Confessions of A Sniper (4)

每日一看---Confessions of A Sniper (4)

今天繼續來看看這篇文章吧！

A Syrian woman sits with her grandson outside a damaged building on the main street of the Syrian village of Treimsa where more than 150 people were killed in a week, July 13, 2012. A variety of weapons were used in the attack on the Hama village of Treimsa, with the homes of rebels and activists bearing the brunt, UN observers said.
2012/7/13當週，敘利亞特瑞恩莎村有150多人受難身亡。在該村的主要街道上，一位婦女抱著孫子坐在殘破的房屋前。聯合國觀察員說，特瑞恩莎的哈瑪小村遭各式各樣的武器攻擊，而住在該區的叛軍份子則首當其衝。

Over the past few weeks, the rebels have made sizable inroads in many parts of the country, but in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and its once pulsating commercial hub, the intense firefights and dramatic capture of neighborhoods that marked the initial frenetic rebel push into the city have largely stalled. Although the government’s warplanes and heavy weapons continue to pummel various neighborhoods in the city and the rebels continue to try to pound their way forward, in many areas that fell out of government control early on, the fight has ground to a stalemate. In these districts, territory gained is measured in street corners and meters rather than neighborhoods. And the snipers reign. A few good sharpshooters can effectively freeze a front line by ensuring that any movement by their rivals will be costly.

過去幾週，叛軍大舉侵襲敘國多數城市。但他們初期瘋狂發動的猛烈戰火和鄰區的大力圍剿，在這個敘利亞最大、曾是商業命脈的城市阿波勒，業已緩和。雖然政府持續以戰機和大型武器大範圍轟炸，叛軍也繼續向前殺出自己的路；但在政府先前失去控制的地方，都已停止激烈的衝突。而在這些區域，叛軍或政府的領域增減是以街角和公尺來計算，而非以區為單位。因此，狙擊手就顯得格外重要。少數精準的槍手，只要確保他們的射擊步驟無誤，就能快速地擊垮敵方前線。

And so rebel snipers, especially professionally trained ones, are in great demand. The Sniper says he has “been offered so much money, it is as if I am working for the mafia.”

所以叛軍狙擊手，特別是經過專業訓練的，非常熱門。這位狙擊手說，曾有人「提出高額酬庸，好像在替黑手黨做事一樣」。

“Some [rebel commanders] offered me money. Others would say, ‘Just tell me what you want.’ One told me, ‘I’ll bring your parents, take them to safety. Just come and work with me,’” he says. “It does not honor me to work with people like this who think they can buy and sell me.”

「有些(叛軍將領)會給我錢，有些就說『直接告訴我你要什麼』。曾有人告訴我，『來和我共事吧，我會帶你父母安全離開』。」這位狙擊手繼續說，「和這些自認可以用錢買賣我的人共事，一點都不光采。」

小解說：inroad(n) 侵襲，襲擊；蠶食，侵蝕；hub(n) 中心，中樞，輪軸；stalemate(n) 僵局，和棋，停頓 ；front line(n) 前線，最前頭；mafia (n) 秘密政黨，黑手黨(有時特指義大利的)