The powerful stories that shaped Africa | Gus Casely-Hayford

翻译人员: Jerry Hou Liu 校对人员: Tianji (Homer) Li

Now, Hegel -- he very famously said

黑格尔曾经说过一句名言，

that Africa was a place without history,

非洲是一个没有“历史”的地方，

without past, without narrative.

那里没有“过去”，没有“传说”。

Yet, I'd argue that no other continent has nurtured, has fought for,

然而，我不同意这个说法。 我相信，没有任何一块大陆

has celebrated its history more concertedly.

像非洲一样，团结一致地 守护并庆祝自己的历史。

The struggle to keep African narrative alive

如何能够使传说的 生命力长久不息，

has been one of the most consistent

这是非洲人民所遇到的

and hard-fought endeavors of African peoples,

最长久，最艰难的挑战之一，

and it continues to be so.

至今依然如此。

The struggles endured and the sacrifices made to hold onto narrative

面对奴隶贸易、殖民统治， 人种歧视和战争等灾难，

in the face of enslavement, colonialism, racism, wars and so much else

人们所忍受的折磨 与为历史的传承所做的牺牲

has been the underpinning narrative

也成为了非洲传说的

of our history.

重要部分。

And our narrative has not just survived the assaults

在历经了血腥斗争、枪林弹雨后，

that history has thrown at it.

幸存下来的 不仅仅是我们的传说，

We've left a body of material culture,

还有物质文化，

artistic magistery and intellectual output.

艺术瑰宝以及人民的智慧结晶。

We've mapped and we've charted and we've captured our histories

我们不断的利用地图、 图表等世界通用的记录形式，

in ways that are the measure of anywhere else on earth.

力求将这些东西保留下来。

Long before the meaningful arrival of Europeans --

在欧洲人真正踏入 非洲的土地之前——

indeed, whilst Europe was still mired in its Dark Age --

事实上，当时欧洲社会 还困于黑暗时期——

Africans were pioneering techniques in recording, in nurturing history,

非洲人民已经在记录和保存历史的 技术上成为领先的代表，

forging revolutionary methods for keeping their story alive.

通过革命性的记录方法 使得我们的历史得以留存。

And living history, dynamic heritage --

传承的历史以及鲜活的遗迹，

it remains important to us.

对如今的我们依然很重要。

We see that manifest in so many ways.

我们有许多方式来见证它们的珍贵。

I'm reminded of how, just last year -- you might remember it --

就在去年，我回想起了—— 你们可能也记得那件事——

the first members

基地组织下属的

of the al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Dine

一个恐怖组织， “伊斯兰卫士”的几名早期成员

were indicted for war crimes and sent to the Hague.

被指控发起战争 并被送往荷兰的海牙。

And one of the most notorious was Ahmad al-Faqi,

其中最臭名昭著的就是 艾哈迈德·阿法奇（Ahmad al-Faqi），

who was a young Malian,

一位年轻的马里人，

and he was charged, not with genocide,

而他被指控的罪名， 不是种族大屠杀，

not with ethnic cleansing,

也不是种族净化，

but with being one of the instigators of a campaign

而是因为他担任了 一个组织的教唆者，

to destroy some of Mali's most important cultural heritage.

去唆使他人破坏马里的 一些珍贵的文化遗迹。

This wasn't vandalism;

这不只是故意毁坏文物的行为，

these weren't thoughtless acts.

也不只是一时冲动的无脑之举。

One of the things that al-Faqi said

当阿法奇站在法庭表明身份时，

他所说的其中一句话是，

when he was asked to identify himself in court

was that he was a graduate, that he was a teacher.

他是一名研究生， 他是一名老师。

Over the course of 2012, they engaged in a systematic campaign

在整个 2012 年， 他们参与了一个系统的活动，

to destroy Mali's cultural heritage.

