第十七章 塞蕾娜
During the next ten weeks, Louis got rich.
接下來的十周里,路易斯變富了。
He went every evening except Sundays to thenightclub and played his trumpet for the customers.
除星期日外的每天晚上他都去夜總會為顧客們吹奏他的小號。
He did not like the job at all. The place was big andcrowded and noisy.
他根本不喜歡這個工作。這地方又大又擠又吵。
Everyone seemed to be talking too loudly, eating too much, and drinking too much.
每個人似乎都嚷得太歡,吃得太飽,喝得太多。
Most birds like to go to sleep at sundown. They do not want to stay up half the nightentertaining people.
多數(shù)的鳥兒都喜歡日落即睡的。他們不想在半夜里還醒著逗人開心。
But Louis was a musician, and musicians can't choose their working hours
可路易斯是一個音樂家,音樂家們可是不能自由選擇他們的工作時間的
they must work when their employer wants them to.
當(dāng)他們的雇主想要他們來工作時,他們就得出來工作。
Every Saturday night Louis collected his pay--five hundred dollars.
路易斯在每個星期六的夜里收取他的報酬——五百美元。
Mr. Lucas was always on hand to receive his agent's fee of ten percent from Louis.
盧卡斯先生總是當(dāng)場向路易斯收取他那百分之十的傭金。
After Louis had paid Mr. Lucas, he still had four hundred and fifty dollars left,
付完盧卡斯傭金后,路易斯還剩四百五十美元,
and he would put this in his moneybag, hop into the waiting taxicab, and return to Bird Lake,arriving at around 3 A.m.
他會把這些錢都放到他的錢袋里,跳進等在那里的出租車,在凌晨三點回到鳥湖上。
His moneybag grew so stuffed with money, Louis was beginning to worry.
他的錢袋越塞越滿,路易斯都有些開始擔(dān)心了。
On Sunday afternoons, if the weather was good, crowds of people would gather on the shoresof Bird Lake,
在星期天下午,如果天氣不錯,人們會成群地聚到鳥湖的岸邊來,
and Louis would stand on the island in the middle of the lake and give a concert.
那時路易斯就會站在湖中心的小島上舉辦一場音樂會。
This became a popular event in Philadelphia, where there isn't much going on on Sunday.
這成了費城家喻戶曉的大事,因為那個地方在星期日一向是沒有什么太重要的事情發(fā)生的。
Louis took the concert very seriously.
路易斯對音樂會這件事看得很認真。
By playing for the people, he was earning the right to remain free and not have a wing clipped.
靠給人們吹奏,他才能贏得自由居住和一只翅膀不被剪的權(quán)利。
He was always at his best on Sundays.
他總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 selectionsfrom the works of the great composers
他不吹爵士樂和搖滾樂,也不吹民歌和鄉(xiāng)村音樂,只吹奏那些偉大作曲家的經(jīng)典作品
Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Johann Sebastian Bach, music he hadlearned by listening to records at Camp Kookooskoos.
貝多芬,莫扎特,還有巴赫,這些音樂都是他在庫庫斯庫斯夏令營時從錄音機里聽來的。
Louis also liked the music of George Gershwin and Stephen Foster.
路易斯也喜歡喬治·格什溫和斯蒂芬·福斯特的作品。
When he played "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess,
當(dāng)他吹奏“波姬和貝絲”中的那首“夏日”時,
the people of Philadelphia felt that it was the most thrilling music they had ever heard.
費城人都覺得那是他們所聽過的最令人心動的音樂。
Louis was considered so good on the trumpet he was invited to make a guest appearance withthe Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.
路易斯的小號吹奏水平受到了人們的一致好評,以至于他接到了在費城交響樂團作客場演出的邀請。