六、开罗女司机

Unit6:Passage A:The Woman Taxi Driver In Cairo Her name is Nagat. I first saw her outside Cairo's airport term inal. A woman taxi driver - the only wom an, for that m atter, among a large crowd of her male counterparts. Do you know what it is like to arrive in a strange city in the m iddle of the night? Nobody, not even a ray of sunshine is here to greet you. When I walk out of the terminal, I am facing the crowd of taxi drivers milling about in front of every airport the world over. Here in Cairo, it is large and noisy. "Taxi!" "You want taxi?" I hear all round me. I feel a firm hand holding my left arm. "You want taxi, follow m e," the woman says. She doesn't ask, she simply pulls m e through the crowd. I follow her willingly. There is this m oment when a tourist, particularly a wom an, simply has to trust som eone. We stop at a worn car. It has seen a better day, there are quite a few scrapes on its body, the tires are bald and there is a crack in the windshield. But it is a car for hire, and the wom an will personally drive me. I breathe a sigh of relief when she puts m y bag into the trunk, locks it and gets behind the wheel. "I will drive you, don't worry," she says. Nagat, as she now explains to m e, works as a taxi driver several days and nights a week. She has another job, working in an office, but details of it rem ain vague. The little old car is not hers; it belongs to a boss from whom she in turn rents it whenever she can. She has been a driver ever since her husband died som e ten years earlier and left her with two teenage kids and her parents to support. She knows every nook and cranny in and around Cairo - no easy feat. Cairo with its com plex system of streets and lanes, its quarters and markets is like a labyrinth invented by ancient storytellers. Hundreds of m osques - m any of which are masterpieces of Islamic architecture, old neighborhoods with houses boxed together, huge apart ment buildings on the outskirts and the Nile calmly r unning through it; all are part of this overcrowded city. With a mild sense of humor around a deep core of understanding of human nature, Nagat takes control of m y sightseeing schedule. Every m orning punctually at nine o'clock, I can depend on seeing her short, solid frame outside the hotel lobby, her round face turning into a big sm ile as soon as she sees m e coming down the stairs. Most every day, she wears an earth tone-colored Jellaba. Her m ovements are energetic and she doesn't waste any tim e. Her det ermined approach seem s to have grown on a bed of econom y, on the necessity to get as m uch done as she possibly can. What becom es clear to m e soon as she drives me from museum to pyramid, from one part of town to the opposite, is this: she is a true exception here. Wherever we stop, be it for a cup of tea during a break or upon arriving at a historical site where her male colleagues gather in the parking area - everywhere, she is being noticed. Men walk up to her in the car with questioning faces. As she t ells m e, they all have one question first of all: "Are you a taxi driver?" She then explains in a few short sentences, and I see the m en's faces soften, sm ile and respectfully and kindly chat with her. This scene repeats itself over and over again. I get t he sense that she invites goodwill from the people she m eets. Nagat is proud and independent. One day, as I find her waiting outside a museum, she is just taking a spare tire out of the trunk of the taxi. One of the bald tires had finally gone flat, and she was going to change it herself. Several curious people gather around her and she receives offers of help - but no, she wants no part of that. In her efficient, deliberate m anner, she changes the tire, and having done so, washes her hands with bottled water, gets in the taxi and asks "Where to now?" Should you find yourself at Cairo's airport, look for Nagat outside the international arrival hall. If you are lucky, you will have a chance to see Cairo through the eyes of a wom an taxi driver. Unit6 开罗的女出租车司机 她叫娜格特。 我第一次见到她是在开罗机场。一个女出租车司机——在一大群男伙伴中唯一干这一行的女性。 你知道在深夜到达一个陌生的城市是一种什么感受吗?没有任何人,甚至没有一缕阳光来迎接你。当我步出机场时,迎面而来的是成群的出租车司机——在全世界所有的机场都有众多出租车司机四处转悠。在开罗,出租司机人更多,更喧闹。“出租车!”“你要出租车吗?”我耳边充斥着这些声音。 我感到一只有力的手抓住了我的左臂。“你需要出租车,跟我来!”那个女人说。她什么都没有问,只是拉着我穿过人群。我顺从地跟着她。一个旅游者,特别是一个妇女,有些时候就不得不信赖某个人。我们来到一辆破旧的小车前。这辆车的风光已过——如今车身上有不少擦伤,轮胎磨得光秃秃的,挡风玻璃上还有一道裂缝。但它的确是一辆出租车。而且这个女人将亲自开车送我。她把我的包搬进行李箱,上好锁,然后坐在驾驶座上。这时我才松了一口气。“我会开车送你。别担心,”她说。 娜格特向我解释说,她每周开几个昼夜的出租车。她另有一份工作,在办公室任职,但语焉不详。这辆破旧的小车不是她的,而是一个老板的。只要有可能,她就向他租来开。自从十来年前她丈夫撒手人寰,留下两个十多岁的孩子和她的双亲之后,她就一直开出租车养家糊口。 她熟知开罗的每一个角落——这并非一日之功。开罗迷宫般的大街小巷、居民区、集市所构成的复杂体系,宛如古代说书人编造的迷津。数百座清真寺——其中许多是伊斯兰建筑的精华,紧紧挤在一起的的老街区,郊外巨大的公寓楼群,静静流淌的尼罗河穿城而过——所有这些组成了这座过于拥挤的城市。 娜格特熟谙人情,略带幽默。她全权负责我的观光日程安排。每天早上9点正,我都能看见她矮壮的身影准时出现在旅馆大厅外。每当她瞥见我走下楼梯,她圆圆的脸上马上会绽放出灿烂的笑容。几乎每天她都穿着一件土黄色的带风帽的斗蓬。她动作利索,从不浪费任何时间。她做事果断似乎是由于经济条件所迫而养成的习惯,不得不尽可能多做些事情。 随着她开车带我从博物馆到金字塔,从城市的一端到另一端,我很快就发现她卓尔不群。每当我们停下来,喝一杯茶小憩或到达一个历史景点--在这些地方的停车场总是男出租车司机云集之处--无论何处,她总是引人注目。男人们走向她的车,脸上充满了疑惑。正如她告诉我的那样,他们首先都会问?quot;你是开出租车的吗?"经过她简短的解释,我看见那些男人脸色缓和下来,微笑着,尊重而和善地与她聊天。这种场面多次出现。我感觉到,她总是能赢得遇到她的人的友情。 娜格特自尊并自立。有一天,我看见她在博物馆外等我的时候,从出租车行李箱里取出备用轮胎--有一个磨秃的轮胎终于瘪了--准备自己换轮胎。几个好奇的旁观者围上来,还有人愿意帮忙--但是不,她不需要任何人帮忙。她麻利而从容地换好了轮胎,用瓶装水洗过手,然后坐进车里,问我:"现在去哪儿?" 如果你有机会去开罗机场,记得到国际迎客厅外去找她。如果你幸运的话,你就有机会通过一个女出租车司机的眼睛去看看开罗。