去破坏马里的文化遗产。

This was a deeply considered waging of war

这是一场经过深思熟虑之后 而发起的战争，

in the most powerful way that could be envisaged:

采取的是所能想到的 最极端的方式：

in destroying narrative, in destroying stories.

摧毁所有的文化传说， 摧毁古老的历史故事。

The attempted destruction of nine shrines,

他们计划破坏九个神殿，

the central mosque

中央清真寺，

and perhaps as many as 4,000 manuscripts

以及多达四千份

was a considered act.

保存的手稿。

They understood the power of narrative to hold communities together,

他们很清楚古老传说那种 能够将整个民族凝聚起来的巨大力量，

and they conversely understood that in destroying stories,

反过来，他们也认为 只要摧毁这些故事，

they hoped they would destroy a people.

也许就能摧毁整个民族。

But just as Ansar Dine and their insurgency

但是正当“伊斯兰卫士”这群恐怖分子 想要针对这些古老传说

were driven by powerful narratives,

发起攻击和制造暴乱时，

so was the local population's defense of Timbuktu and its libraries.

当地廷巴克图的人民和图书馆 也开始了他们的顽强抵抗。

These were communities who've grown up with stories of the Mali Empire;

这是一群基于代代相传的马里王传说 而逐渐发展起来的社群，

lived in the shadow of Timbuktu's great libraries.

那里的人们在廷巴克图的 图书馆里耳濡目染，

They'd listened to songs of its origin from their childhood,

每个人从童年时期 就在听民族起源的歌，

and they weren't about to give up on that

他们不会就这样眼睁睁看着

without a fight.

自己的文化和历史被摧毁。

Over difficult months of 2012,

经历了 2012 年“伊斯兰卫士” 实施文化侵略的

最艰难的那几个月，

during the Ansar Dine invasion,

Malians, ordinary people, risked their lives

那些普通的马里民众 冒着生命危险

to secrete and smuggle documents to safety,

秘密把文件转移到安全地点，

doing what they could to protect historic buildings

力所能及地去保护历史建筑，

and defend their ancient libraries.

保护他们古老的图书馆。

And although they weren't always successful,

尽管他们的行动并不总是成功的，

many of the most important manuscripts were thankfully saved,

但还是有大量珍贵的手稿幸存了下来。

and today each one of the shrines that was damaged during that uprising

今天，每个在暴乱中 被破坏的圣地神殿

have been rebuilt,

都获得了翻修和重建，

including the 14th-century mosque that is the symbolic heart of the city.

包括市中心具有代表性的 十四世纪的清真寺，

It's been fully restored.

都被很好地修缮了。

But even in the bleakest periods of the occupation,

但即使在暴动最严重的时刻，

enough of the population of Timbuktu simply would not bow

很多廷巴克图的人民都不会

to men like al-Faqi.

向阿法奇那样的人低头示弱。

They wouldn't allow their history to be wiped away,

他们不容许自己的历史被抹去，

and anyone who has visited that part of the world,

只有实地参观过那里的人

they will understand why,

才会明白背后的原因。

why stories, why narrative, why histories are of such importance.

为什么故事，传说和历史那么重要。

History matters.

历史很重要，

History really matters.

真的很重要。

And for peoples of African descent,

对于目睹了自己的文化传说

who have seen their narrative systematically assaulted over centuries,

被全面侵略了几个世纪的 非洲后裔来说，

this is critically important.

历史尤其重要。

This is part of a recurrent echo across our history

普通群众为了本国文明， 为了本国历史而奋起抗争，

of ordinary people making a stand for their story, for their history.

成为了我们的历史中 反复回荡的回声。

Just as in the 19th century,

就像在十九世纪，

enslaved peoples of African descent in the Caribbean

加勒比海地区被奴役的非洲后裔

fought under threat of punishment,

即使面对酷刑威胁， 也依然奋勇抗争，

fought to practice their religions, to celebrate Carnival,

为他们的信仰而战， 为能够欢庆佳节而战，

to keep their history alive.

