《中英對照讀新聞》Tear-filled silence marks Beslan crisis anniversary 充滿淚水的默哀儀式悼念比斯蘭事件週年

◎胡立宗

Sobs broke out during a minute of silence on Sunday marking the precise moment two years ago when a vicious firefight broke out between hostage takers and federal troops at a Beslan school, leading to 332 deaths.

許多人在週日悼念儀式上的一分鐘默哀中哭了出來，兩年前這一刻綁架犯與聯邦軍隊在比斯蘭小學爆發猛烈槍戰，造成332名學童送命。

The tear-filled silence at 1:05 p.m. was followed by schoolchildren releasing 332 white balloons in the yard beside the ruined school, one for each victim of the bloody hostage crisis.

這項充滿淚水的默哀儀式在下午1:05舉行，然後學童在被毀的學校旁的庭院上釋放332個白色氣球，每一個氣球代表一位在血腥人質事件中的喪生者。

Just as the balloons were released, a wind picked up and swept half of them into the branches of trees bordering the schoolyard.

氣球剛放出，一陣風捲走一半的氣球，將它們掛在學校外圍的樹上。

The gathering of about 3,000 local residents was the culmination of a three-day memorial marking the September 1-3, 2004 crisis, when gunmen took over 1,000 people hostage in this school in Russia's North Caucasus region.

約3,000名當地居民參加的這場追思儀式是三天紀念活動中最令人感傷的一刻。整個活動悼念2004年9月1日到3日發生的事件，當時持槍歹徒挾持超過1,000人，把他們關在這間俄羅斯北高加索區的學校內。

Before the moment of silence, Beslan residents’conversations showed how immediate the crisis still was for them.

在默哀之前，比斯蘭當地居民的對話內容，顯示這場災難對他們來說仍是歷歷在目。

Many attendants were discussing an independent report on the crisis, which said the violent denouement of the crisis was brought on by a grenade from outside, rather than by an explosion set off inside by the hostage takers, as the official version maintains.

許多參加者討論著針對該事件的一份獨立調查報告，報告指稱事件以暴力收場是因為一枚來自外面的手榴彈引爆，而非如政府版本堅稱的是歹徒在屋內引爆炸彈所致。

新聞辭典

break out ： 片語， 爆發， 突然發生。例句︰An unknown epidemic broke out through the region.（此區爆發不明疫情。）

pick up：片語，拾起，學到。例句︰The dog always picks up new skills.（那狗總能學會新技巧。）

culmination：頂點，高潮。the culmination of the crisis（危機最嚴重的時候）。