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Yep, that's me.
没错，那就是我。
You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.
大家可能会好奇我怎么把自己搞成那样的。
To see how I got here, we first have to talk about islands.
要想知道答案，我们首先要来聊聊岛屿。
You may not realize it, but New York City is full of them.
大家可能会不知道，但纽约其实到处都有岛。
Manhattan itself is technically just one 13.4-mile-long island.
严格来讲，曼哈顿就是一个长达21.6km的岛。
You’ve also got Governors Island, Liberty Island, as well as Staten Island.
除此之外，纽约还有总督岛、自由岛和斯塔滕岛。
But there’s one island in New York that you may not know about,
然而，纽约还有一个大家可能不太了解的岛，
and no, it’s not the tiki bar Jade Island, which is fabulous by the way — do yourself a favor and try the pu pu platter.
不不不，我们要说的不是翡翠岛这个餐厅，不过说实话他们家的菜确实不错——大家可以去尝尝他们家的宝宝盘犒劳一下自己。
It’s called U Thant Island.
我们要说的这个岛叫吴丹岛。
And it’s one island in New York that nobody is allowed to visit.
这是纽约一座任何人都禁止参观的小岛。
It sits in the East River, right below Roosevelt Island near the UN headquarters,
吴丹岛就位于东河上，就在靠近联合国总部的罗斯福岛下游。
and for something so tiny, has a pretty fascinating history.
这么小的一个岛，却有着一段令人心驰神往的历史。
In 1892, construction of an underground rail passage began,
1892年，纽约要修一条地下铁路，
that was meant to connect Manhattan to Queens via a tunnel under the river.
通过在东河河底修一条隧道连通曼哈顿和皇后区。
Builders had to drill through the granite under water, and that excavation produced excess landfill,
于是，铁路工人们不得不从水底的花岗石中钻出一条路，开凿隧道也带来了垃圾，
which accumulated and eventually produced a tiny mound of rocks, or as we in the biz call it, an island.
这些垃圾越堆越多，最后就堆成了一座小小的石头山，用我们商界的话来说就是，堆成了一个岛。
The island was originally named Belmont Island, after August Belmont Jr., the man who financed the construction project.
这个岛原本叫“贝尔蒙特岛”，是以投资该项目的小奥古斯特·贝尔蒙特的名义命名的。
The original tunnel is now used by the 7 Train.
如今，这条隧道已经成了7班火车的通道。
And as for the island, minus the occasional tanker collision, up until recently has had a pretty uneventful existence.
而这座小岛，除了偶尔发生的游轮碰撞，直到最近都一直是默默无闻。
Then an organization called the Peace Meditation at the United Nations,
接着，联合国下一个叫“和平冥想”的组织，
a Buddhist group that followed spiritual leader, prolific artist, and super-ripped dude Sri Chinmoy,
就是一个追随多产艺术家、精神领袖、钦莫伊的一个佛教组织，
leased the island from the city in 1977.
与1977年从纽约市政府手里租下来这座小岛。
They rechristened it U Thant Island, to honor the third secretary general of the UN,
他们重新将小岛命名为吴丹岛，以纪念联合国第三任秘书长，
a former Burmese diplomat named U Thant, who was a friend of Sri Chinmoy.
前缅甸外交官同时也是钦莫伊好友的吴丹。
They also did some light landscaping and erected a 30-foot metal “oneness arch.”
他们还在小岛上搞了点儿绿化，立起了一个高达9米的金属“单拱桥”。
But they were only allowed to visit a few times a year,
但他们每年也只能上岛几次，
because of the heightened security around its neighbor the United Nations.
因为附近的联合国安保非常严格。
All remained peaceful on U Thant until 2004, when New York City hosted the Republican National Convention.
吴丹岛上一直都是风平浪静，直到2004年，也就是纽约市主办共和党全国代表大会那年，
A filmmaker and artist named Duke Riley decided to protest by rowing a boat out to U Thant in the middle of the night,
一位名叫杜克·赖利的电影制作人兼画家想要抗议，他决定半夜划船去吴丹岛，
unfurling a giant glow-in-the-dark flag from the navigation tower that’s on there,
并在岛上的航标塔上拉一个晚上会亮的大旗，
and declaring it a sovereign nation, before being apprehended by the Coast Guard.
宣布这座岛是一个独立的国家，他后来被海岸警卫队给带走了。
So I called the New York Office of Land Management and tried to schedule a visit.
所以，我决定给纽约市的土管所打电话，看能不能允许我上岛看看。
Hey, I wanted to call and see if it’s at all possible to set up a time to go visit U Thant Island on the East River?
您好，我想知道我可不可以约个时间到东河上的吴丹岛去看看？
Oh, it’s not. At all, like, for anybody?
噢，不可以啊，绝对不可以啊，任何人都不行吗？
I did some checking, and he’s actually right — nobody is allowed to visit U Thant Island.
我核实了一下，他是对的——确实是任何人都不可以上吴丹岛。
Turns out it’s now a protected sanctuary for migrating birds,
原来，那里已经成了被保护的供迁徙鸟类栖息的地方了，
including a colony of double-crested cormorants that nest in the “oneness arch.”
双冠鸬鹚就在“单拱桥”上筑了巢。
So you can’t actually go on it, but I still wanted to get as close as I could.
所以我们是不能真正到岛上去的，但我还是想尽可能地近距离地去那儿看一看。
Despite a total lack of experience and a quickly approaching thunderstorm,
尽管我从来没有划过独木舟，而且暴风雨也快来了，
I jumped in a canoe and headed out onto the lovely East River.
我还是跳上了一只独木舟，朝东河出发了。
We paddled through the water, passing Williamsburg and Roosevelt Island,
我们划着船，经过了威廉斯堡岛和罗斯福岛，
until we finally saw it in all its glorious, tiny splendor.
最后终于看到这个辉煌而渺小的岛屿了。
To most people, it may look like just a pile of rocks in a filthy river.
在大多数人看来，这座岛不过就是一条污浊的河里的一堆石头。
And ...I guess it sort of is.
我也觉得是这样。
But there’s also something kind of wonderful about it too.
但这座岛也有很好玩的地方。
Being up close to it made me realize that there’s something special about U Thant.
近距离地观察这座小岛，我意识到了吴丹岛的特别之处。
Amidst the hustle and bustle and millions of people,
在喧闹拥挤的茫茫人海里，
there’s this 125-year-old speck of land tucked away from—
隐藏着这样一片125岁的土地……
So I learned a thing or two about what not to do when your canoe starts tipping over.
不管怎样我算是学到了翻船的时候什么是不可以做的。
And as it turns out, I sort of did make it onto U Thant Island after all.
归根结底，我也算是来过吴丹岛了。
Granted, it was in an effort to not drown in the East River, but I think it technically still counts.
诚然，我是为了不被淹死在东河里才爬上来的，但严格来说也算是上岛了吧。
I didn’t die, which was good, and I’m glad I was actually able to see U Thant close up.
我没死，可以说是好事一桩，我很庆幸自己能够如此近距离地看到吴丹岛。
But for now, I think I might just stick to this island, which is a little bit more my speed.
但此时此刻，我想我还是乖乖地呆在翡翠岛吧，这才是我的地盘。
