窃贼和房主成十年至交好友

They greet each other with an affectionate bear hug whenever they meet — a gesture which demonstrates the strong bond these two men feel towards each other.

无论什么时候他们遇到，总是来一个充满深情的熊抱—--这个动作让两人彼此感受到浓浓的哥们情谊。

To the casual observer, Peter Woolf and Will Riley, both 55, are devoted old pals. But the course of their unorthodox ten-year friendship makes for intriguing — and shocking — reading.

在旁人看来,55岁的皮特·伍尔夫和威尔·瑞利应该是老朋友吧。但是他们这段非常规的十年友谊的渊源却实在是很有趣，而且还很让人吃惊，来读读他们的故事。

Before the men ever had a proper conversation, they had a serious physical fight. Peter hit Will over the head with a heavy griddle, then they both rolled down the stairs of Will’s North London home before Peter hit him again with a terracotta pot.

他们第一次打交道不是好好的聊天，而是激烈的拳头相向。在威尔位于伦敦北部的家中，皮特用一个很重的煎锅砸了威尔的头，随后皮特再次准备用陶瓦壶砸向他，结果两人一起滚下了楼梯。

Will was stunned and bleeding from the back of the head, but he refused to give in to Peter — a desperate heroin addict with a 30-year habit who had broken into Will’s home to steal whatever valuables he could then sell to buy drugs.

威尔受了惊吓而且脑袋后面正在出血，但是他拒绝向皮特妥协。皮特是一个有着30年毒瘾又不顾一切的人，他闯入威尔的家，偷一切值钱的东西，卖了钱然后去买毒品。

It was March 2002 and 5pm when Peter forced the front door of Will’s five-storey Georgian home in Islington. Will, a fit, 6ft 5in ex-banker who now runs his own ice-cream business, was working on the first floor, oblivious to the intrusion.

那是2002年3月一天的下午5点，皮特逼近威尔在伊斯林顿区5层的乔治亚住宅楼。体格健康的威尔身高6.5英尺，以前是个银行家如今经营着自己的冰激凌生意。当时他正在1楼工作，没注意有人闯入自己的住宅。

When Will walked into his bedroom to get his gym kit, he was stunned to find a dishevelled, 6ft tall, unpleasant-smelling man in front of him.

当威尔到卧室拿健身装备的时候，他被出现在眼前的这个蓬头垢面味道难闻的六尺大汉吓了一跳。

‘I asked him what he was doing in my house, and he said he was a neighbour who’d heard a noise and was worried,’ says Will. ‘I was sure he was a thief, so as he went to push past me, I grabbed him and pushed him to the floor.

“我问他在我的房子里干什么，他回答说他是邻居，听到一些声音很担心就过来看看。” 威尔说，“我确定他是个小偷，所以当他要从我身边挤过去时，我抓住了他把他按到了地上。”

‘I managed to get him downstairs and out into the street after pulling his jacket down to trap his arms like I’d seen in the TV police series, The Sweeney. I was shouting “Thief! Thief”. Someone had heard me shouting and called the police, who arrived within minutes. Some passersby helped me restrain Peter, who by then had stopped fighting.’

“就像在电视里警匪片《斯维尼》看到的一样，在我扯下他夹克并压住他两条胳膊后，我成功地将他拽到楼下并带到了街上。我开始大声喊‘小偷，小偷’ 。有人听到了我的呼叫报了警，几分钟后警察赶到了。一些路过的人帮着我按住了皮特，他随后也停止了挣扎。”

The police bundled Peter — a serial offender out on parole for burglary — into the back of their van. He subsequently pleaded guilty to breaking and entering, and began a three-year sentence in London’s Pentonville Prison.

警察将皮特拷了起来丢进了警车里，这个入室盗窃的惯犯之前才刚获得假释出狱。不久后皮特就因非法闯入民宅罪名被判刑，在伦敦维尔监狱开始了三年的牢狱生活。

It was the 34th prison in which he had been incarcerated, but, despite having spent 18 years of his life in jail, Peter somehow remained hopeful that he could clean himself up, stop taking drugs and go on to do something useful on his eventual release.

如今已经是他第34次被关进监狱了，尽管人生中有18年是在牢狱中度过的，但是皮特还是希望能改过自新，戒了毒品然后在最终释放后做些有用的事儿。

A few weeks later, Will received a telephone call from police officer Kim Smith, who explained that a trial in restorative justice was about to take place and he wondered if Will would like to meet Peter, who was in Pentonville Prison on remand, awaiting sentencing.

几周后，威尔接到了金姆·史密斯警官打来的电话，他说有一个恢复性司法审讯将要进行，想知道威尔是不是愿意见见正在维尔监狱候审等待判决的皮特。

Will consulted family and friends and discussed both sides of the argument before deciding that he wanted to meet Peter again. ‘I’m a spoilt, middle-class man, and I was curious about Peter’s dangerous world,’ Will says. ‘I also thought that I might be able to help him change his ways.’

在威尔决定再见皮特之前，他了解了皮特的家庭和朋友，听了各种关于威尔的意见和看法。“我是一个被宠坏的中产阶级，我对皮特危险的世界特别好奇，” 威尔说，“我也没想到我能够帮他改变原本的生活轨迹。”

Will saved Peter's life. ‘We’re great friends, we get on extremely well, we have a unique bond, and when we meet we talk about everything,’ says Will. ‘Peter’s a fine man.’

威尔拯救了皮特的生活。“我们是好朋友，我们关系特别好，这种关系很特别，我们见了面可以无话不谈。”威尔说，“皮特是个好人。”

Surely words that ten years ago, as he stood bleeding on the pavement outside his home, he could never have imagined saying.

当然了，这些话如果放到10年前他头上流着血站在自家门外人行道的时候，他绝对不会这么说的。