雙語暢銷書《我是馬拉拉》第5章7:薩芬娜

With such a history, you can see why the people of Swat did not always think it was a good idea to be part of Pakistan. Every few years Pakistan sent us a new deputy commissioner, or DC, to govern Swat, just as the British had done in colonial days. It seemed to us that these bureaucrats came to our province simply to get rich, then went back home. They had no interest in developing Swat. Our people are used to being subservient because under the wali no criticism was tolerated. If anyone offended him, their entire family could be expelled from Swat. So when the DCs came from Pakistan, they were the new kings and no one questioned them. Older people often looked back nostalgically to the days of the last wali. Back then, they said, the mountains were all still covered in trees, there were schools every five kilometres and the wali sahib would visit them in person to resolve problems.

在這種情況下，斯瓦特人不想被列爲巴基斯坦的一部分也是情有可原的。每隔幾年，巴基斯坦就會派一位代理專員，也就是DC，來管理斯瓦特。在我們看來，這些官僚只是來這裏賺大錢而已，賺夠了就回家去了。他們根本不想發展斯瓦特。我們的民族已經習慣逆來順受，因爲在瓦利制度下，是不允許批判政權的。如果有任何人冒犯了瓦利準則，那麼此人的整個家族都會被趕出斯瓦特。所以當代理專員從伊斯蘭堡來時，他們就是新的國王，沒有人敢質疑他們。老一輩的人常常會懷念最後一代的瓦利統治時期。他們回憶道，那時候山上還有蔥鬱的樹林覆蓋，每隔五公里就會有間學校，瓦利老爺還會親自拜訪他們，解決他們遇到的問題。

After what happened with Safina, I vowed that I would never treat a friend badly again. My father always says it’s important to treat friends well. When he was at college and had no money for food or books many of his friends helped him out and he never forgot that. I have three good friends – Safina from my area, Sumbul from the village and Moniba from school. Moniba had become my best friend in primary school when we lived near each other, and I persuaded her to come to our school. She is a wise girl, though we often fall out, particularly when we go on school trips. She comes from a large family with three sisters and four brothers. I think of her as my big sister even though I am six months older than her. Moniba sets down rules which I try to follow. We don’t have secrets from each other and we don’t share our secrets with anyone else. She doesn’t like me talking to other girls and says we must be careful of associating with people who are badly behaved or have a reputation for trouble. She always says, ‘I have four brothers, and if I do even the slightest thing wrong they can stop me going to school.’

薩芬娜的事情過後，我發誓再也不會對朋友不好了。父親總是說，對朋友好是很重要的。在他念大學時，沒錢吃飯和買書，是幾個好朋友伸出援手，幫他渡過難關，他永遠銘記在心。我有三個好朋友--薩芬娜、和我同村的桑波，還有與我一起上學的莫妮巴。以前我和莫妮巴住得很近，我們在小學裏成爲最好的朋友，然後我說服她來我們學校唸書。她是個很聰慧的女孩，雖然我們常常吵架--特別是在郊遊的時候。她來自一個大家庭，有三個姐妹和四個兄弟。雖然我比她大六個月，但我感覺她是我的大姐姐。莫妮巴會立下規矩，我則試着去遵守。我們之間沒有任何祕密，我們是個緊密的小圈子，我們也不與其他人分享我們的祕密。她不喜歡我和其他女孩子說話。她說，我們必須注意自己和什麼樣的人來往，特別是要小心那些表現不佳的人，或是那些時常闖禍的人。她總是說：“我有四個兄弟，所以即便我犯的錯再怎麼輕微，都會成爲他們不讓我繼續上學的理由。”

I was so eager not to disappoint my parents that I ran errands for anyone. One day our neighbours asked me to buy some maize for them from the bazaar. On the way a boy on a bicycle crashed into me and my left shoulder hurt so much that my eyes watered. But I still went and bought the maize, took it to my neighbours and then went home. Only then did I cry. Shortly after that I found the perfect way to try to win back the respect of my father. Notices had gone up at school for a public speaking competition and Moniba and I both decided to enter. I remembered the story of my father surprising my grandfather and longed to do the same.

因爲不想讓父母失望，所以我幫所有人跑腿。有一天，我的鄰居要我去市場幫他們買一點玉米。在去市場的路上，有個男孩騎腳踏車撞上我。當時，我的肩膀很痛，淚水在眼眶裏打轉。但我還是去了市場，買了玉米，送到鄰居家後纔回家。直到回家後，我才掉下眼淚。在那之後沒多久，我發現了一個重新贏回父親尊重的絕佳方法。學校要舉辦公開演講比賽的公告已經貼出來了，我和莫妮巴都決定參加。我記得父親通過演講使祖父驚喜的故事，我想要和他做一樣的事。

When we got the topic, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was ‘Honesty is the best policy’.

當我們拿到題目時，我簡直不敢相信自己的眼睛。題目是：“誠實爲上”。