Saved from war, Bosnian trove of books finds new home 波士尼亞珍貴書籍逃過戰火找到新家

When Bosnia’s National Library went up in flames in 1992 in a bombardment during the Bosnian Serb siege of Sarajevo, Mustafa Jahic knew he had to act to save his own institution’s priceless collection.

當波士尼亞國家圖書館於1992年波國塞爾維亞裔部隊圍困塞拉耶佛期間慘遭砲轟起火時，亞希奇知道他必須採取行動搶救他所負責管理的無價收藏品。

As curator of the almost 500-year-old Gazi Husrev Bey Library, Jahic was guardian of a treasure trove of Oriental literature in the heart of Sarajevo, a city under siege during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.

身為有將近500年悠久歷史的格茲胡色雷貝圖書館館長，亞希奇是這個位於塞拉耶佛市中心的東方文獻寶庫守衛者，塞拉耶佛在波士尼亞於1992到95年爆發戰爭期間遭到圍困。

The fruit of his and others’ efforts is rewarded when a new state-of-the-art library, a stone’s throw from the original in the cobbled streets of Sarajevo’s historic Bascarsija district, opened its doors recently.

他和其他人的努力最近終於見到了成果，一座距離舊館只有一箭之遙、位於塞拉耶佛巴許恰須亞舊城區的鵝卵石街道上，一座嶄新的圖書館最近剛剛開幕。

"A unique book that is destroyed can never be restored again," said Jahic. "So for me to save a single book became tantamount to saving a human life. It steered me through the war."

「一本書如果被毀就再也無法修復，」亞希奇說。「所以對我而言，搶救一本書就相當於搶救一條人命。這個信念帶領著我渡過戰爭。」

Some 3 million books perished when the National Library and Sarajevo’s Institute for Oriental Studies were razed in a bombardment by Bosnian Serb forces.

當國家圖書館和塞拉耶佛東方研究所遭塞裔部隊砲火夷平時，約有300萬本館藏書籍也付之一炬。

Fearing for his own library’s 100,000 volumes, Jahic and a small team of fellow book lovers braved sniper fire to smuggle them in banana crates from one safe house to another.

擔心他自己館內的10萬本書籍也可能不保，亞希奇和一小群愛書人冒著生命危險，從狙擊手槍火下用裝香蕉的箱子把書籍偷運出來分送到不同避難點。

Two decades later, the works are together again. Funded by a $9 million donation by the government of Qatar, the library holds 25,000 manuscripts from across the Islamic world. （Reuters）

20年後，這些文獻又再度聚首。在卡達政府提供900萬美元捐款贊助下，新圖書館現在藏有來自全伊斯蘭世界的2萬5000件手稿。（路透）

新聞辭典

trove：名詞，指珍貴的收藏品，如 The book is a treasure trove of useful information.（這本書是許多有用資訊的寶庫。）

steer someone or something through something：片語，指引導某人或某事走出迷途或險境，如She skillfully steered the bill through the legislature. （她很有技巧地在國會中引導法案過關。）

perish：動詞，正式用語，指消失或被摧毀，如Many ancient languages have perished over time.（許多古老語言都已隨著時間而消失。）