导读:一名本应“死亡”长达四年之久的中年男子却突然归家，令其家人震惊不已。
The 59-year-old, named Ma Jixiang, had gone missing in 2009 and was confirmed by police in 2012 to have been killed in a traffic accident, reported the People’s Daily Online.
据《人民日报》报道，这名中年男子名叫马吉祥，今年59岁，曾于2009年失踪，并于2012年由警方宣布死于一场车祸。
His family had cremated the dead body, which was believed to be his, before burying the ash at the village of Tanjialong in Xiangtan county, Hunan Province.
家人对他的死深信不疑，并将其尸体火化，葬在了湖南省湘潭县谭家垅村。
Mr Ma suffers from mental illness, according to the article.
据这份报道显示，老马患有精神疾病。
His family reported his missing to the local police station in 2009 after he disappeared while being looked after by his cousins.
老马的家人在2009年的时候向当地警察局报告了他失踪的情况，在失踪前老马由其表亲照顾生活。
In 2012, the family were informed by the traffic police squad of nearby Hengshan county that Mr Ma could have been killed in a traffic accident.
2012年的时候，横山县附近的交警队知会了他的家人，说老马可能已经死于一场交通事故了。
The body of the victim was described unrecognisable, so the authority arranged DNA profiling between the victim and Ma Jianjun, Ma Jixiang’s sibling.
由于那具死者的尸体已经不可辨认，所以当局安排了DNA检测，DNA样本数据来源是老马的兄弟马建军。
The analysis concluded that it could not ’exclude the possibility the unnamed body and Ma Jianjun share the same paternal kinship’.
据检测结果显示，不能够“排除这具身份不明的尸体和马建军拥有相同父系血缘的可能性”。
Police report also confirmed him as the victim of the road accident, which took place on February 7 of that year.
警方的报告还显示这具尸体是一场交通事故的受害者，那起事故发生在当年的2月7日。
Mr Ma’s family cremated the body of victim from the traffic accident, believing it to be Ma Jixiang’s, and buried the ash under a lavish tomb in February 2012, the report said.
据该报道显示，老马的家人将因交通事故而死亡的那具尸体火化了，并深信那就是老马，并于2012年将骨灰埋在了一座豪华的坟墓里。
Before the cremation, five of Mr Ma’s family members went to the funeral house to identify the body. They thought the body looked ’quite similar’ to Ma Jixiang.
在火化前，老马的5个家人到殡仪馆认尸，他们认为那具尸体看起来和老马“非常像”。
The village family had spent thousands of Yuan (hundreds of pounds) building the luxurious graveyard for Mr Ma, complete with handrails, totems of dragons and phoenixes and two golden lions, hoping he could live well in his afterlife.
这户村民耗费了数千元（数百英镑）来为老马修建了一座豪华的墓地，配有栏杆和雕龙画凤的图腾，还有两只金狮子，希望老马死后能够生活得好。
On December 22, 2015, Mr Ma’s family were stunned when the 59-year-old was taken back to his home by officials of the village of Tanjialong.
然而在2015年12月22日，当59岁的老马被谭家垅村办事人员领回家时，全家人都惊呆了。
The man had been kidnapped and sold to an illegal brick factory to do hard labour, according to China’s Democracy and Law Times.
据《民主与法制时报》报道，老马是被绑架了，并被卖到了一个黑砖窑里做苦工。
He had been forced to work in the factory for three years before being released due to his weakening health and inability to undertake heavy work, the report said.
据这份报道显示，老马在那个黑砖窑里被迫劳动了三年，后来由于他身体虚弱、不能再从事重体力劳动才被释放。
Mr Ma had been homeless for ’a few months’ on the streets of Hengyang in Hunan Province, according to his own accounts.
据老马自己说，他找不到回家的路，已经在湖南省衡阳市流浪了好几个月。
He was later taken to a shelter to which Mr Ma recited his registered home address.
后来老马被带到了一处收容所，背出了他家的地址。
The shelter contacted the official of Tanjialong village who arranged him to be taken home.
收容所联系了谭家垅村政府，后来该村政府安排人手将老马接回了家。
Mr Ma has been arranged by his village to stay in a local care home.
目前老马被村委会安排住在当地一家养老院里。
It remains unclear why the local police had decided to declare his death in 2012, especially because the DNA report did not confirm his identify directly.
目前还不清楚为何当地警方在2012年的时候决定宣布老马死亡，尤其是在那份DNA检测报告不能够直接证明老马身份的情况下。
While Mr Ma’s family slowly came to accept the reality, they felt greatly humiliated for having laid to rest a family member who was still alive - a taboo for families in rural China.
尽管老马的家人慢慢地接受这一事实，但是他们仍然因为给活人下葬而感到极大的羞辱--这是中国农村家庭的一个禁忌。
Mr Ma’s nephew said if it wasn’t for the fact that they had been given false information by the authority, they wouldn’t have cremated and buried a living cousin.
据老马的侄子表示，如果不是因为政府给了他们错误的信息，他们不会火化那具尸体并为活人下葬。
On February 7, 2016, Mr Ma visited ’his own’ graveyard to commemorate the fourth anniversary of death of the road accident victim, who remains unidentified.
2016年2月7日，老马祭拜了“他自己的”坟墓，以纪念那名受害者因交通事故而死去四周年，目前那人的身份仍然未被查明。
