Ken Saro-Wiwa
肯·萨罗-维瓦
Africa Kills Her Sun
非洲消灭了她的太阳
(Nigeria)
（尼日利亚）
Dear Zole,
亲爱的 Zole，
You’ll be surprised, no doubt, to receive this letter. But I couldn’t leave your beautiful world without saying goodbye to you who are condemned to live in it. I know that some might consider my gesture somewhat pathetic, as my colleagues, Sazan and Jimba, do, our finest moments having been achieved two or three weeks ago. However, for me, this letter is a celebration, a final act of love, a quality, which, in spite of my career, in spite of tomorrow morning, I do possess in abundance, and cherish. For I’ve always treasured the many moments of pleasure we spent together in our youth when the world was new and fishes flew in golden ponds. In the love we then shared have I found happiness, a true resting place, a shelter from the many storms that have buffeted my brief life. Whenever I’ve been most alone, whenever I’ve been torn by conflict and pain, I’ve turned to that love for the resolution which has sustained and seen me through. This may surprise you, considering that this love was never consummated and that you may possibly have forgotten me, not having seen me these ten years gone. I still remember you, have always remembered you, and it’s logical that on the night before tomorrow, I should write you to ask a small favor of you. But more important, the knowledge that I have unburdened myself to you will make tomorrow morning’s event as pleasant and desirable to me as to the thousands of spectators who will witness it.
收到这封信，你肯定会感到惊讶。但我无法在离开你美丽的世界之前，先向注定要活在其中的你道别。我知道有些人可能会觉得我的举动有些可悲，就像我的同事萨赞和金巴一样，我们最美好的时光是在两三周前。然而，对我来说，这封信是一场庆祝，是爱的最后表达，是一份品质。尽管我的职业如此，尽管明天早上就要过去，我依然拥有这份品质，并且珍惜这份品质。因为我一直珍视我们年轻时一起度过的许多快乐时光，那时世界尚且崭新，鱼儿在金色的池塘里飞翔。在我们当时共享的爱中，我找到了幸福，一个真正的安息之所，一个躲避我短暂生命中无数风暴的庇护所。每当我感到最孤独，每当我被冲突和痛苦撕裂，我都会转向那份爱，寻求支撑我、帮助我度过难关的决心。考虑到这段爱情从未圆满，而且你或许已经忘记我，十年没见过我，这或许会让你感到惊讶。我仍然记得你，一直记得你，所以前天晚上写信给你，请你帮个小忙，也合情合理。但更重要的是，知道我向你倾诉了心事，会让明天早上的婚礼对我来说，和成千上万的旁观者一样，充满愉悦和渴望。
I know this will get to you because the prison guard’s been heavily bribed to deliver it. He should rightly be with us before the firing squad tomorrow. But he’s condemned, like most others, to live, to play out his assigned role in your hell of a world. I see him burning out his dull, uncomprehending life, doing his menial job for a pittance and a bribe for the next so many years. I pity his ignorance and cannot envy his complacency. Tomorrow morning, with this letter and our bribe in his pocket, he’ll call us out, Sazan, Jimba and I. As usual, he’ll have all our names mixed up: he always calls Sazan “Sajim” and Jimba “Samba.” But that won’t matter. We’ll obey him, and as we walk to our death, we’ll laugh at his gaucherie, his plain stupidity. As we laughed at that other thief, the High Court Judge.
我知道这封信会传到你耳中，因为狱警收了重金贿赂才送来的。他明天理应和我们一起被枪决。但他和大多数人一样，注定要活下去，在你们这地狱般的世界里扮演他被赋予的角色。我眼睁睁地看着他耗尽他那枯燥乏味、茫然无知的人生，为了微薄的收入和一笔贿赂，在之后的岁月里做着卑微的工作。我同情他的无知，却又无法羡慕他的自满。明天早上，他会带着这封信和贿赂，叫我们萨赞、金巴和我出来。像往常一样，他会把我们的名字都弄混：他总是叫萨赞“萨吉姆”，叫金巴“桑巴”。但这无关紧要。我们会服从他，在走向死亡的路上，我们会嘲笑他的粗鲁和愚蠢。就像我们嘲笑另一个小偷——高等法院法官一样。
You must’ve seen that in the papers too. We saw it, thanks to our bribe-taking friend, the prison guard, who sent us a copy of the newspaper in which it was reported. Were it not in an unfeeling nation, among a people inured to evil and taking sadistic pleasure in the loss of life, some questions might have been asked. No doubt, many will ask the questions, but they will do it in the safety and comfort of their homes, over the interminable bottles of beer, uncomprehendingly watching their boring, cheap television programs, the rejects of Europe and America, imported to fill their vacuity. They will salve their consciences with more bottles of beer, wash the answers down their gullets and pass question, conscience and answer out as waste into their open sewers choking with concentrated filth and murk. And they will forget.
你肯定也在报纸上看到过。我们也看到了，多亏了我们那位收受贿赂的朋友——狱警，他寄给我们一份报道此事的报纸。如果不是在一个冷酷无情的国家，在一个习惯于邪恶、以牺牲生命为乐的人们中间，或许会有人提出一些问题。毫无疑问，很多人会提出这些问题，但他们会在安全舒适的家中，喝着没完没了的啤酒，茫然地看着无聊廉价的电视节目——那些从欧美进口来填补空虚的垃圾。他们会用更多的啤酒来慰藉自己的良心，把答案冲进喉咙，把问题、良心和答案像废物一样排入充满浓缩污秽和黑暗的露天下水道。然后他们就会忘记。
I bet, though, the High Court Judge himself will never forget. He must remember it the rest of his life. Because I watched him closely that first morning. And I can’t describe the shock and disbelief which I saw registered on his face. His spectacles fell to his table and it was with difficulty he regained composure. It must have been the first time in all his experience that he found persons arraigned on a charge for which the punishment upon conviction is death, entering a plea of guilty and demanding that they be sentenced and shot without further delay.
