2015年经济学人 水烟休息室 水烟幻想(在线收听

 

Shisha lounges

水烟休息室

Hubble, bubble

水烟幻想

Young British Asians have adapted an Arab tradition

年轻的亚裔英国人已经适应了阿拉伯传统

Does your mother know that you're out?

你的妈妈知道你外出了吗?

MANY parents lose sleep over thoughts of their offspring staying out late, smoking, boozing and getting up to no good with members of the opposite sex. For years it seemed that Muslim parents could rest a little easier. The lack of alcohol-free nightspots has made going out tricky for their teenage children, who are banned by their religion from drinking. But that gap is rapidly being filled.

很多父母因为担心他们的子女晚归,吸烟,豪饮或沉醉于与异性之间的性爱而失眠。多年以来似乎只有穆斯林的父母可以稍微松一口气。因为宗教原因,缺乏酒精的夜生活使得穆斯林的青少年们连出门寻找享乐的方式都变得棘手。但是那个缺口正在逐步被填满。

Shisha bars, where people smoke hookahs on heated outdoor patios, have mushroomed since a 2007 ban on smoking in public places. A study of 133 local authorities by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that the number of bars had risen from179 in2007 to556 in2012. Phil Johnson, one of the founders of the National Association of Shisha Bar Owners, reckons there are many more. Some can accommodate as many as 400 patrons.

从2007年的公共场所禁烟令的发布之后,一个人们能够在温暖的户外吸水烟的地方—水烟酒吧,迅速繁荣起来。一项由133家地方当局授权的英国心脏协会的研究表明,水烟酒吧的数量由2007年的179家增长至2012年的556家。全国水烟酒吧联合协会的创始人之一,菲尔·约翰逊表示估计还有更多的酒吧未算在内。一些水烟酒吧可以容纳近400人。

Smoking shishas is common in Arab countries such asEgypt. But British Muslims mainly trace their origins to South Asian countries such asBangladeshandPakistanwhere it is rarer. InBradford, one city where shisha bars are flourishing, a fifth of the population is Pakistani. Fewer than 1% are Arabs.

在阿拉比国家吸食水烟是很常见的事,例如埃及。但是像英国穆斯林起源主要追溯于南亚国家,像孟加拉国和巴基斯坦,这些国家是很少提倡水烟。在巴基斯坦人口排得上第五的城市——布拉德福德, 那个地方水烟酒吧生意兴隆,但是却比不上阿拉伯国家的百分之一。

Shisha lounges appeal to Muslims of both sexes who are too devout to go to clubs but not devout enough to hang out at the mosque, says Naweed Hussain, a political activist inBradford. There, and in cities such asBirmingham, the clientele is predominantly Asian. InLondonandOxfordpatrons are a more mixed bunch. But even inBirminghamnon-Muslims are keen. A decade ago there was much worry about Asian Muslims living “parallel lives” that rarely intersected with whites. Shisha lounges are an exception.

布拉德福德的政治活跃分子Naweed Huassain表示,水烟酒吧对那些太虔诚以至于不去酒吧却不够虔诚呆在清真寺的群体有着吸引力。在这儿,还有诸如伯明翰的一些城市他们的服务对象主要是亚洲人。在伦敦和牛津顾客们更是鱼龙混杂。而且即使是在伯明翰的非穆斯林们都热衷于水烟酒吧。十年前很多人担心亚洲穆斯林们那种几乎不与白人打交道的“平行生活”状态。水烟休闲室是一个例外。

Few serve alcohol. In the Havana Shisha Lounge inBirmingham, piles of fruit, waiting to be juiced, sit next to lavishly iced cakes and tubs of ice cream. Milkshakes are a common accompaniment to shishas. Young Muslims relish sickly flavours of tobacco such as fizzyberry, gummy bear and blueberry-vanilla much as non-Muslims savour pineapple Bacardi Breezers. Smoking them is cheaper than other suitable activities, such as bowling. A shisha costs about £10 ($16); four or five people can share one for an hour.

水烟休闲室很少提供酒精饮料。伯明翰哈瓦那的水烟休闲室,在华丽的冰镇蛋糕和管状冰淇淋旁,成堆的水果等待被榨成果汁。奶昔常常伴随着水烟而摆上桌。年轻的穆斯林们乐衷于病态口味的烟草,如fizzyberry,软糖熊和香草蓝莓,就像非穆斯林喜爱品尝菠萝味的百加地酒。吸水烟比其它合适的休闲活动要便宜的多。(例如保龄球)。水烟的成本约十英镑(也就是十六美元),四五人可以共享水烟长达一个小时。

Fans argue that, unlike getting drunk, smoking shishas is not haram (forbidden). At worst, it is makruh (detested but not strictly prohibited). Ibrahim Mogra, a senior member of the Muslim Council of Britain, disagrees. The molasses-soaked tobacco used in water pipes damages people's health (the BHF says that one hour of shisha smoking is equivalent to puffing on 100 cigarettes), so shishas are haram. He also frets about what goes on besides smoking: “I dread to think of them becoming the equivalent of bars and pubs where anything and everything goes.” Boys and girls may be out of their parents' sight but not out of God's, he cautions.

支持者们辩解道:与饮酒不同的,吸食水烟不是罪孽的(不被禁止)。最坏而言,它是可恶的行为(憎恶但是不是严格禁止的)。英国穆斯林委员会的高级成员Ibrahim Mogra持反对意见:用于浸泡烟管的糖蜜对人的健康有害(BHF表示吸食一小时的水烟相当于吸食100根香烟的膨胀)因此水烟是有罪的。他同时也表达了对伴随着吸烟所产生的其它焦虑,那就是“我害怕水烟酒吧变成和普通酒吧一样,一个什么事情都可能发生的地方。他警告,男孩女孩们可以一时逃离父母的视线,但是在上帝的注视下他们无所遁形。

Mr Mogra's fears are not entirely misplaced. One young man who sometimes works in his father's shisha bar says that customers occasionally smuggle in alcohol from a nearby supermarket (his father does not know). Girls come in droves and boys flock there to meet them. But those worried about the integration of British Muslims ought to find all this reassuring. Muslim teenagers are as rebellious and amorous as young people everywhere.

Mogra的担心并不是空穴来风。一个在父亲的水烟酒吧工作的年轻人说道,顾客偶尔会从附近的商场里走私酒精(他的父亲并不知情)。女孩们成群结队而来,男生们涌入迎接。但是那些担心英国穆斯林的整体形象的人们却认为这个现象值得放心,因为穆斯林的青少年们的叛逆与风情是世界各地年轻人的代表。

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/2015jjxr/492134.html