E47 无依之地｜印度有一座被人遗弃的“寡妇之城”

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PHOTOGRAPHS BYAMY TOENSING
In a shelter in Vrindavan, known as a “city of widows,” Lalita (at right) bears the cropped hair and white wrap her culture once considered obligatory for widowhood. Shelter manager Ranjana, a much younger widow, is less constrained by traditional customs.
“寡妇之城”沃林达文（Vrindavan）的一家收容所里，拉利塔（Lalita）（右）留着一头短发，身上裹着白色沙丽，在她的文化中，这曾被认为是守寡的义务。收容所的管理人员兰贾娜（Ranjana）是一位非常年轻的寡妇，她较少受到传统习俗约束。

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For Widows, Life After Loss

失去一切后，寡妇们的未亡人生

①It was 5:30 a.m., a cool dawn, a sliver moon. Long before sunrise the widows of Vrindavan hurried along dark, unpaved alleys, trying to sidestep mud puddles and fresh cow dung. There's a certain broken sidewalk on which volunteers set out a big propane burner every morning and brew a bathtub-size vat of tea. If they come too late, the tea might be gone. Or the puffed rice might be running out at the next charity's spot, many alleys away.

早上5点半，清晨有些寒冷，天上还挂着一轮银色的月亮。太阳还远未升起，而沃林达文的寡妇们已经起身，在黑暗、未经铺设的街巷之中快步行走着，努力避开路面上的泥水坑和新鲜牛粪。在某处中断的人行道上，志愿者们每天早上都会搭起一个大丙烷炉子，用浴盆那么大的缸煮满一缸茶。如果她们到得太晚，这一大缸茶就可能被分完了；或者，她们会错过另一个慈善机构处的爆米花，而这个站点离她们还有好几条街巷。

②No one has reliably counted the number of widows in Vrindavan. Vrindavan is about 100 miles south of Delhi, but the widows come here from all over India, particularly the state of West Bengal, where allegiance to Krishna is intense.

谁也不知道究竟有多少寡妇生活在沃林达文。沃林达文在德里（Delhi）南部约100英里处，但这里的寡妇来自印度各地，尤其是西孟加拉邦（West Bengal），当地有着很深厚的黑天信仰。

③A widow in India, forever burdened by the misfortune of having outlived her husband, is "physically alive but socially dead." A widow must not dress in colors or make herself pretty, because that would be inappropriate to her new role as eternally diminished mourner.

在印度，寡妇因比丈夫活得久而永远背负着不幸。她们的“肉体虽然活着，但在社会意义上却已经死了”。寡妇不能穿颜色鲜艳的衣服，也不能把自己打扮得漂漂亮亮的，因为她们只能作为永恒的哀悼者而活着，靓丽的打扮不符合她们的身份。

④When the United Nations in 2011 designated June 23 as International Widows' Day, the official explanation was a somber one: that in many cultures widows are so vulnerable—to abusive traditions, to poverty, to the aftermath of the wars that killed their husbands—that widowhood itself must be regarded as a potential human rights calamity. 

2011年，联合国将6月23日定为“国际寡妇日”，官方解释的原因令人悲伤：在许多文化中，寡妇是非常弱势的群体，她们极易受到“有毒”文化、贫穷以及在战争中失去丈夫的伤害，因此，寡妇的身份应当被视为一种人权危机。

⑤"The real change has to come from the societies that produced them," said Gautam, the social worker who would like to strike "widow" from the dictionary. "Mother," she said. "If she's not a mother, she's a daughter, perhaps a sister. She's also a wife. It's just that her husband is not alive."

“是社会造成了这些寡妇的困境，只有社会做出改变，才能真正帮助寡妇们脱困。”社会工作者高塔姆（Gautam）说道。她想要把“寡妇”这个词从字典中划去。“她可以是母亲，”她说道，”如果不是母亲，她也是女儿，或是姐姐、妹妹。她还是一名妻子。只是她的丈夫不在世罢了。”

PHOTOGRAPHS BYAMY TOENSING

Communities of widows in temple cities draw Hindu women from Nepal and Bangladesh as well. Bangladeshi widow Bhakti Dashi, 75, has lived for a quarter century in the back of a temple in the riverside spiritual center of Navadwip, West Bengal. Alongside others who have left home or been pushed away by their families, she sings prayers inside, for hours at a time, in exchange for her lodging and food.