我敢打赌，高等法院法官本人也永远不会忘记这件事。他一定会终生难忘。因为在第一天早上，我密切关注着他。我无法形容他脸上流露出的震惊和难以置信 。他的眼镜掉在了桌子上，他好不容易才恢复镇静。这肯定是他一生中第一次看到有人被控犯有死刑，却认罪并要求立即判处死刑并处决。
Sazan, Jimba and I had rehearsed it carefully. During the months we’d been remanded in prison custody while the prosecutors prepared their case, we’d agreed we weren’t going to allow a long trial, or any possibility that they might impose differing sentences upon us: freeing one, sentencing another to life imprisonment and the third to death by firing squad.
萨赞、金巴和我仔细地排练过。在我们被关押在监狱、等待检察官准备案件的几个月里，我们一致同意，绝不允许长时间的审判，也绝不接受任何可能对我们判处不同刑罚的可能性：释放一个人，判处另一个人终身监禁，再判处第三个人枪决。
Nor did we want to give the lawyers in their funny black funeral robes an opportunity to clown around, making arguments for pleasure, engaging in worthless casuistry. No. We voted for death. After all, we were armed robbers, bandits. We knew it. We didn’t want to give the law a chance to prove itself the proverbial ass. We were being honest to ourselves, to our vocation, to our country and to mankind.
我们也不想给那些穿着滑稽黑色丧服的律师们机会，让他们胡闹，为了乐趣而辩论，进行毫无意义的诡辩。不。我们投票赞成死刑。毕竟，我们是武装抢劫犯，土匪。我们心知肚明。我们不想给法律一个机会，证明它自己是众所周知的蠢货。我们对自己诚实，对我们的职业诚实，对我们的国家诚实，对人类诚实。
“Sentence us to death immediately and send us before the firing squad without further delay,” we yelled in unison. The Judge, after he had recovered from his initial shock, asked us to be taken away that day, “for disturbing my court.” I suppose he wanted to see if we’d sleep things over and change our plea. We didn’t. When they brought us back the next day, we said the same thing in a louder voice. We said we had robbed and killed. We were guilty. Cool. The Judge was bound hand and foot and did what he had to. We’d forced him to be honest to his vocation, to the laws of the country and to the course of justice. It was no mean achievement. The court hall was stunned; our guards were utterly amazed as we walked out of court, smiling. “Hardened criminals.” “Bandits,” I heard them say as we trooped out of the court. One spectator actually spat at us as we walked into the waiting Black Maria!
“立即判我们死刑，立即枪决！”我们齐声喊道。法官从最初的震惊中回过神来，当天就要求把我们带走，“因为我们扰乱了我的法庭。”我想他是想看看我们是否会睡一觉， 然后改变我们的申辩。我们没有。第二天他们把我们带回来时，我们更大声地说了同样的话。我们说我们抢劫杀人。我们有罪。太棒了。法官被捆绑着手脚，但他做了他该做的事。我们迫使他对自己的职业、国家法律和司法程序诚实。这绝非易事。法庭大厅里一片震惊；当我们微笑着走出法庭时，我们的警卫们都惊呆了。“惯犯。”“土匪！”我听到他们一边说着，一边走出法庭。当我们走进等候的“黑玛丽亚”时，一个旁观者竟然朝我们吐口水！
And now that I’ve confessed to banditry, you’ll ask why I did it. I’ll answer that question by retelling the story of the young, beautiful prostitute I met in St. Pauli in Hamburg when our ship berthed there years back. I’ve told my friends the story several times. I did ask her after the event, why she was in that place. She replied that some girls chose to be secretaries in offices, others to be nurses. She had chosen prostitution as a career. Cool. I was struck by her candor. And she set me thinking. Was I in the Merchant Navy by choice or because it was the first job that presented itself to me when I left school? When we returned home, I skipped ship, thanks to the prostitute of St. Pauli, and took a situation as a clerk in the Ministry of Defense.
既然我承认自己曾是强盗，你们肯定会问我为什么这么做。为了回答这个问题，我会重述多年前我们在汉堡圣保利港遇到的一位年轻漂亮妓女的故事。我把这个故事讲给我的朋友们听过好几次。事后我问过她，为什么会在那里。她回答说，有些女孩选择在办公室做秘书，有些则选择做护士。而她选择了卖淫作为职业。很酷。她的坦率让我印象深刻。她让我思考：我加入商船队是出于自愿，还是因为这是我离开学校后遇到的第一份工作？回家后，多亏了圣保利的那位妓女，我跳槽到国防部当了一名文员。
It was there I came face-to-face with the open looting of the national treasury, the manner of which I cannot describe without arousing in myself the deepest, basest emotions. Everyone was busy at it and there was no one to complain to. Everyone to whom I complained said to me: “If you can’t beat them, join them.” I was not about to join anyone; I wanted to beat them and took it upon myself to wage a war against them. In no time they had gotten rid of me. Dismissed me. I had no option but to join them then. I had to make a choice. I became an armed robber, a bandit. It was my choice, my answer. And I don’t regret it.
