Burma's Poppy Trail
罌粟仍在緬甸蔓延

During the past half century the remote and often lawless region where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet has become known and widely romanticised as the 'Golden Triangle'. [請翻譯]

Originally a Western designation applied to the region because of its wealth in gems, lumber and, above all, opium, the name has stuck and is today widely accepted. By reputation, by very definition, the area is off the beaten track. The home of drug warlords, arms dealers, insurgent armies and plain, old-fashioned bandits, it is currently the source of around half the world's illicit opiates, as well as a major production centre for amphetamines and other drugs. In recent years opium production in Laos has seen something of an increase, whilst in neighbouring Thailand it has been cut back almost to nothing. Burma, however, remains far and away the largest producer in the Golden Triangle, and illicit Burmese opiates, most notably heroin, continue to poison hundreds of thousands of addicts from the hills of Shan State to the streets of New York.

起先西方對這個(gè)地區(qū)的目標(biāo)集中于鉆石、象牙，當(dāng)然首先是鴉片，如今鴉片已聲名鵲起并廣泛地為人們所接受。以其知名度，確切地說，這是個(gè)人跡罕至的地方。是毒品軍閥，軍火商人，武裝暴徒和舊時(shí)代平民土匪出沒的地方。是當(dāng)今世界上約一半非法鴉片制品的產(chǎn)地，也是安非他明[一種類似鴉片的麻醉品]和其他毒品的一個(gè)主要產(chǎn)地。近年來老撾的鴉片產(chǎn)量有所增長，而其鄰國泰國大量削減其產(chǎn)量已經(jīng)所剩無已。然而緬甸仍然是“金三角”最大的鴉片生產(chǎn)國，并且從撣邦[緬甸的一個(gè)少數(shù)民族]的深山到紐約的街頭，非法的緬甸鴉片制品和臭名昭著的海洛因仍然在毒害著成千上萬的“隱君子”。

Opium has been recognised as a narcotic for at least two thousand years. It is thought to have grown wild in the mountains of the eastern Mediterranean from Neolithic times, and was known to both the early Greeks and Romans. It was probably introduced to both China and India by Arab traders about a thousand years ago, and soon came to be widely valued for its medicinal properties. Although it flourished in the cool, nutrient-poor hills of south-west China, it did not become a serious problem until the 18th century when Britain, seeking a way to pay for Chinese tea shipments other than with silver, began exporting opium from India to China on a massive scale. The situation was compounded as both Britain and France established colonies in Southeast Asia during the latter half of the 19th century. In Burma the British first encouraged and then prohibited opium consumption in the Burman heartland, but permitted unrestricted usage in indirectly administered areas such as the Shan States. The French, for their part, encouraged opium cultivation in their Indochinese colonies, making opium a state monopoly. As a consequence opium production, consumption and export boomed in the 'Golden Triangle' region, as well as in the neighbouring Chinese province of Yunnan.

鴉片視作為麻醉劑已至少有二千年。據(jù)認(rèn)為從新石器時(shí)代起鴉片就在地中海東部的山上廣泛地生長了，并為早期的古希臘人和古羅馬人所了解。在大約一千年前，鴉片可能由阿拉伯商人引入到中國和印度，并很快因其藥物特性而引起廣泛地重視。盡管它茂盛地生長在寒冷貧脊的中國西南的叢山中，但它并沒有成為嚴(yán)重的問題，直到18世紀(jì)，當(dāng)英國人為尋求一種不用銀幣來償付中國茶葉出口的途徑，并開始大規(guī)模地把鴉片從印度出口到中國時(shí)（問題才變得嚴(yán)重起來）。這種情況由于在19世紀(jì)后半葉，英法在東南亞殖民地的建立而變得更糟。在緬甸，英國人先是鼓勵(lì)再是禁止鴉片在緬甸中部地區(qū)的消費(fèi)，但是允許在非直屬管轄區(qū)如撣邦地區(qū)不受限制地使用。而對法國人來說，他們則鼓勵(lì)在其印尼殖民地種植鴉片，使其成為國家專賣品。其結(jié)果是鴉片的生產(chǎn)消費(fèi)和出口在“金三角”地區(qū)迅速興起，也包括在鄰近的中國云南省。

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注：緬甸的毒品問題也是當(dāng)今世界主要的問題之一。因?yàn)樯婕霸S多敏感問題，盡管美國極力要求緬甸政府采取措施，但緬甸等國都十分謹(jǐn)慎處理此事。現(xiàn)在種植鴉片主要由佤邦軍控制，迫于各方面壓力，其承諾在2005年使“金三角”成為無毒區(qū)。但似乎可能性極小。
另，本文中的shan state查了梁實(shí)秋的大辭典，意為―――撣邦。而不是現(xiàn)在我們所說的佤邦，不知是否是同一邦？