253: The Middle of Nowhere - This American Life
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00:00 00:00 Transcript Share This American Life Life Partners How to Listen Episodes Recommended About Overview Staff Announcements Fellowships Jobs Music Make Radio On The Road FAQ Submissions Merch Contact Us Our Other Shows Merch Follow Us Life Partners Subscribe to our newsletter Full episode Toggle Audio and Transcript Sync Transcript | Episode #253 | May 20, 2016 253: The Middle of Nowhere Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard.
00:00 00:00 文字记录 分享此 美国生活 生活伙伴 如何收听 剧集 推荐 关于 概述 员工公告 奖学金 工作 音乐 在路上制作电台 常见问题解答 提交 商品 联系我们 我们的其他节目 商品 关注我们 生活伙伴 订阅我们的时事通讯 整集 切换音频和文字记录同步 文字记录 | 内容第 253 集 | 2016 年 5 月 20 日 253：荒无人烟之地 注：《This American Life》是为耳朵而制作，旨在让人们听到。
If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page.
如果可以的话，我们强烈建议您收听音频，其中包括页面上没有的情感和重点。
Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.
文字记录是使用语音识别软件和人工转录员结合生成的，可能包含错误。
Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
请在印刷版引用前检查相应的音频。
Prologue Ira Glass It took a week to get there.
序言 Ira Glass 花了一周时间才到达那里。
Sailing 200 miles a day.
每天航行200英里。
Captain Moore had never heard of anything like it, never seen anything like it.
摩尔船长从未听说过类似的事情，也从未见过类似的事情。
It was as far from land as you can get, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and there it was.
它距离陆地最远，位于太平洋中部，而它就在那里。
Trash.
垃圾。
The least visited part of the ocean is the most visited by our trash.
海洋中访问量最少的部分，却是垃圾访问最多的部分。
Soap bottles are quite commonly seen out there.
肥皂瓶在那里很常见。
We've picked up Nike basketballs, truck tires from the Pacific Northwest with the steel rims still on them, and we discovered a spill that went for ten miles of plastic shopping bags.
我们从太平洋西北地区捡到了耐克篮球和卡车轮胎，上面还带有钢圈，我们还发现了溢出的塑料购物袋，影响了十英里长。
Out here again, as far away from land as you can get anywhere on earth, out in the middle of the ocean, we found El Pollo Loco chalupa bags, Taco Bell bags, Baby Superstore bags.
再次来到这里，在地球上最远离陆地的地方，在海洋中央，我们发现了 El Pollo Loco chalupa 包、Taco Bell 包、Baby Superstore 包。
For 10 miles until it got dark we tracked these bags.
我们跟踪了这些行李 10 英里，直到天黑。
Some of the trash falls off of freighters and other ships.
一些垃圾从货轮和其他船只上掉落。
Most of it comes from land, carried by ocean currents, to an area the size of Texas where it collects in the middle of nothingness.
其中大部分来自陆地，被洋流带到德克萨斯州大小的地区，并在虚无中聚集。
There are five spots like this on the Earth's oceans.
地球海洋上有五个这样的地方。
Captain Moore has seen a lot of trash heading towards one of these spots, a line stretching as far as the eye can see.
摩尔船长看到许多垃圾正朝其中一个地点移动，一条线一直延伸到目力所及之处。
Several yards wide.
几码宽。
It was quite a shocker because we couldn't find the end of it.
这真是令人震惊，因为我们找不到结局。
We sent a dinghy out going one way, and we took the boat going the other way, and we got so far apart we were scared of losing each other.
我们派一艘小船往一个方向走，我们又乘船往另一个方向走，我们相距很远，我们害怕失去彼此。
And we still hadn't come to the end of it.
我们还没有走到尽头。
And there's no agency, no funding agency, no government agency, that takes responsibility for that part of the ocean.
没有任何机构、资助机构、政府机构对这片海洋负责。
And really there's no government that controls it.
实际上没有政府可以控制它。
What that means is that Charles Moore, whose boat is a scientific research vessel, cannot find anybody to fund studies of what all this trash is doing to the creatures and the ecology of the ocean.
这意味着查尔斯·摩尔（Charles Moore）的船是一艘科学研究船，他找不到任何人来资助研究所有这些垃圾对海洋生物和生态造成的影响。
Much less do something about all this garbage.
更不用说对这些垃圾采取行动了。
You don't hear very often about places where nobody is in charge at all, where there's just nobody to appeal to.
你不会经常听说那些根本没有人负责、没有人可以诉诸的地方。
Well today on our program, we bring you stories of places like that.
今天在我们的节目中，我们为您带来类似地方的故事。
Stories from the middle of nowhere.
来自荒野的故事。
You're listening to This American Life from WBEZ Chicago, distributed by Public Radio International.
您正在收听 WBEZ Chicago 的《This American Life》，由国际公共广播电台发行。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Today, two stories from the middle of emptiness.
今天讲两个来自于空虚之中的故事。
Act one is about a tiny island where a lot of shady business has been going on precisely because there is no one around to see it.
第一幕讲述的是一个小岛上的故事，岛上发生了很多不正当的交易，因为周围没有人看到它。
Act two is about a middle of nowhere experience much closer to home.
第二幕是关于离家更近的偏僻体验。
An experience probably every single one of us has had at one point or another.
可能我们每个人都曾经有过这样的经历。
We call that act, On Hold, No One Can Hear You Scream.
我们称这种行为为“等待，没有人能听到你的尖叫”。
Stay with us.
留在我们身边。
Act one, No Island is an Island.
第一幕，没有岛屿是岛屿。
The middle of nowhere figures heavily in conspiracy theories.
这个偏僻的地方在阴谋论中占有重要地位。
You know, in a conspiracy theory you've got to have a remote place where the bad guys are going to congregate and plot.
你知道，在阴谋论中，你必须有一个偏远的地方，坏人会在那里聚集和密谋。
Bohemian Grove.
波西米亚格罗夫。
Bretton Woods.
布雷顿森林体系。
The hollowed out volcano in Dr. No. Add to that list one more geographical spot in the middle of nothingness.
《诺博士》中被掏空的火山。在这个列表中又添加了一个位于虚无之中的地理地点。
According to Jack Hitt there is a lot going on there.
根据杰克·希特的说法，那里发生了很多事情。
The middle of nowhere, it turns out, is at the center of everything.
事实证明，偏僻的地方是一切的中心。
I don't mean that the way a zen master or a motivational speaker might.
我的意思并不是像禅宗大师或励志演说家那样。
I mean it literally.
我的意思是字面意思。
The middle of nowhere is at the center of everything.
偏僻的地方是一切的中心。
Specifically, the middle of nowhere is an island, isolated even by Pacific Ocean standards, 1,200 miles from the nearest smudge of land.
具体来说，这片荒无人烟的地方有一座岛屿，即使按照太平洋的标准，它也是孤立的，距离最近的陆地有 1,200 英里。
A third the size of Manhattan, way east of New Guinea.
面积相当于曼哈顿的三分之一，位于新几内亚以东。
On a map, a tiny dot in a massive hole in the middle of the sea.
在地图上，海中央一个大洞中的一个小点。
This place is called Nauru.
这个地方叫瑙鲁。
Heard of it?
听说过吗？
Don't worry.
不用担心。
Almost no one has.
几乎没有人有过。
Nauru is the place you've never heard of until you've heard of it, and then can't stop hearing of it.
瑙鲁是一个你从未听说过的地方，直到你听说过它，然后就无法停止听到它。
Part of the pleasure of knowing about Nauru is watching it pop up, Zelig-like, at the strangest world events.
了解瑙鲁的乐趣之一就是看着它像泽利格一样在最奇怪的世界事件中突然出现。
A covert spy operation involving a fake embassy in China.
涉及假驻中国大使馆的秘密间谍行动。
The world premiere of a London musical.
伦敦音乐剧全球首演。
The dark back room scheming of global terrorism.
全球恐怖主义的暗室阴谋。
A dramatic rescue on the high seas.
公海上的戏剧性救援。
And an incident of international bankruptcy, as Jonathan Winer discovered.
正如乔纳森·维纳所发现的那样，还有一场国际破产事件。
He remembers when he first heard of Nauru.
他记得第一次听说瑙鲁的时候。
He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State at the time.
他当时担任副助理国务卿。
What he was doing was trying to solve one of the great mysteries of the late 90s.
他所做的就是试图解开 90 年代末的最大谜团之一。
How billions of dollars vanished from the former Soviet Union.
数十亿美元如何从前苏联消失。
Where he was at the time was Moscow, meeting with the vice president of Russia's central bank.
当时他正在莫斯科与俄罗斯央行副行长会面。
I was sitting in his office, in the nice Scandinavian designed furniture offices of the central bank in Russia.
我坐在他的办公室里，那是俄罗斯央行的办公室，办公室里有漂亮的斯堪的纳维亚设计的家具。
Meeting with him to talk about the problem that the Russian central bank didn't have a clue what was happening to Russia's money.
与他会面讨论俄罗斯央行不知道俄罗斯的钱发生了什么的问题。
And he said, actually, we do have a clue.
他说，实际上，我们确实有线索。
We know what's happening to the money.
我们知道钱发生了什么。
I said, what's happening to it?
我说，这到底是怎么回事啊？
He said, Nauru.
他说，瑙鲁。
And I said, who's Nauru?
我说，瑙鲁是谁？
When I got back home, I got briefed by the CIA, I got briefed by the Treasury Department.
当我回到家时，中央情报局向我通报了情况，财政部向我通报了情况。
Everyone thought it was very interesting that that's what had happened to Russia's money.
每个人都认为俄罗斯的钱发生了这样的事情，这很有趣。
We'd all been wondering what had happened to it.
我们都想知道它发生了什么事。
Now we had an explanation.
现在我们有了一个解释。
It's really hard to assess quite how much of the Russian economy that was.
确实很难评估这在俄罗斯经济中所占的比重。
The governor of the Central Bank estimated $70 billion over a relatively brief period of time.
央行行长估计在相对较短的时间内将有 700 亿美元的资金。
How does a Pacific island liquidate a superpower?
太平洋岛国如何消灭超级大国？
Well, for a while in the 90s, Nauru advertised on the internet permitting anyone to start a bank there for as little as $20,000.
嗯，在 90 年代的一段时间内，瑙鲁在互联网上做广告，允许任何人以低至 20,000 美元的价格在那里开设一家银行。
Make up a name, like the Panacea Bank.
起个名字，比如 Panacea Bank。
Actually, that one's taken.
事实上，那个已经被拿走了。
Quite notorious with the regulators.
在监管机构中相当臭名昭著。
Anyway, here was the advantage.
无论如何，这就是优势。
Most banks are required to keep an audit trail of money coming in and going out, like a standard statement for a checking account.
大多数银行都需要对资金进出进行审计跟踪，就像支票账户的标准报表一样。
Nauru didn't burden its banks with such fussiness.
瑙鲁并没有给银行带来如此大惊小怪的负担。
Nor did Nauru require that they ever tell anyone just who ran the bank.
瑙鲁也没有要求他们告诉任何人银行的具体经营者是谁。
So when investigators went to track illicit money flows and got to the Panacea Bank, there would be no record of where the money came from.
因此，当调查人员追踪非法资金流动并到达万能银行时，不会有资金来源的记录。
The trail would vanish.