正是在那里，我亲眼目睹了国库被公然掠夺的惨状，我无法描述其方式，否则我内心深处会涌起最深沉、最卑鄙的情感。每个人都忙于此事，却无人倾诉。每个我抱怨的人都对我说：“如果你打不过他们，就加入他们。”我并没有打算加入任何人；我想打败他们，并主动承担起与他们开战的责任。很快，他们就把我赶走了。解雇了我。我别无选择，只能加入他们。我必须做出选择。我成了一名武装劫匪，一名土匪。这是我的选择，我的答案。我并不后悔。
Did I know it was dangerous? Some girls are secretaries, others choose to be prostitutes. Some men choose to be soldiers, others doctors and lawyers; I chose to be a robber. Every occupation has its hazards. A taxi driver may meet his death on the road; a businessman may die in an air crash; a robber dies before a firing squad. It’s no big deal. If you ask me, the death I’ve chosen is possibly more dramatic, more qualitative, more eloquent than dying in bed of a ruptured liver from overindulgence in alcohol. Yes? But robbery is antisocial, you say? A proven determination to break the law. I don’t want to provide an alibi. But just you think of the many men and women who are busy breaking or bending the law in all coasts and climes. Look for a copy of The Guardian of 19th September. That is the edition in which our plea to the Judge was reported. You’ll find there the story of the Government official who stole over seven million naira. Seven million. Cool. He was antisocial, right? How many of this type do you know? And how many more go undetected? I say, if my avocation was antisocial, I’m in good company. And that company consists of Presidents of countries, transnational organizations, public servants high and low, men and women. The only difference is that while I’m prepared to pay the price for it all, the others are not. See?
我知道这很危险吗？有些女孩当秘书，有些选择当妓女。有些女孩选择当士兵，有些选择当医生和律师；而我选择当强盗。每种职业都有其危险。出租车司机可能在路上丧命；商人可能死于空难；强盗死于行刑队。这没什么大不了的。如果你问我，我选择的死亡方式可能比因酗酒肝破裂躺在床上而死更戏剧化、更具有质感、更有说服力。是吗？ 但你说抢劫是反社会的？是明目张胆的违法行为。我不想提供不在场证明。但你想一想，在各个海岸和地区，有多少男男女女在忙着违法或枉法。请查阅 9 月 19 日的 《 卫报》 。该版报道了我们向法官提出的请求。你会在那里找到一个政府官员盗窃七百万奈拉的故事。七百万。真酷。他是个反社会的人，对吧？你认识多少这样的人？还有多少人没被发现？我说，如果我的爱好是反社会的，那我可不是什么人。这些人包括各国总统、跨国组织、各阶层的公务员，无论男女。唯一的区别在于，我准备为这一切付出代价，而其他人却没有。明白吗？
I’m not asking for your understanding or sympathy. I need neither, not now nor hereafter. I’m saying it as it is. Right? Cool. I expect you’ll say that armed robbery should be the special preserve of the scum of society. That no man of my education has any business being a bandit. To that I’ll answer that it’s about time well-endowed and well-trained people took to it. They’ll bring the profession a romantic quality, a proficiency which will ultimately conduce to the benefit of society. No, I’m not mad. Truly. Time was when the running and ruining of African nations was in the hands of half-literate politicians. Today, well-endowed and better-trained people have taken over the task. And look how well they’re doing it. So that even upon that score, my conscience sleeps easy. Understand?
我并非祈求你的理解或同情。我现在和以后都不需要。我只是实话实说。对吧？好吧。我猜你会说，持枪抢劫应该是社会渣滓的专利。像我这样受过良好教育的人，根本不配当强盗。对此，我的回答是，现在是时候让那些天赋异禀、训练有素的人来干这件事了。他们会给这个职业增添一丝浪漫色彩，让他们精通行径，最终造福社会。不，我没有疯。真的。曾经有一段时间，非洲国家的兴衰掌握在那些一窍不通的政客手中。如今，天赋异禀、训练有素的人接手了这项任务。看看他们做得多么出色。所以，即便如此，我的良心也安然无恙。明白吗？
Talking about sleep, you should see Sazan and Jimba on the cold, hard prison floor, snoring away as if life itself depends on a good snore. It’s impossible, seeing them this way, to believe that they’ll be facing the firing squad tomorrow. They’re men of courage. Worthy lieutenants. It’s a pity their abilities will be lost to society forever, come tomorrow morning. Sazan would have made a good Army General any day, possibly a President of our country in the mold of Idi Amin or Bokassa. The Europeans and Americans would have found in him a useful ally in the progressive degradation of Africa. Jimba’d have made an excellent Inspector-General of Police, so versed is he in the ways of the Police! You know, of course, that Sazan is a dismissed Sergeant of our nation’s proud army. And Jimba was once a Corporal in the Police Force. When we met, we had similar reasons for pooling our talents. And a great team we did make. Now here we all are in the death cell of a maximum security prison and they snoring away the last hours of their lives on the cold, smelly floor. It’s exhilarating to find them so disdainful of life. Their style is the stuff of which history is made. In another time and in another country, they’d be Sir Francis Drake, Cortés or Sir Walter Raleigh. They’d have made empires and earned honors. But here, our life is one big disaster, an endless tragedy. Heroism is not in our star. We are millipedes crawling on the floor of a dank, wet forest. So Sazan and Jimba will die unsung. See?
