Billions of locusts ravage East Africa, and coronavirus has made them harder to stop

億萬蝗蟲侵襲東非，新冠之下，滅蝗雪上加霜

　　KAMPALA, Uganda – Weeks before the coronavirus spread through much of the world, parts of Africa were already threatened by another kind of plague, the biggest locust outbreak some countries had seen in 70 years.

　　烏干達(dá)坎帕拉報(bào)道——幾周前，新冠病毒還未肆虐世界大部分地區(qū)，非洲的部分地區(qū)卻遭遇到另一場天災(zāi)的威脅，部分國家爆發(fā)了70年來最嚴(yán)重的蝗災(zāi)。

　　Now the second wave of the voracious insects, some 20 times the size of the first, is arriving. Billions of the young desert locusts are winging in from breeding grounds in Somalia in search of fresh vegetation springing up with seasonal rains.

　　目前，第二波破壞性極強(qiáng)的蝗蟲即將襲來，數(shù)量約為第 一波的20倍。數(shù)十億只沙漠蝗蟲幼蟲從索馬里的繁殖地飛來，搜尋啃咬季節(jié)性雨季下飛長出的鮮嫩植被。

　　Millions of already vulnerable people are at risk. And as they gather to try to combat the locusts, often in vain, they risk spreading the virus — a topic that comes a distant second for many in rural areas.

　　數(shù)百萬非洲貧民的生命受到威脅。他們組織起來試圖滅蝗，卻往往徒勞無功，但此舉反而增加了新冠傳播的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)——對許多農(nóng)村地區(qū)而言，新冠比起蝗災(zāi)簡直九牛一毛。

　　It is the locusts that “everyone is talking about,” said Yoweri Aboket, a farmer in Uganda. “Once they land in your garden they do total destruction. Some people will even tell you that the locusts are more destructive than the coronavirus. There are even some who don’t believe that the virus will reach here.”

　　蝗蟲“引發(fā)各家討論”烏干達(dá)的一名農(nóng)夫約韋里·阿博凱特(Yoweri Aboket)表示，“它們一旦飛到你的菜園，就會(huì)掀個(gè)底朝天。有人甚至認(rèn)為蝗蟲大軍比新冠病毒更具破壞。更有甚者覺得病毒不會(huì)襲來�！�

　　Some farmers in Abokat’s village near the Kenyan border bang metal pans, whistle or throw stones to try to drive the locusts away. But mostly they watch in frustration, largely barred by a coronavirus lockdown from gathering outside their homes.

　　在肯尼亞邊境附近的阿博卡特村，一些村名敲金屬鍋、吹口哨或扔石頭來驅(qū)趕蝗蟲。但很多時(shí)候，他們只能絕望地看著蝗蟲肆虐，因?yàn)樵S多地區(qū)下發(fā)了新冠封鎖令，禁止戶外聚集。

　　A failed garden of cassava, a local staple, means hunger. Such worries in the village of some 600 people are reflected across a large part of East Africa, including Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The locust swarms also have been sighted in Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania and Congo.

　　木薯是當(dāng)?shù)氐闹魇�，種植失敗就意味著面臨饑餓。這個(gè)600多人小村莊對此十分擔(dān)憂，同樣的擔(dān)憂也發(fā)生在許多東非地區(qū)，包括肯尼亞、埃塞俄比亞和南蘇丹。另外，蝗蟲大軍也入侵了吉布提、厄立特里亞、坦桑尼亞和剛果。

　　The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has called the locust outbreak, caused in part by climate change, “an unprecedented threat” to food security and livelihoods. Its officials have called this new wave some 20 times the size of the first.

　　聯(lián)合國糧食和農(nóng)業(yè)組織稱，氣候變化是造成此次蝗災(zāi)的部分原因，這場蝗災(zāi)帶給糧食安全和人類生命一場前所未有的威脅。一些糧農(nóng)組織官員預(yù)計(jì)，新一輪蝗災(zāi)的規(guī)模要比第  一輪約大20倍。

　　“The current situation in East Africa remains extremely alarming as ... an increasing number of new swarms are forming in Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia,” a new FAO assessment said.

　　據(jù)糧農(nóng)組織的一項(xiàng)新研究顯示：“東非的現(xiàn)狀仍然令人十分擔(dān)憂，因?yàn)樾碌幕认x大軍肯尼亞、南埃塞和南索馬不斷集結(jié)，數(shù)量還在增加。”

　　Favorable breeding conditions through May mean there likely will be another new round of swarms in late June and July, coinciding with the start of the harvest season, the agency said.

　　該機(jī)構(gòu)表示，整個(gè)五月都有利蝗蟲繁殖，這意味著在六月底到七月可能迎來新一波蝗災(zāi)，而恰巧那時(shí)正值糧食收割季節(jié)。

　　The U.N. has raised its aid appeal from $76 million to $153 million, saying immediate action is needed before more rainfall fuels further growth in locust numbers. So far the FAO has collected $111 million in cash or pledges.

　　聯(lián)合國已將呼吁救助金從7600萬美元提高到1.53億美元，并表示之后降雨量增多，將導(dǎo)致蝗蟲數(shù)量進(jìn)一步增加，必  須趕在這之前采取行動(dòng)。截止目前，糧農(nóng)組織已籌集了1.11億美元的現(xiàn)金或認(rèn)捐。

　　節(jié)選自《今日美國》

　　1、Billions of locusts ravage East Africa, and coronavirus has made them harder to stop.