为保护他们鲜活的历史而战。

Ordinary people were prepared to make great sacrifices,

普通民众都做好了牺牲的准备，

some even the ultimate sacrifice,

一些人甚至会为了他们的历史

for their history.

而无私的奉献一切。

And it was through control of narrative

通过对传说的控制，

that some of the most devastating colonial campaigns were crystallized.

最具破坏性的一些 殖民主义行动得以成功。

It was through the dominance of one narrative over another

通过让一个故事压倒另一个故事，

that the worst manifestations of colonialism became palpable.

殖民主义最邪恶的影响得以成型。

When, in 1874, the British attacked the Ashanti,

当英国于 1874 年袭击 非洲西部 Ashanti 地区时,

they overran Kumasi and captured the Asantehene.

他们占领了库马西， 抓捕了阿散蒂土王。

They knew that controlling territory and subjugating the head of state --

他们明白只有军事控制 以及征服当地首脑

it wasn't enough.

是远远不够的。

They recognized that the emotional authority of state

他们意识到这个地区的情感支柱

lay in its narrative

来源于当地的文化传说

and the symbols that represented it,

以及文化传说的象征，

like the Golden Stool.

像是那只金凳子。

They understood that control of story was absolutely critical

他们明白控制当地的文化传说 对于真正征服当地人民

to truly controlling a people.

起着至关重要的作用。

And the Ashanti understood, too,

阿散蒂人民也明白这个道理，

and they never were to relinquish the precious Golden Stool,

他们绝不交出金凳子，

never to completely capitulate to the British.

绝不让英国完全统治他们。

Narrative matters.

文化传说至关重要。

In 1871, Karl Mauch, a German geologist working in Southern Africa,

在 1871 年，一位叫 卡尔·毛奇（Karl Mauch）的

he stumbled across an extraordinary complex,

德国地质学家在非洲南部考察， 他发现了一个奇特的建筑群，

a complex of abandoned stone buildings.

一组废弃的石头建筑。

And he never quite recovered from what he saw:

在他的脑海中， 这番景象始终历历在目：

a granite, drystone city,

一座花岗岩石城

stranded on an outcrop above an empty savannah:

矗立在一片荒芜的大草原上：

Great Zimbabwe.

这就是大津巴布韦古城。

And Mauch had no idea who was responsible

毛奇不知道是谁建造了

for what was obviously an astonishing feat of architecture,

这些令人叹为观止的建筑物，

but he felt sure of one single thing:

但是他对于一件事很确定：

this narrative needed to be claimed.

这段文化传说需要为世人知晓。

He later wrote that the wrought architecture of Great Zimbabwe

随后，他写道， 大津巴布韦的壮观建筑结构

was simply too sophisticated,

太过精细复杂和独特，

too special to have been built by Africans.

非洲人没有能力建造这样的建筑。

Mauch, like dozens of Europeans that followed in his footsteps,

如同成百上千 追随他脚步的欧洲人一样，

speculated on who might have built the city.

毛奇也在猜测， 是谁建造了这个城市。

And one went as far as to posit,

有人提出了这样的假设：

"I do not think that I am far wrong if I suppose that that ruin on the hill

“如果我提出：在那山岗上的废墟 其实是一种对于所罗门王庙宇的模仿，

is a copy of King Solomon's Temple."

应该也不算是大错特错。”

And as I'm sure you know, Mauch,

大家都知道，毛奇

he hadn't stumbled upon King Solomon's Temple,

所发现的并不是所罗门王庙，

but upon a purely African complex of buildings

而是由十一世纪或是更早的

constructed by a purely African civilization

纯粹的非洲文明建立起来的，

from the 11th century onward.

完全属于非洲的建筑群。

But like Leo Frobenius, a fellow German anthropologist

但是就像一位德国人类学家 利奥·费罗贝尼乌斯（Leo Frobenius）

who speculated some years later,

若干年后的猜测一样，

upon seeing the Nigerian Ife Heads for the very first time,

毛奇看到尼日利亚伊费青铜头像时，

that they must have been artifacts from the long-lost kingdom of Atlantis.

