Monologues from As the light goes out

On a fire site, the biggest terror is in the thick smoke. You have no idea where danger lurks. With only the sound of your breath in the darkness, it is like entering a ghost town. No matter how many comrades you have, ready to stick together through thick and thin, you will face your demons, alone in the dark.

Huǒchǎng zuì kǒngbù de dìfang, jiùshì zài nóngyān lǐmiàn. Nǐ yǒngyuǎn dōu bùzhīdào wēixiǎn zài nǎlǐ, zhǐnéng tīngdào zìjǐ de hūxīshēng hé yǎnqián de yí piàn qīhēi, jiù xiàng jìn le guǐchéng yíyàng. Wúlùn shēnbiān yǒu duōshǎo rén gēn nǐ gòngjìntuì, dàn zài hēi àn miànqián, nǐ zhǐnéng yí gèrén qù miànduì. Zài zhè gè shīhòu, nǐ xīnlǐ xiǎng shénme, jiù huì kàn dào shénme.

火場(chǎng)最恐怖的地方，就是在濃煙里面。你永遠(yuǎn)都不知道危險(xiǎn)在哪里，只能聽(tīng)到自己的呼吸聲和眼前的一片漆黑，就像進(jìn)了鬼城一樣。無(wú)論身邊有多少人跟你共進(jìn)退，但在黑暗面前，你只能一個(gè)人去面對(duì)。在這個(gè)時(shí)候，你心里想什么，就會(huì)看到什么。

We firefighters have our hearts wrapped in a thick smoke. We'd like to come out of it, but it's impossible - whether it's saving people or being saved. The only way is to live with the smoke. Even faced with darkness, we have to believe that the sun will shine through in the end. This is the only way to be fearless under any circumstances.

Wǒmen chūrù huǒchǎng de rén, nèixīn yǒngyuǎn bèi yì gǔ nóngyān bāoguǒ zhe. Yǐwéi kěyǐ zǒude chūlái, qīshí gēnběn bùkěnéng. Wúlùn shì jiùrén háishì bèijiù, dōushì yí yàng. Wéi yīde fāngfǎ jiùshì yǔ zhè gǔ nóngyān gòngcún. Jiùsuàn miànduì hēi àn, yěyào jiānxìn, yángguāng yídìng huì zhàoshè jìnlái, zhǐyǒu zhèyàng, zài miànduì rènhé huánjìng de shihòu, wǒmen cái huì wú suǒ wèijù.

我們出入火場(chǎng)的人，內(nèi)心永遠(yuǎn)被一股濃煙包裹著。以為可以走得出來(lái)，其實(shí)根本不可能。無(wú)論是救人還是被救，都是一樣。唯一的方法就是與這股濃煙共存。就算面對(duì)黑暗，也要堅(jiān)信，陽(yáng)光一定會(huì)照射進(jìn)來(lái)，只有這樣，在面對(duì)任何環(huán)境的時(shí)候，我們才會(huì)無(wú)所畏懼。

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/29/2014 page27)