说到睡眠，你应该看看萨赞和金巴躺在冰冷坚硬的监狱地板上，酣畅淋漓地呼噜，仿佛生命就靠这呼噜维持。看到他们这样，很难相信明天他们就要面对行刑队。他们都是勇敢的勇士，是值得尊敬的中尉。可惜的是，明天早上，他们的才能将永远被社会遗忘。萨赞本可以成为一名优秀的陆军将军，或许可以成为像伊迪·阿明或博卡萨那样的总统。欧洲人和美国人会发现，在非洲日益衰落的今天，他是一位得力的盟友。金巴本可以成为一名优秀的警察总监，他对警察的规矩了如指掌！你当然知道，萨赞是我们国家引以为豪的军队中一位被解职的中士。而金巴曾经是警察部队的下士。我们相遇时，出于相似的原因，我们彼此才华横溢。我们的确组成了一支优秀的团队。如今，我们都在最高安全监狱的死牢里，他们在冰冷恶臭的地板上酣睡，度过生命中最后的时光。看到他们如此蔑视生命，真让人兴奋。他们的风格正是历史的基石。在另一个时代，另一个国家，他们会是弗朗西斯·德雷克爵士、科尔特斯或沃尔特·罗利爵士。他们会建立帝国，赢得荣誉。但在这里，我们的人生是一场巨大的灾难，一场无尽的悲剧。英雄主义已不在我们心中。我们就像在阴湿森林中爬行的千足虫。所以，萨赞和金巴将默默无闻地死去。明白了吗？
One thing, though. We swore never to kill. And we never did. Indeed, we didn’t take part in the particular “operation” for which we were held, Sazan, Jimba and I. That operation would’ve gone quite well if the Superintendent of Police had fulfilled his part of the bargain. Because he was in it with us. The Police are involved in every single robbery that happens. They know the entire gang, the gangs. We’d not succeed if we didn’t collaborate with them. Sazan, Jimba and I were the bosses. We didn’t go out on “operations.” The boys normally did. And they were out on that occasion. The Superintendent of Police was supposed to keep away the police escorts from the vehicle carrying workers’ salaries that day. For some reason, he failed to do so. And the policeman shot at our boys. The boys responded and shot and killed him and the Security Company guards. The boys got the money all right. But the killing was contrary to our agreement with the Police. We had to pay. The Police won’t stand for any of their men being killed. They took all the money from us and then they went after the boys. We said no. The boys acted on orders. We volunteered to take their place. The Police took us in and made a lot of public noises about it. The boys, I know, will make their decisions later. I don’t know what will happen to the Superintendent of Police. But he’ll have to look to himself. So, if that is any comfort to you, you may rest in the knowledge that I spilt no blood. No, I wouldn’t. Nor have I kept the loot. Somehow, whatever we took from people – the rich ones – always was shared by the gang, who were almost always on the bread line. Sazain, Jimba and I are not wealthy.
但有一件事 ……我们发誓永不杀人。我们也确实没有杀人。事实上，我们，萨赞、金巴和我，都没有参与我们被关押的那次“行动”。如果警察局长履行了他的承诺，那次行动会很顺利。因为他和我们一起参与了。警方参与了每一起抢劫案。他们了解整个团伙，了解所有帮派。如果我们不与他们合作，就不会成功。萨赞、金巴和我才是老大。我们没有出去“行动”。通常都是孩子们出去。而那次他们出去了。 那天，警察局长应该阻止警队护送人员靠近运送工人工资的车辆。但出于某种原因，他没有这样做。然后警察向我们的孩子们开枪。 孩子们还击，开枪打死了警察和保安公司的保安。孩子们拿到了钱。但杀人违反了我们和警方的协议。我们必须付钱。警察不会容忍他们的任何手下被杀。他们拿走了我们所有的钱，然后去追杀那些男孩。我们拒绝了。那些男孩们奉命行事。我们自愿代替他们。警察收留了我们，并为此大肆宣传。我知道，那些男孩们以后会做出他们的决定。我不知道警司会怎么样。但他得自己考虑清楚。所以， 如果这能给你带来些许安慰，你可以放心，我没有杀过人。不，我不会。我也没有私吞赃物。不知何故，我们从人们——富人——那里抢来的任何东西，总是被帮派瓜分，而他们几乎总是穷困潦倒。萨赞、吉姆巴和我都不富裕。
Many will therefore accuse us of recklessness, or of being careless with our lives. And well they might. I think I speak for my sleeping comrades when I say we went into our career because we didn’t see any basic difference between what we were doing and what most others are doing throughout the land today. In every facet of our lives – in politics, in commerce and in the professions – robbery is the base line. And it’s been so from time. In the early days, our forebears sold their kinsmen into slavery for minor items such as beads, mirrors, alcohol and tobacco. These days, the tune is the same, only the articles have changed into cars, transistor radios and bank accounts. Nothing else has changed, and nothing will change in the foreseeable future. But that’s the problem of those of you who will live beyond tomorrow, Zole.
因此，许多人会指责我们鲁莽行事，或对生命漠不关心。他们当然会这么说。我想，我代表我那些已故的战友们说，我们之所以从事这份职业，是因为我们看不出自己当时所做的事情和如今全国大多数人所做的事情有什么根本区别。在我们生活的方方面面——政治、商业和各行各业——抢劫都是底线。 而且自古以来都是如此。在早期，我们的先辈为了珠子、镜子、烟酒等小物件把他们的同胞卖为奴隶。如今，情况依然如此，只是卖的东西变成了汽车、晶体管收音机和银行账户。其他一切都没有改变，在可预见的未来也不会改变。但这就是你们这些活到明天之后的人的问题，佐尔。
The cock crows now and I know dawn is about to break. I’m not speaking figuratively. In the cell here, the darkness is still all-pervasive, except for the flickering light of the candle by which I write. Sazan and Jimba remain fast asleep. So is the prison guard. He sleeps all night and is no trouble to us. We could, if we wanted, escape from here, so lax are the guards. But we consider that unnecessary, as what is going to happen later this morning is welcome relief from burdens too heavy to bear. It’s the guard and you the living who are in prison, the ultimate prison from which you cannot escape because you do not know that you are incarcerated. Your happiness is the happiness of ignorance and your ignorance is it that keeps you in prison, which is your life. As this night dissolves into day, Sazan, Jimba and I shall be free. Sazan and Jimba will have left nothing behind. I shall leave at least this letter, which, please, keep for posterity.