寺庙城市的寡妇社区也吸引了来自尼泊尔（Nepal）和孟加拉国（Bangladesh）的印度教妇女。75岁的孟加拉国寡妇巴克蒂·达希（Bhakti Dashi）在西孟加拉邦纳瓦德维普（Navadwip）河畔精神中心的一座寺庙后面生活了二十年。和其他离家出走或被家人遗弃的人一起，她在庙里念经颂歌，一次唱几个小时，以换取住宿和食物。

PHOTOGRAPHS BYAMY TOENSING

Subhadra Pai was given a place to sleep in this Vrindavan shelter when she arrived a decade ago. Unclear about her exact age (at least 95, the attendants believe), she does know she was married at 13 and widowed at 30. The shelter is identified by a battered sign as "Short Stay Home for Women," but its occupants look settled in. Says another resident widow in her 70s: "Here there is no one to say nasty things to me."

十年前到达沃林达文时，苏哈德拉·派（Subhadra Pai）被安排在这家收容所里休息。她不清楚自己的确切年龄（照顾她的人觉得她至少95岁），但她知道自己13岁结婚，30岁守寡。收容所有一块破旧的标牌，写着“妇女短居之处”，但里面的人看起来已经在此安家。另一位住在这里的70多岁的寡妇说：“这里没有人对我说脏话。”

精选语言点 

1. 词汇

1）hurry /ˈhʌri/ v. 急忙；（朝某方向）迅速移动

When she finished work, she had to hurry home and look after her son. 

下班之后，她得赶紧回家，照顾儿子。

2）unpaved /ʌn'peɪvd/ adj. 未铺砌的

3）sidestep /ˈsaɪdstep/ v. 回避；侧向跨步

I sidestepped the blow. 我闪身躲过了一拳。

This actress sidestepped the reporter's question.

这个女演员回避了记者提出的问题。

4）sidewalk /ˈsaɪdwɔːk/ n. 人行道

5）certain /ˈsɜːtn/ adj. 某一；必然的

I had lunch with a certain Tony yesterday. 我昨天跟某个叫托尼的人吃了午饭。

to a certain degree 在某种程度上

6）propane /ˈprəʊpeɪn/ n. 丙烷

7）brew /bruː/ v. 酿造；泡茶，煮咖啡；酝酿

brew tea 泡茶

brew coffee 煮咖啡

I felt that trouble was brewing. 我觉得要出事了。

8）bath-tub /ˈbɑːθtʌb/ n. 浴盆

9）charity /ˈtʃærəti/ n. 慈善机构，公益组织

charity's spot 慈善机构设置的站点

10）reliably /rɪˈlaɪəbli/ adv. 可靠地；确实地

This research has reliably proved the existence of aliens. 

这个研究为外星人的存在提供了可靠的证据。

11）Krishna /ˈkrɪʃnə/ n. 黑天神

12）allegiance /əˈliːdʒəns/ n. 效忠，忠诚；忠贞

swear allegiance to sb. 向某人宣誓效忠

13）intense /ɪnˈtens/ adj. 强烈的；紧张的

intense cold or intense heat 严寒或者酷热

This dish has an intense flavor. 这道菜口味很重。

14）burden /ˈbɜːdn/ n. 负担 v. 使负担；烦扰

 I don't want to burden you with my problems. 我不想给你添麻烦。

15）eternally /ɪˈtɜːnəli/ adv. 永恒地

I'd be eternally grateful for everything you did for me. 

我永远感谢你为我做的一切。

16）mourner /ˈmɔːnə(r)/ n. 哀悼者

mourn v. 哀悼

17）diminish /dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/ v. 减少；变小

Memories will be diminished by time. 记忆会随着时间消退。

18）designate /ˈdezɪɡneɪt/ v. 指定；指派

He was designated as the monitor of the class. 他被指定为这个班的班长。

19）somber /ˈsɒmbə(r)/ adj. 忧郁的；昏暗的；严峻的

The funeral was a somber occasion. 葬礼是一个严肃的场合。

I left home in a somber mood. 我满怀忧郁地离开了家乡。

20）widowhood /ˈwɪdoʊhʊd/ n. 守寡；寡妇的身份

childhood 童年时期；幼年时代

adulthood 成年；成人期

21）calamity /kəˈlæməti/ n. 灾难；不幸事件

22）abusive /əˈbjuːsɪv/ adj. 辱骂的；滥用的；虐待的

23）aftermath /ˈɑːftəmæθ/ n. 后果；余波

The aftermath of the nuclear explosions had many people killed. 

核爆炸导致许多人死亡。

24）strike /straɪk/ v. 撞击；删除

strike A from B 将A从B中删除

2. 词组

1）set out sth. 摆放，陈列某物

Every morning my mom will set out breakfast dishes on the table. 

每天早上我妈妈都会把早餐放在餐桌上。

2）puffed rice 爆米花

3）outlive sb. /sth. 比…活得长/持续时间长

原文链接 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/global-images-of-widows-india-bosnia-uganda-discrimination-exile#:~:text=For%20Widows%2C%20Life%20After%20Loss%20In%20some%20cultures%2C,But%20bereaved%20women%20are%20beginning%20to%20fight%20back.