就认定它们是消失很久的 亚特兰蒂斯帝国的遗物。

He felt, just like Hegel,

他有种和黑格尔一样的感受，

an almost instinctive need to rob Africa of its history.

去洗劫非洲的文化历史几乎 就像一种与生俱来的直觉。

These ideas are so irrational,

这些想法如此荒谬可笑，

so deeply held,

却又深深扎根于他们的脑海中，

that even when faced with the physical archaeology,

以至于面对着眼前的历史遗迹，

they couldn't think rationally.

他们都不能理性思考。

They could no longer see.

他们看不到事实。

And like so much of Africa's relationship with Enlightenment Europe,

就像非洲与启蒙时期的 欧洲的关系一样，

it involved appropriation, denigration and control of the continent.

它涉及对非洲大陆的 侵吞，贬低，以及控制。

It involved an attempt to bend narrative to Europe's ends.

他们企图为了 让欧洲得利而扭曲历史。

And if Mauch had really wanted to find an answer to his question,

如果毛奇真心想要回答

"Where did Great Zimbabwe or that great stone building come from?"

“大津巴布韦古城，或者那幢 大岩石建筑，是从哪里来的？”

he would have needed to begin his quest

他就需要在

离大津巴布韦一千英里之外，

a thousand miles away from Great Zimbabwe,

at the eastern edge of the continent, where Africa meets the Indian Ocean.

非洲大陆和印度洋 交界的地方开始他的调查。

He would have needed to trace the gold and the goods

他就需要追踪从斯瓦希里海岸的

from some of the great trading emporia of the Swahili coast to Great Zimbabwe,

一些大贸易中心到达 大津巴布韦的黄金和货物，

to gain a sense of the scale and influence

从而理解那神秘文化的

of that mysterious culture,

规模与影响，

to get a picture of Great Zimbabwe as a political, cultural entity

并通过受它控制的

through the kingdoms and the civilizations

王国与文明

that were drawn under its control.

了解大津巴布韦 这一政治文化体。

For centuries, traders have been drawn to that bit of the coast

几百年中，那段海岸吸引了

from as far away as India and China and the Middle East.

从印度，中国，中东等地的商人。

And it might be tempting to interpret,

正因为那幢建筑物那么美，

because it's exquisitely beautiful, that building,

因为那幢建筑物那么美，

it might be tempting to interpret it

一般人很容易把它想象为

as just an exquisite, symbolic jewel,

一颗华丽的，有象征意义的珠宝，

a vast ceremonial sculpture in stone.

一座庞大的纪念石雕。

But the site must have been a complex

可是该遗址曾经

at the center of a significant nexus of economies

一定是千年来界定该地区

that defined this region for a millennium.

重要经济联系中心的综合体。

This matters.

这是很重要的。

These narratives matter.

那些故事有着深远的意义。

Even today, the fight to tell our story is not just against time.

即便是现在，为了延续我们的 历史文化，我们不仅要跟时间抗争，

It's not just against organizations like Ansar Dine.

不仅要跟“伊斯兰卫士”等组织抗争，

It's also in establishing a truly African voice

也要摆脱外界几百年来 强加给我们的历史，

after centuries of imposed histories.

并建立真正属于非洲人的历史。

We don't just have to recolonize our history,

我们不仅需要夺回我们的历史，

but we have to find ways to build back the intellectual underpinning

我们还要想办法重建 黑格尔认为不存在的，

that Hegel denied was there at all.

属于我们的知识基础和理论支持。

We have to rediscover African philosophy,

我们需要重新发现非洲哲学，

African perspectives, African history.

非洲观点，和非洲历史。

The flowering of Great Zimbabwe -- it wasn't a freak moment.

大津巴布韦的灿烂 不是短暂的，偶然的。

It was part of a burgeoning change across the whole of the continent.

