英国卫报:绑架为何成了一门生意(1)

In 1982, a British insurance broker¹ named Doug Milne set out in search of new markets.

1982年，一位名叫道格·米尔恩的英国保险经纪人开始寻找新的市场。

His speciality was kidnapping and ransom² insurance, known in the industry as K&R.

他的专长是绑架和赎金保险，在业内被称为“K&R”。

Milne enrolled³ in a Spanish-language course in London,

米尔恩在伦敦参加了一个西班牙语课程，

and a month later, with rudimentary skills and only one or two solid contacts on the ground, he boarded a flight to Bogota.

一个月后，他掌握了基本的技能，在只有一两位可靠联系人的情况下，乘飞机前往了波哥大。

On his first day in the Colombian capital, Milne was walking to a meeting with a potential client when, he recalled,

在他去哥伦比亚首都的第一天，米尔恩和一位潜在的客户去参加会议，据他回忆，

“a guy pulled up alongside and this chap who was walking in front of me, his head just exploded”.

“当时一个人在旁边停下车，然后走在我前面的家伙就被爆头了。”

It was a drive-by assassination⁴. Milne cancelled the meeting and spent the afternoon in a bar near Bogota’s entertainment district.

那是一次驾车刺杀。米尔恩取消了那次会议，并在波哥大娱乐区附近的一家酒吧度过了一个下午。

“I missed my meeting and I think I left there about 11pm after having drunk a couple of flagons of Tres Esquinas rum,” Milne told me.

米尔恩告诉我，“我错过了我的会议，在喝了几大瓶特雷斯·埃斯奎纳斯朗姆酒之后，我在晚上11点左右离开了那里。”

He was, of course, horrified⁵. But he also realised that he’d come to the right place.

当然，他吓坏了。但他也意识到他来对地方了。

While he knew nothing about the victim or the motive⁶,

虽然他对受害者和动机一无所知，

the murder drove home to him the extent to which Colombian society was at the mercy of criminals and guerillas.

但是这起谋杀案使他清楚地认识到，哥伦比亚社会在多大程度上受到罪犯和游击队的支配。

His clients needed what he had to offer.

他的客户想要他提供的东西。

Kidnapping and ransom insurance was created in the 1930s,

绑架和赎金保险创立于20世纪30年代，

but it wasn’t until the 60s that it began to really catch on, following a spate⁷ of kidnappings in Europe by groups such as Eta in Spain,

但是它直到60年代才开始变得流行起来，因为一些组织在欧洲发起了一连串绑架事件，比如西班牙的埃塔组织，

the Red Army Faction⁸ in Germany and the Red Brigades in Italy.

德国的红军派和意大利的红军旅。

The appeal was simple: in the event of a kidnapping, the insurance would provide reimbursement⁹ for ransom payment.

他们的诉求很简单：发生绑架事件时，保险公司会提供赎金补偿。

There were caveats¹⁰ to prevent fraud and to ensure that the existence of the policy did not actually increase the risk of kidnapping.

还有一些防止欺诈的警告，并确保该政策的存在不会实际上增加绑架的风险。

The first was that the policy had to be kept secret.

首先，这项政策必须保密。

In fact, it could be voided if its existence became public.

事实上，如果被公开的话，它可能会被作废。

The concern was that if the kidnappers¹¹ knew of the policy, they would demand more money.

人们担心的是，如果绑匪知道这个政策，他们会要求更多的钱。

1 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

2 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

3 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

5 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

6 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

7 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

8 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

9 reimbursement   

n.偿还，退还

参考例句：

• He received reimbursement for his travel expenses.由于出差的花费他可以得到公司的补偿。
• Which forms do I need to complete for my travel reimbursement?我需要填什么表来报我的旅费？

10 caveats   

警告

参考例句：

• I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling. 为防止发生误解，我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。 来自辞典例句
• As I have written before, that's quite a caveat. 正如我以前所写，那确实是个警告。 来自互联网

11 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》