“恐怖小丑”噩梦席卷欧美

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.

你或许已经听说了在过去的几个月中，席卷西方的那场狂潮。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.

所谓的“恐怖小丑”正在全球各地蔓延并不断增加。为了吓人，或是一些更加恶劣的原因，这些人将自己打扮成深受孩子们喜爱的小丑的恐怖模样。

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

尽管这并不是一个最近才发生的新现象，但今夏，该现象发生的频率远超以往。

“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.

“这和小丑没有一点关系，就是人们出于一些邪恶的念头，利用这一戏服吓唬他人，”英国 “小丑国际”组织发言人罗伯•鲍克说道。

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.

最开始，这一现象发生在美国的南卡罗来纳州。八月，据称有一群人戴着小丑面具，试图将孩子们引诱到树林中去。而现在，类似事件已在全球蔓延，就连挪威和澳大利亚也未能幸免。

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

尽管大部分“恐怖小丑”事件并无恶意，只是一些人恶作剧吓人罢了，但并非所有事件都如此无害。

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、身份不明的袭击者刺伤;而另一名8岁的瑞典男孩为了躲避一名身着小丑戏服夜半敲门的男子，从家中3米高的阳台上一跃而下，被发现时仍在颤颤发抖。

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，最受影响的人群，可能便是以穿戴松垮皮鞋和大红鼻头为生的小丑们了。

“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.

“我作为职业小丑已经34年了，但现在，这些事情正在摧毁我的事业，”来自美国新泽西州的职业儿童表演艺人、小丑特吉在接受英国广播公司采访时表示。

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

“没有人给我打预约电话。而且不止我一个人，我的小丑朋友们也是，”她解释道。

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.”

在更南边的墨西哥，成百上千的职业小丑们决定继续举办他们原定10月20日在墨西哥城举办的年会。参会人员一再强调：“我们是小丑，不是杀手。”

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

尽管在拉美，人们一切如常，但在其他地方却不是如此。

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.

美国数个当地政府自今年的万圣节庆典(10月31日)后，明令禁止人们扮成小丑;而英国警方也已经要求戏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.

英国警方同时呼吁恶作剧的人停止扮成小丑乱晃，称他们在消耗资源。“这些都是既吓人又浪费我们时间的愚蠢行为，”一名发言人讲道。

“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，一个孩子被尾随。不论这些人是否在开玩笑，这一点都不好笑。”