雙語暢銷書《我是馬拉拉》第11章:聰明的班級(18)

Moniba often brought food to school and would just bring one spare fork. ‘Are you my friend or Rida’s?’ I asked Moniba.

莫妮巴常會帶東西來學校吃，但她只會多帶一隻叉子。“你是我的朋友，還是麗達的朋友？”這種時候，我就會問莫妮巴。

She laughed and said, ‘We are all three good friends.’

而莫妮巴則大笑着回答：“我們三個都是好朋友。”

By the end of 2008, around 400 schools had been destroyed by the Taliban. We had a new government under President Asif Zardari, the widower of Benazir, but they didn’t seem to care about Swat.

到2008年底，塔利班摧毀了約四百所學校。我們的政府領導人換成了總統阿西夫•扎爾達里，他是已故前總理貝•布托的丈夫。但是，新政府看來也並不關心斯瓦特發生的一切。

I told people things would be different if Zardari’s own daughters were at school in Swat. There were suicide bombings all over the country: even the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad had been blown up.

我告訴人們，如果扎爾達里的女兒在斯瓦特上學，那麼情形就會完全不同。自殺式炸彈襲擊事件在全國各處時有發生，就連位於伊斯蘭堡的萬豪酒店都曾遇襲。

In Swat it was safer in the town than in the remote areas and many of our family came from the countryside to stay with us. The house was small and got very crowded with the cousins who already lived with us. There was little to do.

在斯瓦特，住在城鎮中比住在偏遠地區安全許多。因此，我們家族的許多親戚都遠道從鄉間來投靠我們。加上原先就住在家裏的表兄弟姐妹們，我們家變得又小又擁擠。

We couldn’t play cricket in the street or on the roof like we used to. We played marbles in the yard over and over again. I fought non-stop with my brother Khushal, and he would go crying to our mother. Never in history have Khushal and Malala been friends.

跟以前不同，我們既不能在街上打板球，也不能上屋頂玩耍，只好在庭院裏玩彈珠，一遍又一遍地玩。我與胡沙爾之間的戰爭永無止境，而他偶爾會去找母親哭訴。我們從未成爲朋友。

I liked doing my hair in different styles and would spend ages in the bathroom in front of the mirror trying out looks I had seen in movies.

我喜歡變換頭髮的造型，會花上好幾個小時待在浴室裏，盯着鏡子嘗試變換各種我從電影裏看到的髮型。

Until I was eight or nine my mother used to cut my hair short like my brothers because of lice and also to make it easier to wash and brush as it would get messed up under my shawl.

直到我八九歲時，母親都讓我剪和弟弟們一樣的短髮，這除了可以預防蝨子，也讓我的頭髮更容易清洗、梳理，免得它們老是在我的頭巾下亂成一團。

But finally I had persuaded her to let me grow it to my shoulders. Unlike Moniba, who has straight hair, mine is wavy, and I liked to twist it into curls or tie it into plaits.

到最後，我總算說服她讓我留起長髮，直到肩膀。不像莫妮巴的一頭直髮，我是自然捲，我喜歡把它捲成大卷或編成辮子。

‘What are you doing in there Pisho?’ my mother would shout. ‘Our guests need the bathroom and everyone is having to wait for you.’

“你在浴室裏面磨蹭什麼呀，小貓咪？”我母親會在門外大喊，“我們的客人要用浴室，所有人都在等你。”