公鸡打鸣，我知道黎明即将破晓。我并非在打比方。这间牢房里，黑暗依然弥漫，唯有我写作时烛光摇曳。萨赞和金巴仍在酣睡。狱警也一样。他一觉睡到天亮，并没有给我们添麻烦。如果我们愿意，完全可以逃出这里，毕竟狱警们太松懈了。但我们认为这没有必要，因为今天上午晚些时候发生的事情，将是我们卸下难以承受的重担的解脱。身陷囹圄的是狱警，以及你们这些活着的人，你们无法逃脱的终极牢笼，因为你们不知道自己被囚禁了。你们的幸福是无知的幸福，而正是你们的无知将你们囚禁在牢笼之中，而牢笼就是你们的生命。夜幕降临，白昼降临，萨赞、金巴和我都将获得自由。萨赞和金巴将一无所有。我至少会留下这封信，请你们妥善保管，以作后世传颂。
Zole, do I rant? Do I pour out myself to you in bitter tones? Do not lay it to the fact that I’m about to be shot by firing squad. On second thoughts, you could, you know. After all, seeing death so clearly before me might possibly have made me more perspicacious? And yet I’ve always seen these things clearly in my mind’s eye. I never did speak about them, never discussed them. I preferred to let them weigh me down. See?
佐尔，我是不是在咆哮？我是不是在用苦涩的语气向你倾诉？别以为我就要被枪决了。想想也对，你也有可能。毕竟，如此清晰地目睹死亡或许能让我更加敏锐？然而，这些事情我一直都清晰地浮现在我的脑海中。 我从未谈论过它们，也从未讨论过它们。我宁愿让它们压垮我。明白了吗？
So, then, in a few hours we shall be called out. We shall clamber with others into the miserable lorry which they still call the Black Maria. Notice how everything miserable is associated with us. Black Sheep. Black Maria. Black Death. Black Leg. The Black Hole of Calcutta. The Black Maria will take us to the Beach or to the Stadium. I bet it will be the Stadium. I’d prefer the Beach. So at least to see the ocean once more. For I’ve still this fond regard for the sea which dates from my time in the Merchant Navy. I love its wide expanse, its anonymity, its strength, its unfathomable depth. And maybe after shooting us, they might decide to throw our bodies into the ocean. We’d then be eaten up by sharks which would in turn be caught by Japanese and Russian fishermen, be refrigerated, packaged in cartons and sold to Indian merchants and then for a handsome profit to our people. That way, I’d have helped keep people alive a bit longer. But they won’t do us that favor. I’m sure they’ll take us to the Stadium. To provide a true spectacle for the fun-loving unemployed. To keep them out of trouble. To keep them from thinking. To keep them laughing. And dancing.
那么，几个小时后我们就会被叫出去。我们会和其他人一起爬上那辆破烂的卡车，他们至今仍称之为“黑玛利亚”。注意，所有悲惨的事物都与我们息息相关。黑羊。黑玛利亚。黑死病。黑腿。加尔各答的黑洞。“黑玛利亚”会载我们去海滩或体育场。我打赌我会去体育场。我更喜欢海滩。这样至少可以再看一眼大海。因为我对大海的热爱依然延续，这种热爱可以追溯到我在商船队服役的时光。我热爱它的广阔，它的匿名，它的强大，它深不可测的深度。也许在枪杀我们之后，他们会决定把我们的尸体扔进海里。然后我们会被鲨鱼吃掉，而鲨鱼又会被日本和俄罗斯的渔民捕获，冷藏起来，装进纸箱，卖给印度商人，然后为我们的人民赚取丰厚的利润。那样的话，我就能帮助人们多活一段时间了。但他们不会帮我们这个忙。我肯定他们会带我们去体育场。为那些爱好玩乐的失业者提供一场真正的盛宴。让他们远离麻烦。让他们停止思考。让他们欢笑。跳舞。
We’ll be there in the dirty clothes which we now wear. We’ve not had any of our things washed this past month. They will tie us to the stakes, as though that were necessary. For even if we were minded to escape, where’d we run to? I expect they’ll also want to blindfold us. Sazan and Jimba have said they’ll not allow themselves to be blindfolded. I agree with them. I should want to see my executors, stare the nozzles of their guns bravely in the face, see the open sky, the sun, daylight. See and hear my countrymen as they cheer us to our death. To liberation and freedom.
我们会穿着现在这身脏兮兮的衣服去那里。过去一个月我们的东西都没洗过。他们会把我们绑在火刑柱上，好像那是必须的似的。就算我们想逃，又能逃到哪里去呢？我估计他们还会蒙住我们的眼睛。萨赞和吉姆巴都说过他们不会让自己被蒙住眼睛。我同意他们的说法。我希望看到我的刽子手们勇敢地把枪口对准我的脸，看到开阔的天空、阳光和日光。看到、听到我的同胞们为我们欢呼，让我们走向死亡。走向解放和自由。
The Stadium will fill to capacity. And many will not find a place. They will climb trees and hang about the balconies of surrounding houses to get a clear view of us. To enjoy the free show. Cool.
体育场会爆满。 很多人甚至找不到座位。他们会爬树，在周围房屋的阳台上徘徊，只为看得更清楚。享受这场免费演出。太棒了。
And then the priest will come to us, either to pray or to ask if we have any last wishes. Sazan says he will ask for a cigarette. I’m sure they’ll give it to him. I can see him puffing hard at it before the bullets cut him down. He says he’s going to enjoy that cigarette more than anything he’s had in life. Jimba says he’ll maintain a sullen silence as a mark of his contempt. I’m going to yell at the priest. I will say, “Go to hell, you hypocrite, fornicator and adulterer.” I will yell at the top of my voice in the hope that the spectators will hear me. How I wish there’d be a microphone that will reverberate through the Stadium, nay, through the country as a whole! Then the laugh would be on the priest and those who sent him!
