英语词汇实用小百科 begging and busking（在线收听）

晓华 : Hello and welcome to RoundTable's "the Word of the Week." This week we are talking about begging and busking.

John: That's right. In English these are two words that are basically interchangeable. They are begging and panhandling. They mean the same thing -- going around, asking people for money.

晓华 :Begging 大家都知道,Panhandling从字面上听上去也可以知道是什么意思了,端着一个盘子,也是要乞讨要钱的意思。

John: Besides money of course, they may also ask for food, drink, cigarettes or other small items.Now looking at begging from the western history, for Ancient Greeks distinguished between the ptochos (Greek: πτωχ??, which means the"passive poor" or "beggars") and the penes (Greek: ποιν??, "active poor"), with the latter being accorded a higher social status.

晓华 : Interesting. 从古希腊时期开始,就把被动的穷人,也就是乞讨者,还有主动的穷人,在词汇上加以区分了。

John: As many of our listeners probably already know, if you look here in China with Buddhism and perhaps even in Daoism, begging is actually part of the religion. But also Christianity, Hinduism, Sufi Islam and Jainism also provide a traditional method of begging for monks, nuns, and people living in monasteries.

晓华 :不光是在佛教中,在基督教,甚至是印度教中都有和尚,尼姑,或者是修道院的修士行乞来求生这样的教义。

John: No let's take a quick look at some interesting laws and practices from around the world. Just as a very quick example, in Canada, the province of Ontario introduced its Safe Streets Act in 1999. So actually it is not illegal to beg, but they ban what is called "aggressive", or "abusive" begging or panhandling.

晓华 :看来各个国家都有一些限制乞讨的法律。像加拿大就禁止非常强势的,或者缠着别人要钱的这种行为。

John: And in Finland, begging has been legal since 1987. But in 2003, the Public Order Act completely decriminalized begging

晓华 : 芬兰相对来说是对begging比较友好的一个国家。

John: And in Luxembourg finally, begging in Luxembourg is totally legal except when it is indulged in as a group or the beggar is a part of an organized effort, someway like we could see in China.

晓华 :卢森堡的律法是禁止有组织的行乞行为。

John: So another type, or way of asking for money is not begging, is not really panhandling. It's basically performing, and having a hat or a can, asking for tips, you might say. So in English, there are two different words or phrases we called street performance, or perhaps even more commonly, we call it"busking."

晓华 : 下面该说到busking了,也就是街头表演。

John: People who engaged in busking can be called "street performers", or perhaps even "buskers".

晓华 :顾名思义, busker就是街头表演者,或者是街头艺人,

John: So the term "busking" was first noted in the English language around the middle 1860s in the Great Britain. The verb "to busk", from the word "busker", comes from the Spanish root word "buscar", meaning "to seek" - as supposedly buskers are seeking fame and fortune.

晓华 :所以busking也不光是表演,在它的词源里有"索求,求取"的意思,自然是要要钱了。

John: So there are other four basic forms of street performance or busking is the "Circle show", which tends to gather a crowd around them. They usually have a distinct beginning and end. So perhaps street theater, magicians, acrobats, jugglers, things like that.

晓华 :感觉Circle show有点像中文里的撂地卖艺,在一块固定的地点,吸引一些围成圈子的观众,然后表演一些杂耍,变魔术,木偶戏这样的表演。

John: And then there are "Walk-by acts", where the busker performs a musical, living statue or other act that does not have a distinct beginning or end and the public usually watch for a brief time and then walk on by.

晓华 : "Walk-by acts"就是不需要观众停留太长时间的,比如说在街头弹吉他唱歌,还有在街头假装成雕像,都可以归在这里面。

John: And then there is the "Stoplight performers". These people present their act right on the crosswalk when the lights are red. Then, while still red, they walk by the cars to get contributions from drivers and/or passengers.

晓华 :"Stoplight performers"就是趁人在等红灯的时候在街角表演的艺术家。I've never actually seen any of these.

John: It doesn't usually happenin places like China. Usually in America, or perhaps even in parts of Europe.

晓华 : I see.

John: And then last but not least is"Café busking", mostly done in restaurants, pubs, bars and cafes. Basically the idea is someone is performing inside one of these venues, but the venue is not paying them. Instead, they are making money only from the tips of the patients.

晓华 : "Café busking"跟酒吧驻唱的歌手还不太一样。咖啡厅或者酒吧通常不支付他们任何费用,但是他们可以走来走去,为客人表演,向客人收取费用。 So that raps RoundTable's "the Word of the Week."