THE cafés on foreign-ministry road in the heart of Kabul’s government district used to blare out(大声播放) Afghan pop to attract a gossipy(爱闲聊的) crowd of civil servants. No music comes from them now—or from anywhere else. It is banned. Men bustle(匆忙奔走) along the street in traditional shalwar kameez(南亚传统服装), sporting(炫耀地留着) long beards. Where a colourful mural used to be there is now a giant slogan in Dari, the local dialect of Persian: “There is no god but Allah”. Next to it a man in black fatigues lounges in the turret of a captured American Humvee, fondling a machinegun and keeping a lazy eye on the lunchtime traffic.
喀布尔政府区中心的外交部路上，咖啡馆过去常常大声播放阿富汗流行音乐，吸引一群爱闲聊的公务员。如今，这里不再传出任何音乐——其他地方也没有。音乐被禁止了。男人们穿着传统的沙丽卡米兹，留着长胡须，在街上匆匆而过。曾经色彩斑斓的壁画处，现在用达里语（波斯语的当地方言）写着巨大的标语：“万物非主，唯有真主”。旁边，一个身穿黑色作战服的男人懒洋洋地靠在一辆缴获的美军悍马的炮塔上，抚弄着机枪，漫不经心地注视着午餐时间的车流。
On August 15th it will be five years since the Taliban swept back(席卷而回) into Kabul. For 20 years they had been fighting against the government, its American backers and some of America’s allies. The war began in 2001, when America toppled(推翻) the Taliban’s first government because it had provided sanctuary(庇护所) to the terrorists who planned the attacks of September 11th. By the time it ended in 2021 it had become the longest America has ever waged. The regime America had backed collapsed like a house of cards(如纸牌屋般脆弱) as the superpower turned tail(转身逃跑). The Taliban returned with a free hand(不受约束地).
到8月15日，塔利班重新进入喀布尔将满五年。过去20年里，他们一直在与阿富汗政府、其美国支持者以及美国的一些盟友作战。这场战争始于2001年，当时美国推翻了塔利班的第一届政府，因为塔利班为策划9·11袭击的恐怖分子提供了庇护。到2021年战争结束时，它已成为美国历史上持续时间最长的战争。美国支持的政权如纸牌屋般崩塌，超级大国转身逃离。塔利班卷土重来，获得了完全的行动自由。
Travelling from Herat, in the west of the country, to Kandahar, in the south, and on to Kabul in the east shows how they have secured their grip(巩固控制). On the 1,000km trip your correspondent saw the black-and-white Taliban flag flying in town squares and in fields of wheat, at roundabouts(环岛) and remote checkpoints(检查站), on the desks of university professors and in the boardrooms(董事会会议室) of CEOs.
从该国西部的赫拉特，到南部的坎大哈，再到东部的喀布尔，一路走来，可以看到他们如何巩固了自己的控制。在1000公里的行程中，本刊记者看到黑白相间的塔利班旗帜飘扬在城镇广场、麦田、环岛和偏远的检查站，出现在大学教授的办公桌上和首席执行官们的会议室里。
You have no power here!
你在这里没有权力！
Behind the moon, beyond the rain
在月亮背后，在雨之外
Because of the horrible things he does
因为他做的可怕的事
