双语：香港楼市热 凶宅亦受捧

　　　　The city"s property boom is so powerful it has scared away the ghosts.　
　　　　香港的房地产热威力如此之大，甚至把鬼都给吓跑了。　
　　　　No matter what happened to real-estate prices in this superstitious Chinese city, the one surefire way to get a cheap apartment was to move in with a ghost. Websites track 'haunted houses' or hongza, as they are known in Cantonese, which typically sell or rent for discounted prices.　
　　　　过去，无论这个迷信的中国城市房价如何，有一个方法肯定能获得一套便宜公寓，那就是与鬼魂同住。多家网站都在追踪“凶宅”的信息，这类房屋常常会折价出售或出租。　
　　　　But the latest boom in real-estate prices has nearly wiped away Hong Kong's haunted-house discount.　
　　　　但香港房价新一轮的飙升几乎令凶宅的价格折扣荡然无存。　
　　　　That has been bad news for Ng Goon Lau, 62 years old, who made a career─and a tidy fortune─braving the supernatural. For more than 10 years, he says he has bought and sold apartments where a tenant died an unnatural death, paying a third less than the market price and later selling at a healthy profit. Meantime, he says, he rents to expatriates, who tend to be less superstitious than locals.　
　　　　这对62岁的吴冠流(Ng Goon Lau，音)来说是个坏消息。他不惧超自然的鬼魂，从事凶宅的买卖和租赁业务，从中赚了很多钱。他说，10多年来，他买进租户非自然死亡的公寓，支付的金额比市场价格低三分之一，然后再转手获取不错的利润。与此同时，他说，他会把凶宅租给外国人，他们往往不像香港本地人那么迷信。　
　　　　Mr. Ng's business model is under fire by more than a dozen aggressive new competitors, says Vienna Lee of Squarefoot.com.hk, which runs a popular local search engine for these apartments.　
　　　　Squarefoot.com.hk网站的Vienna Lee说，吴冠流的商业模式受到了十几家强有力的新竞争对手的攻击。该网站运营一个颇受欢迎的香港当地凶宅搜索引擎。　
　　　　That isn't surprising. After doubling in the past four years, Hong Kong property prices are now among the highest in the world.　
　　　　这并不令人感到意外。香港房价过去四年涨了一倍，目前属全球最高之列。　
　　　　Rising demand has squeezed the haunted house discount to as low as 5%, says Mr. Ng. 'The market is crazy now,' he says, complaining that he was able to purchase only one hongza in 2012. Even neighborhoods traditionally shunned for their proximity to funeral homes or cemeteries have seen their prices spike.　
　　　　吴冠流说，不断增长的需求将凶宅的折价幅度压缩到低至5%。他说，现在市场疯了，他抱怨说2012年自己只买到了一套凶宅。就连那些因靠近殡仪馆或墓地而通常很少有人问津的地段，房价也大幅上涨。　
　　　　Hong Kong is a superstitious place where people regularly put out offerings of food and other gifts for dead relatives. For an entire month in the summer, the city observes the Hungry Ghost Festival, where spirits are believed to visit the city and need to be fed and entertained.　
　　　　香港是一个迷信的地方，人们会定期备下食物和其他礼物祭拜死去的亲人。夏季有一整个月，香港会过中元节，据说在此期间死人的鬼魂会回来，届时需要给鬼魂提供食物和娱乐。　
　　　　In 2001, the city's main English daily, the South China Morning Post, hired monks to cleanse the newsroom after staffers reported seeing ghosts in the bathroom. After the ritual, there were no more complaints, said Niall Fraser, deputy news editor, who was there at the time. 'Everyone seemed quite happy. It seemed to do the trick.'　
　　　　2001年，香港主要英文报纸《南华早报》(South China Morning Post)的工作人员反映说在卫生间里看到鬼，该报于是请来僧侣为编辑室驱鬼。据当时在场的新闻副主编弗雷泽(Niall Fraser)说，在举行了仪式后，就没有人再抱怨了。每个人似乎都非常开心，似乎是见效了。　
　　　　Among expatriates willing to shack up with ghosts for a good deal, demand is rising. Rents have jumped nearly 60% across the city in the past four years, according to government figures.　
　　　　在那些为享受折价而不惜与鬼魂共居一室的外国人中，需求在不断上升。据政府数据显示，过去四年中，香港的租金飙升了近60%。　
　　　　Now, Mr. Ng says, he is able to rent out some at nearly market rent. 'All my tenants are very happy,' he says. 'No one has complained that they've seen ghosts.'　
　　　　吴冠流说，目前他能以接近市场水平的价格将一些房子租出去。他说，我的租户都非常开心，没有人投诉说看到鬼。　
　　　　Aaron Bleasdale, a lawyer, once rented a two-floor penthouse in Mid-Levels, one of Hong Kong's greenest and most-coveted neighborhoods, whose tenant had recently died. At just 13,000 Hong Kong dollars, or about $1,700, it was a discount of at least 40%, he says. With the rent split between him and a roommate, the apartment was a bargain.　
