此故事由战地记者Arwa Damon， Brice Lainé，Hamdi Alkhshali 和 Muwafak Mohammed 在伊拉克摩苏尔联合报道，由Hamdi Alkhshali 和Muwafak Mohammed 在伦敦编辑和制作，由Tim Lister将此故事提供给CNN广播公司。

文章来源：CNN

文章翻译：冰清

(CNN) The last time I saw Mattar, she was running for her life, and she was angry.

最后一次见Mattar的时候，她正在逃命，非常的愤怒。

Angry at the ISIS fighters shooting outside, angry at the soldiers hiding in her home, angry at her family's misfortune, to live in Iraq at a time like this.

她愤怒伊西斯恐怖分子在她的家门口开火，愤怒反恐士兵在她的家里潜伏，愤怒她家人的不幸——生活在伊拉克这个战火纷飞的国家。

And angry with me, for repeatedly telling her that back up units were on their way, though none had arrived.

然后，也愤怒于我，无数次告诉她很快就会回来和她团聚，但是至今见不到人影。

Photojournalist Brice Lainé and I had embedded with a unit of Iraqi counter-terrorism troops as they pushed to take streets from ISIS in eastern Mosul. But things had gone badly wrong. Trapped in its maze of narrow, muddy side roads, our convoy was pinned down, our escape route blocked.

我和摄影记者Brice Lainé嵌入一支伊拉克反恐队伍，和他们一同从摩苏尔东部伊西斯恐怖分子所在地撤离。但是情况十分糟糕，我们的车队困在了在狭窄、泥泞，蜿蜒似迷宫的小路上, 行进受阻，逃生路线被堵。

After our armored vehicle took a direct hit we dashed from house to house to get away from the encroaching ISIS fighters, eventually ending up in Mattar's home. There, the family, soldiers and journalists spent one of the most terrifying nights of our lives as explosions rocked the building and a deadly firefight raged outside.

当我们的装甲车被击中后，我们弃车而逃，从一户人家到另一户，以此摆脱渐渐逼近的伊西斯恐怖分子，最终，我们在Mattar的家里做暂时的隐蔽。那天，Mattar的家中，反恐士兵和记者们度过了生命中又一个最恐怖的一夜，爆炸袭击了大楼，一场激烈的交火正在外面进行。

Yet the family had fed us and the soldiers, made us tea, offered us blankets, and all the while Mattar had kept her sense of humor and her dignity.

尽管如此，这家人依旧为我们和士兵提供伙食，提供热茶，提供毯子，整个过程中，主人Mattar都保持着她的幽默和体面。

Just seven years my senior, Mattar had become my "Mosul mom" in those hours, though she'd joked how unfair it was that I looked so much younger, and had not gone gray.

虽然Mattar比我年长七岁，但是和她相处的几个小时里，她就像我的“摩苏尔妈妈”，她会经常开玩笑，说上天太不公平，让我看起来比她年轻很多，也没有让我长出白头发。

"Look! This is what being Iraqi does to you," she said, showing me the roots of her hair.

“看看，这就是伊拉克人民为你们操的心，”她开着玩笑说，并且给我看了她已经灰白的发根。

Then, at dawn, when the firefight erupted again, worse than ever, and an airstrike on the house next door had her family screaming in fear under the stairs, they had fled in panic, barefoot and without looking back, amid a hail of bullets and grenades.，

然后，黎明时分，战争再次爆发，而且更加激烈，她邻居一家遭遇了空袭，她躲在楼梯底下的孩子们听到爆炸声惊恐尖叫，她们在枪林弹雨中恐慌而逃，没来得及穿鞋，也没来得及回头。

I had not even had a chance to hug her goodbye, to say thank you.

我甚至都没有机会和她拥抱说声再见，也没有机会向她说声谢谢。

We eventually escaped, went home, enjoyed the luxury of feeling safe, but what had happened to them?

最终，我们也逃走了，逃到了自己的国度自己的家，享受着近乎奢侈的安全感，但是他们怎么样了呢？

For two months, Brice and I had worried about the soldiers who were with us that day, about the civilians who sheltered us, about Mattar and her family.

