喪鐘、花圈、五彩的陽傘、狂歡與哀怨交織的爵士…… 8月29日，在美國的新奧爾良城，一場追悼紀念儀式正緩緩進。一年前，卡特里娜颶風沖垮了這個爵士樂之鄉，一年后，仍未從災難中恢復的新奧爾良人聚集在城市的各個角落，紀念噩夢離開一周年。按照當地的習俗，紀念儀式以挽歌開始，以歡快的爵士樂結束，表示人們對未來充滿信心。

A sticker adorns a trombone as a musician plays music during a Jazz funeral parade... The first anniversary of the biggest calamity to befall this city was marked Tuesday with a moment of silence, wreath-layings, the tolling of bells and, in true New Orleans fashion, a wailing jazz funeral through the streets for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  Jazz musicians marched ahead of a horse-drawn hearse, a symbol of the city's watery death. They played a dirge for the more than 1,800 people killed when Katrina came ashore. But the ensemble soon exploded into a joyful rhythm, the marchers opening colorful parasols and hoisting them toward the hot sun as they danced the city back to life. Residents held vigils in pockmarked neighborhoods choked with weeds, in church pews and in gutted community centers. They rang bells to mark the collapse of the city's biggest levee and laid wreaths at the site of each successive break in the cement structure protecting the city. They bowed their heads and closed their eyes in prayer, both for those no longer here and for the city's rebirth. At a midday interfaith prayer service, Mayor Ray Nagin told the city it was time to take responsibility for rebuilding. Not far away, people danced, sang and wept at the new concrete levee that replaced one that had split open on the Industrial Canal in the Lower Ninth. In Mississippi, where Katrina left 231 people dead, workers and families gathered for tearful remembrances, but there was also celebration. The $800 million Beau Rivage casino in Biloxi, one of more than a dozen casinos battered by the storm, reopened with 3,800 employees — 400 more than before Katrina. The reminders of the destruction — and how far the city still has to go — are everywhere. White trailers still line driveways in neighborhoods where debris is stacked up in piles. Only half New Orleans' population of a half-million has returned. Emergency medical care is doled out in an abandoned department store, while six of city's nine hospitals remain closed. Only 54 of 128 public schools are expected to open this fall. (Agencies)

Vocabulary:

hearse: 靈車 wreath-layings: （獻上的）花圈，源于動詞詞組lay a wreath on the tomb（在墓上獻花圈） played a dirge: 吹奏哀樂 parasol: 陽傘 hold vigils: 守夜 trailers: 拖車 （英語點津陳蓓編輯）