World Journal (New York) - World Journal (New York) - Weekly Supplement
敘利亞小鎮貓比人多
戰火中相依偎
●After months of intensive bombing by Syrian and Russian forces, the town of Kafr Nabl in Syria’s last rebelheld province is now home to more cats than people.經過敘利亞和俄羅斯猛烈轟炸月餘，敘利亞反抗軍的最後駐地卡夫納布勒鎮成為貓比人多之處。
●Humans and felines now provide comfort to one another in hard times, writes the BBC’s Mike Thomson.英國廣播公司記者湯姆森寫道，人貓如今在艱困時刻提供彼此的另類安慰。
●Crouched beneath a table in the corner of his rubble strewn basement, a man shelters from the barrage of bombs above.蜷縮在瓦礫遍地的地下室角落桌下，一名男子正躲避彈幕轟炸。
●But 32-year-old Salah Jaar is not alone. Huddled beside him are half a dozen assorted cats, all as petrified as he is.
32歲的薩拉赫‧賈爾並不孤單，他身旁有六隻各色小貓，全都和他一樣僵硬。
●”It’s comforting when the cats are close,” he tells me. “’It makes the bombardment, the demolition, the suffering, seem much less frightening.”他說：「貓靠近時令人欣慰，讓轟炸、破壞和苦難變得不那麼令人害怕。」
●Salah’s home town, Kafr Nabl, was once home to more than 40,000 people, but fewer than 100 remain.薩拉赫的故鄉卡夫納布勒曾是4萬多人的家，如今剩不到100人留下。
●It’s hard to guess how many cats there are - certainly hundreds, possibly thousands.難以猜想這裡究竟有多少貓，肯定有數百，可能數千隻。
●”So many people have left Kafr Nabl that the population has become very small. The cats need somebody to care for them and give them food and water, so they’ve taken refuge in the homes of those who’ve stayed. Each house now has about 15 cats, sometimes even more,” Salah says.薩拉赫說：「許多人離開了卡夫納布勒，人口銳減。貓咪需要人照顧，給牠們食物和水，牠們在僅存人們的家中避難，每間房現約有15隻貓，甚至更多。」
●Salah still works as a news reporter for the local radio station, Fresh FM, even though its original studios were reduced to rubble in a recent air strike.薩拉赫原公司在最近空襲中化作瓦礫堆，他仍在當地電台Fresh FM擔任新聞記者。
●Fortunately the station’s operations had been moved, just before that, to a safer town nearby.所幸該電台營運已在空襲前遷至附近安全的城鎮。
●The radio station, which broadcast warning of bombing raids as well as news, comedy and phone-in programmes, was popular with cats as well as people.電台播送空襲警報、新聞、喜劇和call in節目，和貓咪一樣受人歡迎。
●Dozens made their home there.
Its founder, the remarkable activist, Raed Fares, killed by Islamist gunmen in November 2018, even allocated a special allowance for them, to buy them milk and cheese.數十隻貓咪把電台當作家，電台創辦人、活躍人士法斯2018年11月遭伊斯蘭槍手擊斃，他生前特別規畫了貓糧費用，買牛奶和起司給貓吃。
●”Many cats were born in the building. One of them, who was white with brown spots, developed a special affinity with Raed. She would go everywhere with him and even sleep by his side,” Salah says.薩拉赫說：「許多貓在該建築中出生，其中一隻褐點白母貓與拉德培養出特殊情誼，牠隨他四處走，甚至睡在他身邊。」