两个月的时间里，摄影师Brice和我都非常担心那天和我们一起战斗的反恐士兵，担心那些保护过我们的人民—— Mattar和她的家人。

We had to go back and find out.

我们必须要回去看看。

1.Searching for old friends

寻找老朋友

We are disoriented at first, we can't get our bearings. Our memories are of vehicles exploding in a ball of flames, of the burned-out wrecks of others, of mad dashes to safety. Is this the place?

起初我们迷了路，不知道置身哪里。 我们只记得在爆炸中熊熊燃烧的汽车，被摧毁的 残核断壁，和疯狂的四处逃散寻求避难的人群 ，是这个地方吗？

We think we recognize the street, and then the street recognizes us: A man in whose brother's house we briefly sought refuge in comes over to say hello.

后来我们以为认出了那条街道，其实是那条街道认出了我们:一位我们曾经在他兄弟家里搜索难民的男士走来，向我们打招呼。

The man, Nawfal, had been so kind, frying eggs for us and the troops as his terrified wife Farah and frightened children cowered in a void behind a flimsy wooden cupboard.

他叫Nawfal，非常和善，给我们和反恐士兵煎过鸡蛋，当时她的妻子Farah和被吓坏的孩子蜷缩在一个破损的木橱后面。

Farah's hands are shaking again as she grabs mine in greeting. The trauma of this city is beyond comprehension.

Farah抓紧我的手向我问好时，她的手再一次发抖。这座城市给人们带来的伤痛已经超乎外人的理解。

Walking onward, up the road towards Mattar's place, we are anxious, uneasy, hoping they are there, but afraid of what we might find out.

我们继续前行，向Mattar的家走去，一路心急如焚，忐忑不安，希望他们还在那里，但又害怕得到最坏的结果。

I can't remember what the house looked like from the outside, can't work out which one it is, until I spot a familiar -- but changed -- face: it's Mattar's husband, Abu Abdullah, without his big gray beard.

我已经不记得她的家从外观看是什么样子，也无法分辨是哪一家，直到一个熟悉的面孔映入眼帘，那是Mattar的丈夫，Abu Abdullah，只是他的大灰白胡子不见了。

As we gossiped together to pass the time that night months ago, Mattar had giggled that she thought her husband was better looking clean shaven, and how much she was looking forward to the day ISIS was gone, so he could cut off his beard.

几个月前的那个夜晚，在Mattar家里，我和她坐在一起聊天以打发时间，Mattar笑的咯咯的说，她想如果他的丈夫不留大胡子的话看起来会更清爽干净，她是多么期待伊西斯撤出伊拉克，这样他的丈夫就可以剪掉大胡子了。

"You promised you would come back," he says. "You are a good girl."

“你说过你会回来的，”他说，“你是个好女孩。”

I take a deep breath and ask the question we've been dreading hearing the answer to: "Is everyone all right? We heard someone had died." "No," he assures us, grinning, "Everyone is OK."

我深深的吸了口气，问了我们一路上都不敢问的问题“每个人都还好吗？我听说有人遇难了。”“没有，”，他很肯定的回答，咧开嘴巴笑了“大家都很好”

Then all of a sudden, Mattar is there. She barrels into me, crushing my ribs with a hearty "big momma" hug and covering my face with kisses.

就在那时，Mattar突然出现了，她扑向我，用快要压断我肋骨的力量给了我深情的拥抱，然后亲遍我的脸颊。

"Ayy! I ran to see you," she says, pulling me to the ground and sobbing. "You came back!"

“嘿！我跑来见你”，她说，把我放下来，开始抽泣。“你回来了！”

She's tired, she says. It's been a difficult few months, and they haven't long been back. After they ran out of the house, she tells me, they were stopped by armed ISIS fighters and themselves had to seek shelter in another relative's house.

她很累，她说。那是很艰难的的几个月，他们有家不能归。她告诉我，他们被伊西斯的人追杀，不得不在另一个亲戚家里避难。

Eventually they escaped and made it to Gogjali, a town on the outskirts of Mosul which had already been liberated. They stayed there a month. "We still didn't have our shoes," they say.

