2019年经济学人 易北河上的瞒天过海--德累斯顿绿穹珍宝馆被盗(2)

 

Rocketing art prices are attracting evermore daring criminals. On November 13th intruders were walking out of the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London with two Rembrandts when they were stopped by police; they managed to escape, albeit¹ without the paintings. Four men are currently on trial for the theft in 2017 of a giant gold coin valued at 3.75m euros ($4.1m) from the Bode² Museum in Berlin.

飞涨的艺术品价格吸引了越来越多胆大妄为的罪犯。11月13日，闯入者带着两幅伦勃朗的画走出伦敦的达利奇画廊时被警察拦住了；尽管画没有偷成，他们还是设法逃走了。四名男子目前因2017年从柏林博德博物馆盗走一枚价值375万欧元(合410万美元)的巨型金币而受审。

Even so, the Dresden heist—now being investigated by a 20-strong team of specialists code-named “Epaulette”—stands out. The late Martin Roth, a former director of the Dresden State Art Collections (of which the jewellery hoard³ is a part), claimed in 2010 that “the Green Vault⁴ is secured like Fort Knox”. Roth thought “the human factor” and “insider knowledge” posed the greatest risk, and the Green Vault’s staff will doubtless be questioned closely. On the other hand, points out Julian Radcliffe of the Art Loss Register, an art-database in London, crooks⁵ can often pick up ample intelligence as paying visitors.

即便如此，德累斯顿的这起抢劫案仍然引人注目，这起抢劫案目前正由一个代号为“肩章”的20多名专家组成的团队进行调查。已故的德累斯顿国家艺术收藏馆前馆长马丁?罗斯曾在2010年宣称，“绿穹珍宝馆像诺克斯堡一样安全”。罗斯认为“人为因素”和“内部信息”构成了最大的风险，绿穹珍宝馆的工作人员无疑会受到严密的质疑。另一方面，朱利安·拉德克利夫指出，伦敦的一个艺术数据库——“艺术损失记录”的工作人员，骗子们经常可以作为付费游客获取足够的情报。

The artefacts are as storied as they are valuable. They survived the devastating⁶ Allied⁷ bombing of Dresden during the second world war, only to be seized by the Soviet⁸ Union. They were miraculously⁹ returned in their entirety to East Germany, contributing to the city’s resurgence¹⁰, though the full trove¹¹ has been on display only since 2006, after the painstaking¹² restoration of Dresden Castle. The fear now is that, since the pieces are too recognisable to be sold intact, the robbers will break out the diamonds and sapphires¹³ to flog them separately. The coin stolen from the Bode Museum is widely assumed to have been melted and sold off. The loss of the Dresden jewellery would be much sadder. 

这些人工制品不仅有价值，而且很有传奇色彩。二战期间，盟军对德累斯顿进行了毁灭性的轰炸，他们幸免于难，但最终被苏联占领。它们被奇迹般地全部归还给了东德，为这座城市的复兴做出了贡献，尽管全部宝藏直到2006年德累斯顿城堡艰苦修复后才得以展示。现在的担心是，由于这些碎片太容易辨认而不能完整地出售，抢劫者会将钻石和蓝宝石分开出售。人们普遍认为，博德博物馆被盗的硬币已经被熔化并卖掉了。失去德累斯顿的珠宝会令人更加伤心。

1 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

2 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。

3 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

4 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

5 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

7 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

8 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

9 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

10 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

11 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

12 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

13 sapphires   

n.蓝宝石，钢玉宝石( sapphire的名词复数 )；蔚蓝色

参考例句：

• Again there was that moment of splintered sapphires before the lids, dropping like scales, extinguished it. 她眼眶中又闪烁出蓝宝石的光彩，接着眼睑象鱼鳞般地垂落下来，双目又黯然失色了。 来自辞典例句
• She also sported a somewhat gawdy gold watch set with diamonds and sapphires. 她还收到一块镶着钻石和蓝宝石的金表。 来自辞典例句