然后神父就会来找我们，要么祈祷，要么问我们有什么遗愿。萨赞说他会要一支烟。我肯定他们会给他的。我能想象到他在被子弹射倒之前，狠狠地抽了一口烟。他说他会比这辈子抽过的任何东西都更享受这支烟。金巴说他会保持阴沉的沉默，以示蔑视。 我要对神父吼叫。我会说：“下地狱去吧，你这个伪君子，淫乱之徒，奸夫。”我会大声喊叫，希望观众能听到。我多么希望有一个麦克风，能响彻体育场，不，响彻整个国家！那样，神父和派他来的人就会成为笑柄！
The priest will pray for our souls. But it’s not us he should be praying for. He should pray for the living, for those whose lives are a daily torment. Between his prayer and when the shots ring out, there will be dead silence. The silence of the graveyard. The transition between life and death. And it shall be seen that the distinction between them both is narrow as the neck of a calabash. The divide between us breathing like everyone else in the Stadium and us as meat for worms is, oh, so slim, it makes life a walking death! But I should be glad to be rid of the world, of a meaningless existence that grows more dreary by the day. I should miss Sazan and Jimba, though. It’ll be a shame to see these elegant gentlemen cut down and destroyed. And I’ll miss you, too, my dear girl. But that will be of no consequence to the spectators.
神父会为我们的灵魂祈祷。但他不该为我们祈祷。他应该为活着的人祈祷，为那些每日饱受折磨的人祈祷。从他祈祷到枪声响起，一片死寂。 墓地般的寂静。生与死的交汇。人们会看到，生与死之间的界限，如同葫芦颈般狭小。我们像体育场里的其他人一样呼吸，与沦为蛆虫的肉体，这两者之间的界限，哦，如此之小，以至于生命如同行尸走肉！ 但我很高兴能够摆脱这个世界，摆脱这种日益沉闷、毫无意义的存在。不过，我会想念萨赞和金巴。看到这些优雅的绅士被砍倒、被毁灭，真是太可惜了。我也会想念你，我的好姑娘。但这对观众来说无关紧要。
They will troop out of the Stadium, clamber down the trees and the balconies of the houses, as though they’d just returned from another football match. They will march to their ratholes on empty stomachs, with tales enough to fill a Saturday evening. Miserable wretches!
他们会成群结队地走出体育场，爬下树，爬下房屋的阳台，仿佛刚看完一场足球赛回来。他们会饿着肚子，走向自己的老鼠洞，讲着足以填满整个周六晚上的故事。真是可怜的家伙！
The men who shall have eased us out of life will then untie our bodies and dump them into a lorry and thence to some open general grave. That must be a most distasteful task. I’d not do it for a million dollars. Yet some miserable fellows will do it for a miserable salary at the end of the month. A salary which will not feed them and their families till the next payday. A salary which they will have to augment with a bribe, if they are to keep body and soul together. I say, I do feel sorry for them. See?
那些本该让我们安息的人，会把我们的尸体解开，扔进卡车，再扔进某个敞开的坟墓。那肯定是最令人作呕的活儿。 就算给我一百万美元，我也不会做。 然而，有些可怜的家伙却为了月底那点微薄的薪水去做这件事。这份薪水连他们和家人的饭碗都撑不到下一个发薪日。如果他们还想维持生计，就得用贿赂来增加这份薪水。我说，我真为他们感到难过。明白了吗？
The newspapers will faithfully record the fact of our shooting. If they have space, they’ll probably carry a photograph of us to garnish your breakfasts.
报纸会如实地报道我们被枪杀的事实。如果版面够宽裕，他们或许会刊登我们的照片，作为你们早餐的点缀。
I remember once long ago reading in a newspaper of a man whose one request to the priest was that he be buried along with his walking stick – his faithful companion over the years. He was pictured slumping in death, devotedly clutching his beloved walking stick. True friendship, that. Well, Zole, if ever you see such a photograph of me, make a cutting. Give it to a sculptor and ask him to make a stone sculpture of me as I appear in the photograph. He must make as faithful a representation of me as possible. I must be hard of feature and relentless in aspect. I have a small sum of money in the bank and have already instructed the bank to pay it to you for the purpose of the sculpture I have spoken about….
我记得很久以前在报纸上读到过一个男人，他向神父提出的唯一请求是，将他与他的拐杖——多年来忠实的伙伴——一起埋葬。照片中，他垂死之际，虔诚地攥着他心爱的拐杖。这真是真正的友谊。佐勒，如果你看到我这样的照片，就剪下来。把它交给雕塑家，让他按照照片中的样子，为我雕刻一尊石像。他必须尽可能忠实地再现我。我必须五官端正，外貌坚毅。我在银行里有一小笔存款，已经指示银行将这笔钱付给你，用于我之前提到的那个雕塑……
Time is running out, Zole. Sazan and Jimba are awake now. And they’re surprised I haven’t slept all night. Sazan says I ought at least to have done myself the favor of sound sleep on my last night on earth. I ask him if I’m not going to sleep soundly, eternally, in a few hours? This, I argue, should be our most wakeful night. Sazan doesn’t appreciate that. Nor does Jimba. They stand up, yawn, stretch and rub their eyes. Then they sit down, crowding round me. They ask me to read out to them what I’ve written. I can’t do that, I tell them. It’s a love letter. And they burst out laughing. A love letter! And at the point of death! Sazan says I’m gone crazy. Jimba says he’s sure I’m afraid of death and looks hard and long at me to justify his suspicion. I say I’m neither crazy nor afraid of death. I’m just telling my childhood girlfriend how I feel this special night. And sending her on an important errand. Jimba says I never told them I had a girlfriend. I reply that she was not important before this moment.
时间不多了，佐尔。萨赞和金巴醒了。他们很惊讶我一夜没睡。萨赞说，在我人生的最后一晚，我至少应该好好睡一觉。我问他，再过几个小时，我是不是就要酣畅淋漓地永远睡下去了？我反驳道，这应该是我们最清醒的一晚了。萨赞不解气，金巴也不解气。他们站起来，打着哈欠，伸伸懒腰，揉揉眼睛。然后他们坐下，围着我。他们让我把我写的东西读给他们听。我告诉他们，我不能读。这是一封情书。他们哄堂大笑。一封情书！而且还是在临死之际！萨赞说我疯了。金巴说他肯定我怕死，并久久地盯着我，以证明他的怀疑是正确的。我说我既没疯，也不怕死。我只是在告诉我青梅竹马的女友，在这个特别的夜晚，我的感受。还派她去办一件重要的事。金巴说我从来没告诉过他们我有女朋友。我回答说，在这之前她并不重要。
I haven’t even seen her in ten years, I repeat. The really compelling need to write her is that on this very special night I have felt a need to be close to a living being, someone who can relate to others why we did what we did in and out of court.
