2020年经济学人 街头女歌手莉莉·利昂(2)

When she first put a toe on the streets, in the mid-1930s, there were 30 others. It was a competitive business, but she could not cut her prices; at 20 francs a go, she needed to sell 100 scores at each performance just to pay the rent. Luckily she was healthy and her voice strong, since she stayed out for 12 hours a day and in most weathers— even in temperatures of ten degrees below, when people would run out of cafés with mulled wine to warm her up.

20世纪三十年代中期，当莉莉第一次走上街头时，那里还有其他30个人。这是个很有竞争性的生意，但是她不能降价，每次20法郎，她需要在每场演出中卖出100个乐谱才能支付租金。幸运的是，她很健康，声音也很有力，因为她每天要在外面呆上12个小时，在大多数天气里-即使是在零下十度的温度下，人们也会拿着热红酒从咖啡馆里跑出来让她暖和起来。

War interrupted things, but after that great Liberation day in August 1944, when she belted out “La Marseillaise” as de Gaulle appeared on the Champs-Elysées and found the crowd joining her, she knew she had arrived. Her timing¹ seemed strange to some, just as her metier was fading. But singing made her feel free; and what she was doing was important. She was continuing a long tradition of popular songs in the street, one first organised in the revolution of 1789 to stir up citizen spirit and raise morale².

战争中断了一切，但在1944年8月那个伟大的解放日之后，戴高乐出现在香榭丽舍大街上，她高唱着《马赛曲》，发现人群加入了她。她知道自己成功了。对一些人来说，她成功的时机似乎很奇怪，因为她的专长正在消失。但是唱歌使她感到自由；她所做的事情很重要。她延续了街头流行歌曲的悠久传统，第一次是在1789年的革命中组织起来的，目的是激发公民精神，提高士气。

She thought of herself as a teacher, promoting songs (a few new ones, like “La Mer”, mixed in with the old), getting the people to learn them, and selling them scores so that they could practise at home. It was a truly communal³ enterprise. Another favourite pitch was outside the giant Renault factory in the suburbs, where at midday when the siren sounded a wave of workers in blue overalls⁴ would stream out and, with luck, cluster round her, chewing their casse-cro?te as they listened.

莉莉将自己视作一个老师，发扬歌曲（有一些新的歌曲，比如《大海》，与旧的歌曲混在一起），让人们去学习它们，卖给他们乐谱，这样他们就可以在家里练习了。它是一个真正的公有企业。另一个最受欢迎的地方是郊区的雷诺大型工厂外，正午警报响起时，一波又一波身穿蓝色工作服的工人就会涌出来，运气好的话，就围在她身边，一边听着，一边吃着他们的便餐。

1 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

2 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

3 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

4 overalls   

n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣

参考例句：

• He is in overalls today.他今天穿的是工作裤。
• He changed his overalls for a suit.他脱下工装裤，换上了一套西服。