Each Truck Is a Work of Art

⊙ By Sonia Narang

翻譯：Wendy

Each Truck Is a Work of Art

每輛卡車都是一件藝術(shù)品

⊙ By Sonia Narang

翻譯：Wendy

是的，你沒有看錯(cuò)，“每輛卡車都是一件藝術(shù)品”這個(gè)說法在巴基斯坦是絕對正確的，因?yàn)槟阍谀抢飵缀蹩床坏揭惠v沒有任何裝飾的“裸車”。還是不信？聽聽記者是

聽力難度

英式發(fā)音 適合精聽語速：165詞/分鐘怎么說的吧。

It’s my first trip to Pakistan, and every time I see a giant truck1)rumble past me, I just have to take a picture. These aren’t your ordinary2)semis. Each truck is a work of art. Most are3)flamboyant, covered top to bottom in vivid images of landscapes and birds of all kinds. I see no4)shortage of5)peacocks. These trucks are definitely hard to miss.

While driving around Rawalpindi, I spot a large truck parked in front of a small muddy shopping center. I approach one of the drivers on a short tea break. The driver’s name is Shakeel Khan. He’s been drivingtrucks for 20 years. He agrees to talk to me. The warn seats are ripped and covered in dust, but he’s6)jazzed up the7)dashboard with giant8)bouquets of9)fabric flowers. Beads and a pretty lantern cover hang from the10)rear-view mirror. This really puts fuzzy dice to11)shame.

Shakeel: (via translator) We’ve made this truck like our own home. We’ve decorated it because we only get to go home one day after every two months.

It can take five to six people up to a month to fully decorate a truck. Khan and his two fellow drivers say they spent $500012)outfitting their truck. That’s a huge investment. These guys only make about $30 a month.

Shakeel: (via translator) Without a beautiful truck, we won’t even drive it. After putting all the decorations on, then we’ll drive it.

I asked him, “What do you get out of this?”

Shakeel: (via translator) We get love. Other than love from the people, there’s nothing else.

Khan also wrote the poetry that’s on the front and back of the13)vehicle. I asked him what it says. He says this translates as, “Don’t make friends with rich people because you can’t trust them.”

Shakeel: (via translator) There’s lots of poetry14)verses all over the truck. We drive around everywhere, and people notice it.

I asked, “Do people say anything to you?”

Shakeel: (via translator) Of course! They say, “You’ve done good work.” It gives us respect.

A couple days later I visit some artists who create these15)ornate truck designs. Inside these shops, kids cut out16)stickers for wheels,17)bumpers and side-view mirrors. Near the front, shopkeepers and drivers are making deals. I meet shopowner, Mohammed Nadeem, a thirdgeneration truck-art designer. He says there are lots of people involved in decorating one truck.

Mohammed: (via translator) We get a steel sheet and we cut it to make designs like peacocks, tigers and fish. After that, we cover it with colorful stickers. Everything is made by hand.

I asked him, “Why do drivers want beautiful trucks?”

Mohammed: (via translator) They feel really happy and proud showing their trucks. They say to their friends, “Look, I just got this new truck decorated. I made it look very nice.” All the drivers want their trucks to look better than the others. That is what they18)strive for.

Then Nadeem goes back to work, carefully applying small, bright green stickers to a multi-colored design.

1) rumble [?r?mbl] v. （車輛）隆隆地緩慢行進(jìn)

2) semi [?sem?] n. 半拖車，牽引式掛車

3) flamboyant [?fl?m?b???nt] adj. 艷麗的

4) shortage [????t?d?] n. 缺乏，匱乏

5) peacock [?pi?k?k] n. 孔雀

6) jazz up 使生色，使活潑

7) dashboard [?d??b??d] n. 儀表板

8) bouquet [bu??ke?] n. 花束

9) fabric [?f?br?k] n. 織物

10) rear-view mirror 后視鏡

11) shame [?e?m] n. 慚愧

12) outfit [?a?tf?t] v. 裝備

13) vehicle [?vi??k（?）l] n. 車輛

14) verse [vз?s] n. 詩歌，詩節(jié)

