Lesbos: a Greek island big enough for two
希腊的双面岛屿：莱斯沃斯岛
For a decade, the Greek island of Lesbos was my one true getaway. As a travel writer, I’m usually working when I visit beautiful places, following a strict schedule and always taking notes. But on this idyllic island just off the coast of Turkey, I would do nothing but eat grilled sardines and watch the sun glimmer on the clear blue Aegean. I was content to fill my days with a swim and a book, largely because Lesbos never felt like my place. It was my husband’s, and always had been.
过去十几年，希腊莱斯沃斯岛(Lesbos)是我真正的避世度假之地。作为一名旅行作家，我游览名胜美景时总是在工作，行程按计划严格推进，还得疯狂做笔记。而在这个离土耳其海岸不远，充满田园风光的小岛，我总是无所事事，发发呆，吃吃烤沙丁鱼，看着波光粼粼、一片湛蓝的爱琴海。只要游个泳，读本书，日子就相当充实惬意了。如此这般的原因是我总觉得莱斯沃斯岛并不是属于我的岛屿。这是我先生的专属度假地，它一直都是我先生的地盘。
Peter and his Greek-American family had been visiting Lesbos since 1992. They had no roots there but felt immediately at home in the tiny seaside retreat of Skala Eressos. They loved the village’s narrow stone streets and its beachfront boardwalk lined with unpretentious cafes, its stark, rocky landscape and its broad, placid bay.
我的先生彼得出生于一个希腊裔的美国家庭，自1992年以来，他们一家年年都会来莱斯沃斯岛度假。尽管没家族血亲生活在此地，但是他们刚上岛，在海边的度假村斯卡拉·艾丽索斯(Skala Eressos)落脚，就立马有回家的感觉。他们钟爱渔村里窄窄的石板路、沿着海边木栈道那一排朴实无华的咖啡馆、岸边冷峻的石头以及宽广宁静的海滩。
By the time I joined the annual trip, my husband's family had long since established their routine. Hotel: Galini; restaurant: Panagiota's or Costa's places; film at the open-air cinema: yes. They also spoke all the Greek. I nodded along vaguely, even on the day Peter and I were married in the village church. On the map that decorated every restaurant tablecloth, I would trace the rough triangle of Lesbos. I knew Mytilene, on the eastern point, for its airport and ferry dock, and ‘our’ village, near the western point. But the island’s other 1,600 or so sq km remained a mystery.
待嫁给我先生后，我也加入了他们一年一度的家庭旅游。他们年年遵照已确定的常规旅行路线——下榻的酒店：嘉里尼酒店(Galini);餐饮：帕纳伊奥塔(Panagiota)或格斯塔(Costa)连锁餐厅中的某家;影音娱乐：露天电影院……而且，他们全家都会说希腊语。我只能模棱两可地跟着点头或摇头，就连我和我先生在渔村教堂婚礼的那天也是如此。岛上每家餐厅里的桌布都会以岛内地图的图案装饰。而我是通过桌布模模糊糊地了解到这个类似三角形岛屿的地理概况。机场和海港所在的米蒂利尼(Mytilene)在东角，我们住的斯卡拉·艾丽索斯村在岛西;而岛上其余的一千六百多平方公里的区域对我来说还是个谜。
In 2015, Peter and I made our summer trip to Greece just as refugees fleeing war in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond began arriving on Lesbos’ shores in numbers that made international headlines. Their overcrowded rubber boats were beaching far from our village, on the island’s other coasts, not even 10km from Turkey. I speak Arabic and had visited Syria several times, so I proposed going to help. Peter, afraid he’d be in the way, begged off, but I rented a car and set out. For the first time ever on Lesbos, I sat in the driver’s seat.
2015年夏天，我与丈夫彼得二人一同去希腊游玩。那段时间叙利亚、伊拉克和阿富汗等国家和地区的难民成群逃难至莱斯沃斯岛海岸的新闻正巧登上国际头条。超负载的橡皮艇上全是逃难的人们。他们在离土耳其不足十公里的莱斯沃斯岛的海岸登陆，那儿离我们居住的村庄有一定的距离。我会说阿拉伯语且去过几次叙利亚，所以认为自己理应挺身帮忙。我丈夫担心他反倒会碍事，因此没有与我同去。我租了辆车就独自出发了。那次是我在莱斯沃斯岛上第一次自己做司机，而不是当乘客。
The transit camps, where thousands of people were waiting to receive their registration papers from police, had been hastily arranged in places that weren’t marked on the tablecloth maps. I knew only that they were across the island, near Mytilene – and I barely knew how to get there. After five wrong turns in the town of Kalloni, I finally rolled down my window and called out to a man: “Pou einai drómos Mytilene?”. I was surprised to find I knew the words for ‘where is’ and ‘road’, and he answered, ‘50m’ and ‘left’.
中转营区里，成千上万的难民等待着警察派发登记表格等文件，他们被草率安顿下来，这些难民营的位置自然没有标注在餐厅桌布地图上。我只知道它们分布在莱斯沃岛东边米蒂利尼附近的地方，但不知道具体怎么去。在卡洛尼镇兜兜转转，接连五次都走错路后，我摇下车窗，用我蹩脚的希腊语大声询问一个路人："哪条路是去米蒂利尼机场的?"我对自己居然知道希腊语的"哪"和"路"这两个单词略感意外。那人用希腊语答复我，而我只听懂了"50米"和"左转"。
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