【08.11.19 China Rises博客】美国驻华记者印度见闻-火车,锁链,老鼠

炮郎

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Trains, chains and rats

Tim Johnson

We're in India right now and on Sunday night we went to a Delhi train station to catch an overnight train to Dharamsala, a hill station in the north. On hindsight, I don’t know if it was the main station. I just recall it being labeled the Old Delhi station.

It was a scene from Dante’s Inferno. Hundreds of people were sleeping on the platforms, some huddled on dirty old blankets. That much was to be expected. What caught us by surprise was the brutality with which policemen patrolling the platform suddenly used on a couple of poor people.

I couldn’t understand a word as they shouted in Hindi. One civilian appeared to be accusing the two of something. The policemen would occasionally punch and slap the head of the so-called miscreants. One had a cane and started beating the legs of one of the victims. In self-defense, he grabbed the cane and threw it on to the tracks.

That drew our attention to the tracks. They were alive with big fat rats. There were at least a dozen running along – a few feet below the people sleeping on the platform.

The train itself looked so grungy my wife would only get on at my urging. It was dimly lit and a poor cousin to the soft sleepers of China. What was most surprising was how passengers who boarded chained up their briefcases and suitcases to special clamps to deter the robbers who apparently roam the trains. We slept atop our respective suitcases. The Sikh who was on an adjacent bunk tried to hearten us, saying he didn’t think it so likely that we’d be targeted by robbers.

We arrived in Dharamsala, which sits more than 5,000 feet in the Himalayan foothills, and is surrounded by lovely pine forests. It’s a peaceful place, with clean air and without the dust of New Delhi.

I discovered one drawback – dogs – that made me think of a recent visit I had to a physician in Beijing who urged me to get a rabies vaccination for China. I dismissed the notion. As I was walking back to the hotel last night, three large dogs started snapping at me and lunging at my legs. I swung my camera bag and hit one on the snout. Luckily, the dogs stayed back as I inched backward up a hill to a gate to the hotel.

A local newsletter I read this morning had the headline: Beware of Rabies in Dharamsala Region. It noted that there were four reported rabies deaths in this region in the first two weeks of October. It also said a person dies of rabies every half hour in India, with a toll of over 30,000 fatalities a year.

Rabies may exist in rural China but I don’t think it’s as rampant as in India.

November 19, 2008 | Permalink
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Rabies is a big killer in China, in the same league as AIDS. And it is growing quickly. There are about 3,300 deaths a year, up from just a few hundred a year in the 1990s.

Posted by: Hugo Restall | November 19, 2008 at 08:01 AM

Tim, please get some pictures of the pine trees tapped to collect pine resin! I am working on a book about that.

Posted by: Alex Cunningham | November 19, 2008 at 09:06 AM

Question (rhetorical, maybe) for TJ: Why visit India? Thought you were a China-blogger?

Posted by: BEMIS | November 19, 2008 at 09:17 AM

Dharamsala - it's the capital in exile of the Dalai Lama.

Posted by: Pan | November 19, 2008 at 02:15 PM

Hugo: sources for your figure?

Poor Tim. Tomorrow we'll see him writing in newspapers condemning China's lack of human rights and democracy. Today he quietly confesses that life might not be so terrible in China, at least when you think about the trains and rats in India.

Posted by: otoh | November 19, 2008 at 04:53 PM

Policemen beat people inside a train station in India? That can easily incite an violent mass incidence in China.

Posted by: jeff | November 19, 2008 at 10:57 PM

I want to go to India, but hearing these kinds of stories puts me off a little.

Posted by: Mike | November 20, 2008 at 09:49 AM

I've traveled to India and it is indeed not for the faint of heart. I'm sorry though to read that it was so negative--it's an interesting place, but quite full-on and yes, quite dirty.

Posted by: SiberianRat | November 20, 2008 at 10:07 AM

triangel

谁能帮忙翻译一下呢？

joezhao123

是个  BLOG  ,   就是说印度很乱很脏..

而且是去 大蓝撒拉, DALAI 老巢

qiaoqilong

还是找人翻一下好!!!

Stevenyaung

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Trains, chains and rats

火车，锁链及老鼠

Tim Johnson

迪穆．约翰

We're in India right now and on Sunday night we went to a Delhi train station to catch an overnight train to Dharamsala, a hill station in the north. On hindsight, I don’t know if it was the main station. I just recall it being labeled the Old Delhi station.
我们现在身在印度。为了赶上当天晚上到达拉萨拉的火车，星期天晚上我们去了位于印度北部高山上的德里火车站。近距离看我不知这个火车站是不是主站，只记得它被称为德里老站。

It was a scene from Dante’s Inferno. Hundreds of people were sleeping on the platforms, some huddled on dirty old blankets. That much was to be expected. What caught us by surprise was the brutality with which policemen patrolling the platform suddenly used on a couple of poor people.

火车站内场景就像人间地狱。几百人躺在站台上睡觉。一些人甚至蜷缩在又脏又旧的毯子里面。我们已经预料到这种情况，引起我们注意又颇为惊奇的是突然间那些巡警对待几个穷人的冷漠无情的态度。

I couldn’t understand a word as they shouted in Hindi. One civilian appeared to be accusing the two of something. The policemen would occasionally punch and slap the head of the so-called miscreants. One had a cane and started beating the legs of one of the victims. In self-defense, he grabbed the cane and threw it on to the tracks.

