吹小号的天鹅 第78期:塞蕾娜

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第十七章 塞蕾娜

During the next ten weeks, Louis got rich.

接下来的十周里，路易斯变富了。

He went every evening except Sundays to the nightclub and played his trumpet¹ for the customers.

除星期日外的每天晚上他都去夜总会为顾客们吹奏他的小号。

He did not like the job at all. The place was big and crowded and noisy.

他根本不喜欢这个工作。这地方又大又挤又吵。

Everyone seemed to be talking too loudly, eating too much, and drinking too much.

每个人似乎都嚷得太欢，吃得太饱，喝得太多。

Most birds like to go to sleep at sundown. They do not want to stay up half the night entertaining people.

多数的鸟儿都喜欢日落即睡的。他们不想在半夜里还醒着逗人开心。

But Louis was a musician, and musicians can't choose their working hours

可路易斯是一个音乐家，音乐家们可是不能自由选择他们的工作时间的

they must work when their employer wants them to.

当他们的雇主想要他们来工作时，他们就得出来工作。

Every Saturday night Louis collected his pay--five hundred dollars.

路易斯在每个星期六的夜里收取他的报酬——五百美元。

Mr. Lucas was always on hand to receive his agent's fee of ten percent from Louis.

卢卡斯先生总是当场向路易斯收取他那百分之十的佣金。

After Louis had paid Mr. Lucas, he still had four hundred and fifty dollars left,

付完卢卡斯佣金后，路易斯还剩四百五十美元，

and he would put this in his moneybag, hop² into the waiting taxicab, and return to Bird Lake, arriving at around 3 A.m.

他会把这些钱都放到他的钱袋里，跳进等在那里的出租车，在凌晨三点回到鸟湖上。

His moneybag grew so stuffed with money, Louis was beginning to worry.

他的钱袋越塞越满，路易斯都有些开始担心了。

On Sunday afternoons, if the weather was good, crowds of people would gather on the shores of Bird Lake,

在星期天下午，如果天气不错，人们会成群地聚到鸟湖的岸边来，

and Louis would stand on the island in the middle of the lake and give a concert.

那时路易斯就会站在湖中心的小岛上举办一场音乐会。

This became a popular event in Philadelphia, where there isn't much going on on Sunday.

这成了费城家喻户晓的大事，因为那个地方在星期日一向是没有什么太重要的事情发生的。

Louis took the concert very seriously.

路易斯对音乐会这件事看得很认真。

By playing for the people, he was earning the right to remain free and not have a wing clipped.

靠给人们吹奏，他才能赢得自由居住和一只翅膀不被剪的权利。

He was always at his best on Sundays.

他总是在星期日吹奏最好的曲子。

Instead of playing jazz and rock and folk and country-and-western, he would play selections from the works of the great composers

他不吹爵士乐和摇滚乐，也不吹民歌和乡村音乐，只吹奏那些伟大作曲家的经典作品

Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Johann Sebastian Bach, music he had learned by listening to records at Camp Kookooskoos.

贝多芬，莫扎特，还有巴赫，这些音乐都是他在库库斯库斯夏令营时从录音机里听来的。

Louis also liked the music of George Gershwin and Stephen Foster.

路易斯也喜欢乔治·格什温和斯蒂芬·福斯特的作品。

When he played "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess,

当他吹奏“波姬和贝丝”中的那首“夏日”时，

the people of Philadelphia felt that it was the most thrilling music they had ever heard.

费城人都觉得那是他们所听过的最令人心动的音乐。

Louis was considered so good on the trumpet he was invited to make a guest appearance with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

路易斯的小号吹奏水平受到了人们的一致好评，以至于他接到了在费城交响乐团作客场演出的邀请。

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