图片新闻【36】My Journey to the Taleban Stronghold

SLINGING his AK47 over his shoulder, the Taleban border guard pulled back the curtain to the tiny concrete room and beckoned us inside. “You are our guests now,” he said. “We will offer you some fruit. It’s not much but this is Afghanistan.”

一名肩上挂着AK47步枪的塔利班边防警卫掀开他们那个小小的水泥房间的门帘，招呼我们进去。“你们现在是我们的客人。”他说，“我们会给你们来点果汁。虽然不多，但这是阿富汗的特产。”
　　
After lengthy negotiations in the Pakistani border town of Quetta, the Taleban had invited seven Western journalists to their spiritual and administrative stronghold, the southern city of Kandahar, the scene of heavy airstrikes over four weeks of bombing.

在巴基斯坦边境城镇奎达进行漫长的谈判之后，塔利班邀请了7名西方记者到他们的宗教和行政中心坎大哈进行采访。

In silence we filed into the border immigration office and sat cross-legged on the rush-matted floor. In front of us was a platter of ruby red pomegranates, a speciality of the Kandahar region. Greeting us with warm handshakes and a hand held to the heart, the immigration guards pushed the platter forward and beckoned us to eat. Before we got on our way,they said, they wanted to give us a proper welcome.

我们排着队静静地走进边境移民办公室，在铺着灯心草席的地板上盘腿坐下。在我们面前，放着一盘红宝石颜色的石榴，这是坎大哈地区的一种特产。移民官员一边和我们握手，一边把盘子推向我们，招呼我们吃。他说，在我们上路前，他们想给我们以适当的招待。

For more than 2,000 years, the pomegranate has been known as a symbol of immortality and prosperity. It was first used as a treatment for dysentery by apothecaries, then as a luxury drink, the juice mixed with snow. Now it was delivering a nervous, uncertain public relations message.

两千多年来，红石榴被认为是永恒和繁荣的象征。最初，它被药剂师用来治疗痢疾；后来，石榴汁和雪的混和物，被当作一种高贵的饮料。但现在它透出来的却是一种令人紧张和不安的信息。

“Bush Junior is trying to be his father. He won in the Gulf but he won’t win here,” one guard told our translator as we nibbled politely at the bitter fruit. Then the small talk ran out and the room filled again with the sound of crunching pomegranate seeds.

“小布什试图学他老爸的样。他在海湾赢了，但他在在这里赢不了。”一个警卫一边有礼地小口咬着这种味道有点苦的果子，一边跟我们的翻译说。而后，大伙的声音歇了下来，房间里又充满了嚼动石榴籽的声音。

Outside in the courtyard a crowd of 30 or 40 had gathered to view the strange spectacle of the foreign enemies being welcomed into Afghanistan. A curious few sneaked forward before a guard ran out and beat them back with the butt of his rifle.

在门外的大院里集中了三四十人，他们见证着这奇怪的一幕：外国敌人正在被迎进阿富汗。一些好奇者偷偷走前几步，但警卫立即跑了出去，用枪托把他们赶回去。

In this outpost, at least, the Taleban appear firmly in control.

至少在这个哨所，塔利班看起来还是牢牢控制着局面。

The Taleban were in control of us too. As we wiped our hands, reddened with the juice of our treat, a guard came and led us to a side room to sign a book of entry and have our passports marked with Afghanistan’s official stamp.

塔利班也牢牢地控制着我们。当我们擦拭我们被石榴汁染红的手的时候，一名警卫走了进来，把我们带到旁边一个房子里，让我们在入境卡上签字，然后又叫人在我们的护照上盖上阿富汗的官方印章。

A crowd gathered to watch our convoy set off on our journey to Kandahar. Beside them the border guards stood, still smiling, as we disappeared into the dust.

当我们走上前往坎大哈的旅途时，有一群人集中在那里，而边防警卫站则在他们旁边，嘴上仍带着微笑，目送着我们消失在沙尘里。

We arrived at the Foreign Ministry guesthouse on the northern outskirts of Kandahar shortly before 10pm. The city lay, under curfew, in deadly silence to the south. Taleban guards with gas lamps said that there had been no electricity for weeks, since shortly after the airstrikes began.

我们于晚上10时许抵达了坎大哈北郊的外交部招待所。因为实行了宵禁，这个阿富汗南部的城市沉寂得就像一个死城。手提着汽灯的塔利班警卫说，自从空袭开始后不久，这里已经连续几个星期没有电了。
　　
Then, came the roar of a jet aircraft, and three bright flashes on the horizon. The Taleban stronghold was under fire again.

这时，空中又响起了飞机的轰鸣，三道火光在地平线上闪烁，塔利班的大本营又遭到袭击了。