踪迹将会消失。
And Nauru would be under no obligation to say who ran it or where they lived.
瑙鲁没有义务透露谁管理它或他们住在哪里。
Banks that would hide your tracks for you have always been around, but it was more of a gentleman's sport practiced with old world grandeur in Switzerland.
为你隐藏行踪的银行一直存在，但它更像是瑞士旧世界的一项绅士运动。
Nauru led the way in democratizing offshore banking, taking it to the internet, lowering the cost to make it easier on middle income international criminal syndicates.
瑙鲁在离岸银行业务民主化方面处于领先地位，将其引入互联网，降低了成本，让中等收入的国际犯罪集团更容易得手。
Collectively they've had a huge impact.
他们共同产生了巨大的影响。
When rain forest disappears, you wind up with extinctions.
当雨林消失时，就会导致物种灭绝。
And when they launder money for people who are stealing a rain forest, you're facilitating a species extinction.
当他们为偷窃雨林的人洗钱时，你就是在助长物种灭绝。
Dictators make billions and hide it and then rape other countries again.
独裁者赚了数十亿美元并将其隐藏起来，然后再次强奸其他国家。
So this kind of activity at a macro level has a huge impact all over the world.
所以这种宏观层面的活动在全世界范围内都有着巨大的影响。
Welcome to the free market.
欢迎来到自由市场。
No laws, no regulations.
没有法律，没有规定。
There you've got Nauru.
瑙鲁就在那里。
The only thing that's forbidden there is disclosure.
那里唯一禁止的就是披露。
Have you ever been there?
你去过那里吗？
Jonathan Winer No.
乔纳森·温纳 No.
So when you say the word Nauru now, what image do you see in your mind?
那么，当您现在说出瑙鲁这个词时，您脑海中会看到什么形象？
I see one of those Warner Bros.
我看到了华纳兄弟的其中一部。
cartoon images of a desert island, with a single big palm tree on it.
荒岛的卡通图像，上面有一棵大棕榈树。
And I see a shack with a bunch computers on it, where somebody goes in and turns the power on in the shack.
我看到一个小屋里有一堆电脑，有人进去打开小屋里的电源。
The lights go on, the computers start buzzing.
灯亮了，电脑开始嗡嗡作响。
There are little noises inside.
里面有很小的声音。
There's a little fly paper on the wall as well as a fire alarm and a burglar alarm.
墙上贴了一张小苍蝇纸，还有火警警报器和防盗警报器。
And nobody is allowed to go inside.
并且任何人都不可以进去。
That's my image.
这就是我的形象。
Now that's probably not fair.
现在这可能不公平。
It's probably a much nicer place than that.
这可能是一个比那更好的地方。
But you know, I was a government bureaucrat, so I'm paid to have negative views of things.
但你知道，我是一名政府官员，所以我受雇对事物持负面看法。
I'm one of the few people on the planet who can tell you this, but he's pretty close.
我是这个星球上为数不多能告诉你这一点的人之一，但他已经很接近了。
I've knocked on the door of that shack.
我敲响了那间小屋的门。
The first time I ever heard of Nauru was when a magazine editor called up a few years ago and asked me go there.
我第一次听说瑙鲁是几年前一位杂志编辑打电话邀请我去那里。
I stepped over to my kid's globe to find the place.
我走到孩子的地球仪前寻找那个地方。
It wasn't there.
它不在那里。
So I traveled to Brisbane, Australia to catch the Nauru plane.
所以我前往澳大利亚布里斯班搭乘瑙鲁飞机。
I say the plane because Nauru Airways owns only one, a Boeing 737, all that connects this island to the world.
我说这架飞机是因为瑙鲁航空公司只拥有一架波音 737，这架飞机将这个岛屿与世界连接起来。
I was told I was lucky to be aboard since the president often commandeers it to fly in party supplies, or sometimes creditors trying to collect on one of Nauru's many debts seize it right on the runway.
有人告诉我，我很幸运能登上这架飞机，因为总统经常征用它作为派对用品飞行，或者有时债权人试图收回瑙鲁的众多债务之一，就在跑道上抓住了它。
On the flight out, half the plane was taken up with giant plastic containers customized to fit ceiling to floor in the passenger seats.
在起飞的航班上，一半的飞机都被定制的巨型塑料容器占据，这些塑料容器适合乘客座位的天花板和地板。
See, almost everything, including fresh water, has to be imported.
看，几乎所有东西，包括淡水，都必须进口。
I checked into the private hotel.
我住进了私人旅馆。
There's only one.
只有一个。
I caught the cab, there's only one of those too.
我搭了出租车，也只有一辆。
And I went to the shack where, at that time, much of the world's money laundering occurred.
我去了小屋，当时世界上大部分洗钱活动都在那里发生。
It's a broken down building, basically two rooms.
这是一栋破旧的建筑，基本上是两个房间。
Crammed with air conditioners to keep the computers humming in Nauru's brutal heat.
里面装满了空调，让电脑在瑙鲁酷暑中保持运转。
I knocked on the door and a woman with a broom appeared, who told me there was no one there and never would be.
我敲了敲门，出现了一位拿着扫帚的女人，她告诉我那里没有人，而且永远不会有人。
It was as close as I or anyone would ever get to the red hot center of it all.
这是我或任何人所能到达的最接近这一切的炽热中心的距离。
The cleaning lady of the new global economy.
新全球经济的清洁女工。
I've met her.
我见过她。
The next day though, I realized that Nauru was also at the center of a completely different story.
但第二天，我意识到瑙鲁也是一个完全不同故事的中心。
I called the cab for an island tour.
我叫了出租车去环岛旅游。
The driver this day, whose name sounded like Brian, took me on a slow tour around the outer edge of the island.
这天司机的名字听起来像布莱恩，他带我绕着岛的外缘慢慢游览。
Then he asked me if I wanted to see the interior, known as Topside.
然后他问我是否想参观内部，即“顶层”。
When I said I did, the mood in the cab noticeably darkened.
当我说我愿意的时候，出租车里的气氛明显阴沉下来。
But he turned off one of the few side roads, and we headed in.
但他拐出了几条小路之一，我们就进去了。
Right away the trees disappeared.
树木立刻消失了。
I immediately saw that the palms and pandanas you see on the shore are kind of scrim.
我立即发现你在岸边看到的棕榈树和熊猫是一种稀松布。
A curtain, hiding from sight one of the scariest things I've ever seen.
窗帘遮住了我所见过的最可怕的东西之一。
Almost all of Nauru is missing.
几乎整个瑙鲁都失踪了。
Picked clean, right down to the coral skeletons supporting the island.
连支撑岛屿的珊瑚骨架都被清理干净。
It's a haunting landscape of dugout stone channels formed by limestone towers and coral outcroppings, all blindingly white under an intense equatorial sun.
这是一个令人难忘的景观，由石灰石塔和珊瑚露头形成的防空石通道，在赤道强烈的阳光下，所有的一切都呈现出令人眼花缭乱的白色。
The winding channels among these coral spires are lined with an appallingly silky dirt, and old, filthy trash, too expensive to export from the island, blows around this blistering desert.
这些珊瑚尖顶之间蜿蜒的河道两旁布满了令人震惊的丝质污垢，而从岛上出口成本太高的陈旧肮脏垃圾则在这片酷热的沙漠周围吹来吹去。
Shreds of plastic bags snag on bits of coral, and feral dogs hunt in the canals.
塑料袋碎片勾住了珊瑚碎片，野狗在运河里捕猎。
Brian told me how when he was a boy, all this was dense tropical forest.
布莱恩告诉我，当他还是个孩子的时候，这一切都是茂密的热带森林。
We sat in a hissing silence for a while.
我们沉默地坐了一会儿。
There was no breeze, just fine talc, airborne and stagnant.
没有微风，只有细小的滑石粉，悬浮在空气中，静止不动。
So what happened?
那么发生了什么？
To really understand, you have to go back a million years, to when Nauru was a young coral atoll.
要真正理解，你必须追溯到一百万年前，当时瑙鲁还是一个年轻的珊瑚环礁。
It served as a favorite bathroom break for exhausted sea birds.
这是疲惫的海鸟最喜欢的上厕所休息时间。
Even in pre-history, Nauru was the middle of nowhere.
即使在史前时期，瑙鲁也是一个偏僻的地方。
Eventually the guano was covered in topsoil, and then a tropical forest.
最终，鸟粪被表土覆盖，然后是热带森林。
Some 2,500 years ago, the first humans arrived.
大约 2,500 年前，第一批人类抵达。
And the developing Nauruan people lived there for millennia without much outside interference.
发展中的瑙鲁人民在那里生活了数千年，没有太多的外界干扰。
There were no mosquitoes, no disease.
没有蚊子，没有疾病。
Temperate air year-round, so no need for clothes.
全年气候温和，无需穿衣服。
They fished the shore, and hunted the noddy birds and terns.
他们在岸边捕鱼，捕猎点头鸟和燕鸥。
There was an abundance of fresh fruit and water.
那里有充足的新鲜水果和水。
In short, it was the kind of paradise we all imagine where we hear the words Pacific island.
简而言之，这是我们听到太平洋岛屿这个词时所想象的天堂。
And it turns out, if you take an eon's worth of bird guano, and bake it in an equatorial sun, and compost it beneath a tropical forest, you'll have something valuable in about a million years.
事实证明，如果你把亿万年的鸟粪放在赤道阳光下烘烤，然后在热带森林下堆肥，大约一百万年后你就会得到一些有价值的东西。
Say, by about 1896.
比如说，到 1896 年左右。
In about 1896, a man named Henry Denson, who was working for something called the Pacific Islands Company, was on Nauru.
大约 1896 年，一位名叫亨利·丹森 (Henry Denson) 的人在瑙鲁，他为太平洋岛屿公司工作。
And he picked up a rock that he thought looked like petrified wood.
他捡起一块他认为看起来像硅化木的岩石。
This is Carl McDaniel, an ecologist with the Rensselaer Polytechnic.
我是卡尔·麦克丹尼尔，伦斯勒理工学院的生态学家。
He says Denson worked for a company that was in the phosphate business in Sydney.
他说丹森在悉尼一家从事磷酸盐业务的公司工作。
He left Nauru and took his rock back with him, where he used it as a doorstop.
他离开瑙鲁并带回了他的石头，并用它作为门挡。
And it ended up holding open the laboratory door to the phosphate testing facility for about three years.
最终，它为磷酸盐测试设施敞开了实验室大门大约三年。
And then in 1900 a guy named Albert Ellis came on temporary assignment.
然后在 1900 年，一个名叫艾伯特·埃利斯 (Albert Ellis) 的人接受了临时任务。
And he was a chemist.
他是一位化学家。
And he came down to test the samples that were coming in from the islands, and he looked at that rock and he said, that looks like phosphate.
他下来测试从岛屿上运来的样本，他看着那块岩石，他说，那看起来像磷酸盐。
And Henry Denson said to him, no, no. It's just petrified wood, I picked it up on Nauru.
亨利·丹森对他说，不，不。它只是硅化木，我在瑙鲁捡到的。
Well for about three months, Albert Ellis walked in and out of that laboratory, and finally curiosity just took him over.
大约三个月来，阿尔伯特·埃利斯在那个实验室里进进出出，最终好奇心征服了他。
He was like, I've got to test it.
他说，我必须测试一下。
He chipped off a piece and it was the richest phosphate ore ever assayed at that time.
