双语畅销书《我是马拉拉》第9章:电台毛拉(24)

His friend Hidayatullah told him to stand firm.

父亲的朋友希达亚图拉鼓励他坚持自己的立场。

‘Ziauddin, you have charisma; you can speak up and organise against them,’ he said.

齐亚乌丁，你拥有领袖特质。你应该成为民众的代言人，号召大家跟他们抗衡。

‘Life isn’t just about taking in oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide.

他说，人活着不应该只是吸进氧气，呼出二氧化碳。

You can stay there accepting everything from the Taliban or you can make a stand against them.’

你可以选择听之任之，忍受塔利班加诸在你身上的一切，也可以选择挺身而出，发出你自己的声音。

‘Please don’t harm my children because the God you believe in is the same God they pray to every day.

致伊斯兰游击队，你们目前的做法并非实践伊斯兰教义的正确方法。请不要伤害我的孩子们，因为你们所信仰的真主，正是他们每天向其祈祷的真主。

You can take my life but please don’t kill my schoolchildren.’ When my father saw the newspaper he was very unhappy.

你们可以夺走我的性命，但请不要杀害我的学童们。当父亲拿到报纸之后，他非常不开心。

The letter had been buried on an inside page and the editor had published his name and the address of the school, which my father had not expected him to do.

那封信被藏在内页，而且主编还公开了他的姓名及学校校址，而父亲压根没料到他会这么做。

But lots of people called to congratulate him.

不过，很多人打电话向他祝贺。

‘You have put the first stone in standing water,’ they said.‘Now we will have the courage to speak.’

你在死水中投下了第一颗石头，他们说，现在我们有勇气站出来说话了。