來完全在軍方控制之下。The vehicle we were in even had to pass through an explosives check before we could head up the Malakand Pass.
我們搭的車甚至得先經過爆炸物檢查哨，才能往馬拉根德山隘前進。Once we got over the other side and down into the valley it seemed there were army checkpoints everywhere and soldiers had made nests for their machine guns on so many of the rooftops.
而當我們進了山隘，往山谷下方駛去時，到處都能看見軍方的檢查哨。許多屋頂上都有士兵架好的機關槍。As we drove through villages we saw buildings in ruins and burned-out vehicles.
當我們開車穿越村落時，看見許多建築的廢墟和燒燬的車輛。It made me think of old war movies or the video games my brother Khushal loves to play.
這讓我想起早期的戰爭電影，和弟弟胡沙爾愛玩的電玩遊戲。When we reached Mingora we were shocked.
當我們抵達明戈拉時，震驚萬分。The army and Taliban had fought street to street and almost every wall was pockmarked with bullet holes.
軍方和塔利班展開巷戰，幾乎每一面牆上都是坑洞，彈痕處處。There was the rubble of blown-up buildings which the Taliban had used as hideouts, and piles of wreckage, twisted metal and smashed-up signs.
一些塔利班藏身的建築成爲焦黑的瓦堆，還有成堆的廢墟、彎曲的金屬與被砸爛的招牌。Most of the shops had heavy metal shutters; those that didn't had been looted.
那些還沒被劫掠的商店，多數是受到沉重的金屬百葉窗的保護。The city was silent and emptied of people and traffic as if a plague had descended.
城市一片靜寂，空無一人，鮮有車影，就像瘟疫降臨一般。The strangest sight of all was the bus station.
最奇怪的景象是巴士站。Usually it's a complete confusion of Flying Coaches and rickshaws, but now it was completely deserted.
正常情況下，這裏應該滿是巴士和人力車，擠得一團亂，但現在則是完全廢棄的狀態。We even saw plants growing up through the cracks in the paving. We had never seen our city like this.
我們甚至看到人行道磚塊的裂縫中長出了雜草。我們從未見過自己的城市如此衰敗。At least there was no sign of the Taliban.
但至少，我們沒有看見塔利班。
