"A clown started chasing us up here."

「一個小丑突然開始追我們」

"On Facebook they said there was killer clowns around here that were killing people."

「Facebook 上有人說這附近有個殺人小丑」

We saw a man with all black on, clown mask on, and like a red wig.

「我們看到一個穿全黑的男人，戴著小丑面具還有紅色假髮

This wave of clown panic started in late August, when police in South Carolina received reports

這波小丑風暴是從八月底開始的，南卡羅來納的警察開始收到相關報案

about a suspicious character dressed as a clown who was trying to get children to follow

有關一個可疑人士扮成小丑的樣子，他想要讓小孩子跟著他

them into the woods.

進到樹林裡

Residents reportedly took matters into their own hands and began firing shots into the woods.

據說當地居民打算自己解決這件事並開始朝著樹林發射子彈

“We do know that it’s striking fear among members of our public.

「我們知道這波小丑風暴讓許多民眾感到恐慌」

And so we have patrols out in each of these areas and wherever we think we might anticipate that person.

「因此我們在所有該名小丑可能出現的地點都有派員警巡邏」

We've added patrols to see if we can intercept the person and the activity."

「我們增加巡邏的員警來試圖攔截這名小丑並且停止這樣的一個風波」

Since then, police around the country have been inundated with complaints about clown

從那時起，美國各地的警察接到了無數起目擊小丑的報案

sightings, and prank calls falsely reporting sightings.

以及謊報目擊小丑的惡作劇電話

Residents in some communities are asking if they’re allowed to shoot clowns on site.

某些社區居民希望能夠當場開槍射擊小丑

“You’re under arrest for disorderly conduct."

「你因脫序行為被捕」

"I was not scaring nobody, I promise you."

「我保證我沒有在嚇任何人！」

"Alright, how did we get a 911 call?"

「好吧，那解釋給我聽，我們為什麼會接到報警電話呢？」

"I just came out the door, I swear."

「我才剛踏出門而已，真的」

As you can hear the police officer saying, the arrests are usually made for disorderly

就像那個警察說的，這種逮捕的理由通常是脫序行為

conduct, though some states also have anti-mask laws that prevent people from concealing their

即使某些州也有法律規定人們不能夠以面罩在公共場所

identities in public.

隱藏自己的身份

The consequences of these copy-cat pranks are playing out in a very real way.

這些假的惡作劇帶來非常真實的後果

Schools in several states have been put on lockdown after threats from people posing

在一些人在社群網站上穿著小丑服以及口傳的小丑目擊案件之後

as clowns on social media and word-of-mouth reports of clown sightings.

一些州別的學校被要求封鎖

On top of that, one student in Georgia was arrested for bringing a knife to school to

除此之外，喬治亞州一名學生因為帶著一把刀到學校而被逮捕

defend herself against clowns, and another in Virginia was arrested for posting a request

她宣稱要用那把刀來保護自己不被小丑攻擊；另一名維吉尼亞州的學生則因為在社群網站上

on social media for a clown to kill her teacher.

刊出希望小丑殺掉她的老師的要求而被逮捕

At Penn State, hundreds of students flooded the streets in search of clowns that had allegedly

在賓州，上百名學生湧上街頭，希望找到據說出沒於校園週遭的小丑

been seen around campus — though police reported that there were no credible sightings

但警察報告卻顯示沒有課信賴的小丑目擊事件

or threats.

也沒有相關威脅

Turns out the clown backlash may be more dangerous than the pranksters themselves.

沒想到人們對小丑的反應居然比小丑惡作劇的人還要嚴重

At the end of September, a 16-year-old who was allegedly scaring neighborhood kids while

九月底，一個據稱戴著小丑面具在社區裡嚇小孩的十六歲青少年

wearing a clown mask was stabbed to death after a confrontation.

在一場爭吵中被刺死

Now, this isn’t the first time things like this have happened.

這類事情並不是第一次發生

As recently as 2014 there was a similar clown craze in the U.S. that became a small social

2014 年在美國就有一個類似的小丑風暴

media trend and spread to France.

這場風暴後來成為社群網站上的潮流並且傳到法國

But the roots of people dressing up as clowns as a prank are a lot older than social media.

不過人們穿著小丑裝惡作劇嚇人的起源早在社群網站出現之前就有了

In 1981 in neighborhoods around Boston, police received over 20 calls about children having

1981 年在波士頓周遭的社區，警察接到超過二十通報案電話

seen mysterious clowns.

