(本文选自《经济学人》20210417期)
背景介绍：
古人“事死如事生”，认为人死后会到另一个世界中，继续生前的享受，因而十分重视自己的墓葬的规格和陪葬品的档次。正因如此，古往今来，各朝各代都有无数盗墓贼想尽办法探寻着地下的宝藏。如今，随着盗墓技术的不断发展，盗墓贼也在变得越来越猖獗。
China’s tomb raiders are growing more professional
The government is digging deep to stop them
By day Mr Wei sold pancakes in Shaanxi, a northern province. By night he led a gang of grave robbers who tunnelled under an ancient temple near his shop. It took 11 months for them to reach the treasures buried beneath, which included gold statues of the Buddha and the bones of
illustrious
monks.
白天，陕西的魏某是一个煎饼小贩。到了晚上，他会带领一帮盗墓贼在他店铺附近的一座古庙下面挖地道。他们花了11个月的时间才找到埋藏在地下的宝藏，其中包括一些金佛像和舍利子。
Mr Wei and his cronies went on to dig several more passages from restaurants that they opened in the vicinity of shrines and pagodas. Over five years the looting earned them 12m yuan ($1.8m). Last year Mr Wei was sentenced to 15 years in prison. It was the second time that tomb raiding had landed him behind bars.
魏某和他的同伙们继续从他们开在寺庙和宝塔附近开的餐馆里挖掘更多的地道。五年来，他们通过盗墓非法牟利1200万元（约合180万美元）。去年，魏先生最终被判处15年有期徒刑。这已经是他第二次因盗墓而被捕入狱了。
China is redoubling efforts to catch grave robbers. Last year authorities arrested 2,400 such thieves and retrieved over 31,000 lost or stolen items, almost three times the number reclaimed during the previous year.
中国正在加大力度将这些盗墓贼绳之以法。去年，公安机关逮捕盗墓贼2400人，追回丢失或被盗文物超过3.1万件，几乎是前年追回文物数量的三倍。
The government agency responsible for protecting relics says it is in the midst of a 12-month crackdown on tomb raiders that involves more investment in staff and equipment. Punishments are growing more severe. In 2017 a man convicted of leading a gang of 200 grave robbers was put to death.
负责文物保护的政府机构表示，他们正在开展为期12个月的打击盗墓贼的行动，但这需要在人员及设备上进行更多投入。惩罚也变得越来越严厉。2017年，一名男子因带领一个由200名盗墓贼组成的团伙而被判处死刑。
Looting antiquities remains an alluring business, nonetheless. Some 90% of all the major tombs of which the whereabouts is known have been
plundered
at one time or other, says Ni Fangliu, an independent scholar.
尽管如此，盗窃文物仍然是一门诱人的生意。独立学者倪方柳说，如今已发现的古墓中约有90%曾被盗过。
Sites in Shaanxi province—home to the world-famous terracotta army, among other ancient stuff—have been a target for centuries. But thieves are fanning out to new areas, including Xinjiang in north-western China and Inner Mongolia, in the north-east.
几个世纪以来，陕西省的遗址（世界闻名的秦始皇兵马俑所在地） 一直深受盗墓贼的关注。但如今，盗墓贼们将目光转向了其他地区，其中包括位于西北部的新疆和位于东北部的内蒙古等地区。
Taboos around disturbing old graves are fading, a little. These were once so strong that even archaeologists shied from opening tombs, and some still set off firecrackers before digs to repel ghosts.
有关古墓的禁忌正在逐渐消退。过去，人们对这些禁忌的深信不疑，就连考古学家也不愿对古墓进行挖掘研究，一些考古学家甚至会在开始挖掘前燃放鞭炮以驱赶鬼魂。
But in 2006 two popular fantasy novels, “Grave Robbers’ Chronicles” and “Ghost Blows Out the Light”, made it look fun. Grave robbers’
picaresque
adventures soon became the subject of films and television shows.
但在2006年，两部热门奇幻小说（《盗墓笔记》和《鬼吹灯》）让人们对古墓的挖掘研究产生了兴趣。
That makes some officials
queasy
. In 2016 a Communist Party mouth piece urged people not to “glamorise the grave robber” because “digging up ancestral tombs has always been a wicked practice”.
当局对此感到担忧。2016年刊发的一篇文章敦促人们不要“美化”盗墓贼，因为“挖掘先人的坟墓不管怎样都是一种可耻的行为”。
The craze has had the benefit of strengthening public interest in archaeology. In March the state broadcaster live-streamed a dig that has unearthed 3,000-year-old relics from Sanxingdui, an ancient site in Sichuan province.
这股热潮的好处是增强了公众对考古学的兴趣。今年3月，中央电视台对四川三星堆遗址的挖掘工作进行了直播，那里出土了许多3000年前的文物。
Millions tuned in. Yang Ying, a 25-year-old history buff milling around the Sanxingdui museum, credits “Grave Robbers’ Chronicles” for nurturing her interest in relics. But “lock up the thieves,” she says.
数百万人观看了这场直播。25岁的历史爱好者杨颖参观了三星堆博物馆，她认为《盗墓笔记》培养了她对文物的兴趣。但她表示，最重要的是“要把盗墓贼抓起来”。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
本文翻译：Vinnie
校核：Vinnie
编辑：Vinnie
近年来，随着《盗墓笔记》和《鬼吹灯》等盗墓题材的影视作品的热播，越来越多人对历史甚至是考古学产生了浓厚的兴趣。但与此同时，人们也发现越来越多的古代墓葬和历史遗迹正在遭到盗墓贼的破坏，并导致大量历史文物的丢失。对此，国家正在逐步加大对盗墓贼的打击力度。
illustrious
[ɪˈlʌstriəs] adj. 著名的；辉煌的
plunder
[ˈplʌndər] v. 掠夺；抢劫；侵吞
