2020年经济学人 街头女歌手莉莉·利昂(1)

Lily Lian (née Liliane Lebon), the last chanteuse on the streets of Paris, died on May 24th, aged¹ 103

莉莉·利昂（原名莉莉安·勒邦）是巴黎最后一位街头女歌手，她于5月24日去世，享年103岁。

The first of May had a special place on Lily Lian’s calendar. It was her birthday, to begin with. It was also May Day, the workers’ holiday, when she would sing revolutionary songs at the Communards’ Wall, the Mur des Fédérés, in Père Lachaise cemetery². Her father, a fighter in the Resistance, was buried close to it with other communist heroes. She felt proud to salute³ him, even if her view of him was scarred by bitter rows. And May Day was the fête du muguet, when strolling vendors⁴ sold lilies-of-the-valley to passers-by. These sprang up in the woods, and so had she, a love-child conceived in some mossy corner near Versailles.

五月一日在莉莉·利昂的日历上有一个特殊的位置。首先，那天是她的生日。那天也是五一劳动节，是工人们的节日，她会在巴黎公社社员墙——拉雪兹神父公墓——唱革命歌曲。她的父亲是一名抵抗运动的战士，和其他共产主义英雄一起被埋葬在这座纪念碑附近。她觉得向他致敬很自豪，尽管她对他的看法已经被激烈的争吵损害了。五月一日也是五朔节，到处溜达的小贩向过路的人兜售铃兰。它们是在树林里长出来的，她也一样，一个在凡尔赛附近长满青苔的角落里怀上的私生女。

She and the flower-sellers often found themselves together by the Wall. The Mur des Fédérés was a fine place to sing, though she had others. La Madeleine drew wedding crowds and glowing-after-mass congregations. Railway stations were good, especially if they had arcades⁵ for shelter when it rained, though a rainy day was a washout, generally. Her favourite pitch was the Barbès-Roche-chouart metro⁶ station, by the grilles where passengers changed from the surface to the underground line.

她和卖花的人经常出现在公社墙边。巴黎公社社员墙是个唱歌的好地方，尽管她还有其他可以唱歌的地方。贝特拉姆卡吸引了大批的婚礼人群和聚集在一起的人群。火车站很好，特别是如果那里有下雨时可以避雨的拱廊的话，尽管雨天通常都很糟糕。她最喜欢的地方是巴贝斯-罗奇-朱厄特地铁站，地铁站的格栅处是乘客从地面换乘地铁的地方。

There she would stand with her group—two or three musicians, with a friend to hawk⁷ the scores—and sing through her tin megaphone the people’s favour- ites. These hardly varied⁸ over the years: “Le chant des Partisans”, “Le petit vin blanc”, “On boit l’café au lait au lit”, time and again to the crowd until they all joined in. It was not a grand living, but it was decent. She was not begging, which was important, since begging was not allowed. The trade was strictly⁹ regulated by the préfecture de police, with a permit needed to sing, and by the groups themselves, who drew numbers out of a hat each week to allocate¹⁰ their pitches.

她会和自己的团体站到一起-两三个音乐家，有一个朋友在她的锡扩音器里大声宣扬人民的恩宠。这些年来几乎没有变化：《游击队的吟唱》，《小白葡萄酒》，《牛奶咖啡色》，一次又一次地对着人群歌唱，直到他们都加入进来。这不是什么有气派的生活。但是这是正派的生活。她没有乞讨，这很重要，因为乞讨是不被允许的。该行业受到当地警察部门的严格监管，唱歌需要许可证，他们每周从帽子里抽出数字来分配他们的表演地点。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

3 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

4 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 arcades   

n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物

参考例句：

• Clothes are on sale in several shopping arcades these days. 近日一些服装店的服装正在大减价。 来自轻松英语会话---联想4000词(下)
• The Plaza Mayor, with its galleries and arcades, is particularly impressive. 市长大厦以其别具风格的走廊和拱廊给人留下十分深刻的印象。 来自互联网

6 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

7 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

8 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

9 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

10 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。