它是当时全非洲 一次大变革当中的一部分。

Perhaps the great exemplification of that was Sundiata Keita,

也许这次变革中最伟大的代表 是松迪亚塔·凯塔（Sundiata Keita），

the founder of the Mali Empire,

马里帝国的开创者，

probably the greatest empire that West Africa has ever seen.

带领着西非史上可以说最伟大的帝国。

Sundiata Keita was born about 1235,

松迪亚塔大概生于 1235 年，

growing up in a time of profound flux.

在一个充满动荡和变革的时代中长大。

He was seeing the transition between the Berber dynasties to the north,

他当时目睹了北方柏柏尔朝代的更替，

he may have heard about the rise of the Ife to the south

他有可能听说过南方伊费的崛起，

and perhaps even the dominance of the Solomaic Dynasty

甚至可能听说过东方 埃塞俄比亚所罗门王朝

in Ethiopia to the east.

统治的转变。

And he must have been aware that he was living through a moment

他肯定意识到了，他所处的时代

of quickening change,

是一个快速变化的时代，

of growing confidence in our continent.

是一个人民对我们的大陆 越来越有信心的时代。

He must have been aware of new states

他肯定意识到，有新的国家

that were building their influence

在建立他们的影响，

from as far afield as Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili sultanates,

远到大津巴布韦 和斯瓦西里君主国家，

each engaged directly or indirectly beyond the continent itself,

都直接或间接在非洲之外的地方活动，

each driven also to invest in securing their intellectual and cultural legacy.

都决心投入资源 保护它们的知识和文化遗产。

He probably would have engaged in trade with these peer nations

作为中世纪非洲大经济体中

as part of a massive continental nexus

一个庞大的大陆枢纽，

of great medieval African economies.

他当时有可能 跟这些邻国进行了贸易。

And like all of those great empires,

而像所有那些大帝国一样，

Sundiata Keita invested in securing his legacy through history

松迪亚塔也致力于 利用故事在历史中

by using story --

留下他的遗产——

not just formalizing the idea of storytelling,

不仅把讲故事这个概念正式化，

but in building a whole convention

还建立了一套完整的

of telling and retelling his story

讲述和复述他的故事的惯例，

as a key to founding a narrative

作为为他的帝国建立

for his empire.

一个传说的关键。

And these stories, in musical form,

而这些故事，至今仍然以音乐的形式

are still sung today.

被人们传唱。

Now, several decades after the death of Sundiata,

松迪亚塔去世的数十年以后，

a new king ascended the throne,

一个新的国王继承了他的王位，

Mansa Musa, its most famous emperor.

他就是曼萨·穆萨， 马里帝国最著名的帝王。

Now, Mansa Musa is famed for his vast gold reserves

曼萨·穆萨因拥有巨大的金库，

and for sending envoys to the courts of Europe and the Middle East.

并且向欧洲和中东的朝廷 派发使者而出名。

He was every bit as ambitious as his predecessors,

虽然他与他的先人一样有雄心，

but saw a different kind of route of securing his place in history.

但他看到了另一种 确保自己在历史上地位的方式。

In 1324, Mansa Musa went on pilgrimage to Mecca,

在 1324 年，曼萨·穆萨 开始了他去麦加的朝圣之旅，

and he traveled with a retinue of thousands.

随行人员达到了几千人。

It's been said that 100 camels each carried 100 pounds of gold.

有人说他们带了 100 匹骆驼， 每一个都背着 100 磅重的黄金。

It's been recorded that he built a fully functioning mosque

据记载，他的旅程中每一个星期五

every Friday of his trip,

都建造出了一个完整的清真寺，

and performed so many acts of kindness,

并且到处行善积德，

that the great Berber chronicler, Ibn Battuta, wrote,

于是伟大的柏柏尔编年史家 伊本·白图泰 （Ibn Battuta）写道，

"He flooded Cairo with kindness,

“他在开罗到处散播慈悲，

spending so much in the markets of North Africa and the Middle East

在北非和中东的市场花的钱

that it affected the price of gold into the next decade."

