“恐怖小丑”噩夢席卷歐美

You may have read about the latest craze that’s been sweeping the West over the last couple of months. No, it’s not Pokemon Go–this is something rather more frightening.

你或許已經(jīng)聽說了在過去的幾個月中，席卷西方的那場狂潮。不，并不是口袋妖怪GO——而是一些更恐怖的事。

So-called “creepy clown” sightings are on the rise across the world, with people choosing to dress up as scary versions of the children’s favorite in order to scare people, or sometimes even worse.

所謂的“恐怖小丑”正在全球各地蔓延并不斷增加。為了嚇人，或是一些更加惡劣的原因，這些人將自己打扮成深受孩子們喜愛的小丑的恐怖模樣。

And while this isn’t just a recent phenomenon, this summer saw the chilling craze’s biggest *revival yet.

盡管這并不是一個最近才發(fā)生的新現(xiàn)象，但今夏，該現(xiàn)象發(fā)生的頻率遠超以往。

“This is nothing to do with clowning, it’s to do with people *hijacking a costume and for some *sinister reason trying to scare people,” said Rob Bowker, spokesperson for UK-based Clowns International.

“這和小丑沒有一點關(guān)系，就是人們出于一些邪惡的念頭，利用這一戲服嚇唬他人，”英國 “小丑國際”組織發(fā)言人羅伯•鮑克說道。

What started as a single occurrence in the US, when a group of people dressed in clown masks *allegedly tried to lure children into woodland in South Carolina in August, has now gone global, with incidents reported in places as far flung as Norway and Australia.

最開始，這一現(xiàn)象發(fā)生在美國的南卡羅來納州。八月，據(jù)稱有一群人戴著小丑面具，試圖將孩子們引誘到樹林中去。而現(xiàn)在，類似事件已在全球蔓延，就連挪威和澳大利亞也未能幸免。

While most episodes are seemingly innocent, with some just looking to frighten people as a joke, not all of them are so harmless.

盡管大部分“恐怖小丑”事件并無惡意，只是一些人惡作劇嚇人罷了，但并非所有事件都如此無害。

A teenager in Sweden was recently *stabbed by an unknown attacker dressed as a clown, while elsewhere in the country an 8-year-old boy was left shaken after leaping three meters from the balcony of his home trying to escape a man in a clown outfit who had knocked on his door at night.

近日，瑞典的一名青少年被一名扮成小丑、身份不明的襲擊者刺傷;而另一名8歲的瑞典男孩為了躲避一名身著小丑戲服夜半敲門的男子，從家中3米高的陽臺上一躍而下，被發(fā)現(xiàn)時仍在顫顫發(fā)抖。

Perhaps one of the most affected groups, however, is that which makes its living from putting on floppy shoes and a red nose.

然而，最受影響的人群，可能便是以穿戴松垮皮鞋和大紅鼻頭為生的小丑們了。

“I have been a professional clown for 34 years now but this is ruining my business,” Fudgie the Clown, a professional children’s entertainer from New Jersey, USA, told the BBC.

“我作為職業(yè)小丑已經(jīng)34年了，但現(xiàn)在，這些事情正在摧毀我的事業(yè)，”來自美國新澤西州的職業(yè)兒童表演藝人、小丑特吉在接受英國廣播公司采訪時表示。

“I am not getting the phone calls. And it’s not only me. My clown friends too,” she explained.

“沒有人給我打預(yù)約電話。而且不止我一個人，我的小丑朋友們也是，”她解釋道。

Further south, hundreds of professional clowns in Mexico decided to continue with their annual convention in Mexico City on Oct 20, with attendees *chanting: “We are clowns, not killers.”

在更南邊的墨西哥，成百上千的職業(yè)小丑們決定繼續(xù)舉辦他們原定10月20日在墨西哥城舉辦的年會。參會人員一再強調(diào)：“我們是小丑，不是殺手。”

But while these Latin Americans are carrying on regardless, it’s not business as usual elsewhere.

盡管在拉美，人們一切如常，但在其他地方卻不是如此。

Several local authorities in the US have banned clown costumes from this year’s Halloween festivities, which take place on Oct 31, while police in the UK have asked some fancy dress shops to remove clown masks from sale.

美國數(shù)個當?shù)卣越衲甑娜f圣節(jié)慶典(10月31日)后，明令禁止人們扮成小丑;而英國警方也已經(jīng)要求戲服道具店停止出售小丑面具。

Police in England are also appealing for the pranksters to put a stop to the clowning around, saying that they are a drain on resources. “These are stupid acts that are really frightening people and wasting our time,” a spokesperson said.

英國警方同時呼吁惡作劇的人停止扮成小丑亂晃，稱他們在消耗資源。“這些都是既嚇人又浪費我們時間的愚蠢行為，”一名發(fā)言人講道。

“In one case a child was followed. Whether those involved are doing it for a joke or not, this is no laughing matter.”

“在一次案件中，一個孩子被尾隨。不論這些人是否在開玩笑，這一點都不好笑。”