他切下一块，这是当时检测到的最丰富的磷酸盐矿石。
This discovery plunged Nauru into the Industrial Age in the most brutal way.
这一发现以最残酷的方式使瑙鲁陷入了工业时代。
It became a strip mine, with a succession of different owners.
它变成了一座露天矿，先后经历了不同的所有者。
First Germany, then Japan during World War II, and then Australia until the late '60s when colonialism went out of fashion.
首先是德国，然后是二战期间的日本，然后是澳大利亚，直到 60 年代末殖民主义不再流行。
Nauru became an independent nation in 1968 and took control of the mines.
瑙鲁于 1968 年成为独立国家并控制了矿山。
The money poured in.
钱就涌进来了。
By the late '80s, Nauru was the richest country per capita in the world.
到八十年代末，瑙鲁已成为世界上人均最富有的国家。
And they luxuriated in it.
他们乐此不疲。
Everyone bought a car, even though the drive around the entire perimeter of the nation can't last much more than 30 minutes.
每个人都买了一辆车，尽管开车绕全国一周的时间不会超过 30 分钟。
They built cinder block houses, the hotel went up.
他们建造了煤渣砖房，建造了酒店。
Everyone got satellite TV, Western food arrived.
每个人都有卫星电视，西餐也到了。
Nauru Airline started flying.
瑙鲁航空公司开始飞行。
And in the final sign of post-colonial arrival, they built a golf course in the middle of nowhere.
作为后殖民时代到来的最后标志，他们在荒无人烟的地方建造了一个高尔夫球场。
And just like for everyone else in the '90s, the bubble burst.
就像 90 年代的其他人一样，泡沫破裂了。
Nauru's financial advisers in the west robbed them blind.
瑙鲁在西方的金融顾问盲目地抢劫了他们。
One of them, Adrian Powles of London, looted $60 million.
其中一位伦敦人阿德里安·波尔斯 (Adrian Powles) 抢劫了 6000 万美元。
Another boondoggle was producing a play in London.
另一个无用功是在伦敦制作一部戏剧。
Maybe you missed the musical based on the amorous adventures of da Vinci, called Leonardo, A Portrait of Love.
也许您错过了根据达·芬奇的爱情冒险改编的音乐剧《列奥纳多，爱情的肖像》。
It closed a few weeks after it opened, losing tens of millions of dollars for its principal backer, Nauru.
它在开业几周后就关闭了，为其主要支持者瑙鲁损失了数千万美元。
By the late '90s, the country was in ruins.
到了90年代末，这个国家已是一片废墟。
With the money gone, it was easier to turn around and see what they'd done to their homeland.
钱没了，更容易回头看看他们对祖国做了什么。
Probably 70% of the island is mined out ruins.
大概70%的岛屿都被开采成了废墟。
You can't walk through it, it's of no use to you.
你不能走过它，它对你没有任何用处。
So the people on this island are in big trouble.
所以这个岛上的人们遇到了大麻烦。
They can no longer really get from the island those life support functions one needs in order to live somewhere.
他们无法再真正从岛上获得生活所需的生命支持功能。
When you're on Nauru, there's a palpable sense of shame at what they've done.
当你来到瑙鲁时，你会对他们的所作所为感到明显的羞耻感。
Bring up the mining with anyone, a hotel clerk, a cab driver, a postal worker, and their face goes tense.
与任何人提起采矿业，无论是酒店服务员、出租车司机还是邮政工作人员，他们的表情都会变得紧张。
It's hard to understand because the Nauruans have done something almost unparalleled.
这很难理解，因为瑙鲁人做了一些几乎无与伦比的事情。
Imagine if France had paved Bordeaux, or if Japan had carted away Fujiyama by the truckload.
想象一下，如果法国铺平了波尔多，或者日本用卡车运走了富士山。
The Nauruans literally sold off their homeland for a pot of wealth, which is now lost.
瑙鲁人实际上为了一大笔财富而出卖了自己的家园，但这些财富现在已经消失了。
There are probably rationalizations and explanations, and plenty of others to blame.
可能有合理化和解释，还有很多其他的原因。
And yet, it's an incomprehensible thing to see it and feel it.
然而，亲眼目睹和感受到却是一件难以理解的事情。
And once they've done it, they had to find something else to sell.
一旦他们完成了这件事，他们就必须寻找其他东西来出售。
Most recently, suspected terrorists have been arrested carrying Nauru passports, which it appears can be easily obtained for something around $15,000 to $30,000.
最近，持有瑙鲁护照的恐怖分子嫌疑人被捕，而这些护照似乎可以很容易地以 15,000 至 30,000 美元左右的价格获得。
A few years ago, they began marketing their very isolation.
几年前，他们开始推销自己的孤独感。
And the world learned of it in the usual way.
世界以通常的方式了解到了这一点。
When Nauru's name popped up in the middle of a story that should have nothing to do with the place.
当瑙鲁的名字突然出现在一个本应与这个地方无关的故事中时。
Like this story, of a Norwegian cargo ship in a standoff with the Australian coast guard.
就像这个故事一样，一艘挪威货船与澳大利亚海岸警卫队发生对峙。
Australian commandos armed with automatic weapons headed out to stop the Norwegian ship from docking at an Australian port.
配备自动武器的澳大利亚突击队前往阻止挪威船只停靠在澳大利亚港口。
On board, 434 Afghan, Sri Lankan, and Pakistani refugees, including 43 children and four pregnant women, all living in sweltering heat on deck.
船上有434名阿富汗、斯里兰卡和巴基斯坦难民，其中包括43名儿童和4名孕妇，他们都生活在甲板上的酷热之中。
That's ABC News.
那是美国广播公司新闻。
The story is about a boatload of refugees, mostly Afghans fleeing the Taliban.
这个故事讲述的是一船难民，其中大部分是逃离塔利班的阿富汗人。
Their wooden ship was sinking in the waters off Australia, and the Aussies flew helicopters out over them for three days, taking no action until they spotted a Norwegian cargo vessel nearby.
他们的木船在澳大利亚附近海域沉没，澳大利亚人用直升机在他们上空飞行了三天，没有采取任何行动，直到他们发现附近有一艘挪威货船。
The Australians then radioed the captain, told him of the SOS situation, and advised him to take the wreckage to Indonesia.
澳大利亚人随后通过无线电向船长通报了求救情况，并建议他将残骸带到印度尼西亚。
The Norwegian captain hurried to the sinking boat and pulled over 400 refugees onto his cargo ship, ill equipped to handle such a crowd.
挪威船长急忙赶到正在下沉的船上，将 400 多名难民拉上他的货船，但他的货船没有能力应对如此多的人群。
Obviously, he had to take immediate action, heading for the closest port that could handle them.
显然，他必须立即采取行动，前往距离他们最近的能够容纳他们的港口。
Australia.
澳大利亚。
But Australia didn't want these people, so for days there was a standoff at sea until Australia came up with a solution.
但澳大利亚并不想要这些人，所以海上对峙了好几天，直到澳大利亚想出解决办法。
Now the plan is to take them another 3,000 miles to Papua, New Guinea, where one group will be flown to New Zealand and a larger one to the desolate Pacific island of Nauru.
现在，他们的计划是再飞 3,000 英里，前往新几内亚的巴布亚，其中一组将飞往新西兰，另一组将飞往荒凉的太平洋岛屿瑙鲁。
What the Norwegian captain didn't know was that he had sailed right into the middle of an ugly national election.
这位挪威船长不知道的是，他已经进入了一场丑陋的全国选举之中。
Australian Prime Minister John Howard was down in the polls and seemed destined to lose.
澳大利亚总理约翰·霍华德在民调中的支持率下降，似乎注定会失败。
Then he stood his ground regarding the refugees.
然后他在难民问题上坚持了自己的立场。
He declared, "We will decide who comes into this country." After he ordered his Navy to board the Norwegian vessel and remove the refugees to Nauru, his ratings shot right up and he easily won reelection.
他宣称，“我们将决定谁进入这个国家。”在他命令海军登上挪威船只并将难民转移到瑙鲁后，他的支持率直线上升，轻松赢得连任。
In exchange for locating the refugees on this distant island, he agreed to pay the Nauruan government a first installment of $20 million, with more to come.
作为在这个遥远岛屿上找到难民的交换条件，他同意向瑙鲁政府支付第一期 2000 万美元，后续还会支付更多。
Australian senator Andrew Bartlett was one of the few politicians to oppose Howard's deal.
澳大利亚参议员安德鲁·巴特利特是少数反对霍华德交易的政治家之一。
A deal the prime minister liked to call, the Pacific Solution.
首相喜欢将这一协议称为“太平洋解决方案”。
Well, it certainly strikes me as a bit sinister.
嗯，这确实让我觉得有点险恶。
It's a bit like the final solution.
这有点像最终的解决方案。
And also, it's like any sort of policy that basically means getting rid of people and sending them back somewhere else where they're not our problem anymore.
而且，就像任何类型的政策一样，基本上意味着摆脱人们并将他们送回不再是我们问题的其他地方。
Calling that a solution, again, I think is pretty sinister.
我认为再次称其为解决方案是相当险恶的。
You won't be hearing from the refugees.
你不会听到难民的消息。
Since they landed on the island in September 2001, Nauru has closed its borders.
自从他们2001年9月登陆该岛以来，瑙鲁就关闭了边境。
No tourists or journalists are allowed.
不允许游客或记者进入。
The refugees cannot receive visitors.
难民不能接待访客。
And Australia has picked up other refugees on the water and sent them into the camps, including Iraqis escaping Saddam Hussein.
澳大利亚也在水面上接载了其他难民并将他们送进难民营，其中包括逃离萨达姆侯赛因的伊拉克人。
Today of the roughly 400 detainees, mostly men, about a hundred are children, half are from Iraq, half from Afghanistan.
今天，大约 400 名被拘留者中，大多数是男性，大约有一百名儿童，一半来自伊拉克，一半来自阿富汗。
These people fleeing the Taliban, escaping Saddam Hussein, are technically our allies.
这些逃离塔利班、逃离萨达姆·侯赛因的人严格来说是我们的盟友。
Yet they live in conditions not much different than our sworn enemies housed at Guantanamo.
然而，他们的生活条件与关塔那摩我们不共戴天的敌人没有太大不同。
They are not permitted to mingle with the Nauruans.
他们不被允许与瑙鲁人混在一起。
They don't work, but sit all day in concentration camps.
他们不工作，却整天坐在集中营里。
From the start, the authorities recognized that the detainees were becoming lethargic and morose.
从一开始，当局就意识到被拘留者变得昏昏欲睡、情绪低落。
So they hired Maarten Dormaar, a Dutch psychiatrist, who came to Nauru.
于是他们聘请了来到瑙鲁的荷兰精神病学家 Maarten Dormaar。
He was hampered by the fact that rural people from Afghanistan and Iraq don't have a rich tradition of talk therapy, or opening up to a grief counselor.
阿富汗和伊拉克的农村人口没有丰富的谈话治疗传统，也没有向悲伤咨询师敞开心扉，这一事实阻碍了他的发展。
So their anxiety manifested itself in physical ways.
所以他们的焦虑表现在身体上。
There was a boy who only came to me because of his stuttering.
有一个男孩因为口吃才来找我。
He said, I can't speak anymore, properly.
