Moniba often brought food to school and would just bring one spare fork. ‘Are you my friend or Rida’s?’ I asked Moniba.

莫妮巴常会带东西来学校吃，但她只会多带一只叉子。“你是我的朋友，还是丽达的朋友？”这种时候，我就会问莫妮巴。

She laughed and said, ‘We are all three good friends.’

而莫妮巴则大笑着回答：“我们三个都是好朋友。”

By the end of 2008, around 400 schools had been destroyed by the Taliban. We had a new government under President Asif Zardari, the widower of Benazir, but they didn’t seem to care about Swat.

到2008年底，塔利班摧毁了约四百所学校。我们的政府领导人换成了总统阿西夫•扎尔达里，他是已故前总理贝•布托的丈夫。但是，新政府看来也并不关心斯瓦特发生的一切。

I told people things would be different if Zardari’s own daughters were at school in Swat. There were suicide bombings all over the country: even the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad had been blown up.

我告诉人们，如果扎尔达里的女儿在斯瓦特上学，那么情形就会完全不同。自杀式炸弹袭击事件在全国各处时有发生，就连位于伊斯兰堡的万豪酒店都曾遇袭。

In Swat it was safer in the town than in the remote areas and many of our family came from the countryside to stay with us. The house was small and got very crowded with the cousins who already lived with us. There was little to do.

在斯瓦特，住在城镇中比住在偏远地区安全许多。因此，我们家族的许多亲戚都远道从乡间来投靠我们。加上原先就住在家里的表兄弟姐妹们，我们家变得又小又拥挤。

We couldn’t play cricket in the street or on the roof like we used to. We played marbles in the yard over and over again. I fought non-stop with my brother Khushal, and he would go crying to our mother. Never in history have Khushal and Malala been friends.

跟以前不同，我们既不能在街上打板球，也不能上屋顶玩耍，只好在庭院里玩弹珠，一遍又一遍地玩。我与胡沙尔之间的战争永无止境，而他偶尔会去找母亲哭诉。我们从未成为朋友。

I liked doing my hair in different styles and would spend ages in the bathroom in front of the mirror trying out looks I had seen in movies.

我喜欢变换头发的造型，会花上好几个小时待在浴室里，盯着镜子尝试变换各种我从电影里看到的发型。

Until I was eight or nine my mother used to cut my hair short like my brothers because of lice and also to make it easier to wash and brush as it would get messed up under my shawl.

直到我八九岁时，母亲都让我剪和弟弟们一样的短发，这除了可以预防虱子，也让我的头发更容易清洗、梳理，免得它们老是在我的头巾下乱成一团。

But finally I had persuaded her to let me grow it to my shoulders. Unlike Moniba, who has straight hair, mine is wavy, and I liked to twist it into curls or tie it into plaits.

到最后，我总算说服她让我留起长发，直到肩膀。不像莫妮巴的一头直发，我是自然卷，我喜欢把它卷成大卷或编成辫子。

‘What are you doing in there Pisho?’ my mother would shout. ‘Our guests need the bathroom and everyone is having to wait for you.’

“你在浴室里面磨蹭什么呀，小猫咪？”我母亲会在门外大喊，“我们的客人要用浴室，所有人都在等你。”