美国国家公共电台 NPR In A Massive City, This Bar Serves Up Diverse Drinks — To 8 People At A Time

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST: 

Next, a New Year's toast from a bartender in the most populated city of the most populated country on the planet. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports from Shanghai.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE¹: The bartender's name is spelled M-O-E.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SIMPSONS")

HANK AZARIA: (As Moe Szyslak) Moe's Tavern², Moe speaking.

SCHMITZ: But this bartender is nothing like Moe of "The Simpsons." Her name is pronounced...

MOE: Mo-ee (ph).

SCHMITZ: That's mo-ee. It's short for...

MOE: Geguntanasofya.

SCHMITZ: It's a Mongolian name. That's where she was born. She grew up in Japan, and she's spent her adulthood³ in Shanghai, where she's lived for 10 years.

MOE: (Through interpreter) I was 20 when I arrived. I went to many bars. I drank a lot, and I spent a lot of money. One day, I thought to myself, with all the money I spend on drinking, I could open my own bar.

SCHMITZ: So that's what she did. Her bar, Moju, is tucked inside a line of shops along a quiet tree-lined avenue in Shanghai.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEY, BROTHER, POUR THE WINE")

DEAN MARTIN: (Singing) Here we sit enjoying the shade - hey, brother, pour the wine. Drink the drink that I have made.

SCHMITZ: The sound of Dean Martin crooning in the background, Moe mixes a drink, rattling⁴ a cocktail⁵ shaker in a frenzy⁶ over her head, to her side and behind her back before slamming it down on the bar.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRINK BEING MIXED)

SCHMITZ: Moe's is the tiniest of bars for a city of 26 million. It has room for just eight people along a single counter. Reservations are a must. All the drinks here are her own, and her customers come from all over the world. She speaks to them in Japanese, Mongolian, Russian, Chinese and English.

MOE: (Through interpreter) For me, Shanghai means diversity. Everyone is from somewhere else. When something becomes popular in other countries, it quickly arrives here.

SCHMITZ: Yet to a city with such a mix of people, Moe has dedicated⁷ the simplest of New Year's drinks.

MOE: (Through interpreter) It's called the Sakura. It took me half a year to get it right.

SCHMITZ: She makes it Botanist⁸ gin, Cointreau triple sec, a twist of lemon and the bright-pink syrup⁹ of the cherry blossom flower, an import from Japan.

MOE: (Through interpreter) So there's an old Japanese tale about a Sakura tree that lives for thousands of years. That's my hope for this drink.

SCHMITZ: It's at a good start. In October, she entered the drink in an international competition, beating out dozens of mixologists from around the world to win first prize.

MOE: (Foreign language spoken).

SCHMITZ: She says the other bartenders made very complex and sophisticated drinks, but her simple Sakura beat them all.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEY, BROTHER, POUR THE WINE")

MARTIN: (Singing) She's coming here to stay. Hey, brother, pour the wine.

SCHMITZ: And that's Moe's New Year's wish for 2017 - that inside this ever-changing and expanding Metropolis¹⁰ and one of the biggest economies of the world, the secret of success - keep it simple.

Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Shanghai.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

3 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

4 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。

5 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

6 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

7 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

8 botanist   

n.植物学家

参考例句：

• The botanist introduced a new species of plant to the region.那位植物学家向该地区引入了一种新植物。
• I had never talked with a botanist before,and I found him fascinating.我从没有接触过植物学那一类的学者，我觉得他说话极有吸引力。

9 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

10 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。