我再说一遍，我已经十年没见过她了。真正迫切地想给她写信，是因为在这个非常特别的夜晚，我感到需要亲近一个活生生的人，一个能够理解我们在法庭内外为何做出这些行为的人。
Sazan says he agrees completely with me. He says he too would like to write his thoughts down. Do I have some paper to lend him? I say no. Besides, time is up. Day has dawned and I haven’t even finished my letter. Do they mind leaving me to myself for a few minutes? I’d very much like to end the letter, envelope it and pass it on to the prison guard before he rouses himself fully from sleep and remembers to assume his official harsh role.
萨赞说他完全同意我的观点。他说他也想把他的想法写下来。我能借他点纸吗？我说没有。再说，时间也到了。天都亮了，我还没写完信呢。他们能让我自己待一会儿吗？我真想写完信，装好，然后趁着狱警还没从睡梦中清醒过来，想起要履行他那份严厉的职责之前，交给他。
They’re nice chaps, are Jimba and Sazan. Sazan says to tell my girl not to bear any children because it’s pointless bringing new life into the harsh life of her world. Jimba says to ask my girl to shed a tear if she can so honor a complete stranger. They both chuckle and withdraw to a corner of the cell and I’m left alone to end my letter.
金巴和萨赞都是好人。萨赞说，让我女儿别生孩子，因为给她这个残酷的世界带来新生命毫无意义。金巴说，让我女儿流一滴眼泪，如果她能如此尊重一个完全陌生的人。他们俩轻笑一声，退到牢房角落，只剩下我一个人写信了。
Now, I was telling you about my statue. My corpse will not be available to you. You will make a grave for me, nonetheless. And place the statue on the gravestone. And now I come to what I consider the most important part of this letter. My epitaph.
现在，我正跟你讲我的雕像。我的遗体你不会去领。不过，你得为我修一座坟墓，把雕像安放在墓碑上。现在，我要谈谈我认为这封信最重要的部分——我的墓志铭。
I have thought a lot about it, you know. Really. What do you say about a robber shot in a stadium before a cheering crowd? That he was a good man who strayed? That he deserved his end? That he was a scallywag? A ragamuffin? A murderer whose punishment was not heavy enough? “Here lies X, who was shot in public by firing squad for robbing a van and shooting the guards in broad daylight. He serves as an example to all thieves and would-be thieves!”
你知道吗，我对此想了很多。真的。对于一个在体育场里，当着欢呼人群的面被枪杀的劫匪，你会怎么说？他会说他是个误入歧途的好人吗？他会说他罪有应得吗？他会说他是个流氓吗？一个流浪汉吗？一个惩罚不够重的杀人犯吗？“这里躺着 X，他因在光天化日之下抢劫一辆货车并枪杀警卫而被当众枪决。他是所有小偷和潜在小偷的警戒线！”
Who’d care for such an epitaph? They’d probably think it was a joke. No. That wouldn’t carry. I’ll settle for something different. Something plain and commonsensical. Or something truly cryptic and worthy of a man shot by choice in public by firing squad.
谁会在乎这样的墓志铭？他们大概会觉得是个玩笑。不，那样不行。我还是换个说法吧。一些朴实无华、常识性强的。或者一些真正隐晦难懂、配得上一个自愿被枪决的人公开处决的文字。
Not that I care. To die the way I’m going to die in the next hour or two is really nothing to worry about. I’m in excellent company. I should find myself recorded in the annals of our history. A history of violence, of murder, of disregard for life. Pleasures in inflicting pain – sadism. Is that the word for it? It’s a world I should be pleased to leave. But not without an epitaph.
我不在乎。像我一两个小时后就要死那样死去，真的没什么好担心的。我身边还有个绝佳的同伴。我应该被载入史册。一部充满暴力、谋杀、漠视生命的历史。以施加痛苦为乐——施虐狂。这个词用得着吗？我应该乐意离开这个世界。但必须留下墓志铭。
I recall, many years ago as a young child, reading in a newspaper of an African leader who stood on the grave of a dead lieutenant and through his tears said, “African kills her sons.” I don’t know what he meant by that, and I’ve thought about it long enough, I’ve not been able to unravel the full mystery of those words. No, today, this moment, they come flooding back to me. And I want to borrow from him. I’d like you to put this on my gravestone, as my epitaph: “Africa Kills Her Sun.” A good epitaph, eh? Cryptic. Definite. A stroke of genius, I should say, I’m sure you’ll agree with me. “Africa Kills Her Sun!” That’s why she’s been described as the Dark Continent? Yes?
我记得很多年前，当我还是个孩子的时候，在报纸上读到过一位非洲领袖站在一位阵亡中尉的坟墓上，泪流满面地说：“非洲杀死了她的儿子们。”我不知道他这话是什么意思，我思考了很久，却始终无法解开这番话背后的秘密。不，今天，此时此刻，这些话涌上心头。我想借用他的话，我希望你把这句话刻在我的墓碑上，作为我的墓志铭：“非洲杀死了她的太阳。” 一段很棒的墓志铭，嗯？隐晦。明确。我应该说，这真是天才之举，我相信你会同意我的看法。“非洲杀死了她的太阳！” 这就是为什么她被称为黑暗大陆，对吧？
So, now, my dear girl, I’m done. My heart is light as the daylight which seeps stealthily into our dark cell. I hear the prison guard jangle his keys, put them into the keyhole. Soon he’ll turn it and call us out. Our time is up. My time here expires and I must send you all my love. Goodbye.