他说，我不能再说话了。
And the more emotionally loaded my questions were, then he started to stutter.
我的问题越情绪化，他就开始结巴。
As soon as he had to pronounce a word like brother or father, he couldn't go on talking.
当他必须说出“兄弟”或“父亲”之类的词时，他就无法继续说话了。
It was clearly an emotional reaction, a reaction to his being overloaded with, how do you call, [DUTCH WORD] how do you call that in English?
这显然是一种情绪反应，是对他超负荷的反应，你怎么称呼，[荷兰语]你用英语怎么说？
Longing for, hey, he was a young boy.
向往，嘿，他还是个小男孩。
Longing to see his mother, longing to be comforted, longing to have an arm around his shoulders.
渴望见到母亲，渴望得到安慰，渴望有一只手臂搂着他的肩膀。
And there he is, all alone, in a long house with people that he cannot trust and he cannot confide in.
他孤身一人，在一座长房子里，周围都是他无法信任、无法倾诉的人。
It's very understandable.
这是非常容易理解的。
Most of them didn't sleep.
他们中的大多数人都没有睡觉。
That is their main complaint.
这是他们的主要抱怨。
They didn't sleep till 4:00 or so.
他们直到4:00左右才睡觉。
And then they said, did you sleep afterwards.
然后他们说，你后来睡觉了吗？
No, I didn't sleep, I just rested a little.
不，我没有睡觉，我只是休息了一会儿。
Pain in their back, in their head.
他们的背部、头部疼痛。
I mean, they always want sleeping pills and pills for headache.
我的意思是，他们总是想要安眠药和头痛药。
Fear of dying.
害怕死亡。
Feeling of fainting.
晕倒的感觉。
And so the feeling that you can't breathe anymore.
所以你有一种无法呼吸的感觉。
Self mutilation, with a knife over the chest and over the arms and so on, a lot of blood.
自残，用刀划过胸口、划过手臂等，流了很多血。
This happened at least a dozen of times.
这样的事至少发生了十几次。
Dormaar tried to convince the authorities that none of the detainees had any mental illness.
多玛尔试图让当局相信，所有被拘留者都没有任何精神疾病。
Simply put, they are being driven crazy.
简而言之，他们快被逼疯了。
The cure was simple.
治疗方法很简单。
Freedom, work, friends, life.
自由、工作、朋友、生活。
All things he was powerless to provide.
一切都是他无力提供的。
So he became quietly enraged.
于是，他就悄悄地愤怒了。
Struggling to figure out what to do, Dormaar clandestinely began to shoot videos of some of these young men.
多玛尔苦苦思索该怎么办，开始秘密拍摄其中一些年轻人的视频。
Dormaar gave them to a friend to smuggle off the island, and he retrieved them once he got out.
多玛尔把它们交给了一位朋友，让他偷偷带出岛上，他一出岛就将它们取回。
I have seen the videotapes.
我看过录像带。
The men all speak in the same flat affect of people who no longer have exterior lives, but dwell entirely inside their own heads.
这些人说话的语气都像那些不再有外在生活、完全沉浸在自己头脑里的人一样。
One Afghan recalls the official visit by Australia's immigration chief, Phillip Ruddock, the man who rules their lives.
一名阿富汗人回忆起澳大利亚移民局局长菲利普·拉多克（Phillip Ruddock）的正式访问，他是阿富汗人的生活主宰。
When Ruddock arrived, all the camps' children and women were in their best clothes.
当拉多克到达时，所有难民营的儿童和妇女都穿着最好的衣服。
They carried flowers, hundreds stood in formation to greet him.
他们手捧鲜花，数百人列队迎接他。
Ruddock entered, walked across the entire room to confer with the Nauruan officials, and didn't once acknowledge the detainees.
拉多克走进来，穿过整个房间与瑙鲁官员协商，但一次都没有与被拘留者打招呼。
He wouldn't even look at us, said the Afghan.
阿富汗人说，他甚至看都不看我们一眼。
On another tape, Dormaar has smuggled an Iraqi named Mohammed out to the beach for an interview.
在另一盘录像带中，多玛尔偷偷地将一名名叫穆罕默德的伊拉克人带到海滩接受采访。
At one point, Dormaar quotes Ruddock, insisting the detainees all have options.
多玛尔曾一度引用拉多克的话，坚称被拘留者都有选择。
Here's Mohammed's answer.
这是穆罕默德的回答。
I want to say that, where's the options?
我想说的是，选项在哪里？
I cannot see any options, just the sky and the water.
我看不到任何选择，只有天空和水。
I cannot see any options, just the sky and water.
我看不到任何选择，只有天空和水。
I feel that I'm completely powerless.
我觉得我完全无能为力。
As he speaks, we see Mohammed sitting politely on a large rock in the sand.
当他说话时，我们看到穆罕默德礼貌地坐在沙滩上的一块大石头上。
As he talks about his options, he looks off as though he sees something.
当他谈论他的选择时，他看起来好像看到了什么。
The camera instinctively follows his gaze, and then we see it too.
摄像机本能地追随他的目光，然后我们也看到了。
The actual reason Mohammed is on Nauru.
穆罕默德来到瑙鲁的真正原因。
A thousand miles of ocean, extending to the horizon, utterly still and empty.
千里海洋，一直延伸到地平线，寂静空旷。
A painted sea without so much as a painted bird.
一片画海，连一只画鸟都没有。
The middle of nowhere.
偏僻的地方。
I've been wrestling with that question of why is it that people allow this to happen and support it happening.
我一直在思考这个问题：为什么人们允许这种情况发生并支持它发生。
I guess the closest I can come to understanding why it is, they don'y have to deal with it face to face.
我想我能最接近地理解为什么会这样，他们不必面对面地处理它。
They don't actually have to see the people, they don't have to see what conditions they're in.
他们实际上不必看到人们，他们不必看到他们所处的状况。
The big reason for putting people on Nauru, because it's obviously incredibly expensive and there's no legal reason there why they need to put them on Nauru as opposed to Australian territory, is that they're so far away, they're inaccessible.
将人员安置在瑙鲁的一个重要原因是，这显然非常昂贵，而且没有法律理由说明为什么他们需要将人员安置在瑙鲁而不是澳大利亚领土上，因为它们距离太远，无法到达。
They're just seen as a faceless group of people, a long way away.
他们只是被视为一群不露面的人，距离很远。
The detainees are still marooned on Nauru.
被拘留者仍被困在瑙鲁。
Nauru continues to collect millions of dollars from the Australian government to house them.
瑙鲁继续从澳大利亚政府筹集数百万美元来安置他们。
In a sense, Nauru is a lot like some isolated Appalachian town.
从某种意义上说，瑙鲁很像一些孤立的阿巴拉契亚小镇。
First they strip mine themselves into ruin, then they build a prison to boost the local economy.
首先，他们将矿山夷为废墟，然后建造一座监狱来促进当地经济。
What's left, other than a complete federal bailout by the United States government?
除了美国政府的全面联邦救助之外还剩下什么？
Exactly.
确切地。
It arrived this summer.
今年夏天它到了。
The details were dug out and reported by an Australian journalist, Cameron Stewart, of the Weekend Australian.
澳大利亚《周末澳大利亚人报》记者卡梅伦·斯图尔特挖掘并报道了这些细节。
The first inkling that we had that Nauru had discovered a way to find new revenue sources through the US came to us when we got a bunch of documents, basically landing on a desk in our newspaper.
当我们收到一堆文件时，我们第一次意识到瑙鲁已经发现了一种通过美国寻找新收入来源的方法，这些文件基本上落在我们报纸的桌子上。
And we're quite used to the sort of colorful stories that Nauru seems to throw up.
我们已经习惯了瑙鲁似乎抛出的那种丰富多彩的故事。
So we waded through these papers and we suddenly saw documents, which contained some extraordinary information.
因此，我们费力地翻阅这些文件，突然看到了一些文件，其中包含了一些非凡的信息。
Even by Nauruan standards.
即使按照瑙鲁的标准也是如此。
The paperwork, including emails, personal correspondence, and memos on state department stationery, detailed a quid pro quo between Washington and Nauru.
这些文件包括电子邮件、私人信件和国务院信笺上的备忘录，详细描述了华盛顿和瑙鲁之间的交换条件。
Washington offered to return Nauru to paradise with fisheries, health clinics, schools, desalination plants, the works.
华盛顿提出让瑙鲁重返天堂，建设渔业、诊所、学校、海水淡化厂和工程。
In return, Nauru had to stop its banking and passport business, set up a listening post for US intelligence agencies, and sign Article 98, exempting the US from all war criminal proceedings in the international courts.
作为回报，瑙鲁必须停止其银行和护照业务，为美国情报机构设立监听站，并签署第98条，使美国免受国际法院的所有战争刑事诉讼。
Standard stuff requested by the Bush administration these days.
布什政府最近要求的标准内容。
Oh, and there was one other thing.
哦，还有一件事。
Nauru had to go on a secret mission.
瑙鲁必须执行一项秘密任务。
The way it was described to the Nauruans was this.
瑙鲁人是这样描述它的。
The US wanted to use Nauruan diplomatic facilities in China to help facilitate the safe defection to the west of senior North Korean military and scientific personnel.
美国希望利用瑙鲁在中国的外交设施帮助朝鲜高级军事和科学人员安全逃往西方。
Nauru would set up an embassy in China, and it would also set up an embassy car.
瑙鲁将在中国设立大使馆，并设立使馆车辆。
And the car would be used, with a Nauruan flag, to help move people around the country.
这辆带有瑙鲁国旗的汽车将被用来帮助运送全国各地的人们。
And the embassy would be used as a possible safe house to hold a defector until they could be safely moved to the West.
大使馆将被用作可能的安全屋来关押叛逃者，直到他们能够安全地转移到西方。
The operation, they describe as Operation Weasel.
他们将这次行动称为“黄鼠狼行动”。
That's what he said.
他就是这么说的。
Operation Weasel.
黄鼠狼行动。
And according to Stuart, it got pretty far along.
根据斯图尔特的说法，它已经取得了很大的进展。
America had even manufactured Nauruan flags for use in China.
美国甚至制造了瑙鲁国旗供中国使用。
The Chinese for their part, were a little suspicious, and never accredited the Nauruan embassy since it was staffed entirely by Westerners and run by a New Zealand spy.
就中国而言，他们有点怀疑，并且从未认可瑙鲁大使馆，因为该大使馆的工作人员全部由西方人组成，并由一名新西兰间谍管理。
The deal back in Washington had been brokered by three government insiders.
华盛顿的这笔交易是由三名政府内部人士促成的。
A congressional staffer on the House Financial Services Committee, a former Reagan official, and an American who also briefly ran the Nauruan embassy in Washington.
众议院金融服务委员会的一名国会工作人员、前里根官员和一名曾短暂管理瑙鲁驻华盛顿大使馆的美国人。
As with so much of our foreign policy these days, the negotiations with Nauru were blunt.
正如我们目前的许多外交政策一样，与瑙鲁的谈判也很生硬。
This email, which Stewart uncovered, explains the deal with a lot of moral clarity.
斯图尔特发现的这封电子邮件在道德上非常清晰地解释了这笔交易。
The background of this is that he didn't believe the Nauruans were taking the whole thing seriously enough.
其背景是他不相信瑙鲁人对整件事足够重视。
In other words, they weren't jumping to attention quickly enough.
