TED演讲:一位敢去开车的沙特妇女

 　　Allow me to start this talk with a question to everyone.  请允许我以一个问题开始

　　You know that all over the world,  你清楚世界各地

　　people fight for their freedom,  有人为了自由而奋斗

　　fight for their rights.  有人为了权利而战

　　Some battle oppressive governments.  有的人反抗压迫他们的政府

　　Others battle oppressive societies.  有的人对抗强权的社会阶层

　　Which battle do you think is harder?  你们觉得哪种挑战更难？

　　Allow me to try to answer this question  请允许我在后面的几分钟里

　　in the few coming minutes.  再来回答这个问题

　　Let me take you back two years ago in my life.  跟随我回到两年前我的生活里

　　It was the bedtime of my son, Aboody.  那是在我儿子阿布迪快要睡觉的时候

　　He was five at the time.  那时候他只有5岁

　　After finishing his bedtime rituals,  在完成了睡前祷告后

　　he looked at me and he asked a question:  他看着我，问道：

　　"Mommy, are we bad people?"  “妈妈，我们是不是坏人呀？”

　　I was shocked.  我一下没了主意

　　"Why do you say such things, Aboody?"  “阿布迪，你为什么要说这些呢？”

　　Earlier that day, I noticed some bruises  那天早些时候，当他从学校回来时

　　on his face when he came from school.  我发现他脸上有些瘀伤

　　He wouldn't tell me what happened.  他不肯告诉我发生了什么

　　he was ready to tell.  他肯说了

　　"Two boys hit me today in school.  “今天在学校里，两个男生揍了我

　　They told me, 'We saw your mom on Facebook.  然后他们对我说：’我们在脸谱网上看到你妈妈了

　　You and your mom should be put in jail.'"  你跟你妈妈都应该被送进监狱' "

　　I've never been afraid to tell Aboody anything.  我从来都不害怕告诉阿布迪任何事情

　　I've been always a proud woman of my achievements.  因为我的成就，我一直是一个自豪的母亲

　　But those questioning eyes of my son  但当我儿子的眼中流露出质疑

　　were my moment of truth,  当这一切袭来

　　when it all came together.  我知道这是很关键的一刻

　　You see, I'm a Saudi woman who had been put in jail  你要知道，在沙特女人是不允许开车的

　　for driving a car in a country  我就是因为这个

　　where women are not supposed to drive cars.  曾经进过监狱

　　Just for giving me his car keys,  也就是因为把车钥匙给了我

　　my own brother was detained¹ twice,  我的亲哥哥被拘留了两次

　　and he was harassed² to the point he had  之后他不断被骚扰

　　to quit his job as a geologist,  以至于不得不放弃他地理学家的工作

　　leave the country with his wife and two-year-old son.  带着他的妻子和两岁大的儿子，逃离了这个国家

　　My father had to sit in a Friday sermon  我父亲坐在一个周五的讲道里

　　listening to the imam condemning³ women drivers  在无数信徒面前

　　and calling them prostitutes  听阿訇训斥女司机

　　amongst tons of worshippers,  辱骂她们是妓女

　　some of them our friends and family of my own father.  那些信徒们有的是我们的朋友，有的是我父亲的亲人

　　I was faced with an organized defamation⁴ campaign  我曾面对过一个有组织的诽谤组织

　　in the local media combined with false rumors  利用当地媒体与不实的谣言

　　shared in family gatherings⁵, in the streets  在家庭聚会、在街头巷尾、

　　and in schools.  在学校中讹传

　　It all hit me.  这深深地伤害了我

　　It came into focus that those kids  这件事的重点是

　　did not mean to be rude to my son.  那些孩子并不是有意欺负我儿子的

　　They were just influenced by the adults around them.  他们其实是被周围的成人带坏的

　　And it wasn't about me, and it wasn't a punishment  这不仅仅是针对我的

　　for taking the wheel and driving a few miles.  不是因为开车走了几公里所带来的惩罚

　　It was a punishment for daring to challenge  它的本质是镇压那些

　　the society's rules.  敢于质疑传统旧社会秩序的人

1 detained   

留住( detain的过去式和过去分词 )； 耽搁； 拘留； 扣留

参考例句：

• One man has been detained for questioning. 一个男人被拘留审问。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group. 他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

3 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

5 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。