纽约街头现假和尚乞讨

New York City Buddhist leaders are sounding the alarm to tourists: Beware the "fake monks."

纽约的佛教领袖们向游客发出警告：小心“假僧人”。

Men in orange robes claiming to be Buddhist monks are approaching visitors to some of the city's most popular attractions, handing them shiny medallions and offering greetings of peace. They then hit them up for donations to help them build a temple in Thailand, and are persistent if their demands are refused.

在纽约一些热门景点，有些穿着橘色袍子的人声称自己是佛教僧人以接近游客，递给他们闪闪发光的纪念章，送给他们平安的祝福。然后就向他们索要捐赠，帮他们在泰国兴建寺庙，如果他们的要求被拒就会死缠烂打。

"The problem seems to be increasing," said the Rev. TK Nakagaki, president of the Buddhist Council of New York, a group that represents nearly two dozen Buddhist temples. "They are very aggressive and hostile if you don't give them money."

纽约佛教协会会长雷夫•TK•中垣说，“问题似乎越来越严重了，”佛教协会代表着二十多个佛教寺院。“你不给钱的话他们就会非常咄咄逼人，充满敌意。”

His group has taken to the streets and social media to warn people that the men appear to have no affiliation to any Buddhist temple. "Please be aware," read one Facebook post, "this is a scam."

他的团队走上街头，并在社交媒体上警告人们，这些人和佛教寺院可能没有任何关系。“请小心，”脸书上一条帖子写道，“这是诈骗。”

Along the popular High Line elevated park, one of the robed men handed a couple a shiny, gold-colored medallion and a plastic beaded bracelet. He then showed them photos of a planned temple and barked, "Ten dollars! Twenty dollars!" When they wouldn't give up cash, he snatched the trinkets back.

在游人众多的高线空中公园，一个长袍僧人递给一对夫妇一枚金光闪闪纪念章和一串塑料珠子做成的手链，然后向他们展示一座计划中的寺庙的照片，并叫道：“十美元！二十美元！”如果他们不愿意给钱，他还会把那些小玩意儿抢回去。

Other brightly robed men have been spotted pulling the same routine, albeit more successfully, in Times Square, not far from where costumed characters such as Elmo, Minnie Mouse and the Naked Cowboy take pictures with tourists for tips. Some of the monks were later seen handing wads of cash to another man waiting nearby.

有人发现其他光天化日之下抢劫的假僧人也遵守着同样的程序，只不过更成功一点，他们是在时代广场。不远处还有穿着戏服的人扮卡通人物，比如艾摩、米老鼠米妮，和裸体的牛仔，他们同游客拍照以收取小费。晚一点就会看到一些僧人把一堆堆现金交给一个待在附近的人。

The Associated Press tried to ask more than half-dozen of the men about their background and the temple they said the donations were being used to support. Each claimed to be a Buddhist monk collecting money for a temple in Thailand, but none could give its name or say where exactly it is located. All the men refused to give their names and ran off when pressed for answers.

美联社记者试着向六七个僧人问了问题，了解一下他们的背景和他们声称的要用捐款修建的寺庙，每个人都说自己是佛教僧人，要筹款在泰国建寺庙，但没有人说得上来那个寺庙的名字或具体地点。所有人都拒绝说出他们的姓名，硬要让他们回答的话就都跑掉了。

The men first started appearing at the High Line, a New York City public park that's maintained by a private noNPRofit group, about three years ago, said Robert Hammond, executive director of Friends of the High Line. But it "became excessive" in the past year, he said, with up to a dozen of the men accosting tourists at once and sometimes grabbing them to demand cash.

“高线公园的朋友们”的常务董事罗伯特•哈蒙德说，约在三年前，这些人第一次出现在纽约的高线公园，高线公园是由一家私人非盈利组织运营的公共公园。但是去年“变本加厉”，他说，多达十几个人同时向游客搭话，有的时候还抓着他们要钱。

Panhandling on city streets isn't illegal in New York, as long as the person isn't acting aggressively. But the city's parks department has a rule that says it is unlawful to solicit money without a permit from the parks commissioner.

在纽约，在城市街头乞讨并不犯法，只要乞讨者的行为不带有攻击性。但是纽约市的公园管理部门规定，不经公园管理者允许的乞讨是不合法的。

When asked about the men, New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver initially said, "I have no idea what you're talking about." He later said that if the men aren't abiding by the law, "the parks enforcement patrol will take care of it."

当被问及这些僧人的时候，纽约公园委员会委员米歇尔•西尔弗一开始说，“我不知道你在说什么。”之后他说如果这些人不遵守法律，“公园的执法巡逻队会管的。”

But parks department spokeswoman Crystal Howard said parks enforcement officers hadn't issued any summonses and the men's actions were "aggressive panhandling," a violation of state law that would be enforced by police. New York City police say that in the rare cases when someone has called 911 against the men, they were usually gone by the time officers arrived.

但是，公园管理部门的女发言人克丽丝特尔•霍华德说，公园的执法人员没有发布过任何传唤信息，而这些人的行为是“有攻击性的乞讨，”违反了州法，警察应该来管他们。纽约警方说，针对这些人报警的案件很少，而且通常警察赶到的时候他们就跑了。

A few days after the AP inquired about the men on the High Line, several signs were posted there with photos of them, warning visitors not to give money to panhandlers.

就在美联社记者询问有关高线公园的乞讨者的几天之后，公园里就竖了几个指示牌，上面有他们的照片，警示游客不要给这些乞讨者钱财。

Similarly robed men have been spotted in San Francisco, asking tourists to sign their "peace petition" before demanding cash. In China, authorities said the problem of "fake" monks begging in the streets prompted them to create an online registry of all actual Buddhist and Taoist sites.

有人还在旧金山看到类似的长袍僧人，他们会要求游客写下“平安愿望”然后再要钱。在中国，有关部门称“假”和尚沿街乞讨的问题迫使他们创建一个在线注册网站，登记所有真正的寺庙和道观的信息。

In Times Square, the warnings came too late for tourist Rob Cardillo, of Pennsylvania. He gave a robed man $10 to help out with his temple, without ever asking anything about the temple or what the money would be used for.

在时代广场，警示对来自宾夕法尼亚的游客罗伯•卡迪洛来说来得太晚了。他给了一个长袍僧人10美元帮他修寺庙，甚至都没有问有关寺庙或钱财用途的任何事。

"He might be fake, but it's the thought and I feel it," Cardillo said as he gripped the gold medallion.

“他也许是假的，但重要的是思想，而我感受到了这种思想，”卡迪洛握着那金色的纪念章说道。

Vocabulary:

medallion: 奖章，纪念章

scam: 骗局

accost: 搭讪

panhandler: 乞丐