an abandoned（放弃） village in the south of Italy. It's been fifty years since these houses were last occupied（占领）. Pintedatilo is one of many ghost（鬼） towns in Calabria. But perhaps its just too beautiful to be abandoned completely. Rossella Aquilante has lived in these barren（不生育的） hills for the past forty years. She still tends（趋向） to her goats every morning.

  But for the past two years, she's no longer been alone. Now she has Maca Tuncara at her side. Maca comes from a small village in southwestern（西南的） Mali, where he worked（使工作） as a shepherd（牧羊人） and farmer. That was before he came to Europe as a refugee（难民）. Okay（好）, Maca, you can start. Oh, Stracatella, these are my beautiful ones.

  Yes, you're pretty. Pretty, pretty, pretty. If you live in the countryside（乡下）, you need animals, especially if you want to be self（自己）-sufficient（充分的）. They're important for us and for the land. They provide us with food. They need something to live on themselves, but they give so much back.

  But Rossella is now sixty-three and can no longer manage all the work on her own. Maca came just at the right time. Rossella met him two years ago at a refugee shelter（隐蔽处）. She'd long been on the lookout for someone to help her, but hadn't found（找到） anyone willing（愿意的） to live and work（使工作） with her in this remote location. Maca is great. He's so kind（ 善良的）, very respectful, and not afraid of hard work.

  He also knows what he's doing. And in fact, he actually likes being here because it's so much like his own country, so he feels at home. We work really well together. The Calabria region is suffering（ 受苦） from a prolonged drought（干旱）. Maca sometimes walks with the goats for half a day to find food for them. Moving from place to place and working hard in search of a better future is a way of life that Maca is no stranger（陌生人） to.

  When he left Mali, he got by doing odd（奇数的） jobs, first in Algeria, then in Niger, and then in Libya. But his goal was to get to Europe. After six years, he finally made it on to a refugee boat that took him across the Mediterranean（地中海） to Sicily. Later, he came to Calabria. I like it here. It's nice.

  But the problem is that there's nobody here. No one lives here. It's just the two of us in Pentedatilo. So it's not easy. There are hardly（几乎不） any jobs in Calabria and few prospects（展望）. Youth（青春） unemployment（ 失业） stands at 37%, the highest in Italy.

  Many just want to leave. But for Maca, this very place has provided the opportunity he was looking for. Rosella, meanwhile（同时）, has carried home the fresh goat milk. Back to the village where no one else lives. Pentedatilo is one of 20 so-called ghost towns in Calabria. Italy's poorer south is strewn with deserted villages.

  When Rosella first came to Pentedatilo, the village had already been uninhabited for 10 years. That was back in 1983, when she was in her early twenties and searching for a life of freedom（自由） and independence（独立）. This house will collapse（倒塌） soon. The roof is already gone. When I arrived here, the house was all still intact（完整无缺的）. There was another here, too.

  The village of Pentedatilo dates（注…日期） back to the year 640 BC. After several landslides（[地]山崩）, the village was finally abandoned（放弃） in the early 1970s. All the remaining（剩下） residents（居民） had to leave their homes. But Rosella came with the intention（意图） of staying right from the start. She gave up her job as a postal（邮政的） worker near Milan and left her old life behind her. Many people are shocked（使休克） when they hear that I live in an abandoned（放弃） village.

  Many are so afraid of being lonely（孤独的）. They even fear（害怕） silence（沉默）. But others admire（钦佩） me because I lead such a simple life. And somehow（由于某种原因）, I'm keeping this place alive. Otherwise（另外）, it would really be a ghost（鬼） town. On the slopes（斜坡） around the village, Rosella harvests（收获） wild herbs（ 草药）.

  She calls this area her secret garden. I can't say what drove me to come here. There are some things where, even 40 years later, you still wonder（想知道） why you did them. But what I like about this place most is the incredible environment. Every moment is a moment of ecstasy（入迷）, of meditation（冥想）, because it's so beautiful. Maybe I came back here to inspire（激发） young people to work（使工作） with their hands again.

  I've always found it satisfying to work hard, to sweat, and then see the fruits of my labor afterwards（ 后来）. But the drought of recent years has made her life more difficult. She couldn't have a vegetable garden that needs a lot of water. And so Rosella has learned to live from the little that nature provides her with. Casa Rosella. This is her home.

  When she first moved here, she persuaded（说服） the previous（先的） owners to sell her the house for a good price. It's time for lunch. Garlic, rocket（火箭） salad, and some dandelion（蒲公英）. Rosella doesn't need much more. We do have pasta. I'll mix（使混合） in the sad-looking vegetables, which is all I can harvest in this desert landscape（风景）, and add a few old potatoes.

  Maka's room is right next door. He has his own cooking facilities（设施） and has prepared some meat and liver（肝） from one of the goats, served with a spicy（辛辣的） sauce and couscous. Italian cuisine is still not really his thing. I love cooking. And Malian food is the best. Maka is almost obsessed with cooking.

  I always tell（ 告诉） him, "You were a real chef." I think it's also a way for him to reconnect with his homeland（ 祖国） and the familiar（熟悉的） tastes of home. Maka, hurry（赶紧） up. I'm ready. You too? They may cook separately, but they still eat together.

  Conversation at the table is limited（有限的）. Maka can't yet speak enough Italian. Want to try mine? No? No, no. We often disagree.

  He wants to do things his way, and I want to do them my way. He's young and I'm old. That's life. At some stage, the older generation（一代） has to make way for the young. Does school start again today?