残忍的贸易:被交易的新娘们

FOREIGNERS have long been attracted to Sapa and its surrounding mountains in the far north of Vietnam. First it was the French colonists, who built a hill station there. More recently it has been tourists, who come to enjoy the stunning landscape of terraced rice paddies and the colourful world of the Hmong tribes, with their distinctive red, black or “flower” dress. But now, it seems, another type of visitor is finding this territory attractive: gangs of kidnappers who snatch young Hmong women for sale as brides across the border in China.
长期以来, 外国游客们被位于越南北部,群山环绕的小城沙坝(SAPA) 所吸引, 沙坝最初曾是法国殖民地, 殖民者们在此修建了避暑山庄, 近来喜爱梯田壮美的景色和苗族多彩天地及苗族人民穿着的有特色的红色, 黑色或者碎花的民族服装的游客们纷至沓来. 但现在, 看上去另一类的”游客”也被吸引到了这个独特区域: 拐骗团伙到此骗取年轻的苗族妇女并将她们作为新娘越境贩卖到中国.

The kidnapping has been going on for some time, and locals talk of a number of cases so far this year. The abductions follow a pattern: a Hmong girl is wooed by an out-of-towner—whether from Vietnam or China is not clear—who speaks her language. She is lured to a rendezvous to be drugged and smuggled into China, probably near Lao Cai, about an hour’s drive from Sapa. Tall, pretty girls are said to be particular targets.
这类的拐卖活动已经出现了一段时间了. 今年以来当地的居民们就在谈论着很多起类似的拐卖事件. 此类的诱拐通常是这样的模式: 一个苗族女孩被一个能说苗语的外乡人(或许是越南人或许是中国人)所诱惑, 被骗到一个指定的地方, 或许是在离开沙坝一小时车程的Lao Cai附近, 然后被下药迷昏并被偷运进中国. 据说在此类事件中, 个子高且漂亮的女孩子会被当作特别的目标. 

One 18-year-old recently managed to get back home to tell her tale after a four-day ordeal. Held captive in China, she escaped through a window and contacted the Chinese police, who returned her to Vietnam. Most do not escape. One of those kidnapped last month was a married woman with a son; friends fear her family may never see her again.
最近一个刚设法逃回家的18岁女孩讲诉了她四天的磨难. 她被拐骗到中国后, 从窗户逃了出来并报警, 中国警察将她送回了越南. 但是大多数的女孩子则无法逃脱, 上个月被拐卖的妇女中有一个是有着一个儿子的已婚妇女, 她的朋友们担心她的家人可能再也看不到她了.

There is some tradition of bride-kidnapping among the Hmong themselves, but this gangsterised, cross-border variety is especially cruel. Village girls with little knowledge of the outside world tend to be trusting. And the kidnappers seem to operate with impunity—even, according to one account, seeking a reward for returning two underage girls whom they had failed to sell in China.
在苗族人中的确是有类似的拐卖新娘的传统, 但这类的垮境团伙案件显得特别残忍. 村里长大的女孩子因为对外界很少了解而容易轻信. 并且绑架者们看来并没有因此而受到惩罚. 甚至出现这样的情况, 他们要收到赎金后才能放回两个因为太小而无法卖到中国的女孩子.

Within China itself, the abduction and sale of women has long been recognised as a prevalent social evil. Three decades of strict family-planning policies have exacerbated a traditional preference for boy children and contributed to a shortage of marriageable women.
而中国这方面, 拐卖妇女长期以来被认为是一种普遍存在的社会丑恶事件. 三十年来的严格的人口政策加重了传统意义上的男孩为主的思维并导致了适婚妇女的短缺.

Relations between Vietnam and China along their 1,300km (800-mile) border have improved: last month officials from the two countries, which fought a brief but bloody border war in 1979, completed a seven-year effort to demarcate the frontier. This, they hope, will open the way for increased links of various sorts. Stepped-up police co-operation to stamp out an evil little trade in Hmong women would be a good start.
有着1300公里(800英里)边境线的越南和中国之间的关系已得到了改善, 上个月, 曾经在1979年有过短暂但血腥的边境战争的两国派出了官员完成了历时7年的两国边境的划界. 两国希望这个举动为增强彼此在各方面的联系开辟通道. 而增强两国警察之间的合作从而扑灭这类罪恶的苗族妇女拐卖贸易行径将会成为一个好的开始.