最终，他们成功逃离，在摩苏尔的郊外一个叫Gogjali的地方，那里已经解放，他们在那里待了一个月，“直到那会，我们还是没有鞋穿，”他们说。

Now things are looking up; they are home and there's a new baby in the family.

现在形势逐步好转，他们终于回到了家，而且家里还增添了新成员，一个刚出生不久的婴儿。

"You're not mad?" I ask, worried. No, Mattar insists, she's not angry, she doesn't hate us. As if to prove it, she shares wonderful but very unexpected news.

“你没有生我们气吧？”我很担心的问。没有，Mattar很肯定的说，她没有生气，也没有恨我们。为了证明他没生气，她向我分享了一个令人喜出望外的好消息。

"I named my granddaughter after you, because I love you." I'm lost for words, enveloped in a bubble of happiness and relief.

“我给我的孙女用你的名字给她取了名，因为我喜欢你。”顿时，我无言以对，被突如其来的幸福和如释重负的感觉包裹。

The kindness of Iraqis, despite everything they have been through, always stuns me.

善良热情的伊拉克人民，虽然生存在战火中，承受着太多的伤痛，但是总是出其不意的感动着我。

2.Orphaned by an airstrike

空袭留下的孤儿

But if the story of Iraq is one of survival of the human spirit, it is also one of deep suffocating sorrow, and moments later, my joy evaporates as Mattar's neighbour arrives.

如果伊拉克人民有着人类顽强的生存精神，也就有着死亡带来的令人窒息的悲恸。就在一小会的时间里，我的欣喜随着Mattar邻居的到来被一扫而尽。

"You filmed my son getting shot," he says.

“你们拍到了我儿子被击毙的画面了”，他说。

Abu Yassin's son was mistaken for a fighter and killed as he stood on the roof of the family's home. Brice captured the piercing wail of a woman ringing out as his son's death was discovered.

Abu Yassin的儿子当时站在家里的屋顶上，被误认为是反恐士兵而击毙。母亲发现自己的儿子被杀害，痛苦的歇斯底里，这一刻正好被一路摄像的Brice抓拍到。

And he was not the only civilian killed that day in this war that has no real front lines, no rules.

在这场没有前线的战场上，没有任何规则的战场上，那一天，惨死在伊西斯恐怖分子枪口下的远远不止一人。

The airstrike that hit the house next door while we were here killed eight civilians, Abu Yassin says. Only three survived: two teenagers and a little boy, orphaned in the raid.

就在我们隐蔽在Mattar家时，她邻居的家遭遇空袭，八人遇难，只有三人幸存，两名少年和一名小男孩，小男孩全家人都遇难，他成了孤儿。

A relative who's now caring for the little boy says he hasn't been able to tell him that his parents and sisters are dead. His voice shakes with emotion as we talk on the phone. But he wants to make one thing clear -- he forgives the person who hit the house, saving his anger for ISIS.

小男孩现在被一位亲戚抚养，他说他没有办法告诉小男孩，他的爸爸妈妈还有姐姐全都死了。当我和他在电话里交谈时他的声音在发抖。但他非常明确的表示：他原谅了那个袭击他们房子的人，化解了对伊希斯的愤怒。

"I know that if the pilot, no matter where he is from or his religion, knew that there were two families in the house they would not have taken the strike, or they would have used a smaller rocket," he says.

“我知道，当时那个驾着空袭机的飞行员，无论他来自哪里，他的宗教信仰是什么，如果他知道他要袭击的房子里住着两户家庭，他或许不会发射导弹，或者会发射一枚较小的导弹，”他说。

Eleven people were sheltering in the house -- under the stairs, just like Mattar's children next door -- when a group of ISIS fighters jumped the wall, the man says. The militants climbed up to the roof, tossed a grenade into the yard, and were getting ready to attack the house where we were when the airstrike killed them -- and their hostages, who were being held at gunpoint.

