At the Bab al-Jabiyeh market in the old quarter of the Syrian capital, shoppers clamored to stock up on essentials such as rice, pasta, bread, sugar and anything in a can.

叙利亚首都大马士革老城区的Bab al-Jabiyeh市场里人声鼎沸，购物者们在抢购大米、意大利面、面包、糖等生活必需品以及任何罐装食品。

For many here, whatever their allegiances, immediate survival was the focus.

对于这里的很多人来说，无论他们效忠于谁，最重要的是眼下的生存问题。

'I am not with [Assad] and I do not like him, but I want to live,' said a well-to-do merchant in the upscale neighborhood of Maleki, home to President Bashar al-Assad. 'I fear for my wife; I fear we won't be able to leave our homes because of the chaos.'

高端社区Maleki的一名富裕商人说，我并不支持阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)，也不喜欢他这个人，但我想活下去；我担心我太太；担心我们因为混乱而出不了家门。叙利亚总统阿萨德的家也在Maleki。

A tenuous stability under Mr. Assad, he said, would be better than this. Like other residents who don't actively support the Assad regime, he asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.

他说，在阿萨德领导下的脆弱稳定状态也比现在好。与并不积极支持阿萨德政权的其他居民一样，他要求不透露姓名，因为担心报复。

For many Syrians, a feeling of helplessness prevails. They see themselves as pawns in a game of nations between the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other rebel backers on one side and regime patrons Iran and Russia on the other.

许多叙利亚人中蔓延着无助的感觉。他们认为自己是众多国家博弈中的炮灰，博弈的一方是美国、沙特阿拉伯和其他支持叙利亚反对派的国家，另一方是支持叙利亚政府的伊朗和俄罗斯等国。

'At the end of the day, it is us civilians who are going to pay the price, no matter what happens,' said a restaurant owner.

一个餐馆老板说，说到底，无论发生什么事，付出代价的还是我们这些平民。

Ambivalence about U.S. intervention could be found even in a rebel-held neighborhood-just a few miles from the city center-that residents said was gassed last week by the regime, spurring international action.

即使在反对派控制的一个社区，人们对于美国的干预行动也存在矛盾心理。该社区距离市中心仅几英里，那里的居民据称上周遭到了政府的毒气袭击，引发了国际反响。

'The U.S. will only bring us more problems,' said one activist there. The West, he said, would get better results by supplying advanced weapons to the rebels.

那个社区的一名活动人士说，美国只会给我们带来更多问题。他说，西方向反对派供应先进武器的成效会更好。

For residents across the capital, fears went beyond the question of survival.

对于整个首都的居民来说，他们担忧的远不止生存问题。

Regime opponents worried that expected U.S. strikes intended to punish President Assad, but not topple him, for suspected use of chemical weapons would spur the regime and its loyalists to intensify efforts to crush their opponents-because, in the regime's view, rebels and their supporters are the cause of the foreign intervention.

反对派担心，由于阿萨德涉嫌使用化学武器，美国可能对叙利亚采取军事行动的目的是惩罚阿萨德，但并非要推翻他，而这样的行动将刺激叙利亚政府及其拥护者加强打击反对派的行动，因为在政府方面看来，反对派及其支持者才是导致外国干预的原因。

Those who support Mr. Assad or describe themselves as neutral fear that rebels would take advantage of missile strikes to try to make military advances-spawning more sectarian warfare.

支持阿萨德或自称中立的人士担心，反对派会借助导弹攻击，试图取得军事上的进展，从而引发更多的宗派战争。

Some spoke of the danger that their country would become partitioned along sectarian lines; many feared another Iraq, where a U.S.-led invasion 10 years ago unleashed a violent conflict that grinds on to this day.

一些人谈到国家被以宗派界限分割的危险；很多人担心叙利亚变成第二个伊拉克，10年前美国领导的军队入侵伊拉克，导致了持续至今的暴力冲突。

In the center of Damascus, much of daily life appeared normal on Wednesday. Leafy streets were clean, fountains spouted water at full force, road crews were at work and traffic police manned their posts at intersections.

周三在大马士革市中心，日常生活似乎基本上保持正常状态。绿树成荫的街道干干 ，喷泉开足马力喷出水柱，道路工人都在工作，交通警察也在十字路口的岗位上值勤。

Government officials told the public that bread and other food supplies were ample, and warned price gougers and war profiteers that they would be punished. But the Syrian pound weakened again. Despite recent government attempts to stabilize the currency at 200 Syrian pounds to the dollar, black-market exchanges were trading at nearly 270 on Wednesday-jumping from 230 the previous day-as worries spread of an impending attack.

政府官员告诉公众，面包和其他食品供应充足，并警告索要高价者和借战争牟利的人说，他们将受到惩罚。然而叙利亚镑再次走软。虽然政府试图将汇率稳定在1美元兑200叙利亚镑，但随着对即将来临的攻击的担忧蔓延，周三黑市汇率接近270叙利亚镑，较前一天的230叙利亚镑大幅上升。