欧美人文风情第57篇:名画《呐喊》遭窃及寻回的故事

 The Scream was stolen by a bunch of Oslo no-hopers. 《呐喊》被奥斯陆一群一事无成的人给偷走。

I suppose you could say it was a Norwegian organized crime—two men and a ladder. 我想你可以说它是个挪威人组织的犯罪－－两个男人和一把梯子。

I was one of a number of police officers that help recover it. 我是帮忙寻回画作的几个警察其中一人。

There were both Norwegian and British police officers from London. 有挪威的警察，也有从伦敦来的英国警方。

This particular, original version of The Scream was painted in 1893. 《呐喊》这幅特殊、最初的版本是在1893年所画。

Central figure, riven by angst, thinking that this blood-red sky was coming through his brain. 中间的人物，受到不安所撕裂，认为这片血红色的天空要穿过他的脑袋。

And Munch¹ was mad enough to paint it. 而孟克也够疯狂才会去画它。

That particular version, the original version—he blew out a candle on it. 那特别的版本、最初的版本－－他在它上头吹熄一根蜡烛。

I made a particular point of memorizing exactly how these candle wax and drops looked. 我特别努力的去记起来这些蜡油和烛泪确切看起来是什么样子。

One of the world's most famous modern paintings, The Scream by Edvard Munch, has been stolen from... 世界最知名的现代画作之一，孟克的《呐喊》，遭窃...

They went up the ladder and fell off, and then went up again and broke the window and went in to collect the painting. 他们爬上梯子，跌了下来，然后他们再次爬上去，打破玻璃，并进去拿画。

At Scotland Yard, on the Monday we came up with a plan: just pose as the representatives of the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, 在苏格兰场(伦敦警察局)，星期一我们想出了一个计划：就假装是加州盖提美术馆的代表，

and tell these guys there's money to be handed if they'll give us the picture back. 并告诉这些家伙如果他们把画拿回来给我们，就有钱可以给他们。

The character I came up with, Chris Roberts, he was a slightly dodgy, Mid-Atlantic accented art dealer², 我想出的角色， Chris Roberts，他是个有点狡猾，带有大西洋中部口音的艺术商，

who's doing some buying for the Getty Museum in Europe. 他在欧洲为盖提美术馆做些收购。

So I had a minder, who we portrayed³ as an English gangster⁴ living in Amsterdam. 所以我有个保镖，我们将他扮成住在阿姆斯特丹的英国黑道。

What we did in this particular case was to go from a person who knew someone who knew someone else, 我们在这次特殊案件中做的是，从一个认识某个认识另外一个人的人开始，

and just follow that chain until we eventually got to the people who control the painting. 并就跟着那串人脉直到我们最终抵达握有那幅画的人。

When I finally met the bad guys, I had to convince them that the Getty Museum would pay to recover the painting. 当我终于见到那些坏人时，我必须要说服他们盖提美术馆会出钱赎回那幅画。

The Norwegian criminals were on tenterhooks⁵, and I spent entire time trying to calm them down. 那些挪威罪犯胆颤心惊，我花了所有时间试着让他们冷静下来。

And eventually they rang me quite late about 11:30, I would guess, or close, that night in my room and said, 最后他们在颇晚的时候打给我，大约十一点半，我猜，或接近那时，那一晚在我的房间内，

"Right, we're gonna do it now." 并说：“好的，我们要现在交易。”

And I told them I was...no way I was going out in the midnight to walk in the wildwoods with them to get this thing back. 我告诉他们我...我不可能在半夜出去，和他们走到丛林里去拿回这东西。

We have to do in the morning. 我们必须在早上交易。

In the morning, we went down to where the dodgy art dealer had a summer house. 在早上，我们到了那个狡猾的艺术商有个避暑小屋的地方。

In the summer house, the painting was downstairs. 在避暑小屋中，那幅画在楼下。

Underneath⁶ the carpet in the kitchen, there was a set of stairs down to the basement. 在厨房的地毯下方，有道楼梯通往地下室。

And they then asked me did I want to get in that cellar. 他们接着问我想不想下去，去那个地窖。

I could do it without being on their next Christmas, so I told them that in, 我下去的话，在他们的下一次圣诞节之前才能搞定，

you know, what's called Anglo-Saxon vernacular⁷ which he understood. 所以我这样告诉他们，你知道，用他们了解的所谓盎格鲁萨克逊方言。

So he went down and got the picture, brought it up, and he laid it on the dining room table. 所以他下去拿了那幅画，带上楼，他将它放在餐桌上。

And, bang, there was the picture. 然后，嘭，就是那幅画。

I knew the picture was right straight away because I checked the wax, a little soggy. 我马上就知道这幅画是对的，因为我检查了蜡油，有点点潮湿。

A masterpiece would tell you itself that it's a masterpiece. It just jumps out at you. 一幅杰作会自己告诉你它是幅杰作。它就会一下子吸引住你。

I rang back to Oslo, told them I had it, barricaded⁸ myself in the hotel. 我打电话回奥斯陆，告诉他们我拿到它了，将我自己锁在旅馆里。

Sure enough after an hour or so, the central detective unit in Oslo turned up in where I'm barricaded, the room, 果然在大约一小时后，奥斯陆的中央侦查中心出现在我藏身的地方、那房间，

and there was the picture. 画就在那里。

And I walked down actually on to the pier⁹. 我实际上走下去来到那个码头。

And I just thought to myself, Done it! Good! 我就自己想着，做到了!很棒!

 

1 munch   

v.用力嚼，大声咀嚼

参考例句：

• We watched her munch through two packets of peanuts.我们看她津津有味地嚼了两包花生米。
• Getting them to munch on vegetable dishes was more difficult.使他们吃素菜就比较困难了。

2 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

3 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 gangster   

n.匪徒，歹徒，暴徒

参考例句：

• The gangster's friends bought off the police witness.那匪徒的朋友买通了警察方面的证人。
• He is obviously a gangster,but he pretends to be a saint.分明是强盗，却要装圣贤。

5 tenterhooks   

n.坐立不安

参考例句：

• The students are on tenterhooks to hear the result of the examination.学生们烦躁不安地听考试结果。
• The mother was on tenterhooks until her little Laura came back.当小珞拉回来后，她母亲才放下心来。

6 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

7 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

8 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

9 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。