当一群伊西斯恐怖分子跳过围墙时，11个生命在那个房子隐蔽——他们都躲在楼梯底下，就像Mattar的家人们躲在楼梯底下一样，男人说。恐怖分子爬上屋顶，向院子投掷了一枚手榴弹，接着空袭从天而降，一屋子的人大部分遇难，剩下的被当做人质，被伊西斯分子用枪口指着脑袋。

These two families lived just 20 feet apart; one survived, one was destroyed.

两个房子，两个家庭相隔20英尺，一家人幸存，一家人遇难。

Iraqis know war. They know the pain of loss. They have lived it for decades. But there is precious little room for joy here, just Iraqis know war. They know the pain of loss. They have lived it for decades. But there is precious little room for joy here, just all-too-fleeting moments of happiness. of happiness.

伊拉克人民对战争了如指掌，也对丧亲之痛深入骨髓。他们已经这样生活了许多年。然而，这里依旧有一方小小的空间有洋溢着的欢乐，尽管这种欢乐稍纵即逝。

Iraq is a nation known for its tribal ways, its brutality. But it is also a nation whose people are kind and caring -- to friends, family, and even complete strangers.

3.Family fled barefoot, in panic

慌乱中赤脚而逃的一家人

伊拉克政府以种族分裂，野蛮残暴的统治方式出名，但是它的人民善良友好，慈悲有爱。

Mattar's living room that day became both sleeping quarters and makeshift clinic, as wounded soldiers were brought in, and the family shared their meager meals with all of us, keen to maintain the Iraqi hospitality that somehow endures through the worst situations.

我们隐蔽在Mattar家的那一天，她们的起居室成了休息区和临时诊所，伤员不停地被送到这里，她和家人把本身很匮乏的食物拿出来和我们分享，执意履行着伊拉克人民特有的热情好客，同时在某种程度上又忍受着最坏的局面。

She and I spent hours together, talking, laughing and telling stories, in between my trips to the roof to message Hamdi, our field producer and lifeline, who was desperately trying to get us out of there.

我和她在一起度过了好几个小时，有说有笑有讲故事，在此期间，我的行踪通过屋顶信号传达给Hamdi，我们的现场制片人和我们的求救线，他正在竭尽全力试图联系我们离开那里。

Mattar and her family had every right to resent us, for blundering into their home with a video camera and soldiers and filming them. But they have that kindness and purity that is intrinsic to Iraqis -- though it's a part that outsiders, too used to footage of war and destruction, never see.

Mattar和他的家人有权利怨恨我们，我们扛着摄像机和一群反恐士兵盲目冒失的闯入了她的家，并且拍摄了他们。但是他们依旧保持着伊拉克人身上最本能的善良和淳朴，作为战地记者，对于战争和毁灭的种种画面都已司空见惯，但是却从来都没看到过罪恶的战场这么温暖的一面。

There was humor too. As night fell, she had even joked, "come, I will cradle you to sleep," before adding, eyes twinkling, "but I am too fat! I might roll on you and squish you!"

她也很幽默。夜幕降临时，她甚至开玩笑说“来吧，我来摇你入睡吧”，并且眨巴着眼睛“但是我太胖了！我会把你 压扁的!”

Then the following morning, after a fraught, restless night, Mattar's jovial exterior finally cracked, exposing the cold, gut-wrenching terror beneath.

在熬过一个充满恐惧和不安的夜晚后，次日清晨，Mattar愉悦和善的外表最终被打破，露出冰冷，痛苦和撕心裂肺的恐惧。

This woman, who just hours earlier had ducked her head, too shy to show the Iraqi soldiers her face, now ran out into the courtyard to shout at them, plead with them, to help her, to save her family.

这个女人，就在几个小时之前还羞涩的低着头，不好意思在士兵面前抛头露面的女人，此刻却首当其冲，跑到院子向敌人呐喊，向敌人恳求，帮帮她，放过她的家人。

They tried to reassure her, but it was no use; even though we could hear suicide car bombs and grenades going off outside, she became convinced the family had to try to escape.