我是无法理解他们用印度语所说的每一句。其中有一位平民好像是说了两句脏话，警察就突然就猛打这些所谓贱民的头部。有一位警察手持警棍击打一位受害者的腿部，这位受害者抓住警棍，把警棍扔到铁轨上。
That drew our attention to the tracks. They were alive with big fat rats. There were at least a dozen running along – a few feet below the people sleeping on the platform.
这引起我们对铁轨的注意。只见上面至少有十几只肥大的老鼠在上面跑来跑去，距离睡在站台上的人只不过几尺高。

The train itself looked so grungy my wife would only get on at my urging. It was dimly lit and a poor cousin to the soft sleepers of China. What was most surprising was how passengers who boarded chained up their briefcases and suitcases to special clamps to deter the robbers who apparently roam the trains. We slept atop our respective suitcases. The Sikh who was on an adjacent bunk tried to hearten us, saying he didn’t think it so likely that we’d be targeted by robbers.
火车本身破烂不堪，我老婆也是在我再三催促才上了火车。火车里光线昏暗，相比中国卧铺来说就像是一个穷兄弟一样。最令我们惊奇的是为了防止那些明目张胆的徘徊在车上的抢劫分子，车上的乘客竟然将他们的手提箱和公文包用铁链串起来，并且锁在一个特别的夹子上。我们睡在相应的手提箱上，而临近铺位的锡克人就努力安慰我们说“他不认为我们会称为抢劫分子的目标”。

We arrived in Dharamsala, which sits more than 5,000 feet in the Himalayan foothills, and is surrounded by lovely pine forests. It’s a peaceful place, with clean air and without the dust of New Delhi.
我们最终到达了位于海拔5000英尺山坡上的达拉萨拉。达拉萨拉周围一片松树森林，一派平和，空气清新，毫无像德里那样的灰尘。

I discovered one drawback – dogs – that made me think of a recent visit I had to a physician in Beijing who urged me to get a rabies vaccination for China. I dismissed the notion. As I was walking back to the hotel last night, three large dogs started snapping at me and lunging at my legs. I swung my camera bag and hit one on the snout. Luckily, the dogs stayed back as I inched backward up a hill to a gate to the hotel.



我发现这里不好的一面，那就是狗。这使我想起近来我到北京一位内科医生的拜访。他劝告我在中国注射狂犬病疫苗，但是我拒绝了。昨天傍晚当我走路回到旅馆时，几条大狗朝着我大叫并且咬我的腿部。我就把照相机包扔过去，砸在一条狗的嘴上。幸运的是，那几条狗居然掉转回去了，而我慢慢回到山上进了旅馆的大门。

A local newsletter I read this morning had the headline: Beware of Rabies in Dharamsala Region. It noted that there were four reported rabies deaths in this region in the first two weeks of October. It also said a person dies of rabies every half hour in India, with a toll of over 30,000 fatalities a year.
今天早上我就读到了当地时事通讯的头条就是注意达拉萨拉地区的狂犬病。头条里面提到这个地区在十月的前两个星期就有报道的狂犬病死亡4例。据说在印度每半小时就有一人死于狂犬病，一年总共30000人死于狂犬病。

Rabies may exist in rural China but I don’t think it’s as rampant as in India
狂犬病可能在中国农村地区存在，但我不认为像印度那样泛滥。

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西拿

旧社会的中国也很脏乱。  人多都这样。

sam712

这位大哥是驻华记者怎么想到去印度的?!准备从两个角度看西藏?!

大漠

印度！那可是领先于中国好几年的国家！呵呵！！

rlsrls08

ABOUT THIS BLOG
"China Rises" is written by Tim Johnson, the Beijing bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers. He covers both China and Taiwan.

这个博客"中国崛起"的主人蒂姆约翰逊(Tim Johnson)是麦克拉奇(McClatchy)报纸北京分社社长，他主要报道中国大陆和台湾的新闻。

sam712

去过印度的西方人跟没去过印度的西方人对印度的评价很两极,这点倒是跟中国很象~

只不过我们是被棒杀的,印度则是被捧的~

sese无庸

在我的印象中，印度的汽车与火车总是塞满了人，尤其车顶上还能挤着人堆，然后尘土飞扬的道路。当然这些都是间接印象，都是从影片中获得的认识，真实的印度偶没去过；但想来，城乡差别应该属于天壤之别的。

于哲

博主肯定是在乱说
印度是民主国家
代表着富裕、文明
中国是什么国家呀
独裁
印度比中国好10到20倍
那博主一定是中共派去的

hhjnet

原帖由 sam712 于 2008-11-23 15:51 发表
去过印度的西方人跟没去过印度的西方人对印度的评价很两极,这点倒是跟中国很象~

只不过我们是被棒杀的,印度则是被捧的~

同意！

brian.wang

原帖由 于哲 于 2008-11-23 20:32 发表
博主肯定是在乱说
印度是民主国家
代表着富裕、文明
中国是什么国家呀
独裁
印度比中国好10到20倍
那博主一定是中共派去的

有见解

oulinhan

这位美国记者真无聊，自己脱贫了，就在那乱批评。