所以，亲爱的姑娘，我的事儿结束了。我的心像悄悄渗进我们黑暗牢房的阳光一样明亮。我听到狱警把钥匙叮当作响，插进锁孔。很快他就会转动钥匙，叫我们出去。我们的时间到了。我的刑期结束了，我必须向你致以我所有的爱。再见。
Yours forever,
永远属于你，
Bana
巴纳
Questions:
问题：
Who is/are the main character(s)? Explain why you think so.
谁是主角？ 解释一下你为什么这么认为。
Who is/are the supporting character(s)? Explain why you think so.
谁是配角？解释一下你这样认为的原因。
Describe the setting(s) and any relevant prop(s)
描述场景和任何相关道具.
Tell the story in no more than two sentences.
用不超过两句话讲述这个故事。
Outline the events of the story in order.
按顺序概述故事中的事件。
Identify and explain the major conflicts in the story.
找出并解释故事中的主要冲突。
Explain the importance of each quotation:
解释每句引言的重要性：
I say, if my avocation was antisocial, I’m in good company. And that company consists of Presidents of countries, transnational organizations, public servants high and low, men and women. The only difference is that while I’m prepared to pay the price for it all, the others are not. See?
我说，如果我的爱好是反社会的，那我可不是个好人。 这些人里有各国总统、跨国组织，还有各阶层的公务员，男男女女。唯一的区别在于，我准备为这一切付出代价，而其他人却不准备。明白了吗？
It’s exhilarating to find them so disdainful of life. Their style is the stuff of which history is made. In another time and in another country, they’d be Sir Francis Drake, Cortés or Sir Walter Raleigh. They’d have made empires and earned national honors. But here, our life is one big disaster, an endless tragedy. Heroism is not in our star. We are millipedes crawling on the floor of a dank, wet forest. So Sazan and Jimba will die unsung. See?
发现他们如此蔑视生命，真是令人兴奋。他们的风格正是历史的基石。在另一个时代，另一个国家，他们会是弗朗西斯·德雷克爵士、科尔特斯或沃尔特·罗利爵士。他们会建立帝国，赢得国家荣誉。但在这里，我们的生活是一场巨大的灾难，一场无尽的悲剧。英雄主义不在我们心中。我们就像在潮湿阴冷的森林里爬行的千足虫。所以，萨赞和金巴将会默默无闻地死去。明白了吗？
In every facet of our lives – in politics, in commerce and in the professions – robbery is the base line. And it’s been so from time. In the early days, our forebears sold their kinsmen into slavery for minor items such as beads, mirrors, alcohol and tobacco. These days, the tune is the same, only the articles have changed into cars, transistor radios and bank accounts. Nothing else has changed, and nothing will change in the foreseeable future. But that’s the problem of those of you who live beyond tomorrow, Zole.
在我们生活的方方面面——政治、商业和各行各业——抢劫都是常态。自古以来，情况就是这样。古时候，我们的祖先为了珠子、镜子、烟酒等小物件，把亲人卖为奴隶。如今，情况依旧，只是物件变成了汽车、晶体管收音机和银行账户。其他一切都没有改变，在可预见的未来也不会改变。但这就是你们这些活在明天之后的人的问题，佐尔。
It’s the guard and you the living who are in prison, the ultimate prison from which you cannot escape because you do not know that you are incarcerated. Your happiness is the happiness of the ignorant and your ignorance is it that keeps you in prison, which is your life.
身陷囹圄的是狱卒和你们这些活着的人，你们根本无法逃脱，因为你们不知道自己被囚禁了。你们的幸福是无知者的幸福，而正是你们的无知将你们囚禁在囹圄之中，而这囹圄就是你们的生命。
I’d like you to put this on my gravestone, as my epitaph: “Africa Kills Her Sun.” A good epitaph, eh? Cryptic. Definite. A stroke of genius, I should say, I’m sure you’ll agree with me. “Africa Kills Her Sun!” That’s why she’s been described as the Dark Continent? Yes?
我希望你把这句话刻在我的墓碑上，作为我的墓志铭：“非洲扼杀了她的太阳。” 不错的墓志铭，嗯？隐晦。明确。应该说，这真是天才之举，我相信你也会同意我的看法。“非洲扼杀了她的太阳！” 所以她被称为黑暗大陆？对吧？
What do you think about the speaker in this epistolary story? How would you characterize him? Is he sympathetic or unsympathetic? Do your feelings about him change throughout the course of the story? If so, where and why?
你如何看待这本书信体小说中的讲述者？你会如何描述他？他富有同情心还是冷酷无情？你对他的感受会随着故事的进展而改变吗？如果会，是在哪里改变的？为什么？
What does the speaker have to say about his fellow countrymen and women? How are they portrayed?
演讲者对他的同胞有何评价？他们是如何被刻画的？
Why did Sazan, Jimba and Bana vote for the death penalty?
为什么 Sazan、Jimba 和 Bana 投票支持死刑？
Presentations:
演讲：
Research Ken Saro-Wiwa’s political engagement and execution.
研究肯·萨罗-维瓦的政治参与和执行。
Research Roman poet, Juvenal’s famous phrase panis et circenses (bread and circuses) in Satire X. How does it relate to Saro-Wiwa’s epistolary short story?
研究罗马诗人尤维纳尔在 《讽刺诗 X》 中的名句 “ 面包和马戏”（ panis et circenses ） 。 它与萨罗-维瓦的书信体短篇小说有何关联？
Compare and contrast Ken Saro-Wiwa’s final statement before his execution in 1995 with “Africa Kills Her Sun”, published in 1989.
将肯·萨罗-维瓦 1995 年被处决前的最后陈述与 1989 年出版的《非洲杀死了她的太阳》进行比较和对比。