The Worst Christmas Jobs 圣诞特辑 7

By the 19th century, the festive¹ season was getting much closer to our modern Christmas. Victorians had Christmas trees, Christmas cards and panto. In fact, panto dates back at least 200 years. Most of the jokes are that old too. And it comes with its own very obvious worst job.

A lot of performers love doing pantomime. To be frank I can't stand it. Eight, sometimes 12 shows a week, all that dreadful dialogue, lots of screaming kids. But if you are gonna be in a pantomime, be Buttons, be the Dame², be Cinderella. Don't be the back end of a cow.

The downside's obvious: it's hot, sticky, dark, silly, and anonymous³. And for the back end, it means you spend your working life bend double with your nose pressed into a colleague's bottom. In the Victorian Age, actors like Johnny Fullers specialized⁴ in playing animals. They transformed themselves into spookily man-shaped poodles, pussycats, even monkeys.

Come on lad. Don't be shy, there's a good girl, oh hoo, I say, is she er…, isn't she beautiful? Oh ho

But at least at the back end of a cow there is no danger unlike the worst job backstage that gave us our modern panto experience.

If you wanna get all your laughs in a modern pantomime your first priority is to be seen. The stage needs to be bright and attractive and well illuminated⁵. And that has not always been the case. Until the beginning of the 19th century this is the kind of light that you'd have been lit by on a stage. It's dull, it's flat, it’s gaslight. You can see my gut⁶ but you can‘t see my face here, can you? If I wanted to be brightly lit, I needed to be in the limelight.

Buttons(英口语.罕) 男侍者 (bellboy)在旅馆、俱乐部等中穿着金色钮扣制服

Cinderella n.灰姑娘

poodlen. 狮子狗;卷毛狗

pussycat n. 猫
Synonyms: kitty, kitty-cat, puss, pussy

1 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

2 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

3 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

4 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

5 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

6 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。