换句话说，他们没有足够快地引起注意。
And he emails, and he says, if anyone wants to play effing games I'll end it all right now by making three phone calls.
他发邮件说，如果有人想玩该死的游戏，我现在就打三个电话来结束这一切。
And that [BLEEP] hole in the middle of the Pacific will be left high and dry by everyone concerned.
太平洋中部的那个[BLEEP]洞将被所有有关的人留下。
Nauru went for the deal, though.
不过，瑙鲁同意了这笔交易。
After two high level meetings, including a visit to Washington by the Nauruan president Bernard Dowiyogo, the arrangements were made.
经过两次高层会议，包括瑙鲁总统伯纳德·多维约戈对华盛顿的访问，做出了安排。
And not a minute too soon.
而且一分钟也不早。
President Dowiyogo's health went downhill quite seriously.
多维约戈总统的健康状况严重恶化。
And within about 10 days, he was dead.
大约10天后，他就死了。
He had died, and really, his last act was to sign this presidential order agreeing to the list of US requests.
他已经死了，实际上，他的最后一件事就是签署这项总统令，同意美国的要求清单。
Basically, the US government got everything it wanted, and Colin Powell wrote a letter to the Nauruan government shortly afterwards saying that Bernard Dowiyogo was a hero for Nauru.
基本上，美国政府得到了它想要的一切，科林·鲍威尔不久后写信给瑙鲁政府，称伯纳德·多维约戈是瑙鲁的英雄。
He'd secured the future of the country and he was a bold man of vision, he opposed terrorism, et cetera, et cetera.
他确保了国家的未来，他是一个大胆有远见的人，他反对恐怖主义等等。
And so Nauru felt that they had done everything that was requested of them.
因此瑙鲁认为他们已经完成了要求他们做的一切。
But when the state department was asked publicly about aid to Nauru, they not only denied the deal, but insisted that the men who made the arrangements with Nauru had no official authority.
但当国务院被公开询问有关向瑙鲁提供援助的问题时，他们不仅否认了这笔交易，而且坚称与瑙鲁做出安排的人没有官方权力。
Meanwhile, understand, the Nauruans had held up their side of the deal.
与此同时，请注意，瑙鲁人坚持了他们的协议。
They outlawed offshore banking, which had cut off a big part of their income.
他们取缔离岸银行业务，这切断了他们很大一部分收入。
So Nauru took the United States to court in Australia.
于是瑙鲁将美国告上澳大利亚法庭。
Papers have been filed.
文件已归档。
Nauru is talking.
瑙鲁在说话。
In late summer, the court made its first ruling.
夏末，法院做出了第一项裁决。
Now the court, in its summary judgment, found in favor of Nauru.
现在，法院在简易判决中做出了有利于瑙鲁的裁决。
And the judge, Justice Bill Gillard, said that various persons were named by Nauru as persons representing the US.
法官比尔·吉拉德法官表示，瑙鲁点名代表美国的人士。
It is open on the evidence to infer that these men were acting on the high executive authority from the US government.
有证据表明这些人是依据美国政府的高级行政权力行事。
In other words, the Victorian Supreme Court found that the US used back channel diplomacy to bring Nauru in from the cold on terrorism, and was therefore liable for promises made in that process.
换句话说，维多利亚州最高法院认定，美国利用秘密渠道外交使瑙鲁摆脱了对恐怖主义的冷漠，因此应对在此过程中做出的承诺承担责任。
No matter what happens, it's hard to see this as a win for Nauru.
无论发生什么，这都很难被视为瑙鲁的胜利。
It's a desperate act, even for a country so intimate with desperation.
即使对于一个如此陷入绝望的国家来说，这也是一种绝望的行为。
You know you're really running out of options when you're dunning the CIA for money owed on failed covert ops.
当你向中央情报局催收因失败的秘密行动而欠下的钱时，你知道你真的别无选择。
After I returned from my trip to Nauru, I was invited to have breakfast with the man who was president then, as he was earlier this year.
当我从瑙鲁旅行回来后，我被邀请与当时的总统共进早餐，就像他今年早些时候一样。
Bernard Doriyogo greeted me with courtly dignity in his Park Avenue hotel suite, and soon chefs brought us eggs and toast.
伯纳德·多里约戈（Bernard Doriyogo）在他的公园大道酒店套房里以彬彬有礼的态度迎接我，很快厨师们就给我们端来了鸡蛋和吐司。
I asked him what new economies he imagined for Nauru.
我问他对瑙鲁的新经济有何设想。
He said that since all the phosphate would be gone in only a few years, he was considering new proposals.
他说，由于所有磷酸盐将在几年内消失，因此他正在考虑新的建议。
He said that he was looking into a new technology that would allow him to cut the limestone pinnacles from Nauru's interior into flat slabs.
他说，他正在研究一种新技术，可以将瑙鲁内陆的石灰石尖峰切割成平板。
Then he would polish them and sell them as ancient coral coffee tables in America.
然后他将它们抛光并作为古老的珊瑚咖啡桌在美国出售。
I asked President Doriyogo what other ideas he had.
我问多里约戈总统还有什么其他想法。
He looked at me blankly, and then he took a bite of toast.
他茫然地看着我，然后咬了一口吐司。
How often you get to watch a country die?
你多久会看到一个国家消亡？
For a modern nation state, however small, to furl its flag, push in its UN chair and turn off the lights, is unthinkable.
对于一个现代民族国家来说，无论多么小，卷起国旗、推入联合国主席、关灯都是不可想象的。
But for Nauru, it's not only thinkable, but likely.
但对于瑙鲁来说，这不仅是可以想象的，而且是可能的。
The ocean's waters are rising.
海水正在上涨。
If predictions are true, in a half century the sickly ring of green habitation at the water's edge in Nauru will be engulfed.
如果预测属实，半个世纪后，瑙鲁水边病态的绿色居住环将被吞没。
The Nauruans will have to decamp for some other place.
瑙鲁人将不得不撤离到其他地方。
Australia has in fact offered Nauru one of its islands, off the Great Barrier Reef.
事实上，澳大利亚已向瑙鲁提供了位于大堡礁附近的岛屿之一。
If and when they ever take up such a solution, that will leave only the bleached lunar landscape of Topside, peeping above the water's surface, available once again, for the next million years, only to the birds.
如果他们采取这样的解决方案，那将只剩下月球表面漂白的景观，在水面上窥视，在接下来的几百万年里，只有鸟类才能再次看到。
Jack Hitt is one of our contributing editors.
杰克·希特是我们的特约编辑之一。
He lives in New Haven.
他住在纽黑文。
Since we first aired that story in 2003, the number of detainees on Nauru is now down to 89 people according to Human Rights Watch.
据人权观察组织称，自从我们于 2003 年首次播出该故事以来，瑙鲁的被拘留者人数现已降至 89 人。
Coming up, the second largest long distance company in the country exiles a person to limbo for nearly a year.
即将到来的是，该国第二大长途公司将一个人放逐了近一年。
That's in a minute from Chicago Public Radio and Public Radio International, when our program continues.
一分钟后，芝加哥公共广播电台和国际公共广播电台将继续我们的节目。
It's This American Life, I'm Ira Glass.
这就是美国生活，我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Each week on our program, of course, we choose a theme and bring you a variety of different kinds of stories on that theme.
当然，我们的节目每周都会选择一个主题，并为您带来有关该主题的各种不同类型的故事。
Today's program, tales from the middle of nowhere.
今天的节目，来自荒野的故事。
Stories of people trapped in some distant spot where all rules are off.
人们被困在某个遥远的地方，那里所有的规则都被打破了。
We've arrived at act two of our program.
我们已经进入了计划的第二幕。
Act two, On Hold, No One Can Hear You Scream.
第二幕，等待，没有人能听到你的尖叫。
Back in 2003, one of the people who works on our radio show, Julie Snyder, our senior producer, fell into a 10-month-- black hole-- would be the best thing to call it.
早在 2003 年，我们广播节目的工作人员之一、我们的高级制作人朱莉·斯奈德 (Julie Snyder) 就陷入了长达 10 个月的“黑洞”，这才是最好的称呼。
For 10 months she fought with the phone company, getting put on hold for hours at a time, trapped on hold in the middle of wherever it is that you are when you're on hold.
十个月来，她一直在与电话公司抗争，一次被搁置几个小时，无论你在什么地方，都被困在搁置中。
There was nobody who she could turn to to stop the madness.
她无法求助于任何人来阻止她的疯狂行为。
Nobody seemed able to help her.
似乎没有人能够帮助她。
You've gone through this, right?
你经历过这个，对吧？
We've all gone through this kind of thing.
我们都经历过这样的事情。
And for most of us, it's over in just a couple phone calls.
对于我们大多数人来说，只需几个电话就可以结束。
Julie's vigil began in March 2003.
朱莉的守夜活动始于 2003 年 3 月。
She got this phone bill with $439 in long distance calls.
她收到的电话账单中包含 439 美元的长途电话费。
One 23 minute call with her mom cost $43.
和她妈妈打一通 23 分钟的电话要花 43 美元。
Under her MCI plan-- this is back when MCI existed-- under her MCI plan it should have cost her $0.12 a minute, just under $3.00.
根据她的 MCI 计划（这是 MCI 存在时的情况），根据她的 MCI 计划，她每分钟的成本应该为 0.12 美元，略低于 3.00 美元。
So she called, to try to get them to fix the problem.
于是她打电话给他们，试图让他们解决这个问题。
They told me that on December 31st, I had called and requested that they drop me from my $0.12 cents a minute plan.
他们告诉我，12 月 31 日，我打电话要求他们取消我每分钟 0.12 美分的计划。
Yeah, I do do a lot of my business on New Year's Eve.
是的，我在除夕夜确实做了很多事情。
No, of course I didn't call.
不，我当然没有打电话。
Are they even open on New Year's Eve Day?
除夕夜他们还开门吗？
It is so ridiculous.
太可笑了。
But I also told them a lie, and I don't know what you want to do with this one.
但我也对他们说了谎，我不知道你想用这个做什么。
If this would be-- just so we wouldn't have to haggle over the whole did you call, we have it down that you called, and no I didn't call and stuff.
如果这样的话——这样我们就不必就整个事情争论不休，你打电话了吗？我们已经记下了你打电话的事，不，我没有打电话之类的。
I just told them that it would have been impossible for me to call because I was in the hospital then.
我只是告诉他们，我不可能打电话给他们，因为我当时在医院。
In the hospital with what?
去医院，带什么？
Julie Snyder Giving birth.
朱莉·斯奈德分娩。
I just didn't want to haggle over it.
我只是不想争论这个问题。
And I knew for sure that I hadn't called and I hadn't authorized anything.
我确信我没有打电话，也没有授权任何事情。
So I just figured it would just make it easier.
所以我只是想这会让事情变得更容易。
They weren't going to argue anyway.
无论如何，他们都不会争论。
Because I get the impression that this is what people call about all the time.
因为我的印象是人们一直这么称呼。
This happens to everybody.
每个人都会遇到这种情况。
You get, all of a sudden, just switched without your knowledge.
你会在你不知情的情况下突然切换。
This is the most common way to get screwed over by your phone company.
这是被电话公司搞砸的最常见方式。
Over the course of two months, the phone company piled on a total of $946 in mistaken charges onto her bill.
