《華爾街日報》：敘利亞戰爭扼殺了一項傳統:松露狩獵。

原文： RAJA ABDULRAHIM

翻譯：鳳梨是只胖柯基

校閱：PC

Seven years into Syria』s war, its truffle fields have become battlefields.

在敘利亞戰爭的7年里，松露田地變成了戰場。

Even as bombs fell and fighting raged elsewhere in the country, Syria』s seasonal hunt for desert truffles weathered the first few years of the conflict largely undisturbed. As they had for generations, families would spend days foraging in the eastern desert for the delicacies to eat or to sell.

在戰爭的頭幾年，儘管在敘利亞其他地方，炸彈襲擊和戰鬥仍在繼續，敘利亞人對沙漠松露的季節性狩獵卻基本沒有受到干擾。就像他們世世代代所做的那樣，在東部的沙漠里，家家戶戶都要花費數天的時間來尋找美味佳肴，用於自家食用或用於出售。

But the war shifted eastward last year as U.S.-backed forces and the Russian-backed Syrian regime fought Islamic State militants, upending the truffle tradition and putting the prized fungus out of reach for all but Syria』s wealthy.

但是從去年開始，戰爭東移。受美國支持的反對派武裝和受俄羅斯支持的敘利亞政府軍與伊斯蘭國激進分子作戰，顛覆了松露傳統，將這種珍貴的真菌完全排除在除了富豪以外的敘利亞人之外。

Ibrahim Hussein used to go to the desert every spring with his family. They would take a tent and spend their mornings and evenings searching for the meaty truffles— dun-colored and bulbous, but more similar in taste to mushrooms than to the stronger-flavored European variety—and nights grilling them on open fires.

易卜拉欣·海珊和他的家人每年春天都要去沙漠。他們會搭起帳篷，每天早上和晚上都在尋找多肉的松露——球狀褐色的，口味上嘗起來像蘑菇，但是比歐洲產的蘑菇味道更加濃烈——晚上在篝火上直接燒烤即可。

But this season, which ends in May, he couldn』t get to the truffles for a second year in a row. He was concerned about Islamic State sleeper cells in the desert or IEDs that could be left behind by any of the combatants in Syria』s messy conflict. And there is always the danger that U.S.-coalition drones could mistake truffle foragers for extremists.

但是這個季節，在5月結束的時候，他已經連續第二年沒有收穫松露了。他擔心的是，在敘利亞混亂的衝突中，任何一名作戰人員都可能把地雷和小型爆炸裝置殘留在沙漠中。更危險的是，美國及其聯軍無人機可能會錯誤地將「松露獵人」當做極端分子（而射殺）。

Frontlines now cut through the once empty desert, separating Mr. Hussein, a 29-yearold activist from the countryside near the eastern city of Deir Ezzour, from a cherished custom. 「I feel a tightness in my chest because I wasn』t able to go this year and last year,」 he said.

曾經空蕩蕩的沙漠，現在被切割成各個戰場前線。海珊，一位29歲的活躍分子，來自東部城市Deir Ezzour，被迫放棄了自己珍愛的風俗:「我感到很胸悶，因為今年和去年都沒能去採摘松露。」

Except for those gathered by families like the Husseins, desert truffles have always been a delicacy in Syria, and even a mark of wealth, depending on how often a family would eat them. But the war has made the fungi exorbitantly rare and expensive.

不僅海珊一家有這樣的傳統，沙漠松露在敘利亞一直是一種美食，甚至是一種財富的象徵，這取決於一個家庭多久可以吃上一次。但是戰爭使這些真菌變得極其稀有和昂貴。

Half a pound of desert truffles used to cost about 200 Syrian pounds (about $4). Now in Damascus, it can cost more than 100 times that much.

以前，半磅的沙漠松露大約200敘利亞鎊(約合4美元)。現在在大馬士革，它的價格可能是之前這個數字的100多倍。

「Collectors are putting themselves in danger to get truffles, and this is another reason for its high price,」 a shop owner in Damascus said.

大馬士革的一位店主說:「松露採摘者們正把自己置於危險之中，這也是其高價的另一個原因。」

Many in the desert region lament the loss of a revered local cultural tradition.

許多沙漠地區的人哀嘆當地文化傳統的丟失。

「The truffle season was an important thing for the people of this area before the war—it was like a celebration,」 said Saeed Saif, 35. 「We used to leave the cities in groups of five or six and head into the desert with a tent and an electric generator and supplies.」

35歲的賽義德·賽義夫說:「松露季節對這一地區的人們來說是一件重要的事情，就像慶典一樣。」「我們過去常常三五成群地離開城市，然後帶著帳篷、發電機和物資進入沙漠去採摘松露。」

A song by a regional crooner plays on the process: 「I』m pretending to go and collect truffles, but I』m here to see my love.」

當地的一位歌手在一首歌中表達了這個變化:「我假裝去收集松露，但我來這裡是為了見

我的愛。」

In the early years of the Syrian war that began in 2011, some people in Deir Ezzour began selling truffles as an alternative source of income to make ends meet in a wartime economy, residents said.

居民們說，自2011年開始的敘利亞戰爭初期，Deir Ezzour的一些人開始銷售松露作為收入的另一來源，以在戰時經濟中實現收支平衡。

Mr. Saif had to flee his hometown in the eastern desert part of Homs province years ago and now lives in the Rukban camp near the Jordanian border. The tent encampment in southeast Syria benefits from the security of being near a U.S. military outpost— the only reason Mr. Saif was able to go out this spring and forage for truffles.

幾年前，賽義夫不得不逃離在霍姆斯省東部的沙漠地帶的家鄉，前往靠近約旦邊境的魯卡班營地。這個位於敘利亞東南部的帳篷營地，得益於靠近美國軍事前哨安全的基地站，這也是賽義夫今年春天能夠外出尋找松露的唯一原因。

He went out alone over three days and gathered about three pounds of truffles, a far cry from the more than 1,000 pounds the family used to collect in past seasons.

他獨自出去了三天，收集了大約三磅的松露，這與過去幾年中每個季節收穫大約1000多磅的松露相差甚遠。

But Mr. Saif savored what little he had, boiling the truffles in salted water and sharing them with friends. Afterward, they drank the water.

但賽義夫還是盡情享受著他目前所擁有的一切，將松露煮沸並與朋友們分享，最後喝掉了煮松露的水。

「Everything that』s rare and limited has a special flavor,」 he said.

他說:「所有稀有和緊缺的東西都有一種獨特的味道。」

允許轉載，轉載需標明出處及作者、翻譯、校閱。

每日知乎專欄與微信公眾號同步更新，公眾號：外刊搬運工，ID：ForeignMagzine.