By Jamal Osman

now piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping for much of the last decade. Sailors have been held hostage， often for months 1）on end， and the activities of the pirates have cost the shipping industry billions of pounds.

The behind-the-scenes story has been much in demand with journalists from around the world being sent to the region to find those involved. But their searches have led them into a pirate industry of a very different kind， with money being handed over to 2）imposters， whove never been near the high seas.

在最近十年的大部分時(shí)間里，索馬里近海的海盜行為已經(jīng)成為國(guó)際航運(yùn)的一大威脅，船員被劫持為人質(zhì)，通常被關(guān)押數(shù)月之久，海盜的活動(dòng)已給航運(yùn)業(yè)造成了數(shù)十億英鎊的損失。

世人都很想了解海盜背后的故事，世界各地的記者被派往該地區(qū)尋找海盜的故事。但他們的苦苦搜尋卻讓他們?cè)庥隽艘粋€(gè)與海盜行為截然不同的劫掠產(chǎn)業(yè)，金錢則到了那些從未靠近過(guò)公海的冒牌海盜手中。

（In the news： And a hijacking on the high seas now. Somali pirates…）

（In the news： We are getting new details about what took place on a hijacked yacht…）

Reporter： These are real stories about real Somali pirates， the modern-day 3）highwaymen of the sea. Its a hot story， and journalists are on the hunt for pirates to interview.

Pirate： （In documentary） We have taken the cargo of， you know， American people， and there are some security guys， who came there， you know， with guns. They shoot us. They came， you know， some of our colleagues are dead.

Reporter： The hunt starts here in Nairobi， home to a big Somali community. This place has now become the operational headquarters of the men who are pirating the pirates. Confused？ Let me explain.

This is Adnan. He lives in the 4）slums of Eastleigh， the part of Nairobi where many Somalis have settled. These slums are among the poorest in Kenya. It might look like a place without hope， but its from here that Adnan and others have built a small cottage industry， an industry that had been fooling some of the best journalists the world over. And their business？ Pretending to be pirates.

Adnan： We pretend because we have the talent. They go to the boss， they say they need pirates. The boss came to us and tell us the white men have come， they need the pirates， you know？

Reporter： And whats your daily fee？ Adnan： Daily fee， $200.

Reporter： Wow， thats a lot of money.

Adnan： Sixteen thousand in Kenyan money.

Reporter： Meet Bashir， not his real name. Its his pirate name. He was a little harder to pin down. Unlike Adnan， his career has been going a long time.

（新聞報(bào)道：公海上正在發(fā)生一起搶劫，索馬里海盜……）

（新聞報(bào)道：我們獲得了發(fā)生在被劫持游艇上的新細(xì)節(jié)……）

記者：這些是真正的索馬里海盜的故事，他們是當(dāng)代版的海上劫犯。這是熱門話題，記者們四處搜尋海盜進(jìn)行采訪。

海盜：（記錄片中）我們拿了，你知道，美國(guó)人的貨物，然后一些保安人員來(lái)到這里，你也知道，帶著槍。他們向我們開(kāi)槍，你知道嗎，他們來(lái)了，我們一些同伴死了。

記者：搜尋從肯尼亞首都內(nèi)羅畢附近一個(gè)大型索馬里社區(qū)開(kāi)始。這里現(xiàn)在成了盜版海盜的運(yùn)營(yíng)總部。聽(tīng)不明白嗎？讓我來(lái)解釋一下。

這位是亞丹，他住在內(nèi)羅畢的伊斯來(lái)爾貧民窟。很多索馬里人都把家安在這里，這里是肯尼亞最貧窮的地區(qū)之一。這里看起來(lái)像是一個(gè)毫無(wú)希望的地方，但正是在這里，亞丹及其他人營(yíng)造了一個(gè)小作坊式的產(chǎn)業(yè)，愚弄了一些世界上最優(yōu)秀的記者。他們做的是什么生意？假裝海盜。

亞丹：我們扮演海盜是因?yàn)槲覀冇胁湃A。他們?nèi)フ依习?，說(shuō)他們想見(jiàn)海盜，老板就來(lái)找我們，告訴我們，那些白人來(lái)了，他們需要海盜。你明白嗎？

記者：你扮演一天收多少錢？亞丹：一天收費(fèi)200美元。

記者：哇，那可是很大一筆錢。

亞丹：相當(dāng)于一萬(wàn)六千肯尼亞幣（先令）。

記者：我們來(lái)認(rèn)識(shí)一下巴希爾，這不是他的真名，只是他扮演海盜時(shí)用的名字。要找到他可不是那么容易，與亞丹不同，他做這一行已經(jīng)有很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間了。

This is a documentary， which has reportedly been shown in up to 18 different countries. In it， Bashir pretends to be one of Somalias most feared pirates. He didnt just impress this filmmaker. He has given many interviews in many different 5）guises over the years. In this edition of Time magazine， hes interviewed again. In it， the journalist says， “Bashir bared his black rotted teeth every time he smiled. Bashir was a fisherman. The pirates wanted to hire him because he knew how to swim， a valuable skill he could teach other recruits. He told me， ‘We are the ones out on the water taking all the risks and suffering.”

Reporter： They gave me a quick run-through about how they trick Westerners.

Adnan： Well， we go to a place like slums. We travel to a place—there is a place called Kiamaiko where they， you know， people slaughter goats. That is a place we go to.

You know the Western guys， you know， what Ive seen thats they think Africans are fools， but we have discovered that we are not fools. We are so clever than the Western people—we Africans， we are so clever—that we are fooling them， but they think they are fooling us.

Reporter： And as I was about to say goodbye to Adnan， his phone rang.

Was that your next job？

Adnan： Yeah.

這是一部記錄片，據(jù)稱它已經(jīng)在多達(dá)18個(gè)國(guó)家播出。在片中巴希爾扮演的是索馬里最讓人畏懼的海盜。他不但給這部片的制片人留下深刻印象，多年來(lái)，他還以不同的偽裝身份出現(xiàn)在很多不同的采訪中。在這一期的《時(shí)代》雜志中，他再次接受采訪。記者在文中說(shuō)：“巴希爾每次笑時(shí)，都會(huì)露出他黑黑的爛牙。巴希爾是漁民，海盜們想雇傭他是因?yàn)樗麜?huì)游泳，這是很重要的一項(xiàng)技能，他可以教其他新手。他告訴我：‘我們是在海上經(jīng)受風(fēng)險(xiǎn)及磨難的人?！?/p>

記者：他們給我上了一堂關(guān)于如何欺騙西方人的速成課。

亞丹：嗯，我們會(huì)去貧民窟這樣的地方，我們會(huì)到一個(gè)叫基米科的地方，人們?cè)谀抢锿涝咨窖?，這就是我們要去的地方。

你知道那些西方人，你知道嗎，我所見(jiàn)到的是，他們以為非洲人是傻瓜，但我們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己并不傻，我們比西方人聰明得多——我們非洲人，我們是多么的聰明——我們?cè)谟夼麄?，但他們還以為是他們?cè)谟夼覀儭?/p>

記者：正當(dāng)我想跟亞丹說(shuō)再見(jiàn)的時(shí)候，他的電話響了起來(lái)。

你的下一個(gè)工作機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)了嗎？

亞丹：是的。