15) ornate [???ne?t] adj. 華美的，絢麗的

16) sticker [?st?k?（r）] n. 不干膠標(biāo)簽，不干膠貼紙

17) bumper [?b?mp?（r）] n. （汽車前后的）保險(xiǎn)杠

18) strive for 奮斗，爭取

◆ fuzzy dice 絨毛骰子：這是汽車駕駛室里一種常用的裝飾品，由兩個(gè)大號(hào)絨毛骰子組成，掛在后視鏡上。據(jù)說，絨毛骰子源于二戰(zhàn)。為求好運(yùn)氣，美國飛行員在執(zhí)行任務(wù)時(shí)會(huì)把骰子掛在儀表板上方。戰(zhàn)爭結(jié)束后，在上世紀(jì)50年代，骰子掛飾開始在司機(jī)中流行，后來慢慢變成用絨料做成的骰子。

這是我第一次去巴基斯坦。每當(dāng)看到有巨大的卡車從身邊隆隆駛過，我都要拍一張照片。這些可不是我們平常見到的卡車，這里的每一輛卡車都是一件藝術(shù)品。大多數(shù)卡車都有艷麗的裝飾，從上到下描畫著各式生動(dòng)的風(fēng)景及各種鳥類，有不少畫著孔雀。你肯定不會(huì)錯(cuò)過這些卡車。

我在拉瓦爾品第開車行駛時(shí)，看到一輛大卡車停在一家泥濘的小型購物中心前，我走近其中一位正在喝茶小憩的司機(jī)。他名叫沙基爾·可汗，開卡車已經(jīng)20年了，他同意接受我的采訪。車上破舊的駕駛座裂開了口，布滿灰塵，不過他放在那里的一大束絹花給儀表板平添了許多生氣。后視鏡上掛了珠串和一個(gè)漂亮的燈籠，這真令絨毛大骰子相形見絀。

沙基爾：（通過翻譯）我們將這輛卡車視為自己的家。我們裝飾它，是因?yàn)槲覀兠績蓚€(gè)月才有機(jī)會(huì)回家一天。

要將一輛卡車完全裝飾好，需要五到六個(gè)人工作上一個(gè)月?？珊辜八膬蓚€(gè)司機(jī)伙伴說，他們花了五千美元（約合3.4萬元）去裝扮他們的卡車。這可是一筆巨大的投資，因?yàn)樗麄円粋€(gè)月大約只能賺30美元（約合203元）。沙基爾：（通過翻譯）一輛卡車如果不漂亮的話，我們甚至都不想開它；要等所有裝飾活完成之后，我們才會(huì)開著它上路。

我問他：“你能從中獲得什么？”沙基爾：（通過翻譯）我們收獲了愛，來自人們的愛就是一切。

可汗還在卡車的前后寫上了詩。我問他那詩的意思是什么，他說翻譯過來就是：“不要和富人做朋友，因?yàn)樗麄兪切挪贿^的。”沙基爾：（通過翻譯）大量詩句遍布整輛卡車，我們開著車到處去，特別引人注目。

我問：“人們會(huì)對你說什么嗎？”沙基爾：（通過翻譯）當(dāng)然！他們說：“你做得很好?！边@些詩使我們受到尊重。

幾天后，我采訪了幾位設(shè)計(jì)這些華麗卡車裝飾圖案的藝術(shù)家。在這些卡車裝飾店內(nèi)，小孩子在剪用于貼在車輪、保險(xiǎn)杠及側(cè)視鏡上的不干膠貼紙。在店前，店主人和司機(jī)們在做交易。我見到了店主穆罕默德·納迪姆——卡車藝術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)家族的第三代傳人，他說，裝飾一輛卡車需要很多人參與。穆罕默德：（通過翻譯）我們先用一塊鋼板，將它按設(shè)計(jì)剪成孔雀、老虎、魚等形狀，然后貼上色彩豐富的不干膠貼紙。所有工序都是手工完成的。

我問他：“為什么司機(jī)們都想要漂亮的卡車？”穆罕默德：（通過翻譯）通過展示自己的卡車，他們覺得很快樂，很自豪，他們會(huì)跟朋友說：“瞧，我剛剛裝飾了這輛新卡車，將它打扮得漂漂亮亮的?！彼兴緳C(jī)都希望自己的車比別人的漂亮，這是他們追求的目標(biāo)。

接著，納迪姆便回去工作了，他小心地將亮綠色的不干膠貼在一個(gè)多彩的圖案上。