多得影响到了之后十年的黄金价格。”

And on his return,

在返回后，

Mansa Musa memorialized his journey

曼萨·穆萨为了纪念他的旅程，

by building a mosque at the heart of his empire.

在他帝国的中心建造了一座清真寺。

And the legacy of what he left behind,

而他遗留下来的

Timbuktu,

廷巴克图，

it represents one of the great bodies of written historical material

代表了由非洲学者整理的最伟大的

produced by African scholars:

一套书面历史材料：

about 700,000 medieval documents,

包含大概七十万份中世纪文件，

ranging from scholarly works to letters,

包括学术作品和信件，

which have been preserved often by private households.

其中许多都是被私人收藏的。

And at its peak, in the 15th and 16th centuries,

在十五和十六世纪的顶峰时期，

the university there was as influential

那里的大学的影响力

as any educational establishment in Europe,

能够跟任何欧洲教育机构媲美，

attracting about 25,000 students.

吸引了大概两万五千名学生，

This was in a city of around 100,000 people.

而这个城市的人口只有十万。

It cemented Timbuktu as a world center of learning.

它稳固了廷巴克图 作为世界级学习中心的地位。

But this was a very particular kind of learning

然而，这是一种十分特殊的教育，

that was focused and driven by Islam.

它的核心动力是伊斯兰教。

And since I first visited Timbuktu,

自从我第一次去廷巴克图，

I've visited many other libraries across Africa,

我又参观了非洲各地其他的图书馆，

and despite Hegel's view that Africa has no history,

虽然黑格尔说非洲没有历史，

not only is it a continent with an embarrassment of history,

而我却发现它不仅有很丰富的历史，

it has developed unrivaled systems for collecting and promoting it.

还发展出了无可比拟的 采集与弘扬历史的系统。

There are thousands of small archives,

那里有上千个小档案馆，

textile drum stores,

纺织鼓商店，

that have become more than repositories of manuscripts and material culture.

它们的意义已经超过了简单的 文件与物质遗产的储藏处，

They have become fonts of communal narrative,

它们已经成为了公共叙事的载体，

symbols of continuity,

传承的象征。

and I'm pretty sure that many of those European philosophers

我相信，许多质疑 非洲存在知识传统的

who questioned an African intellectual tradition

欧洲哲学家，

must have, beneath their prejudices,

在他们隐藏的偏见之下，

been aware of the contribution of Africa's intellectuals

也一定意识到了非洲知识分子

to Western learning.

对西方思想的贡献。

They must have known

他们肯定知道那些

of the great North African medieval philosophers

曾经领导了地中海地区的

who had driven the Mediterranean.

伟大的中世纪北非哲学家。

They must have known about and been aware of

他们也肯定知道

that tradition that is part of Christianity, of the three wise men.

基督教的“东方三智者”这个传统。

And in the medieval period, Balthazar, that third wise man,

而在中世纪，第三位智者巴尔塔萨，

was represented as an African king.

代表着非洲的君主。

And he became hugely popular

他作为旧世界

as the third intellectual leg of Old World learning,

与欧洲和亚洲并列的 第三个智慧之柱

alongside Europe and Asia, as a peer.

而家喻户晓。

These things were well-known.

这些事是众所周知的。

These communities did not grow up in isolation.

这些社会的发展不是孤立的。

Timbuktu's wealth and power developed because the city became

廷巴克图的财富和影响要归因于

a hub of lucrative intercontinental trade routes.

它作为多个重要的 国际贸易路线枢纽的角色，

This was one center

屹立在

in a borderless, transcontinental,

一个无边界，跨大陆，

有雄心，有志气， 注重对外联系的大陆上。

ambitious, outwardly focused, confident continent.

Berber merchants, they carried salt and textiles

柏柏尔商人跨越沙漠， 把盐、纺织品

and new precious goods and learning down into West Africa

新的珍贵产品和知识

from across the desert.

