竊賊和房主成十年至交好友
They greet each other with an affectionate bear hug whenever they meet — a gesture which demonstrates the strong bond these two men feel towards each other.
無論什麼時候他們遇到，總是來一個充滿深情的熊抱—--這個動作讓兩人彼此感受到濃濃的哥們情誼。
To the casual observer, Peter Woolf and Will Riley, both 55, are devoted old pals. But the course of their unorthodox ten-year friendship makes for intriguing — and shocking — reading.
在旁人看來,55歲的皮特·伍爾夫和威爾·瑞利應該是老朋友吧。但是他們這段非常規的十年友誼的淵源卻實在是很有趣，而且還很讓人吃驚，來讀讀他們的故事。
Before the men ever had a proper conversation, they had a serious physical fight. Peter hit Will over the head with a heavy griddle, then they both rolled down the stairs of Will’s North London home before Peter hit him again with a terracotta pot.
他們第一次打交道不是好好的聊天，而是激烈的拳頭相向。在威爾位於倫敦北部的家中，皮特用一個很重的煎鍋砸了威爾的頭，隨後皮特再次準備用陶瓦壺砸向他，結果兩人一起滾下了樓梯。
Will was stunned and bleeding from the back of the head, but he refused to give in to Peter — a desperate heroin addict with a 30-year habit who had broken into Will’s home to steal whatever valuables he could then sell to buy drugs.
威爾受了驚嚇而且腦袋後面正在出血，但是他拒絕向皮特妥協。皮特是一個有着30年毒癮又不顧一切的人，他闖入威爾的家，偷一切值錢的東西，賣了錢然後去買毒品。
It was March 2002 and 5pm when Peter forced the front door of Will’s five-storey Georgian home in Islington. Will, a fit, 6ft 5in ex-banker who now runs his own ice-cream business, was working on the first floor, oblivious to the intrusion.
那是2002年3月一天的下午5點，皮特逼近威爾在伊斯林頓區5層的喬治亞住宅樓。體格健康的威爾身高6.5英尺，以前是個銀行家如今經營着自己的冰激凌生意。當時他正在1樓工作，沒注意有人闖入自己的住宅。
When Will walked into his bedroom to get his gym kit, he was stunned to find a dishevelled, 6ft tall, unpleasant-smelling man in front of him.
當威爾到臥室拿健身裝備的時候，他被出現在眼前的這個蓬頭垢面味道難聞的六尺大漢嚇了一跳。‘I asked him what he was doing in my house, and he said he was a neighbour who’d heard a noise and was worried,’ says Will. ‘I was sure he was a thief, so as he went to push past me, I grabbed him and pushed him to the floor.
“我問他在我的房子裏幹什麼，他回答說他是鄰居，聽到一些聲音很擔心就過來看看。” 威爾說，“我確定他是個小偷，所以當他要從我身邊擠過去時，我抓住了他把他按到了地上。”
‘I managed to get him downstairs and out into the street after pulling his jacket down to trap his arms like I’d seen in the TV police series, The Sweeney. I was shouting “Thief! Thief”. Someone had heard me shouting and called the police, who arrived within minutes. Some passersby helped me restrain Peter, who by then had stopped fighting.’
“就像在電視裏警匪片《斯維尼》看到的一樣，在我扯下他夾克並壓住他兩條胳膊後，我成功地將他拽到樓下並帶到了街上。我開始大聲喊‘小偷，小偷’ 。有人聽到了我的呼叫報了警，幾分鐘後警察趕到了。一些路過的人幫着我按住了皮特，他隨後也停止了掙扎。”
The police bundled Peter — a serial offender out on parole for burglary — into the back of their van. He subsequently pleaded guilty to breaking and entering, and began a three-year sentence in London’s Pentonville Prison.
警察將皮特拷了起來丟進了警車裏，這個入室盜竊的慣犯之前纔剛獲得假釋出獄。不久後皮特就因非法闖入民宅罪名被判刑，在倫敦維爾監獄開始了三年的牢獄生活。
It was the 34th prison in which he had been incarcerated, but, despite having spent 18 years of his life in jail, Peter somehow remained hopeful that he could clean himself up, stop taking drugs and go on to do something useful on his eventual release.
如今已經是他第34次被關進監獄了，儘管人生中有18年是在牢獄中度過的，但是皮特還是希望能改過自新，戒了毒品然後在最終釋放後做些有用的事兒。
A few weeks later, Will received a telephone call from police officer Kim Smith, who explained that a trial in restorative justice was about to take place and he wondered if Will would like to meet Peter, who was in Pentonville Prison on remand, awaiting sentencing.
幾周後，威爾接到了金姆·史密斯警官打來的電話，他說有一個恢復性司法審訊將要進行，想知道威爾是不是願意見見正在維爾監獄候審等待判決的皮特。
Will consulted family and friends and discussed both sides of the argument before deciding that he wanted to meet Peter again. ‘I’m a spoilt, middle-class man, and I was curious about Peter’s dangerous world,’ Will says. ‘I also thought that I might be able to help him change his ways.’
在威爾決定再見皮特之前，他了解了皮特的家庭和朋友，聽了各種關於威爾的意見和看法。“我是一個被寵壞的中產階級，我對皮特危險的世界特別好奇，” 威爾說，“我也沒想到我能夠幫他改變原本的生活軌跡。”
Will saved Peter's life. ‘We’re great friends, we get on extremely well, we have a unique bond, and when we meet we talk about everything,’ says Will. ‘Peter’s a fine man.’
威爾拯救了皮特的生活。“我們是好朋友，我們關係特別好，這種關係很特別，我們見了面可以無話不談。”威爾說，“皮特是個好人。”
Surely words that ten years ago, as he stood bleeding on the pavement outside his home, he could never have imagined saying.
當然了，這些話如果放到10年前他頭上流着血站在自家門外人行道的時候，他絕對不會這麼說的。
