瑞典夜莺遇到巴纳姆

张文

The famed soprano Jenny Lind had plenty of talent and determination. And when she came to America in 1850 she had more than enough publicity. Her promoter was the biggest showman of them all—P.T. Barnum.

Eager to rise above his reputation as a promoter of sideshows and freaks, Barnum had risked his entire fortune on the singer that he dubbed the Swedish Nightingale—a singer whom he had never heard or seen. He saw to it that the risk paid off. When she arrived in New York, her admirers mobbed Jenny Lind. By midnight, when she arrived at her hotel, a crowd of 30,000 had gathered just to get a look at her. At one o'clock, a fire brigade 700 strong ushered in a band of 130 musicians who came to serenade her.

Tickets for her first American concert were in such demand that they were auctioned off. The first ticket went to a hat maker named Genin who paid ＄225 for it and got several days' worth of fame in the bargain . At the concert 7000 shouting people crammed into Castle Garden to hear Jenny Lind sing. She received ＄10,000—all of which she gave to New York charities. She repeated her success in Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Charleston, and Baltimore.

In Baltimore something happened that may have made Jenny Lind decide that things had gotten out of hand. She was on the balcony of her hotel, bowing to the masses below when her shawl fell. Instead of returning it, the crowd fought over the shawl, tearing it to shreds and pocketing the pieces as souvenirs. Soon afterward she backed out of her contract with Barnum—at a cost of ＄30,000—and completed her American tour. Several years passed before she returned to the concert stage. As for P.T. Barnum, he went into a profession for which he may have been supremely well qualified—politics.

张文

著名女高音詹妮•琳德才华横溢，意志坚定。1850年，当她到达美国后，获得了相当高的知名度，她的推广者是最伟大的广告家P.T.巴纳姆。

为了急于摆脱“穿插秀和滑稽小品推广大师”的名声，巴纳姆冒险将他的全部钱财赌在这位被他叫做“瑞典夜莺”的歌唱家身上，而这位“夜莺”他还闻所未闻呢。这次他必须让他的赌注捞回来。当琳德到达纽约后，她的“粉丝”将她围个水泄不通。当她午夜到达旅馆时，有3万人聚集在那里，以求一睹芳容。午夜1点时， 700人的消防队引来了一支由170人组成的乐队，他们特意来给她献情歌。

琳德的美国首场演出票源紧俏，紧俏到需要举办拍卖会的程度。第一张票被一名叫格林的帽子制造商以225美元的价格纳入囊中，他也因此出了几天名。音乐会时，7000名观众尖叫着挤入城堡公园。琳德赚了1万美元，她把这笔钱全部捐给了纽约的慈善机构。她在费城、华盛顿、里奇蒙德、查理斯顿和巴尔第摩复制着她的辉煌。

在巴尔第摩发生的事情可能使琳德意识到事态发展得有些失控。当时她在她下榻旅馆的阳台上，她向楼下的观众们鞠躬时，披巾掉了下去。观众没有将披巾还给她，为了抢到披巾他们大打出手，结果披巾被撕成了碎片，碎片被装进了观众的腰包留作纪念品。不久，琳德不惜以损失3万美元的代价终止了和巴纳姆签订的合同，结束了她的美国巡演。过了好几年，琳德才重登舞台。

至于P.T.巴纳姆，他开始了新的职业生涯——政治。显然，在这个领域他如鱼得水。

张文

Vocabulary:

1. nightingale: 夜莺，女歌唱家；Barnum: 即P.T.Barnum，P.T.巴纳姆（1810—1891），美国著名演艺经理人，以主办耸人听闻的游艺节目和奇人怪物展览而闻名。

2. soprano: 女歌唱家。

3. showman: 演出主持人，演出者；善于吸引注意者。

4. rise above: 克服；sideshow: 穿插表演；freak: 怪诞举动；dub: 给……取雅号。

5. see to it that: 务必使。

6. mob: 围住。

7. serenade: 对……（尤指所爱的人）唱小夜曲，奏小夜曲。

8. in the bargain: 另外。