在两个月的时间里，电话公司在她的账单上累计误扣了 946 美元的费用。
And for a while it seemed like the kind of thing that could be easily resolved.
有一段时间，这似乎是一种很容易解决的事情。
Sure, it took few phone calls.
当然，只打了几个电话。
Her local service was with Verizon and long distance service was with MCI so it took a bit of wrangling to get them both on the same page.
她的本地服务由 Verizon 提供，长途服务由 MCI 提供，因此费了一番功夫才让两者达成共识。
But after two rounds of calling, customer reps from both companies told her, yes, it's solved, in a three way conference call.
但经过两轮电话后，两家公司的客户代表在三方电话会议中告诉她，是的，问题已经解决了。
This was April.
这是四月。
Julie felt good.
朱莉感觉很好。
Then in June, she got a notice from a collection agency asking for the money.
然后在六月，她收到一家收债机构的催收通知。
And this is where she pretty much made the transition from normal customer with a problem to someone lost at the bottom of a well.
在这里，她几乎从有问题的普通顾客转变为迷失在井底的人。
So I called Verizon, and I say that I want to do a three way call again because clearly, they told me that this thing was being taken care of and it wasn't.
所以我打电话给 Verizon，我说我想再打一次三通电话，因为很明显，他们告诉我这件事正在处理中，但事实并非如此。
They told me that I would have to call MCI because they can't initiate a three way call, that they simply don't have the technology to initiate a three way call.
他们告诉我，我必须致电 MCI，因为他们无法发起三向呼叫，他们根本不具备发起三向呼叫的技术。
Wait, you mean literally they can't get two people on the phone at the same time and conference them?
等等，你的意思是说他们不能同时让两个人打电话并与他们进行会议？
Apparently no, no. They can't do that.
显然不是，不是。他们不能那样做。
It's impossible for them.
这对他们来说是不可能的。
They're a phone company, though.
不过他们是一家电话公司。
They sell that service.
他们出售这项服务。
OK.
好的。
So you call MCI.
所以你打电话给MCI。
So then I called MCI and this is when I started losing it.
然后我打电话给 MCI，这就是我开始失去它的时候。
Because this was the first time I cried.
因为这是我第一次哭。
How?
如何？
Julie Snyder Well, because they said when I called-- then I finally called them and I got a hold of this customer service person, and then they told me that there wasn't any record of a credit issued at all for me for $946.36.
Julie Snyder 嗯，因为当我打电话时他们说——然后我终于打电话给他们，并联系了这位客户服务人员，然后他们告诉我根本没有为我发放 946.36 美元的任何信用记录。
And if you just ignore this, this is going off to a collection agency.
如果你忽略这一点，这笔钱就会交给收债机构。
And this is ruining your credit, right.
这会毁掉你的信用，对吧。
So I just felt totally frustrated.
所以我感到非常沮丧。
And it's at that point that I just started freaking out, and just saying, you guys don't know what you're doing, and people have already told me I think two or three times that this has already been taken care of, and everything's fine, and stuff like that.
就在那时，我开始惊慌失措，只是说，你们不知道自己在做什么，人们已经告诉我，我认为这已经被处理了两三次，一切都很好，诸如此类。
And so finally then they transfer me to-- this is my first time being taken over to priority customer service-- and I get to priority customer service, and that's when I met Chuck Carter.
最后他们把我转到——这是我第一次接手优先客户服务——我就得到了优先客户服务，就在那时我遇到了查克·卡特。
And Who's Chuck Carter?
查克·卡特是谁？
Julie Snyder Chuck Carter was like, the nicest man at MCI.
朱莉·斯奈德·查克·卡特 (Julie Snyder Chuck Carter) 是 MCI 最好的人。
OK, so I completely started crying when I got on the phone with him.
好吧，当我和他通电话时我就哭了。
And I was just like, you don't have any idea how frustrating this is, and I've been on the phone, and they're going to report me.
我当时想，你不知道这有多令人沮丧，我一直在打电话，他们会举报我。
And this guy, he works at MCI in priority customer service, but he also works at the suicide prevention hotline.
这个人，他在 MCI 的优先客户服务部门工作，但他也在自杀预防热线工作。
Because he totally talked me through it in such a nice way.
因为他以一种很好的方式向我讲述了这一切。
So calming and so social work-y.
如此平静，如此社会工作。
And like, was just, breathe, breathe.
就像，只是，呼吸，呼吸。
Yeah, he did, breathe.
是的，他做到了，呼吸。
And then he was just like, you know what Miss Snyder?
然后他就说，你知道斯奈德小姐是什么吗？
I know that this is frustrating for you.
我知道这让你很沮丧。
I know that this makes you feel powerless.
我知道这会让你感到无能为力。
And I know that you feel out of control.
我知道你感觉失控。
And I know that it's hard to ask us, to put all your faith in us that we're going to take care of this.
我知道很难要求我们完全相信我们会解决这个问题。
But I'm going to take care of this for you.
但我会为你处理这件事。
It was so cheesy and so bizarre that it got me to stop crying, at least, because I was so confused by what was happening on the phone.
这太俗气了，太奇怪了，至少让我停止哭泣，因为我对电话里发生的事情感到非常困惑。
But it also totally calmed me down.
但这也让我完全平静下来。
And he told me that now he was going to fill out the correct paperwork to get the credit issued.
他告诉我，现在他要填写正确的文件才能获得信用证。
And that he was getting the manual form, and the digital form was the one that got lost before, but he was going to get the manual form.
他正在获取手动表格，而数字表格是之前丢失的表格，但他将获取手动表格。
And even when he had to go get the manual form, he was all just like, now Miss Snyder, I'm just going to get up from my desk, walk down the hall, and get the manual form.
即使当他必须去获取手册表格时，他也只是说，现在斯奈德小姐，我要从办公桌上站起来，沿着大厅走，然后获取手册表格。
And then come back.
然后回来。
This shouldn't take me longer than 30, 45 seconds.
这不会花费我超过 30、45 秒的时间。
OK?
好的？
So I'm not forgetting you, I'm just getting up to go to the manual form.
所以我没有忘记你，我只是起身去填写手册表格。
And is there a part of you which feels, don't condescend to me, or are you just eating it up?
你是否有一部分感觉，不要居高临下地对待我，或者你只是在接受它？
I was kind of eating it up.
我有点把它吃光了。
I was really enjoying it.
我真的很享受。
I felt like I was really being taken care of, and I felt like finally somebody understood my pain.
我觉得我真的被照顾了，我觉得终于有人理解我的痛苦了。
And then he also gave me his name.
然后他也告诉了我他的名字。
And he said now, I want you to know my name, my name is Chuck Carter.
他现在说，我想让你知道我的名字，我的名字是查克·卡特。
I work in MCI priority customer service.
我在 MCI 优先客户服务部门工作。
If there's a problem you can come back to me.
如果有问题你可以回来找我。
So I felt pretty good after this phone call.
所以打完这个电话后我感觉很好。
So then a week later, I call, and again they say that they don't know what I'm talking about.
一周后，我打电话，他们再次说他们不知道我在说什么。
And that they can't find any request made for this credit, and they don't know what a manual form is.
他们找不到任何对此信用证的请求，而且他们不知道什么是手动表格。
And then when I just begged, Chuck Carter, just Chuck Carter.
然后当我乞求查克·卡特时，就只是查克·卡特。
Let me speak with Chuck Carter.
让我和查克·卡特谈谈。
They told me that they have no idea who Chuck Carter is, and they said that there are no individual extensions at the entire phone company.
他们告诉我，他们不知道查克·卡特是谁，他们说整个电话公司没有单独的分机。
Nobody has an individual extension.
没有人拥有个人分机。
At the phone company.
在电话公司。
But how could they run a business where they can't call their own employees one by one?
但连自己的员工都不能一一称呼，他们怎么能经营企业呢？
Like, how does Chuck Carter's wife reach him to say, pick up some milk on the way home?
比如，查克·卡特的妻子如何联系他说，在回家的路上买点牛奶？
That's what I said, you know.
这就是我所说的，你知道。
And I was just like, I understand that you don't want to give me the number because you don't want me directly harassing your customer service representatives.
我当时想，我知道你不想给我这个号码，因为你不想让我直接骚扰你的客户服务代表。
And that's totally personal.
这完全是个人的。
I completely understand that, right.
我完全理解这一点，对吧。
But why can't they call and get this person on the phone and try and figure out what's going on?
但为什么他们不能打电话让这个人接电话并尝试弄清楚发生了什么事呢？
And then they just told me it was impossible to do.
然后他们就告诉我这是不可能的。
And then I was just like, well, why would the guy have given me his name in the first place then if this wasn't possible to do?
然后我就想，好吧，如果这不可能的话，那家伙为什么要首先告诉我他的名字呢？
And they just said, I don't know, I don't know, maybe he was just trying to make you feel better.
他们只是说，我不知道，我不知道，也许他只是想让你感觉好一点。
OK, so this goes on for weeks and weeks.
好的，这样的情况会持续数周。
This goes on for weeks, and finally I end up talking with a manager at MCI.
这种情况持续了数周，最后我与 MCI 的一位经理进行了交谈。
And she tells me that I would have to file a complaint with the MCI complaints division.
她告诉我，我必须向 MCI 投诉部门提出投诉。
And so I said, OK, so can I get their phone number?
所以我说，好吧，我可以得到他们的电话号码吗？
And they don't have a phone number.
而且他们没有电话号码。
They just have a fax number.
他们只有一个传真号码。
You can only fax them, you can't call them.
您只能传真给他们，不能打电话给他们。
And that they're somewhere in Iowa.
他们在爱荷华州的某个地方。
And I said, what if they can't figure out what's wrong?
我说，如果他们无法弄清楚出了什么问题怎么办？
And she said, they'll definitely figure out what's wrong.
她说，他们一定会找出问题所在的。
And then I said, and how soon are they supposed to get back to you?
然后我说，他们应该多久给你回复？
And she said within two weeks.
她说两周之内。
Understand that, for like the last seven months, I've had people saying I'm going to call you next week, or I'll call you within two weeks, or I'll let you know.
请理解，在过去的七个月里，有人说我会在下周给你打电话，或者我会在两周内给你打电话，或者我会让你知道。
And I've never once gotten one phone call back from anybody at MCI, or a letter, or anything explaining what's going on.
我从来没有接到 MCI 任何人的回电，也没有收到一封信，或者任何解释发生了什么的事情。
So I'm a little wary when they say that they'll get back with you within two weeks.
所以当他们说他们会在两周内回复你时，我有点警惕。
And so I said, well, yeah, but what if they don't?
所以我说，好吧，是的，但是如果他们不这样做怎么办？
And she was like, they do.
她说，他们确实这么做了。
They will.
他们会的。
They always do.
他们总是这样做。
They always figure everything out and they always get back with you within two weeks.
他们总是会解决所有问题，并且总是会在两周内回复您。
And so somewhere there's an office, they're saying, that there's an office where there's only a fax machine.
他们说，某个地方有一个办公室，那里只有一台传真机。
Like a silo, is how I like to picture it.
我喜欢把它想象成一个筒仓。
Somewhere in the middle of Iowa there is this silo.
在爱荷华州中部的某个地方有一个筒仓。
I was just like, so, wait.
我当时就想，所以，等等。
So you're telling me that there's some building in the middle of Iowa that's filled with like, really prompt geniuses, who don't have any phones but just have one fax machine sitting in the middle of the room that gets incoming faxes.