一屋子的人们试图安抚她但是没用，尽管我们能听到屋外汽车自杀式爆炸和手榴弹袭击，她还是胸有成竹的认定家人必须马上转移逃命。

"We aren't going to survive," she had wailed in panic. "We need to get out of here. Even if three or four of us die, the rest will survive."

“我们豁出性命也要逃，”她恐慌地哀嚎，“我们需要马上离开，即使我们中有三四个人死了，但是其他人会活着，否则我们都会死在这里”

And then, suddenly, they were gone.

然后，一瞬间，他们就消失了。

So this is what it looks like when someone "flees with just the clothes on their back," I thought. I've used the phrase so many times on air. Now I truly understood it.

我想这就是人们所谓的“衣不蔽体的逃命”，我曾经凭空想象的将这句话用了无数遍，直到现在真正感同身受。

4.Looking to the future

展望未来

But unlike so many of the stories to come out of Iraq in recent years, Mattar's has a hopeful ending -- for now at least, though the shadow of ISIS still hangs over their home

所幸与伊拉克这些年来许多家庭结局不同的是，Mattar一家迎来了一个有盼头的结局——至少现在，尽管伊希斯的影子仍然笼罩着他们的家园。

In western Mosul there's a fierce battle being fought against ISIS, but here in the city's east, life is coming back though risks remain: people are returning to their homes, shops and markets are reopening, and children are finally able to go back to school, to try and recover from the horrors they have witnessed.

在摩苏尔西部，依然进行着反伊西斯的激烈战争，在东部，尽管危险尚存，但人们的生活基本回归到了正常状态：逃亡的人们回到了他们的家园，商店和超市开始正常营业，孩子们终于能够重返校园，努力从他们亲眼目睹的战争和恐惧中慢慢恢复。

We last saw Mattar's son Ahmed, 10, crouching beneath the stairs, screaming in fear as soldiers shot through the kitchen window at ISIS fighters outside. "I am still little," he says, "I was scared; I didn't want to die."

我们上一次看到Mattar十岁的儿子，蜷缩在楼梯下面，亲眼目睹士兵潜伏在他家的厨房，从橱窗向屋外的敌人开火，他恐惧的尖叫，“我还很小，”他说，“我好害怕，我不想死。”

Now he can look to future. "I want to be a doctor," he tells us.

现在他终于可以展望未来了。“我想长大当一名医生，”他告诉我们。

Days after our first reunion, we're back at Mattar's house for one last visit before we leave Iraq, and -- after making sure I've washed my hands, placing the soap between my palms and turning the faucet on for me, as though I were her child -- she smiles.

我们重返伊拉克的工作进行到了尾声，临走之前，我们再次拜访了Mattar一家，Mattar确保我洗了双手，微笑着将肥皂放在我的手心，再为我打开水龙头，仿佛我就是她的孩子。

"Come, come," she says. "There's someone I want you to meet."

“来，来”她说。“我想让你见一个人”

It's my namesake, baby Arwa. I'm touched at the huge honor this beautiful family has bestowed on me. She is sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the danger all around her.

她就是与我同名的宝贝Arwa。我被这个善良美好的家庭赐予我的巨大荣誉感动了。她睡得很安静甜美，对周围的危险视而不见。

"Take her," Mattar says, only half joking, as she gently lays the dozing newborn in my arms. "Take her to America."

“带上她吧，” Matta半开玩笑，因为她在我的臂弯睡得很香，“带她去美国吧。”

But little Arwa's place is here, in Iraq, in Mosul. Perhaps by the time she's old enough to remember, the war will be over.

但是小Arwa就出生在这里，生在伊拉克，生在摩苏尔。也许，等到她长大有了记忆时，战争就会结束。

This story was reported by Arwa Damon, Brice Lainé, Hamdi Alkhshali and Muwafak Mohammed in Mosul, Iraq. It was edited and produced by Hamdi Alkhshali and Muwafak Mohammed in London. Tim Lister contributed to the story.

                  END

注明：本译文仅供个人研习、欣赏语言之用，谢绝任何转载及用于任何商业用途。本译文所涉法律后果均由本人承担。本人同意简书平台在接获有关著作权人的通知后，删除文章。