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

亿万蝗虫侵袭东非，新冠之下，灭蝗雪上加霜

　　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.

　　乌干达坎帕拉报道——几周前，新冠病毒还未肆虐世界大部分地区，非洲的部分地区却遭遇到另一场天灾的威胁，部分国家爆发了70年来最严重的蝗灾。

　　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，第二波破坏性极强的蝗虫即将袭来，数量约为第 一波的20倍。数十亿只沙漠蝗虫幼虫从索马里的繁殖地飞来，搜寻啃咬季节性雨季下飞长出的鲜嫩植被。

　　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.

　　数百万非洲贫民的生命受到威胁。他们组织起来试图灭蝗，却往往徒劳无功，但此举反而增加了新冠传播的风险——对许多农村地区而言，新冠比起蝗灾简直九牛一毛。

　　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.”

　　蝗虫“引发各家讨论”乌干达的一名农夫约韦里·阿博凯特(Yoweri Aboket)表示，“它们一旦飞到你的菜园，就会掀个底朝天。有人甚至认为蝗虫大军比新冠病毒更具破坏。更有甚者觉得病毒不会袭来。”

　　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.

　　在肯尼亚边境附近的阿博卡特村，一些村名敲金属锅、吹口哨或扔石头来驱赶蝗虫。但很多时候，他们只能绝望地看着蝗虫肆虐，因为许多地区下发了新冠封锁令，禁止户外聚集。

　　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.

　　木薯是当地的主食，种植失败就意味着面临饥饿。这个600多人小村庄对此十分担忧，同样的担忧也发生在许多东非地区，包括肯尼亚、埃塞俄比亚和南苏丹。另外，蝗虫大军也入侵了吉布提、厄立特里亚、坦桑尼亚和刚果。

　　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.

　　联合国粮食和农业组织称，气候变化是造成此次蝗灾的部分原因，这场蝗灾带给粮食安全和人类生命一场前所未有的威胁。一些粮农组织官员预计，新一轮蝗灾的规模要比第  一轮约大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.

　　据粮农组织的一项新研究显示：“东非的现状仍然令人十分担忧，因为新的蝗虫大军肯尼亚、南埃塞和南索马不断集结，数量还在增加。”

　　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.

　　该机构表示，整个五月都有利蝗虫繁殖，这意味着在六月底到七月可能迎来新一波蝗灾，而恰巧那时正值粮食收割季节。

　　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.

　　联合国已将呼吁救助金从7600万美元提高到1.53亿美元，并表示之后降雨量增多，将导致蝗虫数量进一步增加，必  须赶在这之前采取行动。截止目前，粮农组织已筹集了1.11亿美元的现金或认捐。

　　节选自《今日美国》

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

　　亿万蝗虫侵袭东非，新冠之下，灭蝗雪上加霜。

　　点评：原译对于标题的整体处理是不错的。但“Billions of”并非“亿万”，而是“数十亿的”，且若将ravage一词译为“肆虐”，即能说明蝗灾的严重程度，从而一笔带过“billions of”。“雪上加霜”比喻在一次灾祸以后，接连又遭受新的灾祸，使损害愈加严重，故原译将其用于“灭蝗”这一行为不妥

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

　　乌干达坎帕拉报道——几周前，新冠病毒还未肆虐世界大部分地区，非洲的部分地区却遭遇到另一场天灾的威胁。

　　点评：原文的表述意在说明非洲部分地区在遭遇新冠肺炎之前，就已经历另一场浩劫——蝗灾，从而呼应标题的“雪上加霜”，故建议译文的处理能凸显这一逻辑。

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

　　非洲的部分地区却遭遇到另一场天灾的威胁，部分国家爆发了70年来最严重的蝗灾。

　　点评：原译此处的处理跟原文太紧，导致前后文不够连贯。前面提及“非洲部分地区”，后文“the biggest locust outbreak some countries had seen in 70 years”作为“plague”的同位语，其中的“some countries”，逻辑上应为“some countries in Africa”。故建议此处的翻译充分利用中文的意合，无需按照原文把每个词都译出来

　　4、Now the second wave of the voracious insects.

　　目前，第二波破坏性极强的蝗虫即将袭来。

　　点评：原文中 “the voracious insects”是偏正结构，但译成中文时，不一定要照搬原文的结构。原文的一个短语，可以灵活处理成一个句子 “此种蝗虫食量惊人”，同时也符合中文多小句的行文特点。

　　5、Millions of already vulnerable people are at risk.

　　数百万非洲贫民的生命受到威胁。

　　点评：原文中用了“already”一词，有“原本就已经……”之意，原译“数百万非洲贫民的生命受到威胁”未能很好地再现原文逻辑，故建议改译为“本就贫弱不堪的数百万非洲人民再陷危难”

　　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.

　　他们组织起来试图灭蝗，却往往徒劳无功，但此举反而增加了新冠传播的风险——对许多农村地区而言，新冠比起蝗灾简直九牛一毛。

　　点评：需通读本段，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.” 的逻辑应为“对农村多数人而言，新冠在蝗灾面前简直微不足道。可当他们冒着传播病毒的风险，试图一起灭蝗时，却往往徒劳无功”。“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”,故原译此处的理解有误

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

　　蝗虫“引发各家讨论”乌干达的一名农夫约韦里·阿博凯特(Yoweri Aboket)表示。

　　点评：原文此处是典型的强调句型，原译此处的理解有误

　　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. 在肯尼亚边境附近的阿博卡特村，一些村名敲金属锅、吹口哨或扔石头来驱赶蝗虫。但很多时候，他们只能绝望地看着蝗虫肆虐，因为许多地区下发了新冠封锁令，禁止户外聚集。

　　点评：原译本段的处理前后相悖，前面说“村民通过一些方法来驱赶蝗虫”，后面又说“很多时候只能绝望地看着”。此处的“mostly”(in large part)应与本段首句中的“some farmers”对应，“一些村民……，但大多数……”。

　　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.

　　联合国粮食和农业组织称，气候变化是造成此次蝗灾的部分原因，这场蝗灾带给粮食安全和人类生命一场前所未有的威胁。

　　点评：原文中“caused in part by climate change”充当非限定性定语，后置修饰“the locust outbreak”,并非是原译理解的“call”的内容，此处属理解有误