读者文摘:21世纪最大规模的寻宝事件之一(1)

"Please don't say I buried it," says the e-mail from Forrest Fenn,

88岁的福雷斯特·芬恩是墨西哥的一位退休的古董商，

the 88-year-old retired¹ antiques dealer² from New Mexico who engineered one of the biggest treasure hunts of the 21st century. "Just say I hid it."

他策划了21世纪最大规模的寻宝行动之一。他在邮件中写道，“请不要说我把它埋了，就说我把他藏起来了。”

I read this line over and over, wondering what Fenn meant—and looking for a clue.

我把这句话读了一遍又一遍，想知道芬恩到底是什么意思，想找到一个线索。

He didn't write, "I never buried the treasure." He just doesn't want me to tell anybody else he did.

他没有写，“我从来没有埋过财宝。”他只是不想让我告诉别人他做了什么。

Which means... what, exactly? My mind races, and I briefly³ consider giving up on journalism⁴ to become a full-time⁵ treasure hunter.

这到底是什么意思？我进行着大脑风暴，我曾一度考虑放弃新闻业，成为一名全职寻宝者。

That is the power of Forrest Fenn's treasure, a prize that in the past eight years has lured⁶ a surprisingly large and enthusiastic group of treasure hunters.

这就是福勒斯特·芬恩的宝藏的力量。在过去的八年里，这个奖赏吸引了一群数量惊人、热情高涨的寻宝者。

Fenn and his wife ran a highend gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and amassed⁷ a personal collection that included Sitting Bull's original peace pipe and a mummified falcon⁸ fromKing Tut's tomb.

芬恩和他的妻子在新墨西哥州的圣菲经营一家高端画廊，他收集了一些私人物品，包括酋长坐牛的原始和平烟斗和图坦卡蒙国王墓中的一只干尸猎鹰。

In 1988, Fenn was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Faced with his own mortality, he came up with a crazy scheme:

1998年，芬恩被诊断患有肾癌。面对自己的死亡，他想出了一个疯狂的计划：

He would bury some of his favorite artifacts somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and then die next to them.

他会把一些他最喜欢的手工艺品埋在落基山脉的某个地方，然后死在它们旁边。

"My desire was to hide the treasure and let my body stay there and go back to the soil," he explains.

我的愿望是把宝藏藏起来，让我的身体留在那里，然后回到泥土里，”他解释道。

He beat the cancer and put the treasure idea on hold for two decades,

他战胜了癌症，把藏宝藏的想法搁置了二十年，

until his 80th birthday, when he decided⁹ to finally go through with it (minus the dying in the wilderness¹⁰ part).

直到他的80岁生日，他最终决定要执行这个计划（除去在荒野中死去的部分）。

Fenn filled an antique bronze lockbox measuring ten inches by ten inches with hundreds of treasures:

芬恩将数以百计的珍宝放满一个十英寸长十英寸宽的古式的青铜锁箱：

gold coins and nuggets, rubies¹¹, diamonds, emeralds, Chinese jade¹² carvings¹³, and pre-Columbian gold bracelets¹⁴.

金币、金块、红宝石、钻石、绿宝石、中国玉雕和哥伦布发现美洲大陆以前的金手镯。

The contents are worth somewhere between $1 million and $5 million, based on estimates Fenn has given over the years.

根据芬恩多年来的估计，这些宝贝的价值在100万至500万美元之间。

Then he took his treasure chest out into the Rockies and hid it. He wanted it to be found.

然后他把宝箱放到了落基山脉藏了起来。他想要人们发现它。

That was the whole point. But he wasn't going to just give it away. "This country was going into a recession," he writes to me.

这才是重点。但是他不想就这么把它送给别人。他写信给我，“这个国家进入了经济衰退。”

"People were losing their jobs, and despair was the headline in every paper.

“人们在丢失工作，每个报纸的头条都写着绝望。

I wanted to give some hope to those who were willing to go into the mountains looking for a treasure."

我想要给那些愿意进入山脉寻找珍宝的人一些希望。”

In 2010, Fenn self-published his memoir¹⁵, The Thrill of the Chase.

2010年，芬恩自己出版了他的回忆录《追逐的快感》。

In addition to stories about his adventures as an Air Force pilot and selling moccasins to the Rockefellers,

除了讲述他作为空军飞行员的冒险经历和向洛克菲勒家族出售鹿皮鞋的故事，

it includes a 24-line poem that Fenn claims contains nine clues that "will lead to the end of my rainbow and the treasure."

回忆录中还包括一首24行诗，芬恩称这首诗包含了9条线索，“这些线索将通向我的彩虹和宝藏的尽头。”

At first, nobody really noticed. The Thrill of the Chase was sold only in a local New Mexico bookstore.

起初，没有人真的注意。《追逐的快感》只在新墨西哥州一家当地的书店销售。

But word spread, and by 2011 there was a small community of determined¹⁶ hunters.

但是后来消息传开了，到2011年，出现了一小群意志坚定的猎人。

Once the media told Fenn's story, the chase was on. (The book is now out of print, and copies show up on Amazon for as much as $3,200.)

一旦媒体报道了芬恩的故事，追逐就开始了。(该书现已绝版，它在亚马逊上的售价高达3200美元。)

Fenn estimates that 350,000 people from across the globe have searched or are currently searching for his treasure.

芬恩估计，来自世界各地的35万人已经或正在寻找他的宝藏。

Yet nobody has found it. How, one might reasonably wonder, could that be?

但是没有人发现宝藏。人们有理由怀疑，怎么会这样呢？

The problem with Fenn's poem—or perhaps the reason it has become such an obsession—is that the "clues" can be interpreted a million different ways.

芬恩的诗歌的问题是-或者人们已经如此痴迷它的原因是-线索可以有100万种不同的解读的方式。

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

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 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

4 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

5 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

6 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

7 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

11 rubies   

红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。

12 jade   

n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠

参考例句：

• The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
• He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。

13 carvings   

n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 bracelets   

n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

16 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。