评论
打印
Chapter one: he adored Las Vegas— a city that looked as beautiful as him.
第一章：他超爱拉斯维加斯——这个和他一样漂亮的城市。
No, no, no, no, that's too narcissistic.
不不不不不，这么说就显得他太自恋了。
Let me start this over.
再来一次。
To him, Las Vegas was a city full of color, energy and opportunity.
对他来说，拉斯维加斯是一个充满了色彩、活力和机遇的城市。
A complete contrast from where he came from.
与他的故土简直判若云泥。
This is the story of how Daniel Pohl escaped the clutches of the Iron Curtain on a zip line and won his freedom.
本期讲述的是丹尼尔·波尔如何借助一根溜索逃出铁幕，重获自由的故事。
Yeah, this sounds much better.
嗯，这么说就好听多了。
Hold on, let's pause for a second.
等等，我们先暂个小停。
To understand this story, we need to go back.
要弄清楚来龙去脉，我们得把时间往前挪一挪。
Like way back, like back to the '80s.
就狠狠地往前挪，比如，挪到80年代。
The place is Czechoslovakia, the ruling party—Communist.
地点，捷克斯洛伐克，执政党，共产党。
Our character is Daniel Pohl, a young man who was politically outspoken.
我们的主人公，丹尼尔·波尔，一个在政治上直言不讳的年轻人。
"People that knew me really well, they told me,
那些特别了解我的人都说，
'Hey listen, all I can tell you is, you really want to tone it down on your political speech because you may end up in prison.'
‘嘿，听着，我就这么跟你说吧，你谈政治的时候真的得收着点儿，不然可能会吃牢饭的。’
And so that's when I starting plotting escape."
我就是那会儿开始筹划逃跑的计划的。”
While planning his exit strategy, Daniel met another radical thinker, a physicist named Robert Ospald.
就在筹划离开策略的时候，丹尼尔遇到了另一位激进人士，一位名叫罗伯特·奥斯帕德的物理学家。
"Robert was pretty well gifted when it came to physics.
“罗伯特在物理方面有很高的天赋。
He was imprisoned for political reasons,
因为政治原因他已经被关起来了，
so I knew that this guy is crazy enough to be my partner in crime to get out with.
我就觉得，这哥们儿够疯狂，能当我的同伙和我一起逃出去。
We tried to come up with all kinds of crazy ideas, like building our own rocket and flying over the Iron Curtain.
我们本来想了各种各样疯狂的办法，比如自己造火箭从铁幕上飞过去啊。
Digging tunnels, none of it seemed viable for many reasons.
挖隧道等等等等，种种原因吧，貌似那些办法都行不通。
Then one day, I see Robert glancing at a power line and something told me: “You should be worried."
后来有一天，我看到罗伯特在看输电线，我就听到有个声音在告诉我：“有你担心的了。”
He says, "We're gonna zip line into Austria."
他说，“我们坐滑索滑到奥地利去。
“I said,"No, dude, you're clinically insane."
我说，“不了兄弟，你肯定是疯了。”
And he says, "And that's why we're gonna get out."
他说，“所以我们才要走啊。”
So the two got to work, and over the next several months they built—and tested—their own pulleys.
于是，二人开干了，接下来的几个月，他们就制作并对他们的滑轮进行了测试。
"The plan was to infiltrate the border zone, climb up the tower, set up the pulleys, zip line over the Iron Curtain,
“我们的计划是先潜入边境地带，再爬上电线塔上把滑轮装上，从铁幕上方滑过去，
climb down from the next tower into no-mans land, and then make it into Austria."
从下一个电线塔上爬下来，穿过无人地带，进入奥地利。”
"Woo hoo."
“呜呼。”
"The reason why this was so insanely dangerous, because we could have gotten shot at the border.
“这个办法之所以危险得要命，是因为我们在边境上就可能被击毙。
Could have gotten electrocuted.
滑的过程中可能会触电。
Could have gotten torn apart by border dogs.
可能被边境巡逻狗咬得开肠破肚。
And then you have 380,000 volts coursing underneath your feet.
此外，你脚下还通有38万伏的高压电流。
Yeah, this mission was, to put it mildly, extremely dangerous.
所以，这次任务，说得委婉点的话，就是极其危险。
It was almost like a 'Mission Impossible.'"
难度嘛，就跟《碟中谍》差不多。”
But that didn't stop these two.
但困难并没有吓唬住他们。
With their pulley's made, and their plan in place, they headed out and climbed the tower.
滑轮做好了，计划也做好了，他们就出发爬上电线塔了。
"Robert went first, and when he took off, my heart just sunk.
“罗伯特先上去的，他滑走以后，我的心直接就凉了。
And I was like, yeah, there is no turning back, I am doing this.
就觉得，好吧，没有回头路了，只能硬着头皮上了。
I just decided to go for it, I went for it.
我就决定努把力试试看。
When I was zip lining, it was like a mixture of emotions you never experienced before.
开始滑以后，心里是五味杂陈，全部都是你从未有过的感觉。
You are way up high, you have a lot of electricity around you, it was crazy.
你悬在那么高的地方，周围有那么高的电压，超级疯狂的。
But, despite all the close calls, we made it."
但是，尽管反复跟死亡擦肩而过，我们总算是成功了。”
Daniel and Robert became local celebrities, appearing in news outlets all over Europe.
丹尼尔和罗伯特也因此成了当地的名人，还出现在了欧洲各地的新闻媒体上。
Daniel even donated his pulley to the Checkpoint Charlie museum in Berlin.
丹尼尔甚至把他的滑轮捐给了柏林的查理检查站的博物馆。
The pulley still hangs there today.
时至今日依然挂在博物馆里。
Robert remained in Austria, but Daniel, his sights were on America.
后来，罗伯特留在了奥地利，丹尼尔的目光则落在了美国身上。
So he moved to the one place that could match his personality—Vegas.
于是，他搬到了那个能与他的个性相匹配的地方——拉斯维加斯。
"So I wrote a book, I got married, drive a cab in Vegas.
“我写了一本书，成了家，现在在拉斯维加斯开出租。
I don't think I would drive a cab anywhere else, but in Vegas, it's fun.
要是换个地方，我应该不会干这行，但是在拉斯维加斯开出租是很有意思的。
Very international city, very dynamic—it's awesome."
因为这个地方非常国际化，非常有活力，超级棒的一个地方。”
"I wanted to be free at all costs.
“我想重获自由，无论需要付出怎样的代价。
Yes, I wanted to piss off the communists.
嗯，我就是想气气那些共产党人。
I wanted to show them that it doesn't matter what Iron Curtain, what wall they're gonna build,
我想告诉他们，无论他们拉起怎样的铁幕，筑起怎样的高墙，
how many border patrol guards they're gonna place on the border, I'm still getting through.
也无论他们在边境上部署多少巡逻队，我都会跑出来。
They can not defeat the human spirit that wants its freedom."
人渴望自由的意志他们是挡不住的。”
"That was awesome."
“简直爽爆了。”
