Street Music
It's a warm Saturday afternoon in a busy side road① in the old district of Barcelona. The pedestrians② are standing in a semicircle③ around someone or something in front of the cathedral④. I push my way through⑤ the crowd and find a quartet⑥ of musicians playing a violin suite⑦ of classical music⑧. The session⑨ lasts ten minutes. Then one of the musicians picks up⑩ a saucer? on the ground, and asks for money. All contributions? are voluntary?， no one has to pay, but the crowd shrinks? ?as some people slide away?. But others happily throw in a few coins. They're grateful for this brief interval? of music as they go shopping?.
Below the window of my apartment in Paris, a music man takes a place? made vacant? by an earlier musician. He raises the lid of his barrel organ and turns the handle. Then he sings the songs of old Paris, songs of the people and their love affairs. I remember some of the words even though I have never consciously learnt them. I tap my feet and sing along with him. Down there on the pavement, few passersby stop. Some smile, others walk past with their heads down. Cars pass, gangs of boys form and disappear, someone even puts a coin in the cup on the organ. But the music man ignores them all. He's hot in the sun, so he mops his head with a spotted handkerchief. He just keeps singing and turning the handle.
[读文清障]
①side road n．小路，支路
②pedestrian/p?'destri?n/n.行人，步行者
③semicircle/'semI's??kl/n.半圆
④cathedral n．教堂
⑤push one's way through挤进
⑥quartet/kw??'tet/n.四重奏，四重奏乐队
⑦suite/swi?t/n.组曲
⑧find sb. doing sth.发现某人在做某事
⑨session/'se?n/n.从事某项活动的集会(或一段时间)
⑩pick up拿起，拾起 ?saucer/'s??s?/n.茶碟，茶托
?contribution n．贡献，捐献
make contributions to对……作贡献
?voluntary/'v?l?ntri/adj.自愿的
?shrink/?rI?k/v.变小，减少
?as some ...是时间状语从句，as意为“随着”。
?slide away悄悄走开 ?interval/'Int?vl/n.间隔，空隙
?as they ...是时间状语从句，as意为“当……时候”。
?take a place占据一个位置
?vacant/'veIk?nt/adj.空的，空缺的
过去分词短语作定语，修饰a place。
lid/lId/n.盖，盖子
barrel organ手摇风琴
organ/'??ɡ?n/n.风琴，手摇风琴
handle/'hændl/n.柄，把手
consciously adv.有意识地
even though引导让步状语从句。
tap/tæp/v.轻拍，轻敲 passerby/pɑ?s?'baI/n.行人
with their ...是with复合结构，down是副词作宾补。
gangs of成群的 mop/m?p/v.擦，揩(脸、汗等)
spotted/'sp?tId/adj.有污迹的，有斑点的
keep doing sth.不停地做某事
keep (on) doing不停地做； keep sb. from doing阻止某人做； keep sb. doing让某人一直在做
街头音乐
[第1～2段译文]
这是一个温暖的星期六的下午，在巴塞罗那老街区的一条繁忙的小路旁。行人在教堂前围成了半圆，围观着什么人或什么事。我挤进人群，发现一支四重奏乐队正在演奏古典音乐小提琴组曲。演奏持续了10分钟。然后，其中一个音乐人拿起地上的碟子开始收钱。所有的捐助都是自愿的，没有人非掏钱不可。但是，随着一些人悄悄走开，人群一下缩小了。其余的人则很高兴地投了一些硬币。他们对于购物时能听到这种简短的音乐插曲很开心。
在巴黎我居住的公寓的窗下，一位音乐人占据了先前另一位音乐家空出来的地方。他打开手摇风琴的盖子，摇动把手。然后他唱起了关于古老巴黎的歌曲，关于巴黎人民和他们爱情故事的歌曲。我虽然从未刻意去学，但仍然记住了一些歌词。我用脚打着拍子跟随他一起唱。沿街而下却很少有行人驻足。有些人微笑，有些人低头走过。车辆驶过，成群的男孩子聚了又散，有人甚至还往琴上的杯子里投了一枚硬币。但是这位音乐人却对他们全都视而不见。太阳底下，酷热难挡，于是他用有污迹的手帕擦额头。他只是不停地唱着、摇着把手。
In Harlem, New York, some locals place a sound system by an open window. They plug it into the electrical socket， and all of a sudden， there's dancing in the streets. In downtown Tokyo, young couples eat popcorn and dance to the music of a rockabilly band, which plays American music from the Fifties. In the London Underground a student plays classical guitar music, which echoes along the tunnels. It lifts the spirits of the passengers, who hurry past on their way to work. In a street in Vienna or Prague or Milan a group of pipe musicians from the far Andes fill the air with the sounds of South America.
The street musician is keeping alive a culture which has almost disappeared in our busy, organised, and regulated lives： the sound of music when you least expect it. In a recording studio, even when relayed by microphone, music loses some of its liveliness. But street music gives life to everyone who listens and offers relief from the cares of the day. It only exists in the present， it only has meaning in the context. It needs space.
place v．放置 plug/pl?ɡ/v.插上(插头)
socket/'s?kIt/n.插座 all of a sudden突然间
popcorn/'p?p?k??n/n.爆米花
dance to the music伴着音乐跳舞
rockabilly/'r?k??bIli/n.乡村摇滚乐
which plays ...是非限制性定语从句，修饰band。
echo/'ek??/v.回响 tunnel/'t?nl/n.隧道，地道
lift v．提起，举起；激起
on one's way to在某人去……的路上(to为介词)
who引导非限制性定语从句，修饰passengers。
fill ...with ...用……充/填满……
be filled with充满……
keeping alive a culture＝keeping a culture alive。
regulated adj.有规律的，一成不变的
regulate/'reɡj??leIt/v.规定，管理，整顿
which has ...是限制性定语从句，修饰a culture。
relay/rI'leI/v.转播，接转
liveliness/'laIvlIn?s/n.活泼，快乐，生动
relief/rI'li?f/n.(痛苦、忧虑等的)解除，减轻，调剂
in the present当前，眼下 at present目前，现在
[第3～4段译文]
在纽约的哈莱姆，一些当地人将音响设备放置在打开的窗户旁。他们把音响设备的插头插入插座，刹那间，街上的人们就跳起了舞。在东京的商业区，年轻的夫妇吃着爆米花，随着一支乡村摇滚乐队的音乐跳舞，这支乐队演奏着五十年代的美洲音乐。在伦敦的地铁里，一个学生弹奏着古典吉他乐，乐声在隧道里回响。它使匆忙上班的乘客情绪激昂。在维也纳、布拉格或米兰的街上，来自遥远的安第斯山脉的管弦乐手们则使空中弥漫着南美洲音乐之声。,街头音乐家保持了一种文化的生机，而这种文化在我们紧张忙碌、组织有序和一成不变的生活中已近乎消失：在你最意想不到的时候听到的音乐的声音。在录音棚里，即使被麦克风传播，音乐还是失去了某些活力。但是街头音乐给聆听的每一个人以活力，让他们从一天的焦虑中解脱出来。它只存在于当下，也只有在情景中才有意义。它需要空间。