带进了西非。

But as you can see from this map

但是你可以从这张

that was produced a little time after the life of Mansa Musa,

在曼萨·穆萨死后不久 绘制的地图中看出，

there was also a nexus of sub-Saharan trade routes,

那里曾是撒哈拉沙漠以南 多个贸易路线的枢纽，

along which African ideas and traditions

非洲的思想和传统 沿着这些贸易路线传播，

added to the intellectual worth of Timbuktu

增加了廷巴克图的智慧价值，

and indeed across the desert to Europe.

让非洲智慧跨过沙漠传递到欧洲。

Manuscripts and material culture,

手写历史文件和物质文化遗产

they have become fonts of communal narrative,

已经成为了公共叙事的来源，

symbols of continuity.

传承的象征。

And I'm pretty sure that those European intellectuals

我相信，那些质疑我们历史的

who cast aspersions on our history,

欧洲学者，

they knew fundamentally about our traditions.

其实是知道我们的传统文化的。

And today, as strident forces like Ansar Dine and Boko Haram

今天，在“伊斯兰卫士” 和“博科圣地”等鲁莽的势力

grow popular in West Africa,

在西非扩张的同时，

it's that spirit of truly indigenous, dynamic, intellectual defiance

那种完全土生土长的， 积极的，智慧的抗争精神

that holds ancient traditions in good stead.

也在维持着古老的传统。

When Mansa Musa made Timbuktu his capital,

当曼萨·穆萨把廷巴克图 变成他的首都的时候，

he looked upon the city as a Medici looked upon Florence:

他像一个美第奇仰望佛洛伦萨一样 仰望那座城市，

as the center of an open, intellectual, entrepreneurial empire

将它看作一个开放的，智慧的， 有企业精神的帝国的中心，

that thrived on great ideas wherever they came from.

因吸纳世界各地的 伟大思想而兴旺发达。

The city, the culture,

那座城市，那个文化，

the very intellectual DNA of this region

那个地区智慧的基因，

remains so beautifully complex and diverse,

如今还是那么复杂，那么多元，

that it will always remain, in part,

在某种程度上，它将永远保留

located in storytelling traditions that derive from indigenous,

源自本土的、前伊斯兰传统的

pre-Islamic traditions.

讲故事的传统。

The highly successful form of Islam that developed in Mali became popular

由马里帝国发展而来的伊斯兰教派别 之所以那么受欢迎，

because it accepted those freedoms

是因为它接受了这些自由

and that inherent cultural diversity.

和内在的文化多元性。

And the celebration of that complexity,

而那种对复杂性的颂扬，

that love of rigorously contested discourse,

那种对严谨的激烈争论的热爱，

that appreciation of narrative,

那种对传说的欣赏，

was and remains, in spite of everything,

虽然面对重重障碍，

the very heart of West Africa.

却依然深深扎根于西非。

And today, as the shrines and the mosque vandalized by Ansar Dine

而今天，曾经被“伊斯兰卫士” 所摧毁的寺庙

have been rebuilt,

已经得到了重建，

many of the instigators of their destruction have been jailed.

造成这些破坏的 罪魁祸首已经入狱。

And we are left with powerful lessons,

我们学到了重要的教训，

reminded once again of how our history and narrative

再次提醒我们，我们的历史和传说

have held communities together for millennia,

在几千年来团结了各个群体，

how they remain vital in making sense of modern Africa.

要了解现代非洲，就必须 先了解那些故事和历史。

And we're also reminded

这也提醒了我们：

of how the roots of this confident, intellectual, entrepreneurial,

这个自信的，智慧的， 有企业精神的，

outward-facing, culturally porous, tariff-free Africa

开放的，包容的， 无关税的非洲文化根基

was once the envy of the world.

如何曾经被全世界所仰慕。

But those roots, they remain.

而这些根基今天依然存在。

Thank you very much.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）