印度东部村庄Mawlynnong 全亚洲最干净的村庄(2)

So where did this sanitation routine comefrom? No one knows for sure, but, according to my guide Shishir Adhikari, itlikely stemmed from an outbreak of cholera more than 130 years ago, andcleanliness was encouraged to control its spread. Early Christian missionariesprobably helped implement and encourage the practice too.

那么，这种讲究卫生的习惯从何而来呢？没有人确切知道，但据我的向导ShishirAdhikari 所言，它来自130 多年前爆发的霍乱，当时鼓励通过加强卫生控制霍乱的传播。早期的基督教传教士可能也帮助实施和鼓励了这种做法。

The villagers are also of the Khasi people,a traditionally matrilineal society. Perhaps, with women in dominant roles insociety, keeping the home and environment orderly also takes on a greater role,Adhikari and I speculated.

村民们为卡西族，这是一个传统的母系社会。Adhikari 和我都推测，也许在女性发挥主导的社会，家庭和环境都会井井有条，这也起到很大的作用，

“We are Christians from more than 100 years back, and cleaning islearned from our elders,”said housewife Sara Kharrymba. “We pass on theseskills, from me to my children, from them to their children.”

家庭主妇Sara Kharrymba 表示，“100 多年前我们的先辈都是基督徒，我们从老人那里学会讲究卫生。我们将这种技能传给孩子，从他们再传给下一代。”

In other words, this isn’t habit, it’s along-time tradition. Kharrymba’s own day begins by cleaning their entire compound, she said.

换言之，讲究卫生并不是一种习惯，而是一种长期传统。她说，Kharrymba 的一天从打扫整个住所开始。

While we chatted, she smiled at hersix-year-old daughter, Sanjanai, who was swinging gleefully on a swing made ofleftover plastic bags. The question of what to do with plastic garbage is stilla big one, as burning it is toxic. Often the materials are reused, withcontainers repurposed as planters and bags turned into swings.

在我们聊天时，她笑着望向六岁的女儿Sanjanai——她正在废塑料袋制作的秋千上欢快地荡着。塑料垃圾该怎样处理依然是个大问题，因为燃烧塑料袋是有毒的。材料往往被重复利用，废旧容器会被用作花盆，废塑料袋会被制成秋千。

“My kids know it’s different here,”Kharrymba said.

Kharrymba 说，“我的孩子知道这里和别处不同，”

Her children haven’t been outside thevillage yet, she added, but “sometimes guests stay here, and they talk.” Shedescribed how every home in the village has a toilet (another major goal of theClean India programme), and how good her children are at following the rulesfor hygiene.

她补充说，她的孩子还没有出过村子，但“有时候到访的客人会讲起外面的情况。”她还说，村里家家都有厕所（“清洁印度行动”计划的另一个目标），她的孩子们都有良好的卫生习惯。

She paused, staring out at the small pondon her property, whose water looked crystal clear. “I am veryproud to live here,”she said.

她停下来，凝望着屋外的小池塘，那里的水清澈透明。她说，“我为在这里生活感到自豪。”