　　億萬蝗蟲侵襲東非，新冠之下，滅蝗雪上加霜。

　　點(diǎn)評：原譯對于標(biāo)題的整體處理是不錯(cuò)的。但“Billions of”并非“億萬”，而是“數(shù)十億的”，且若將ravage一詞譯為“肆虐”，即能說明蝗災(zāi)的嚴(yán)重程度，從而一筆帶過“billions of”�！把┥霞铀�”比喻在一次災(zāi)禍以后，接連又遭受新的災(zāi)禍，使損害愈加嚴(yán)重，故原譯將其用于“滅蝗”這一行為不妥

　　2、KAMPALA, Uganda – Weeks before the coronavirus spread through much of the world, parts of Africa were already threatened by another kind of plague.

　　烏干達(dá)坎帕拉報(bào)道——幾周前，新冠病毒還未肆虐世界大部分地區(qū)，非洲的部分地區(qū)卻遭遇到另一場天災(zāi)的威脅。

　　點(diǎn)評：原文的表述意在說明非洲部分地區(qū)在遭遇新冠肺炎之前，就已經(jīng)歷另一場浩劫——蝗災(zāi)，從而呼應(yīng)標(biāo)題的“雪上加霜”，故建議譯文的處理能凸顯這一邏輯。

　　3、parts of Africa were already threatened by another kind of plague，the biggest locust outbreak some countries had seen in 70 years.

　　非洲的部分地區(qū)卻遭遇到另一場天災(zāi)的威脅，部分國家爆發(fā)了70年來最嚴(yán)重的蝗災(zāi)。

　　點(diǎn)評：原譯此處的處理跟原文太緊，導(dǎo)致前后文不夠連貫。前面提及“非洲部分地區(qū)”，后文“the biggest locust outbreak some countries had seen in 70 years”作為“plague”的同位語，其中的“some countries”，邏輯上應(yīng)為“some countries in Africa”。故建議此處的翻譯充分利用中文的意合，無需按照原文把每個(gè)詞都譯出來

　　4、Now the second wave of the voracious insects.

　　目前，第二波破壞性極強(qiáng)的蝗蟲即將襲來。

　　點(diǎn)評：原文中 “the voracious insects”是偏正結(jié)構(gòu)，但譯成中文時(shí)，不一定要照搬原文的結(jié)構(gòu)。原文的一個(gè)短語，可以靈活處理成一個(gè)句子 “此種蝗蟲食量驚人”，同時(shí)也符合中文多小句的行文特點(diǎn)。

　　5、Millions of already vulnerable people are at risk.

　　數(shù)百萬非洲貧民的生命受到威脅。

　　點(diǎn)評：原文中用了“already”一詞，有“原本就已經(jīng)……”之意，原譯“數(shù)百萬非洲貧民的生命受到威脅”未能很好地再現(xiàn)原文邏輯，故建議改譯為“本就貧弱不堪的數(shù)百萬非洲人民再陷危難”

　　6、And as they gather to try to combat the locusts, often in vain, they risk spreading the virus — a topic that comes a distant second for many in rural areas.

　　他們組織起來試圖滅蝗，卻往往徒勞無功，但此舉反而增加了新冠傳播的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)——對許多農(nóng)村地區(qū)而言，新冠比起蝗災(zāi)簡直九牛一毛。

　　點(diǎn)評：需通讀本段，可知“And as they gather to try to combat the locusts, often in vain, they risk spreading the virus — a topic that comes a distant second for many in rural areas.” 的邏輯應(yīng)為“對農(nóng)村多數(shù)人而言，新冠在蝗災(zāi)面前簡直微不足道�？僧�(dāng)他們冒著傳播病毒的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，試圖一起滅蝗時(shí)，卻往往徒勞無功”。“a topic that comes a distant second for many in rural areas”，原文的“for many”不等于“for many rural areas”,而是“for many African people in rural areas”,故原譯此處的理解有誤

　　7、It is the locusts that “everyone is talking about,” said Yoweri Aboket, a farmer in Uganda.

　　蝗蟲“引發(fā)各家討論”烏干達(dá)的一名農(nóng)夫約韋里·阿博凱特(Yoweri Aboket)表示。

　　點(diǎn)評：原文此處是典型的強(qiáng)調(diào)句型，原譯此處的理解有誤

　　8、Some farmers in Abokat’s village near the Kenyan border bang metal pans, whistle or throw stones to try to drive the locusts away. But mostly they watch in frustration, largely barred by a coronavirus lockdown from gathering outside their homes. 在肯尼亞邊境附近的阿博卡特村，一些村名敲金屬鍋、吹口哨或扔石頭來驅(qū)趕蝗蟲。但很多時(shí)候，他們只能絕望地看著蝗蟲肆虐，因?yàn)樵S多地區(qū)下發(fā)了新冠封鎖令，禁止戶外聚集。

　　點(diǎn)評：原譯本段的處理前后相悖，前面說“村民通過一些方法來驅(qū)趕蝗蟲”，后面又說“很多時(shí)候只能絕望地看著”。此處的“mostly”(in large part)應(yīng)與本段首句中的“some farmers”對應(yīng)，“一些村民……，但大多數(shù)……”。

　　9、The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has called the locust outbreak, caused in part by climate change, “an unprecedented threat” to food security and livelihoods.

　　聯(lián)合國糧食和農(nóng)業(yè)組織稱，氣候變化是造成此次蝗災(zāi)的部分原因，這場蝗災(zāi)帶給糧食安全和人類生命一場前所未有的威脅。

　　點(diǎn)評：原文中“caused in part by climate change”充當(dāng)非限定性定語，后置修飾“the locust outbreak”,并非是原譯理解的“call”的內(nèi)容，此處屬理解有誤