【原文标题】Beware Chinese security guard
【译文标题】小心中国的保安
【登载媒体】每日电讯报
【原文链接】http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterfoster/100010430/beware-chinese-security-guard/
【译者】满仓
【声明】AC原创翻译作品,转载请注明出处
【原文库链接】http://bbs.m4.cn/thread-198294-1-1.html
A few days ago we reported on the story of a woman shopper who was beaten to death by security guards outside a Chinese branch of Wal-Mart after being accused of shoplifting – wrongly as it turned out.
几天前,我们发表过一篇报道,一名妇女在中国的沃尔玛商场因为被认为有偷窃行为,而被保安殴打致死。事实证明,这是错误的。
It seemed an almost unfathomable story at the time, but it became slightly less extraordinary in my own mind after I had my own run-in with a Chinese security guard while out on my bike the other day.
这在当时已经是一件令人发指的行为。然而,有一天在我骑自行车外出时,和一名中国保安发生了一些矛盾。这让我觉得报道中保安的行为也算不了什么。
I was racing home (on a promise to Mrs Foster who needed to get somewhere) and realized I needed to stop at the bank underneath my apartment complex to pick up some cash for the following morning.
我当时正在往家里赶(我答应带我的太太出门),突然意识到我需要在公寓楼下面的银行停一下,取些现金明天用。
Parking my spanking new bike (see Monday’s entry) outside the cash machine I nipped in to do the needful. Suddenly there’s a fierce tapping on the glass door behind me and I turn to see an angry-looking security guard – aged all of 19 – glaring out at me from under his ill-fitting peaked cap.
我把自行车停在自动取款机外边,挤进狭小的空间取钱,突然后面响起了猛烈敲击玻璃的声音。我转过身,看到一个怒气冲天的保安——大约只有19岁——正从他不合身的尖帽子下对我怒目而视。
“Is there a problem?” I say in my schoolboy mandarin, trying my best to be breezy, but he’s not playing along. In seconds the atmosphere sours rapidly as he starts wagging his finger under my nose, pointing at the bike is leaning against one of the steel pillars on which the building rests, and telling me off in rapid-fire Chinese.
“有什么事吗?”我用蹩脚的中文说,并且尽量表现出轻松愉快的样子,但是他不吃这一套。几秒钟之内,气氛急转直下。他在我的鼻子下面晃动手指,指着我靠在建筑物底座金属柱子上的自行车,用飞快的中文说着什么。
I get the gist. I realise I’m “illegally parked”, say sorry…but honestly…I’m in a hurry…got to get home to the wife…really sorry…I say in best broken Putonghua, mounting my aluminium steed with a wave and setting off.
我明白了,这是“违章停车”。抱歉……但是……我在赶时间……回家……见我太太……实在抱歉……我用磕磕巴巴的中文说。我骑上车,向他挥挥手,准备离开。
It’s at this point that I get ‘arrested’ by the security guard who is now blocking my path and grabbing the handlebars in an attempt to detain me.
就在这时,这位保安挡住了我的去路。他抓住我自行车的把手,试图不让我离开。
I resist the surprisingly primal urge to hit this bloke (I’m not the hitting type), but hear myself telling him (in raised voice I admit) that “this is a free country” and that he’s not a policeman, so if you don’t mind ‘get out of the way’.
我努力控制自己不要出拳打这家伙(我不是冲动的人),我听到自己说(我承认音量比较高)“这是一个自由的国家”,还说他不是警察,所以请“让开”。
Except, of course, it’s not a free country and in his own eyes I suspect he might as well be a policeman. As voices get raised, suddenly he’s on his walkie-talkie calling for backup to detain the arrogant, loud-mouthed foreigner - as I’m sure he sees me.
当然,这并不是一个自由的国家,而且在他自己眼中或许他就是警察。随着争吵的声音越来越大,他突然掏出步话机召唤同伴,要抓住这个自大、喧哗的外国人——我确信他就是这么看我的。
I think of just racing off, but decide against. The little jobsworth (as I most definitely see him) is evidently thoroughly enjoying himself at this point; nothing like a bit of “action” to make a dreary old night shift fly by, I suppose.
我本来想一走了之,但是又决定留下来。这个小保安很明显在享受这一过程,我想,也许一个小小的“行动”可以让夜班更容易度过。
When his colleagues come thundering round the corner like the Keystone Cops a minute later, he’s already got his story straight, rubbing his forearm theatrically after our little wrestle over the handlebars.