所以你告诉我，爱荷华州中部有一座大楼，里面挤满了非常敏捷的天才，他们没有任何电话，但只有一台传真机放在房间中间，用来接收传入的传真。
And they know everything and they'll take care of it, and she told me, yes.
他们知道一切，他们会处理好这一切，她告诉我，是的。
That's basically what it is.
基本上就是这样。
What is this employee's name?
这位员工叫什么名字？
Let's say her name over the radio.
让我们通过广播说出她的名字。
That was Melanie Gladwell.
那是梅兰妮·格拉德威尔。
Ira Glass Do you hate what this has reduced you to?
艾拉·格拉斯（Ira Glass） 你讨厌这件事让你变成这样吗？
Yeah.
是的。
I mean, I hate that it's made me sort of a screeching shrew on the phone.
我的意思是，我讨厌这让我在电话里变成了一个尖叫的泼妇。
And I hate that it makes me angry and wishing revenge upon them.
我讨厌这让我生气并希望向他们报仇。
And you know, I'm the person that they sort of, just like, "Jesus" when they get off the phone.
你知道，当他们挂断电话时，我就像是“耶稣”。
You know what I mean?
你知道我的意思？
And yeah, I hate all of that.
是的，我讨厌这一切。
I don't know what to do.
我不知道该怎么办。
Ira Glass Really?
艾拉·格拉斯 真的吗？
And so right now you're just waiting to hear from the geniuses in the silo?
那么现在您只是在等待听到筒仓里的天才的消息吗？
Mhmm.
嗯。
I've been waiting for a week and a half, so I still technically have three days left that the geniuses could get back in touch.
我已经等了一个半星期了，所以严格来说我还剩下三天时间，天才们可以重新联系。
So, Julie, now, weeks have passed since that first conversation.
所以，朱莉，距离第一次谈话已经过去了几个星期。
The one that we just heard.
就是我们刚刚听到的那个。
Yes, weeks.
是的，几周。
Ira Glass And so you've had time to hear from the geniuses in the silo.
Ira Glass：所以你有时间聆听筒仓里的天才们的声音。
What's the word?
词是什么？
Silence.
沉默。
Ira Glass So who are we calling today?
Ira Glass 那么我们今天给谁打电话呢？
We're calling MCI today to find out if they know what's been going on.
我们今天致电 MCI，询问他们是否知道发生了什么事。
All right.
好的。
Well, let's go to it.
好吧，让我们开始吧。
Let me just say, before we place this call, Julie?
让我说一下，在我们打电话之前，朱莉？
Yes?
是的？
Ira Glass You're in luck because you're about to see the power of the national media.
艾拉·格拉斯（Ira Glass）：你很幸运，因为你即将看到国家媒体的力量。
The power that public radio has in this country.
公共广播在这个国家的力量。
We're going to place this call, we're going to say who we are, we're going to indicate that they're on the record.
我们将拨打这个电话，我们将说明我们是谁，我们将表明他们已记录在案。
And doors are going to open.
门将会打开。
Your problems will be solved.
你的问题将会得到解决。
I truly believe that.
我真的相信这一点。
I think that you're going to solve this problem.
我认为你会解决这个问题。
Are you being serious or are you being sarcastic?
你是认真的还是讽刺的？
Actually, I don't even know what I believe.
事实上，我什至不知道我相信什么。
I think at first I thought that this was a really good idea.
我想一开始我认为这是一个非常好的主意。
But I don't know.
但我不知道。
Honestly, over the last couple weeks in going through more and more of this, I actually don't even think you're going to be able to do anything.
老实说，在过去的几周里，经历了越来越多的这种情况，我什至认为你无法做任何事情。
So we call.
所以我们打电话。
And some automated system picks up, asks us to punch in some answers to a few questions.
一些自动化系统会接听，要求我们输入一些问题的答案。
Which takes over two minutes.
这需要两分钟多的时间。
And then, we get a customer service rep.
然后，我们找到了一位客户服务代表。
[UNINTELLIGIBLE] built by MCI, my name is Ferdie, what can I assist you with today?
[无法理解] 由 MCI 建造，我叫 Ferdie，今天有什么可以帮您的吗？
I'm sorry, you said Ferdie?
抱歉，你说的是费迪？
Ferdie Yes sir.
费迪 是的，先生。
Hi, my name is Ira Glass, and I'm recording this for possible national radio broadcast, I work on a national radio show.
大家好，我的名字是 Ira Glass，我正在录制这个内容以供可能的全国广播电台播放，我在一个全国广播节目中工作。
One of my coworkers, her name is Julie Snyder, has an ongoing problem with her bill.
我的一位同事名叫朱莉·斯奈德 (Julie Snyder)，她的账单一直存在问题。
Julie?
朱莉？
Yeah, hi.
是的，嗨。
I was calling-- should I give you the account number?
我正在打电话——我应该给你账号吗？
Miss Julie, all right?
朱莉小姐，好吗？
And Miss Julie, may I also have your telephone number starting with area code, please?
朱莉小姐，请问您的电话号码以区号开头吗？
OK, the telephone number is 718-4848 but that's actually--
好的，电话号码是 718-4848，但实际上——
After she gives some basic information, Miss Julie asks if we can get bumped up to priority customer service.
在提供一些基本信息后，朱莉小姐询问我们是否可以获得优先客户服务。
And then we sit on hold.
然后我们就等待。
Julie I talk about the music on hold.
朱莉 我谈谈搁置的音乐。
Julie has noticed that this song has no beginning and no ending.
朱莉注意到这首歌没有开头也没有结尾。
Because probably, if you hear it end and then start up again, it would just make you aware of how much time had gone by.
因为可能，如果你听到它结束然后再次开始，它只会让你意识到已经过去了多少时间。
Which would make you sad.
这会让你伤心。
Or mad.
或者生气了。
We talk about what Ferdie is doing right now.
我们谈论费迪现在在做什么。
We talk about work.
我们谈论工作。
Minutes pass.
几分钟过去了。
I don't know.
我不知道。
And then, after twelve and a half minutes.
然后，十二分半钟后。
Yes, ma'am, thank you very much for holding.
是的，女士，非常感谢您的耐心等待。
I have now Miss Christian on the other line.
现在，克里斯蒂安小姐正在接听电话。
Hi Julie.
嗨朱莉。
Ferdie She's from our priority customer support, and Miss Christian will be assisting you further with regards to your concern for today ma'am.
费迪（Ferdie） 她来自我们的优先客户支持部门，克里斯蒂安小姐将进一步帮助您解决您今天关心的问题，女士。
OK?
好的？
OK, thank you.
好的，谢谢。
Ferdie Have a good day, it's up to you Miss Christian.
费迪 祝你有美好的一天，这取决于你，克里斯蒂安小姐。
OK, thank you so much.
好的，非常感谢。
Ira Glass Hi.
艾拉·格拉斯嗨。
And I should tell you, we told Ferdie this, we're recording this for possible national radio broadcast on public radio--
我应该告诉你，我们告诉费迪这一点，我们正在录制这个，以便可能在公共广播电台上进行全国广播——
OK, at this time you don't have our permission to record this, OK?
好的，目前您还没有我们的许可来录制此内容，好吗？
Why not?
为什么不呢？
Christian King Because I don't know why you're calling, first of all.
克里斯蒂安·金：因为首先我不知道你打电话来的原因。
Second, you don't have our permission to record this, so I just need to ask that you stop recording the call or else I will have to disconnect and call you back.
其次，您没有我们的权限来录制此内容，因此我只需要求您停止录制通话，否则我将不得不断开连接并给您回电。
Julie tells this woman, Christian King, the history of her case.
朱莉向这位名叫克里斯蒂安·金的女士讲述了她的案件历史。
This takes half an hour.
这需要半个小时。
Christian is from the corporate PR office, and she tells us that she can get this solved.
克里斯蒂安来自公司公关办公室，她告诉我们她可以解决这个问题。
She says that somebody's going to call us back tonight or tomorrow, that under no circumstances should we call the regular customer service center.
她说今晚或明天会有人给我们回电话，在任何情况下我们都不应该打电话给常规客户服务中心。
That it was just wrong for us to call up and record like that.
我们这样打电话和录音是错误的。
We got off the phone, and then we turned back on our tape recorder.
我们挂断电话，然后又打开录音机。
So what do you think?
那么你觉得怎么样？
Julie Snyder I mean, I think it's such a crappy system.
朱莉·斯奈德 我的意思是，我认为这是一个非常蹩脚的系统。
I think it's such a crappy system that now they're all like, you know, we're on the case and we're going to take care of it and stuff.
我认为这是一个非常糟糕的系统，现在他们都说，你知道，我们正在处理这个案子，我们将处理它之类的事情。
You know, but don't call here, and say that they're on the air, and don't call and say that you're a journalist and doing a story about that, because that just is rude.
你知道，但不要打电话到这里，说他们正在广播，也不要打电话说你是一名记者，正在报道相关报道，因为那样很粗鲁。
But that's the only way that I got through to these people.
但这是我与这些人沟通的唯一方式。
That's the only way that I got this woman to respond to us.
这是我让这个女人回应我们的唯一方法。
It just makes me so angry.
这让我很生气。
It takes a week and a day, and then a letter arrives by Fedex for Julie, resolving the entire thing.
花了一周又一天的时间，联邦快递寄来一封给朱莉的信，解决了整个问题。
Crediting her account, fixing the mistake.
记入她的账户，纠正错误。
It's done.
完成了。
A few weeks after that, after I do a fair amount of pleading on the phone with MCI, they finally agreed to let us interview somebody in the company.
几周后，在我通过电话与 MCI 进行了大量恳求之后，他们最终同意让我们采访公司的某个人。
Not Chuck Carter, who I begged for, but instead the senior vice president who runs customer service for MCI.
不是我恳求的查克·卡特，而是负责 MCI 客户服务的高级副总裁。
A guy named Jim Myers, who actually started at the bottom handling customer calls himself, and who turns out to be the ideal possible spokesman for MCI.
一个名叫吉姆·迈尔斯 (Jim Myers) 的人实际上是从最底层开始处理客户给自己打电话的事情，结果证明他是 MCI 的理想代言人。
Honestly, sometimes we wondered if they actually just manufactured him in a laboratory somewhere.
老实说，有时我们想知道他们是否真的只是在某个实验室里制造了他。
Hi Jim Myers.
嗨吉姆·迈尔斯。
Jim Myers Hi Julie, I promise I'm not your enemy.
吉姆·迈尔斯 嗨，朱莉，我保证我不是你的敌人。
Although after reading the dialogue that has transpired with your account, I'm not-- words can't even describe how you must feel.
尽管在阅读了与您的帐户发生的对话后，我无法——言语甚至无法描述您的感受。
And I acknowledge and recognize that we owe you an apology.
我承认并承认我们欠你一个道歉。
Oh that's very nice of you to say, thank you.
哦，你说得真好，谢谢。
That's right.
这是正确的。
He had us at hello.
他向我们打招呼。
And then he cheerfully answered all of our questions.
然后他愉快地回答了我们所有的问题。
Yes, it is true, he said.
是的，确实如此，他说。
MCI customer care representatives do not have their own individual phone extensions.
MCI 客户服务代表没有自己的个人电话分机。
Yes, it is true, he said, MCI understands that there have been weaknesses in its customer care, and that's why they've been investing millions of dollars in new training.
