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It is impossible to know why a person takes his own life.
要弄清楚一个人为什么自杀是不可能的。
But an examination of Mr. Epstein’s last days by The New York Times,
不过，《纽约时报》对爱普斯坦最后几天的情况进行了调查——
gathered from dozens of interviews with law enforcement officials, Bureau of Prisons employees, lawyers and others,
对执法官员、监狱管理局雇员、律师等人展开了数十次的采访——
suggests that Mr. Epstein’s death came after he started to realize the limits of his ability to deploy his wealth and privilege in the legal system.
调查表明，爱普斯坦是在意识到面对法律体系，自己运用财富和特权的能力有限之后去世的。
The people who described their interactions with Mr. Epstein and the conditions in the jail almost all spoke only on condition of anonymity,
向本刊透露自己与爱普斯坦有过接触以及监狱环境的知情人士几乎均要求匿名，
in large part because Epstein’s death is now the subject of at least two major federal inquiries into the failure to closely monitor such a high-profile prisoner.
很大程度上是因为就目前来看，爱普斯坦的死已经成为至少两起重大的，针对联邦监狱为何未能密切监视如此知名的一名囚犯而展开的联邦调查的对象。
Mr. Epstein’s lawyers have not responded to questions about his time at the jail or whether they believe that he was not properly monitored.
爱普斯坦的律师团队没有回答有关他在监狱服刑期间的问题，也没有回答他们是否认为他没有受到适当的监控的问题。
After his suicide, they issued a short statement.
爱普斯坦自杀后，他们发表了一份简短的声明。
“No one should die in jail,” they said.
“任何人都不应死在监狱，”声明中写道。
Jeffrey Epstein feared life behind bars, according to people who knew him.
据了解杰弗里·爱普斯坦的人透露，爱普斯坦害怕承受牢狱之苦。
A few years ago, on the second floor of his Upper East Side mansion, he had a mural painted
几年前，他曾聘人给他位于上东区的豪宅的二楼画了一幅壁画，
that shows a photorealistic prison scene, with barbed wire, correction officers and a guard station.
画中是颇为逼真的一个监狱场景，有带刺的铁丝网、狱警，还有一个岗亭。
Mr. Epstein himself is portrayed in the middle,
爱普斯坦本人位于画幅中央，
and he told a visitor earlier this year that he wanted the mural to remind him of what could await him if he was not careful.
今年早些时候，他曾对一位访客说，他希望这幅壁画能提醒自己，如果不小心，等待他的将是怎样的下场。
Mr. Epstein had successfully used his wealth to skirt punitive conditions in his 2008 brush with authorities in Florida,
原来，2008年时，爱普斯坦就曾与佛罗里达州当局发生过摩擦，但他成功地利用自己的财富规避了应受的惩罚，
when his team of elite lawyers negotiated a much-criticized deal with federal prosecutors
当时，他聘请的精英级别的律师团队与联邦检察官达成了一项备受外界批评的协议，
to allow him to plead guilty to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
协议允许他认罪，承认联邦政府对他提出的诱骗未成年少女卖淫的指控。
In return, Mr. Epstein was shielded from federal sex-trafficking charges.
作为回报，爱普斯坦可免于受到联邦政府的性交易指控。
He served 13 months at the Palm Beach County stockade and was allowed to leave custody and work out of an office six days a week.
他在棕榈滩县的监狱里服刑13个月，还可离开拘留所，一周可在办公室工作六天。
But this time was different.
然而，今时不同往日。
After Mr. Epstein was arrested on July 6 on a new federal indictment,
7月6日，爱普斯坦因一项新的联邦指控被捕，
he ended up in a cell in the special housing unit in the Metropolitan Correctional Center,
最后被关进了大都会惩教中心的禁闭室，
a rust-colored fortress in Lower Manhattan where many of the inmates are awaiting trial on federal charges.
大都会惩教中心是曼哈顿下城区一座铁锈色城堡样式的监狱，里面关押着许多等待联邦指控最终审判的囚犯。
The jail has often held high-profile prisoners.
经常有大名鼎鼎的罪犯到该监狱服刑。
Joaquín Guzman Loera, the drug lord known as El Chapo, was housed there after two escapes from high-security Mexican prisons.
华金·古兹曼·洛埃拉，绰号“矮子”的毒枭，两次从墨西哥戒备森严的监狱越狱后就被关到了这里。
Other inmates have included Bernard L. Madoff, who masterminded a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
其他曾被关在此地的名人有伯纳德·L·马多夫，他曾策划了一起涉案金额高达数十亿美元的庞氏骗局。
It is notorious for miserable conditions, particularly in the higher-security units.
该监狱的生活环境，尤其是较高安全级别的牢房的生活环境是出了名的恶劣。
Mr. Guzman and the mob boss John Gotti, who were housed in the most secure wing, often complained (garnering little sympathy in response).
古兹曼和黑帮老大约翰·戈蒂二人都曾被关押在最高安全级别的牢房内，二人曾经常就此颇有怨言（但几乎未能博得任何同情）。
The staffing problems at the jail are emblematic of a larger shortage of correctional officers in federal jails and prisons across the country.
该监狱的人员配备问题折射出了全国各地的联邦监狱普遍存在的惩教人员严重短缺的问题。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
