English 中文网 漫画网 爱新闻iNews 翻译论坛
中国网站品牌栏目(频道)
当前位置: Language Tips> 译通四海> Columnist 专栏作家> Liu Shinan

Money holds heroism to ransom

[ 2009-11-11 12:43]     字号 [] [] []  
免费订阅30天China Daily双语新闻手机报:移动用户编辑短信CD至106580009009

The photograph is the most heart-wrenching, and at the same time disgusting, I have ever seen: An old man on a boat holding a rope tied to the arm of a dead person submerged in water with one hand and gesticulating to people on the bank with the other.

The body is that of one of the three 19-year-old heroes who sacrificed their lives to save two boys from drowning in the Yangtze River in Jingzhou, Hubei province, on Oct 24. Media reports say the old man is an employee of a local company that specializes in fishing out bodies from the river.

When the photo was taken, the old man's employer was negotiating the "salvage price" with teachers of Yangtze University, where the teenagers were students. The employer had told the boatman to keep the bodies in water until the teachers pooled in enough money to pay the "salvage fee": 12,000 yuan for each body.

After the three students were swept away by strong currents and drowned, their schoolmates had begged the boatmen to look for them. The boatmen refused to budge even after the students fell down on their knees and cried for help. They got going only after the teachers reached the spot and promised to pay.

Posted online yesterday was another photo that showed the "salvage company" boss counting money given to him by the teachers.

Imagine how the families of the three students would have felt seeing their loved ones being humiliated after death.

I wept tears of anger when I saw the photographs.

Almost all the netizens who have posted their comments on the incident on the web have expressed anger, too. But, as always, a few "cool-minded" and cold-hearted people have said the "salvage company" did not violate any law.

Do the bodies of heroes deserve to be treated like logs and held to ransom? How could the boatmen be so heartless? Couldn't they have pulled out the bodies and then bargained for the money?

At a press conference held on Saturday, the Jingzhou municipal government echoed the words of the cold-hearted netizens: The company had not violated any law.

We are talking about the sanctity of a human body here. We are talking about the law of the heart, not the market. Isn't it a crime to drag a dead person in icy waters with his friends and teachers looking on helplessly? Isn't it a crime to humiliate a human being after death? If such a way of treating the body of a hero is not counted as a crime, then where can we find justice in this world?

As if that was not enough, the company had the audacity to ask for 300 yuan as "tips" to buy cigarettes and bottled drinks.

Ironically, the local public security bureau has decided to detain the boss for 15 days and fine him 1,000 yuan for asking for 300 yuan in "tips", not for forcing out 36,000 yuan for pulling out the bodies.

According to reports, the company seems to monopolize salvage operations in the area, and hence its exorbitant charges. Have we thought about pressing charges against him for extortion?

More saddening is the fact that many people today have drowned the last iota of their conscience in the icy waters of the market and self-aggrandizement.

Chinese people's values have changed dramatically over the past few decades.

For many of them, pursuit of wealth is the only aim in life. They would readily abandon all moral concerns for just a few yuan. But this pursuit has dug a big hole in human and social consciousness.

The Jingzhou incident has its bright side because the heroic students have moved the entire nation with their deed.

The incident may not be the order of our society today, but it has shown that even when the majority of the people are out to make money by any means, there still are heroes ready to part with their lives to save others.

The irony of the Jingzhou incident, however, is that money has held heroism hostage. This should sound a shocking alarm for every person in this country.

E-mail: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

About the author:

刘式南 高级编辑。1968年毕业于武汉华中师范学院(现华中师范大学)英文系。1982年毕业于北京体育学院(现北京体育大学)研究生院体育情报专业。1982年进入中国日报社,先后担任体育记者、时政记者、国际新闻编辑、要闻版责任编辑、发稿部主任、《上海英文星报》总编辑、《中国商业周刊》总编辑等职。现任《中国日报》总编辑助理及专栏作家。1997年获国务院“特殊贡献专家政府津贴”。2000年被中华全国新闻工作者协会授予“全国百佳新闻工作者”称号。2006年获中国新闻奖二等奖(编辑)。

相关阅读:

It's a person's integrity that shines the brightest

Three young lives rise above death

Why cry wolf over a fair traffic law

Spare the rod and spoil the child?

 

 

 
中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
 

关注和订阅

人气排行

翻译服务

中国日报网翻译工作室

我们提供:媒体、文化、财经法律等专业领域的中英互译服务
电话:010-84883468
邮件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn