by Ben McGrath

In retrospect， Ninja Hunt figures that a serial“ninja burglar” would turn up on 2）Staten Island， a borough whose biggest cultural export， the 3）Wu-Tang Clan， long ago nicknamed the place Shaolin， in honor of kung-fu movies. This particular 4）bandit， who is now thought to have robbed eighteen homes on the island in the past seven months， acquired his honorific in September， when he encountered a 5）Dongan Hills resident named Phil Chiolo while raiding Chiolos home. He was dressed all in black， with a black face mask， Chiolo said， and he carried 6）nun-chucks， which he used to club Chiolo in the chest， head， and shins before Chiolo was able to 7）retaliate by stabbing at him with a steak knife.

Chiolo， who suffered a 8）welt near his collarbone， said the other day that he is fine， but Staten Island has since gone ninja mad， with the burglar enjoying a kind of romantic outlaw 9）notoriety. Other victims have likened him to a 10）gazelle or a cat （“very athletic， very quiet， and very fast”）， capable of scaling walls and leaping noiselessly out windows. （No one has heard him speak.） The “word on the street，”according to a Staten Island Advance editorial， was that ninja costumes were going to be an especially popular Halloween choice around the borough this year， and several weeks ago a local home-security company incorporated an image of a rappelling ninja in its print ads.

The Posts 11）police blotter， last month， included a small item about a man who， after allegedly attempting to flood his landlords apartment， exclaimed to the cops， “I know who the ninja is.” If he knew， apparently he didnt tell， because recently the ninja burglar struck again—twice in one night， escaping with 130，000 dollars worth of loot. “Now hes the famous ninja whos disturbing our peace，”Dr. Mohammad Khalid， a dentist from 12）Pakistan who lives in 13）Todt Hill， said last week， while standing under some trees near the scene of the latest break-ins. “He looks like a really professional robber that does not leave any marks or anything.”

The 14）N.Y.P.D. has assigned a 15）task force to the ninja 16）caper， and its officers， according to the Advance， have resorted to asking strangers 17）point blank， “Are you the ninja burglar？” Dr. Khalid， who serves as the president of the Iron Hills Civic Association， could be called the primary civilian combatant. For the past two months， he has employed a supplementary private security detail for the organizations membership， which includes 600 homes， and it seemed no accident， he thought， that this latest spree occurred just a block outside the prescribed range of his 18）surveillance crew.

回想起來(lái)，“忍者追捕”涉及的是一個(gè)席卷斯塔頓島的連環(huán)“忍者盜賊”?！拔洚?dāng)樂(lè)隊(duì)”正是發(fā)祥此地且名聲在外，出于對(duì)功夫電影的敬意，在很久以前他們把這個(gè)地方戲稱為“少林”。這個(gè)特別的盜賊，如今已被認(rèn)定在過(guò)去的七個(gè)月里洗劫了十八戶人家。九月，他在東安山的基奧洛家作案時(shí)，遇到了當(dāng)?shù)鼐用穹苾骸せ鶌W洛，“忍者盜賊”之惡名便是源自此案。他一身黑衣，戴著黑色面具，基奧洛說(shuō)道，那盜賊還拿著雙節(jié)棍。他用那副雙節(jié)棍擊打基奧洛的胸部、頭部和脛骨，而最后基奧洛用一把牛排刀刺向他作為反擊。

幾天前，近鎖骨處鞭痕明顯的基奧洛說(shuō)他沒事，但斯塔頓島卻因此陷入一片忍者狂熱，而盜賊雖為亡命之徒卻被披上了一股浪漫色彩。其他受害者把他比喻成一只羚羊或一只貓（“身手了得、潛行迅捷”），能在無(wú)聲無(wú)息之間爬上墻頭躍出窗戶。（沒人聽過(guò)他說(shuō)話。）據(jù)《斯塔頓島前進(jìn)報(bào)》社論報(bào)道，“坊間傳言”，忍者裝束將成為今年該區(qū)萬(wàn)圣節(jié)特別受歡迎的選擇，而幾周前，一家當(dāng)?shù)氐募冶９緦⒁粋€(gè)在繩索上滑降的忍者形象融入其平面廣告中。

《紐約郵報(bào)》上個(gè)月的警局爆笑筆錄欄目中有一小段提到，有一名男子在被指控蓄意浸濕破壞其房東寓所后，向警方聲稱：“我知道那忍者是誰(shuí)?！奔词顾?，很明顯他沒有說(shuō)，因?yàn)樽罱莻€(gè)忍者盜賊再次猖獗——某晚作案兩次，夾帶價(jià)值13萬(wàn)美元的贓物逃脫?！爱?dāng)下他是讓我們不得安寧的忍者名人，”住在托德山的巴基斯坦裔牙醫(yī)穆罕默德·哈立德醫(yī)生在上周說(shuō)道，當(dāng)時(shí)他站在最新的案發(fā)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)附近的幾棵樹下。“他看起來(lái)像是個(gè)真正的職業(yè)盜賊，毫無(wú)蛛絲馬跡遺留?！?/p>

紐約市警署針對(duì)這位“忍者”的不法行為派遣了一個(gè)專案組，據(jù)《前進(jìn)報(bào)》的報(bào)道，專案組指揮官已采取直截了當(dāng)?shù)叵蚰吧嗽儐?wèn)的辦法，“你是忍者盜賊嗎？”哈立德醫(yī)生是鐵丘陵公民結(jié)社主席，他可以被稱為平民斗士之首。在過(guò)去的兩個(gè)月里，他額外雇傭了一支私人警衛(wèi)隊(duì)伍，用來(lái)保護(hù)組織成員，其中包括600個(gè)家庭，而且似乎并未發(fā)生什么意外，他認(rèn)為，最近這起案件就發(fā)生在其監(jiān)控人員監(jiān)控范圍之外的一個(gè)街區(qū)。

It was Wednesday， which， as some amateur profilers have noted， is the ninja burglars favorite night， but no one would have mistaken Khalid for a ninja as he stood gazing at neighboring windows in the dark. Khalid is rotund and deliberate. He wore a suit and tie， and was on his way to meet with another civic association to discuss expanding the surveillance range. “Yesterday at my own home， which is about half a mile from here， my garage was open， because somebody came to fix my computer printer，” he said. “He opened the garage and went down to the basement to get some cables. Five police guys came in and they grabbed him： ‘What are you doing here？He said， ‘Im fixing the doctors computer. ” Khalid smiled. He believes the ninjas days are numbered.

On Thursday， as 19）Police Commissioner Ray Kelly prepared to address a gathering of concerned Staten Islanders on the East Shore， a group of ninjas in training at the Island Martial Arts Academy demonstrated considerably greater courtesy than their renegade cousin. Instead of breaking and entering， they bowed before a doorway and spoke Korean 20）salutations. None of them appeared to have stab wounds， although many were quite proficient with nun-chucks， given their age （five to nine， which distinguishes them from the academys peewee ninjas， who are three to five）. Some held pieces of plywood with their names written on them. It was board-breaking week.

那是個(gè)周三，據(jù)業(yè)余追蹤客們的分析，是那忍者盜賊最喜歡的作案夜，但當(dāng)哈立德在黑暗中駐足凝望鄰家窗戶時(shí)，沒人會(huì)把他誤認(rèn)為是忍者。哈立德是胖胖的、淡定從容的。他穿著西裝打著領(lǐng)帶，正走在路上，準(zhǔn)備去和另一個(gè)公民結(jié)社會(huì)面商討拓展監(jiān)控范圍事宜?！白蛱煸谖易约杭遥x這兒大約半英里遠(yuǎn)，我的車庫(kù)打開了，因?yàn)橛腥藖?lái)修理我的電腦打印機(jī)，”他說(shuō)道。“他打開車庫(kù)，接著走下地下室拿些電纜。五個(gè)警察走進(jìn)車庫(kù)揪住了他：‘你在這兒干嘛？他答道：‘我正在修理醫(yī)生的電腦?！惫⒌滦α?。他相信那個(gè)忍者沒有幾日光景了。

在周四，警署總督雷·凱利準(zhǔn)備向東海岸一群憂心的斯塔頓島居民致辭，一群在島上的武術(shù)學(xué)院訓(xùn)練的忍者，與他們?nèi)褐械哪莻€(gè)變節(jié)者不同，展示了相當(dāng)好的修養(yǎng)。他們從未強(qiáng)行進(jìn)入他人住宅，取而代之的是，他們?cè)陂T口前鞠躬并說(shuō)著韓語(yǔ)的致意詞。他們中似乎并沒人有被刺的傷口，不少人精通雙節(jié)棍倒是真的，盡管年紀(jì)輕輕（5到9歲，學(xué)院另外一群是3到5歲的小忍者）。一些忍者握著寫了他們自己名字的木板塊兒。那周是踢板練習(xí)周。

The academys master， Pete Paramithis， was careful to point out that all his nun-chucks are made of foam， and he expressed concern that the ninja burglar was giving 21）karate a bad name. Representatives of the N.Y.P.D. had already dropped by， looking for leads. Paramithis had a theory that the burglar， if he had any training at all， might be the product of an older， more punitive approach to martial-arts instruction， involving 22）pushups， as opposed to the positive reinforcement that he favors. “Negative training creates little monsters，”Paramithis said. “Its just like ‘23）The Karate Kid.Youve got the good guy， and the guy whos， like，‘Kill， kill！ ” Paramithis teaches concepts like “bully awareness” and “stranger danger.” He picked up a pen and wrote “Codes of Ninja” on a sheet of paper， above the words “concentration，” “courage，”“confidence，” “perseverance，” and “discipline.”

Meanwhile， at the Shaolin Kung Fu Temple， near the North Shore， Sifu Paula Wong， an instructor， seemed unaware of the burglar and his legend. “Were not familiar with the ninja， since a ninja is 24）an assassin，” she said. “Our training is more philosophy， with Buddhism and philosophies like Bruce Lee.”

學(xué)院的校長(zhǎng)，皮特·帕拉米西斯，認(rèn)真地指出他所有的雙節(jié)棍都是用泡沫制造的，并且表示擔(dān)心那個(gè)忍者盜賊正給空手道帶來(lái)壞名聲。紐約市警署已派代表來(lái)過(guò)學(xué)院找尋線索。帕拉米西斯有一個(gè)推測(cè)，那個(gè)盜賊——如果他有受過(guò)什么訓(xùn)練——可能會(huì)是一種較舊式的，更為嚴(yán)苛的接近于武術(shù)教學(xué)的產(chǎn)物，包括伏地挺身，與帕拉米西斯所衷愛的正面強(qiáng)化截然相反?！柏?fù)面訓(xùn)練會(huì)造就出小怪物，” 帕拉米西斯說(shuō)道?！熬拖瘛Ψ蛐∽?。你得到一塊好材料，而那家伙卻喜歡‘殺，殺！” 帕拉米西斯教授像“欺凌意識(shí)”和“陌生人危險(xiǎn)”那類的概念。他拿起一支筆并在一張紙上寫道“忍者守則”，那就寫在 “專心”、“勇氣”、“自信”、“毅力”和“紀(jì)律”幾個(gè)單詞的正上方。

與此同時(shí)，在北海岸附近的少林功夫寺，王寶拉師傅——一名導(dǎo)師，似乎對(duì)那個(gè)盜賊及其傳奇并不在意?！拔覀儗?duì)忍者并不熟悉，因?yàn)槿陶呤且环N刺客，”她說(shuō)道。“我們的訓(xùn)練則摻雜了像李小龍那樣的佛教和哲學(xué)思想，更具哲學(xué)性。”