Print

Mail

Conman hypnotizes jeweler, steals diamonds 金光黨催眠珠寶商偷走鑽石

A model holds an unmounted yellow diamond during India’s first public jewelry auction hosted by Saffronart in Mumbai, India, on Sept. 30, 2008. 二ＯＯ八年九月三十日，Saffronart公司在印度孟買舉辦的首場珠寶公開拍賣會上，模特兒拿著一顆未鑲底座的黃鑽。照片：歐新社 PHOTO: EPA

Indian police are hunting a conman who hypnotized a Mumbai jewelry store worker before making off with US$160,000 worth of diamond necklaces and bracelets.

Katrina Sunil Purswami, who works at the Seres store in the upmarket Bandra West suburb, was told by the man on Saturday that he wanted to give the gems as a present and persuaded her to bring them to a nearby hotel.

“When the employee went to the hotel, the accused acted like he was the owner (of the hotel),” senior police inspector Prakash George was quoted as saying by the Daily News and Analysis newspaper.

“As Purswami was showing him the sets, he asked her to write the details of the sets for him. He then hypnotized her and decamped with the ornaments. Purswami was left confused and could not understand what was going on.”

The officer said the jeweler’s store was newly opened and the owner allowed the employee to visit the hotel with the diamonds because he thought he was in line for a large sale.

Police are studying CCTV from the hotel to try to identify the conman but cameras at the shop were not working, George said.(afp)

印度警方正在追緝一名金光黨，他催眠了孟買一間珠寶店的店員後，偷走價值十六萬美元的鑽石項鍊和手鐲。

該名男子上週六向「賽里斯珠寶店」（位於班德拉西郊高級地段）的店員卡崔娜．桑妮爾．帕斯瓦米表示想買些珠寶送人，並說服她把珠寶帶到附近一間旅館。

印度《每日報》和《分析報》引述警局資深督察派拉卡西．喬治的話說：「該名店員到旅館後，這名被告表現的像是（旅館）主人一樣。」

「帕斯瓦米向他展示珠寶組時，他還請她寫下珠寶的詳細資料。然後他就催眠她，帶著首飾逃跑了。而帕斯瓦米被弄得迷迷糊糊，搞不清楚到底發生了什麼事。」

警官說，這間珠寶店才剛開幕，老闆認為他是大戶才讓員工帶著鑽石到旅館去。

喬治說，警方正在調閱旅館的監視錄影畫面，想找出這名金光黨的身份，但珠寶店的監視器當時並未正常運作。

（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字 1. hypnotize v.t. 催眠 (cui1 mian2) 例: My uncle was hypnotized to help him quit smoking. (我叔叔靠催眠戒菸。) 2. jewelry n. 珠寶 (zhu1 bao3) 例: Sarah got in trouble for wearing jewelry to school. (莎拉因為戴珠寶到學校而惹上麻煩。) 3. suburb n. 近郊 (jin4 jiao1) 例: Ernie used to live in the city, but he moved to the suburbs about a year ago. (厄尼以前住在市區，但他約一年前搬到郊區去了。) 4. conman n. 騙財的人 (pian4 cai2 de5 ren2) 例: A conman asked me for $100 at the train station. (有個騙子在火車站跟我要一百元。)

READING COMPREHENSION 閱讀測驗 1. Did the thief steal any cash? a. Yes, he did. b. No, he didn’t. c. The article doesn’t say. 2. What did the conman say he wanted to do with the gems? a. Give them as a present. b. Steal them. c. Sell them. 3. Where did the employee take the jewelry? a. To a department store. b. To a hotel. c. To a police station. 4. Why didn’t the CCTV at the store work? a. Because the conman had tampered with it. b. Because it ran out of power. c. The article doesn’t say.

SAY WHAT? 說說看 make off with 偷走 If somebody makes off with something, they steal it. In the article, the thief made off with the jewelry. Examples: “That’s the last time I leave my sneakers outside the apartment. Somebody made off with them last night,” or “Be careful at the train station. I left my bag unattended for 10 seconds, and when I came back someone had made off with it.” 若某人「make off with」某物，就表示他們偷走那個東西。文中說，那個小偷「made off with」那些珠寶。 例如：「那是我最後一次把球鞋放在公寓門外了。昨晚有人偷了我的球鞋」，或是「在火車站要小心，我的視線才離開包包十秒，再回頭它已經被偷了」。

OUT LOUD 對話練習 Eric: Are you enjoying your new job at the jewelry store? Joanne: Not really. We don’t have many customers so there isn’t much to do. Eric: I wish I had a job like that. I’m extremely busy every day. Joanne: Trust me, it’s better to be busy than have nothing to do. I spend all my time watching the clock and twiddling my thumbs. Eric: So why don’t you look for a new job? Joanne: I’d quite like to do your job. Why don’t we switch jobs? Eric: Ok, it’s a deal. We’ll start on Monday! 艾瑞克：妳喜歡在珠寶店的新工作嗎？ 瓊安：不太喜歡。店裡客人不多，所以沒什麼事做。 艾瑞克：希望我的工作也那麼輕鬆。我每天都忙翻了。 瓊安：相信我，忙翻總比閒閒沒事做好。我都是盯著時鐘發呆。 艾瑞克：那妳何不找份新工作呢？ 瓊安：我還蠻喜歡你的工作的，不如我們交換工作吧？ 艾瑞克：好啊，就這麼說定了。就從下星期一開始！ twiddle your thumbs　閒閒沒事做 If somebody is said to be twiddling their thumbs, they are bored, although in fact it’s very rare to see somebody literally twiddling their thumbs. 若說某人「twiddle their thumbs」，就表示他們很無聊，倒不是說他們真的在玩自己的拇指。

This story has been viewed 949 times.