　　　　律师布勒斯戴尔(Aaron Bleasdale)曾在香港环境最好、最受热捧的地区之一半山区租了一套位于顶层的双层公寓，上一位租户刚刚过世。他说，月租金只有1.3万港元（约合1,700美元），比市价低了至少40%。他和另外一位合租者分摊租金，算下来这套公寓非常划算。　
　　　　'It was a great location, with a rooftop garden. I'd live with a ghost for that price,' said Mr. Bleasdale, who moved out of the apartment a few years ago, but still lives in Hong Kong.　
　　　　布勒斯戴尔说，公寓位置非常好，有屋顶花园。能拿到这样的价格，我不介意和鬼魂一起住。他几年前搬出了那套公寓，但目前仍在香港居住。　
　　　　'The [ghosts] here probably wouldn't speak English anyway, so I don't think they would bother me,' he said. 'Anyway I'm more of the Casper the Friendly Ghost school.'　
　　　　他说，这里的鬼或许不说英语，所以我认为他们不会打扰我。不管怎样，我更相信鬼马小精灵(Casper the Friendly Ghost)。　
　　　　The first haunted house Mr. Ng sold was actually his own. When he was renovating his apartment in preparation for a sale in 1993, a worker was electrocuted.　
　　　　吴冠流出售的第一套凶宅实际上是他自己的。1993年他翻修公寓准备出售时，一个工人因触电死亡。　
　　　　Shaken but determined to go through with the sale, he says he got a higher price than he expected, despite the death.　
　　　　他很震惊，但还是决定把房子卖掉。他说尽管有人曾死在里面，最后的售价却超出了自己的预期。　
　　　　Since then, Mr. Ng says he has bought and sold 20 haunted apartments. He regularly scans newspapers to find accounts of deaths and aggressively bids for discounts. He says he is proud of how he has helped pioneer Hong Kong's trade in haunted houses. 'I learned it by myself,' he says. 'Nobody taught me. It's not my fate or luckiness, but my boldness.'　
　　　　吴冠流说，自那之后，他已经买卖了20套凶宅。他常常浏览报纸，寻找有关死亡的报道，并积极地讨价还价。他说，他对自己参与引领了香港的凶宅交易感到骄傲。他说，我是自学成才的，没人教我，不是因为我的命好或运气好，而是因为我的胆子大。　
　　　　His apartments have had unnatural deaths in them, which is what earns them the 'haunted' moniker in Hong Kong.　
　　　　他出售的公寓曾发生过非自然死亡，在香港因此有“凶宅”之称。　
　　　　Before he started trading in haunted houses, Mr. Ng was a shark-fin seller. Thanks in part to that business, Mr. Ng has something some younger investors lack: a comfortable pile of cash.　
　　　　开始从事凶宅交易之前，吴冠流曾是卖鱼翅的。部分由于鱼翅生意，吴冠流拥有了一些年轻投资者所缺少的东西：充裕的现金。　
　　　　That is important, because in Hong Kong, banks often won't issue mortgages for haunted apartments.　
　　　　这很重要，因为在香港，银行通常不会为凶宅提供抵押贷款。　
　　　　Many banks have online calculators that put values on thousands of apartments in Hong Kong. The Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd.'s calculator delivers an error message for every unit located on the floor of an apartment building where in the 1980s a woman killed her husband. The same is true for other apartments located near notorious murder sites.　
　　　　很多银行都有在线计算器，能给出香港数千套公寓的价格。对于某座公寓楼某一层的所有公寓，中国银行（香港）有限公司(Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd.)的计算器会给出错误信息。上世纪80年代，这座公寓楼的这一层曾发生过妻子杀死丈夫的凶案。重大谋杀案案发地附近的其他公寓也是如此。　
　　　　The bank said the firm it uses to value properties didn't provide a price for the apartment where the murder occurred. It didn't comment on why the calculator delivers the same error message for other units on the floor. It said it provides mortgage services for hongza apartments on a 'case-by-case' basis.　
　　　　该行说，它使用的房产估值机构未提供曾发生过凶案的公寓的价格。对于计算器为何对同层其他公寓也给出错误信息，该行没有置评。该行说，它根据个案具体情况为凶宅提供抵押贷款服务。　
　　　　Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. said it doesn't provide mortgages for 'haunted' apartments.　
　　　　渣打银行（香港）有限公司(Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd.)说，它不为凶宅提供抵押贷款。　
　　　　Two years ago, Mr. Ng, who says he doesn't believe in ghosts, began winding down his shark-fin business, which was hurt by environmentalist-led boycotts, even as prices on haunted houses soared. 'They're still more profitable than shark's fins,' he said.　
　　　　吴冠流说，两年前在凶宅价格大幅飙升之际，他开始停下鱼翅生意。当时鱼翅生意因环保主义者领导的抵制活动而受到打击。他说他不相信世界上有鬼。他说，凶宅生意仍比鱼翅更赚钱。　
　　　　He isn't worried about his new competitors, saying their high-price deals will backfire and he will still be there. 'They're amateurs,' he said.　
　　　　他不担心新的竞争者，他说这些竞争者的高额交易将产生副作用，而他仍会留在这个行业里。他说，他们都是业余的。