通報小朋友看見神秘的小丑

Local schools panicked.

當地學校一陣恐慌

Police questioned a clown they believed to be the one children had seen, only to find

警察盤問了他們認為是小朋友口中的那個小丑，卻發現

that he had just been making rounds to department stores as part of his job.

他只不過是常去百貨公司，而這是他工作的一部份罷了

A few days later, police in Kansas City were flooded with an estimated 60 to 100 calls

幾天之後，堪薩斯城的警察接到了大約 60 到 100 通報案電話

about a “demon clown” scaring children, armed with a knife.

人們報稱他們看見一個「惡魔小丑」帶著小刀嚇小朋友

Parents were on edge after a local parochial school sent home a note warning them about

父母們在當地一間教區學校寄給他們一份通知，警告他們小心一個「殺人小丑」之後

a “killer clown” — but police weren’t able to find any real threat, and blamed the

非常的緊張兮兮，但是警察並沒有找到任何實際威脅，並將此風暴的源頭

hype on prank calls and children’s imaginations.

怪罪於惡作劇報案電話跟小朋友的想像力

Now, all of this happened just a year after John Wayne Gacy was charged with the murders

這一切都發生在 John Wayne Gacy 被以殺人罪起訴的僅僅一年之後

of 33 people, mostly adolescents, committed over the course of the previous decade.

John Wayne Gacy 在前十年之間謀殺了 33 人，大部分是青少年

Gacy worked as a clown for charity — so there was a lot of preexisting fear around

Gacy 當時為一個慈善機構扮小丑—所以當時人們對小丑的印象就已經抱持著恐懼的心情

this image of a dangerous clown.

And for the next 25 years, appearances kept happening.

接下來的 25 年，以小丑形象犯罪的事件不斷增加

East Chicago in 1991

1991 年的東芝加哥

Washington DC in 1994, South Brunswick in 1997.

1994 年的華盛頓特區、1997 年的南布朗斯維克

When you think about what first made people afraid of clowns, it’s tempting to pin it

如果你試著去想到底是什麼讓人們開始害怕小丑，你很容易就會認為是

to Gacy or movies like “It,” “Poltergeist,” and “Killer Klowns from Outer Space”.

因為 Gacy，或是像是 "It"、"Poltergeist"、跟 "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" 等等的電影

But to understand how clowns gained the dark associations that they have today, you have

但是要了解小丑如今是如何跟這些黑暗特質連結在一起的，我們必須

to go back to the British Regency era, back when a clown named Joseph Grimaldi was the

回到英國攝政時代，看看一個名叫 Joseph Grimaldi 的小丑

most popular entertainer in England.

（他是當時全英國最有名的娛樂表演者）

If you look at the costumes that he wore, you can see how he invented a lot of the classic

如果你有注意到他穿的表演服，你會發現他發明了很多我們現在認知的一個「小丑」應該要有的裝扮

“clown” look as we know it today: the colorful hair, the extravagant clothes, the

彩色頭髮、華麗的衣服

white face makeup.

以及臉上白色的化妝

But Grimaldi rose to stardom at a time when what it meant to be famous in pop culture

但是在 Grimaldi 成名的時候

was changing.

在流行文化當中成名的意義正在改變

"An interest in celebrity culture began to emerge, you know, people were interested in

「人們開始對名人文化感到興趣

the personal lives of people that they saw in public. So being a public person was no longer

開始對公眾人物的私生活有興趣。所以僅僅作為一個常常露面的公眾人物已經不夠了

enough, people wanted to know about

人們想要知道

the private individual and the secret and potentially scandalous aspects of their private

他們私底下的生活，包括那些秘密甚至可能有緋聞的面向」

life."

And that private life had a dark side: Grimaldi suffered from depression and alcoholism.

而這也常常揭露了公眾人物的黑暗面：Grimaldi 患有憂鬱症並且常常酗酒

When he was first starting out as a writer, Charles Dickens edited Grimaldi’s memoirs,

在狄更斯剛開始寫作的時候，他編輯了 Grimaldi 的回憶錄

and later immortalized a version of that disturbed clown character in his first novel, the Pickwick

並且在他的第一本小說 The Pickwick Papers 之中讓這個令人感到不安的小丑角色廣為人知

Papers.

The image stuck, even though entertainment went through some major changes.