一分钟之后,他的同事们像无声喜剧片中的警察一样迅速出现在周围。他已经编好了自己的故事,同时夸张地按摩自己的手腕,因为我们刚刚在自行车把上做了一番小小的较量。
Then he pulls out the master-stroke, pointing to the steel pillar and a hair-like scratch which (even though it’s about six feet from where I’d leant the bike) he now alleges I’ve caused by my piece of illegal bike parking. Nice play from the boy, I’ve got to admit that.
然后他演示了自己的大发现,指向金属柱子上头发丝那么细的一条划痕(尽管这条划痕离我停车的位置要有6英尺远),他声称这是我违章停车造成的。这哥们戏演得不错,看来我必须要认错了。
By this stage a small crowd has gathered. Some other residents - uninvited by me I hasten to add – are all telling the guard he’s a jumped up jobsworth and he and his type are making it hell to live round here – and a fair number of passing Chinese come just to watch the show.
这时候,周围聚集了一些居民,不是我邀请来的,但也许是我招致的。他们说这个保安不过是一个不安分的小角色,他的这种处理事情的方式让居民都很反感。还有一些过路的中国人都加入了观众的行列。
Anyway, it all ends peaceably enough when the big boss comes and inspects the “scratch”, laughs, and sends me on my way, to the evident suppressed fury of his young rottweiler in the peaked cap who (even my Chinese is good enough to understand) is muttering many unflattering things about the evil foreigner.
不管怎样,事情总算和平解决了。保安的老大最后出面,查看了一下“划痕”,笑笑,送我上路。他的爪牙怒气被压制了,在尖帽子下(即使我的中文不怎么样)嘟囔我这个邪恶的外国人犯下的罪行。
It was an amazing experience. It all happened so quickly. I’m sure it was my fault for not realizing that he was serious about ‘detaining’ me for the parking violation, but equally it was also quite scary.
这是个不错的经历,开始和结束都如此迅速。我承认我的确没有意识到他真的因为违章停车就要“扣押”我,但是这也实在令人恐怖。
You can see how quickly you can get yourself in trouble in these parts, how fast things can escalate – according to one version of events the beaten woman outside Wal-mart had refused to show a receipt (which she had), unsure of what authority the guards had to demand it. It was an act of disobedience which proved fatal.
你现在知道了,你有多快就能卷入一场纠纷,事件多快就会升级。这和沃尔玛商场妇女被殴打的事件一样,她仅仅是拒绝出示购物收据(她实际上是有的),而保安不知为何会有权要求她出具收据。拒绝服从的后果是致命的。
There is a serious point here, about the lawlessness of security guards in China many of whom have no training whatsoever and play an increasingly large role in keeping the place ‘harmonious’.
更严重的一个问题是,中国很多无法无天的保安没有接受过任何培训,却扮演着维持社会“和谐”的重要角色。
And it’s not just foreigners who are sick of them, I’ve witnessed two or three similar run-ins involving Chinese at my apartment complex alone.
不仅仅外国人讨厌这些事情,我亲眼见过好几次中国人在我居住的公寓楼中与保安发生过矛盾。
Matthew Crabbe at the ever-brilliant AccessAsia Chinese consumer consultancy explains in his weekly “round up” (subscribe here , you won’t regret it) that guards fall into two types – “bao’an”, who are reasonably trained and “zhi’an” who aren’t.
AccessAsia中国消费咨询机构的Matthew Crabbe在他的每周纪事中描述道:这些保卫人员分为两种——接受过正规训练的“保安”和没接受过训练的“治安”。
He has a litany of similar stories to tell (from a retail perspective) about these guards are similarly terrorizing visitors to shopping malls who the management deem incompatible to the ambience of the place. It’s all rather ugly.
他站在零售商的角度对这些保卫人员有很多描述,说他们几乎是在恐吓商场中购物的顾客,管理层都认为这种行为与购物的气氛不相符,是丑恶的行为。
I’ve no idea which category the guards at the bank downstairs fall into, but I shall be giving them a wide berth in future. Just not worth the hassle.
我不知道银行旁边的保卫人员属于哪一类,但是以后我会与他们保持距离。实在不值得为这种事烦恼。 |