是的，确实如此，他说，MCI 知道其客户服务存在弱点，这就是为什么他们一直投资数百万美元进行新培训。
And why MCI has gone on kind of a hiring binge.
以及为什么 MCI 会大肆招聘。
The number of customer care operators has increased by a third in just one year.
客户服务运营商的数量在短短一年内增加了三分之一。
It's now 5,300 people at over 15 locations, under Jim's direction.
在 Jim 的领导下，现在超过 15 个地点有 5,300 名员工。
They've even been testing a system that would solve one of the biggest problems Julie had with MCI.
他们甚至一直在测试一个系统，该系统可以解决朱莉在 MCI 中遇到的最大问题之一。
That whenever somebody figured out what was going on with her account, she could never talk to them again.
每当有人弄清楚她的帐户发生了什么事时，她就再也无法与他们交谈。
It will remember who you spoke to the last time, and it will offer that up to you as a customer or consumer calling in.
它会记住您上次与谁交谈，并会向您作为客户或消费者致电提供该信息。
So what would happen is, Julie, the next time you would call customer service it would say, the last time that you called MCI you spoke to Ira Glass.
所以，朱莉，下次您致电客户服务时，系统会说，上次您致电 MCI 时，您与 Ira Glass 通话过。
Ira will be available in about five minutes.
Ira 将在大约五分钟后可用。
If you'd like to speak to Ira, press or say one.
如果您想与 Ira 通话，请按或说出一个。
Or otherwise, press two and you can talk to the next representative in 30 seconds or whatever the hold time is.
或者，按二，您可以在 30 秒内或无论等待时间长短与下一位代表通话。
Now one of the things that we need you to respond to is this.
现在我们需要您回应的事情之一是这个。
Over the course of her calls Julie talked to a service representative named Melanie Gladwell, who told her that she had to contact the complaints division in Iowa.
在打电话的过程中，朱莉与一位名叫梅兰妮·格拉德威尔的服务代表交谈，后者告诉她必须联系爱荷华州的投诉部门。
And she said that they don't have a phone number.
她说他们没有电话号码。
That she couldn't call the complaints division to straighten out the problem.
她无法致电投诉部门来解决问题。
They only have a fax machine.
他们只有一台传真机。
Do you have a complaint office in Iowa City that doesn't have any telephones, but only a fax machine?
爱荷华市是否有没有电话、只有传真机的投诉办公室？
Well, I wouldn't call it the complaint office.
好吧，我不会称其为投诉办公室。
It's the executive escalation office.
这是行政升级办公室。
And they do take phone calls.
他们确实接电话。
I'm not sure why that would have been said by Melanie.
我不知道梅兰妮为什么会这么说。
Yeah.
是的。
We're a phone company.
我们是一家电话公司。
We should be able to get a phone number for you to just about any department.
我们应该能够为您找到几乎任何部门的电话号码。
That's what I wondered.
这就是我想知道的。
Jim Myers Was Melanie new by chance?
吉姆·迈尔斯 梅兰妮是偶然新来的吗？
Yeah, she was priority customer service.
是的，她是优先客户服务。
OK.
好的。
I'll definitely look into that, because it doesn't sound exactly the way things should be.
我一定会调查这一点，因为听起来事情并不完全是这样的。
She hated me, though.
但她讨厌我。
Jim Myers She did not.
吉姆·迈尔斯 她没有。
She did.
她做到了。
Jim Myers I can't believe that's possible on anyone here.
吉姆·迈尔斯 我不敢相信这里的任何人都能做到这一点。
Now, Julie of all people, my goodness, I can't believe you're even talking with us after this.
现在，朱莉，天哪，我不敢相信你竟然在这之后还和我们说话。
But we're certainly glad that you are.
但我们当然很高兴你是这样的。
I really appreciate you talking with us today.
我非常感谢您今天与我们交谈。
And I really appreciate the fact that I did get the credit.
我真的很感激我确实得到了荣誉。
But I have to say that one of the frustrations is that I feel like, if we hadn't called as the radio show, I think I would still be fighting this.
但我不得不说，令人沮丧的事情之一是，我觉得，如果我们没有在广播节目中打电话，我想我仍然会为此而奋斗。
I don't think it would be resolved.
我认为这不会得到解决。
I think the only way it got resolved was simply because we're a national radio show, and we're just sort of threatening embarrassment.
我认为解决这个问题的唯一方法很简单，因为我们是一个全国性的广播节目，我们只是有点令人尴尬。
Wow.
哇。
That's actually somewhat disappointing.
这实在是有些令人失望。
And I will tell you at some point, I hope you come back and do business with us.
我会在某个时候告诉你，我希望你回来与我们做生意。
And I think you'll see that the tone and the spirit and the delivery of our service is significantly better.
我想您会发现我们的服务语气、精神和交付方式明显更好。
Thank you.
谢谢。
Jim Myers And Julie, I promise, we will treat you like a princess.
吉姆·迈尔斯和朱莉，我保证，我们会像对待公主一样对待你们。
Maybe I should go out on our VRU and our response and just put my email.
也许我应该公开我们的 VRU 和我们的回复，然后只留下我的电子邮件。
And say, look, if your issue's not resolved to your satisfaction, send me an email.
并说，如果您的问题没有得到您满意的解决，请给我发送电子邮件。
Maybe there's an opportunity to go one step more.
也许还有机会更进一步。
I'm sorry, are you saying that you want us to--
抱歉，你是说你希望我们——
Sure-- Julie Snyder --broadcast your email address?
当然可以——朱莉·斯奈德——广播你的电子邮件地址？
All right, all you MCI customers.
好的，各位 MCI 客户。
You heard it.
你听到了。
Let's give that one more time, the email address.
让我们再讲一遍，电子邮件地址。
Julie, I have your number.
朱莉，我有你的电话号码。
I'm going to do something for you.
我将为你做点什么。
But I'll take it off line.
但我会把它下线。
Oh.
哦。
Ira Glass No, here we are.
艾拉·格拉斯 不，我们到了。
Do you want to say?
你想说吗？
No, no. I'm going to look through this record.
不，不。我要翻阅一下这个记录。
And, you know, I can't pay Julie for her time and whatever.
而且，你知道，我无法支付朱莉的时间和其他费用。
You know.
你知道。
I tend to write people letters and do special things.
我倾向于给人们写信和做一些特别的事情。
Just let them-- you know, I'm not going to write on the chalk board a thousand times, I'm sorry for what we did, but I'll do something special for you.
只要让他们——你知道，我不会在黑板上写一千遍，我对我们所做的事感到抱歉，但我会为你做一些特别的事情。
Well, I would appreciate anything.
好吧，我会很感激任何事情。
Thank you so much.
太感谢了。
We'll do a little something nice for you.
我们会为你做一些好事。
Thanks so much.
非常感谢。
Jim Myers All right, bye.
吉姆·迈尔斯 好吧，再见。
Yes.
是的。
I think, he said he was going to treat me like a princess.
我想，他说过他会像对待公主一样对待我。
I wonder what I'm getting.
我想知道我得到了什么。
Christmas is coming, baby.
圣诞节快到了，宝贝。
Julie Snyder An ice cream party?
朱莉·斯奈德 冰淇淋派对？
You know what, I would love it, is if the gift he sends me is a CD of the music that they play while you're on hold.
你知道吗，如果他送我的礼物是一张他们在你等待时播放的音乐 CD，我会很高兴的。
Two days after we talked to Jim Myers, Julie received a huge gift basket from him at her house, filled with chocolate treats and fancy cheeses and gourmet crackers.
在我们与吉姆·迈尔斯交谈两天后，朱莉在家里收到了他寄来的一个巨大礼品篮，里面装满了巧克力、精美的奶酪和美味饼干。
And a very nice note.
还有一个非常好的注释。
And with that, she no longer wanted revenge.
如此一来，她就不再想报仇了。
For 10 months, the worst thing, the most infuriating thing, was that she was trapped in an impossible situation where there was no court of appeal.
10个月来，最糟糕、最气愤的事情，就是她陷入了没有上诉法庭的不可能的境地。
As an individual you can't even sue the phone company for all your lost time and your mental anguish.
作为个人，您甚至无法因您损失的时间和精神痛苦而起诉电话公司。
And then, she found the thing all of us always yearn for in this situation.
然后，她在这种情况下找到了我们所有人一直向往的东西。
She found a higher judge who could fix it.
她找到了一位可以解决这个问题的高级法官。
It's now been four years since Julie had her problems and we talked to Jim Myers.
朱莉遇到问题已经四年了，我们采访了吉姆·迈尔斯。
And sadly, Jim Myers is no longer at MCI.
遗憾的是，吉姆·迈尔斯 (Jim Myers) 已不再在 MCI 工作。
In fact, MCI no longer exists.
事实上，MCI 已经不存在了。
They merged with Verizon last year.
他们去年与 Verizon 合并。
If you are in a situation where you are having difficulties with your phone company, here's what you can do.
如果您的电话公司遇到困难，您可以采取以下措施。
You can go to the Better Business Bureau's website, bbb.org, or the FCC's website.
您可以访问商业改进局的网站 bbb.org 或 FCC 的网站。
They've got a section for this at fcc.gov.
他们在 fcc.gov 上有专门的部分。
Or, for the most effective solution, the one that as we've shown really works, funding for new radio shows is done by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting two times each year.
或者，对于最有效的解决方案，正如我们所展示的确实有效的解决方案，公共广播公司每年两次为新广播节目提供资金。
Application dates every April and November.
申请日期每年四月和十一月。
The program was produced today by Alex Blumberg and myself with Jane Feltes, Diane Cook, Wendy Dorr and Starlee Kine.
该节目今天由 Alex Blumberg 和我与 Jane Feltes、Diane Cook、Wendy Dorr 和 Starlee Kine 共同制作。
Our senior producer is Julie Snyder.
我们的高级制片人是朱莉·斯奈德。
[ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS] Our web site, www.thisamericanlife.org.
[致谢] 我们的网站 www.thisamericanlife.org。
Or as we like to call it, your holiday shopping wonderland.
或者正如我们所说的，您的假日购物仙境。
We have signed posters from our last live show tour.
我们已经在上次现场巡演的海报上签名了。
We have signed copies of The New Kings of Nonfiction.
我们已经签署了《非小说新王》的副本。
And a brand new, live CD of a conversation that I had on stage with three of the kings of nonfiction-- writer Susan Orlean, Chuck Klosterman, and Malcolm Gladwell.
还有一张全新的现场 CD，记录了我在舞台上与三位纪实文学之王——作家苏珊·奥尔良 (Susan Orlean)、查克·克洛斯特曼 (Chuck Klosterman) 和马尔科姆·格拉德威尔 (Malcolm Gladwell) 的对话。
[FUNDING CREDITS] WBEZ management oversight by Torey Malatia, who knows that only one person can stop me from talking about him right here in the credits.
[资金来源] WBEZ 管理监督由 Torey Malatia 负责，他知道只有一个人可以阻止我在制作人员名单中谈论他。
That's right.
这是正确的。
I'm Ira Glass, back next week with more stories of This American Life.
我是艾拉·格拉斯，下周回来，带来更多《美国生活》的故事。
This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.
《This American Life》与 WBEZ Chicago 合作制作，并由 PRX 公共广播电台传送到各电台。