美国国家公共电台 NPR Case Closed: Preservation Hall's Missing Sousaphone Is Returned

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

And now a true crime story that involves a theft, an anonymous¹ tip and a very special tuba.

(SOUNDBITE OF TUBA MUSIC)

SHAPIRO: That is the missing tuba - a sousaphone, to be exact. Here's its owner to tell us about his instrument, how he lost it and got it back again.

BEN JAFFE: My name is Ben Jaffe, and I'm the tuba player with the Preservation² Hall Jazz Band. And two weeks ago, my sousaphone tuba went missing after one of our shows in New Orleans.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JAFFE: If you're trying to identify the sound, you listen to the low end. You listen for the bass³. You listen for the bottom.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JAFFE: You wear it around your neck almost like a gigantic necklace, and it has a bell that comes up over your head.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JAFFE: I purchased my horn shortly after Hurricane Katrina. I lost my instruments in Hurricane Katrina. It just has become a part of me. It's traveled the world several times with me. It's - I mean, every little nick and ding on that horn has a story behind it.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JAFFE: When we realize the horn was missing, we began, you know, searching all of the obvious places that we thought it could be. We went back to the venue⁴ that we played at, and we double-checked there. And then there is this sinking feeling that it's gone.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JAFFE: That's when we got the word out and started working through social media to get, you know, the whole community motivated to locate the instrument. And ultimately it worked. Someone who had read the newspaper spotted⁵ the horn and contacted us anonymously⁶. And through that tip, we were able to retrieve⁷ the instrument.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Yeah, look out now.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: All right.

JAFFE: Keep your head up.

I just got the horn back yesterday. I spent the day cleaning the horn and getting the valves working again. There was some damage to the valves. I'm going to have to ship the horn to a specialist to have it overhauled⁸. But I was just so excited to have my horn back that even though it's damaged, I'm just going to - I'm going to play it anyway.

All right, so I've got my tuba right here. Let me play it for you.

(SOUNDBITE OF TUBA MUSIC)

SHAPIRO: That's Ben Jaffe, the tuba player for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans. We caught up with him in Austin, Texas. The band is debuting⁹ a new documentary called "A Tuba To Cuba" at the South by Southwest Music Festival.

(SOUNDBITE OF TUBA MUSIC)

JAFFE: Yeah.

1 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。

2 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

3 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

4 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

5 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

6 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

7 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

8 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 debuting   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• New debuting analog thermostat welding machine, easy to operate. 新登场模拟式调温电焊台，操作简单。
• With the new tablet device that is debuting next week, Apple Inc. 苹果公司的新型平板电脑将于下周发布。