這個小丑形象就這麼定型了，即使娛樂產業經歷了不少劇烈轉變

Slapstick clown humor had always worked well in situations where you couldn’t always

鬧劇小丑幽默一直都是一個很成功的表演形式

fully see or hear what a performer was doing, like in large auditoriums or in movies without

只要觀眾沒有辦法完全看到或聽到表演者在做什麼，例如在一個大表演廳裡面，或在一步沒有聲音的電影中

sound.

As mainstream culture changed, clowns became darker characters.

主流文化不斷改變，小丑也漸漸成為更黑暗的角色

“Think of a wildly popular clown who's very highly visible in popular culture — there

「試想一個非常受歡迎而且在流行文化當中能見度很高的小丑—其實不只一個

isn't one, or rather there are two: There’s the Joker, who’s a sinister psychopath,

有兩個這樣的角色：the Joker（小丑），他是個邪惡的精神病患

and there’s Krusty the Clown, who’s morally, financially, and physically bankrupt…"

另一個是 Krusty the Clown，他是個道德上、金錢上以及生理上缺陷的角色...」

"Oh I don't know what you're saying, it all sounds so crazy to me."

「噢我聽不懂你在說什麼，這全部聽起來都太瘋狂了」

"So the days of Howdy Doody and others figures are unfortunately gone.”

「所以 Howdy Doody 跟其他小丑角色的時代，很不幸的，已經過去了」

“I do have some sympathy for the clowning community I mean their numbers have dwindled

「我的確對從事小丑表演的那些人感到同情，因為他們的人數逐漸減少

and then they really have been reduced to a children's party performers and ... that's

而且漸漸的只有小孩派對會請他們去...

quite a considerable demotion from the place that they've occupied in our culture really

這對小丑表演者們是一種相當程度的降格，因為兩千年以來，可能還更長，他們原本在我們的文化當中

for two thousand years if not longer, into ancient classical history.”

佔有一定的地位，但現在這段美好卻已經被貶到過去式的古典歷史當中

"We wanna encourage people who may be inclined to dress in clown outfits not to do it.

「我們呼籲有意願要穿著小丑裝的人們不要這麼做

And to avoid doing it at all."

並且真的完全不要這麼做」

A lot of police statements have made sure to clarify that these aren’t “real clowns,”

非常多的警方聲明都極力澄清這些人不是「真的小丑」

they’re people dressed as clowns.

他們只是穿著小丑裝的人

And while that might sound like a silly distinction, it’s actually really important for the professional

這聽起來似乎是個沒什麼意義的區分，但是這對專業小丑社群來說卻是非常重要的

clowning community.

“It does frustrate us because we work very hard at our art form, and we take it very

「這的確讓我們有點沮喪，因為我們在小丑表演這方面非常努力，而且我們非常認真的做這個藝術形式

seriously.

It brings clowning a bad light as a profession.”

這整個風暴讓小丑表演這個專業染上了不好的形象」

Traditional professional clowning is in a rough spot.

傳統的專業小丑表演目前面臨很大的困境

Membership in the World Clown Association, which is the nation’s biggest trade group

世界小丑協會是美國最大的小丑交易團體

for clowns, reportedly dropped from about 3,500 in 2004 to 2,500 in 2014.

它的會員數據稱從 2004 年的 3,500 人掉到了 2014 年的 2,500 人

And since the latest wave of sightings, many professional clowns are afraid to make public

而從最近這一波小丑目擊事件之後，許多職業小丑不敢在公共場所露面

appearances.

Some have even canceled events out of fear for their own safety.

有不少甚至基於自身安全理由取消他們的表演行程

“I’m more afraid for the clown than I am for the citizens, because everybody down here

「比起對一般人民來說，我更擔心小丑的安危，因為這裡每個人都有一把槍

got guns.

I don’t want to be the one to ride up on you and have an encounter with you, because

我不想要當那個必須去接近你的人，因為

I don't think it's gonna end well.”

我不認為你會有好下場」

If you want a better idea of the scale of the clown prank epidemic

如果你想要更深入了解現在這整個小丑惡作劇的嚴重程度的話

that's going on right now, you should go over to Atlas Obscura.

你應該去看看 Atlas Obscura 的網站

This guy named Erik Shilling has put together this interactive map

一個叫 Erik Schilling 的人做了一個互動式地圖

that looks at all of the sightings, all of the reports, and all of the false reports that have come out in recent weeks.

上面標記了最近幾週所有的小丑目擊事件（包括惡作劇電話）

I haven't tried to count everything on this map, but there is a lot.

我還沒有去數這個網站上所有的目擊事件，但是真的非常多