Would the real beggars please stand up
By Nicco (From France)
Picture by Zhu Lijun

乞丐,是否一样存在东西方差异? 在法国画家尼克的眼中乞丐是一项国际化的职业. 依据他平日在两个城市的所见所闻,他对比了巴黎的职业乞丐与厦门街头的乞丐. 他认为,人们应对职业乞丐与真正需要帮助的困难者区别对待,绝不能一视同仁.

If one looks in the English, Chinese or other official dictionaries, one finds the definition of the word "Beggar" as "a person seeking money and/or food". This may be so, but the definition was made over 50 years ago. Since then times have changed. The "Beggar Business" has come into being on a more advanced scale!

One finds the classical "Beggar" everywhere on this planet - in particular in the poor countries devastated by natural disasters or wars. The recent tsunami in the South Asian region has produced very few since the United Nations and international aid agencies came to the rescue to help people in need.

The majority of "Beggars" are false, and the needy ones are very rare since dignity forces them not to do this. In France the "Professional Beggars" are everywhere from the streets to the underground stations, and they have sly ways to make a "living"! Two examples, a women in her late twenties "begs" every day in one of the Metro train stations in Paris. Her methods are very simple-a pillow under her large dress (to give the impression she is pregnant!), two small children of three years of age (she looks after them as her neighbors are working!), a small dog which lies peacefully on a cushion (again a neighbor's dog since its owner is on holiday!) and a notice badly handwritten that she is homeless! Passers-by feel sorry for her and she makes around RMB 250 per hour!

The other example is a middle-aged fit man who comes every morning-since eight years ago-to sit by the wall near the entrance of a large department store-again in Paris. His first "act" when he arrives at his "begging spot" is to shave in the gutter (in Paris every morning the gutters are cleaned automatically by fresh water!). Shoppers come and go and everybody knows him, since he is "very polite and people feel sorry for him"! Before the store closes, he goes home walking a few hundred meters away to take his car and drive home in the suburbs of Paris -to his home where his wife and two school-age children live. Both his car and house were bought in cash, through "eight years of begging"!

In every western country there are many similar examples as described above.

To the visitor of Xiamen, the "Beggars" are a mixture of those who are really in need and the "aggressive professionals"! As soon as the "Laowai" arrives at the railway station or near the Ferry terminal, he or she is instantly harassed by these individuals! You hear them come with their tins or plastic mugs rattling a few coins insisting! Some arrive limping with a cane. But as soon as you make a hasty retreat they follow you on the run, discarding the cane! Some sleep in Zhongshan Road with the tin full of paper money and wake up to find more notes stuffed into the tin. There is the "Monkey Man" with his trained monkey and he accepts coins! One man-if you watch him at the bus station earns over RMB 50 per hour. Outside one of the McDonald's is a true Beggar- an old man who really needs help. One even sees maimed children begging. Some Beggars have been deliberately maimed when young to enter the Beggar business. One could see last year several young girls on wheeled trays with deformed limbs doing drawings on the pavements. The examples are unlimited.

 

 

Easily done
By The Chef

衣食住行,学英语要从身边的小事开始. 本栏目将带给您最实用的日常口语.

● A piece of cake. 小菜一碟.
● As easy as ABC. 像ABC那么简单.
● A walk in the park. 像在公园里走走那么简单.
● No worries, it'll be done in a minute. 不用担心,一会儿就能做完.
● That's all you want me to do? 你要我做的就这些?
● No sweat. 不费劲.
● I'll have it done before you know it. 我会在你知道前搞定一切.

 

 

Hot Word
Collected by Jianjiang

● seabed
More evidence of an ancient port city was revealed by December's tsunami. Stone structures that are "clearly man-made" were seen on the seabed off the south coast.
去年的海啸也带来些许意想不到的惊喜,它掀开了印度一个古代港口城市的面纱. 考古学家们表示,在印度南部海岸附近海底发现的石头建筑"明显是人工建造的".
seabed,海底、海床. 河床就是riverbed啦.

● invoice
Owning a car is no longer a privilege just for native Beijingers. Out-of-town drivers need their ID cards, temporary resident documents, their vehicle purchasing invoice to apply for a license.
即日起,外地人在京购车的条件有所放宽. 在京暂住人员凭本人身份证、暂住证和购车发票,就可以上牌照了.
invoice,发票. 源自法语envoi(发送). invoice-book,发票存根.

● mustard
Of the four sauces used by McDonald's, which were reported in the UK to possibly contain Sudan I, mustard is the only one sold on the Chinese mainland.
麦当劳4种调味料因可能含"苏丹红(一号)"致癌红色素而被英国食品标准署召回. 其中在中国大陆麦当劳也能见到的是地戎芥末蛋黄酱.
mustard,芥末. 难忘的辣味吧? as keen as mustard,非常热心.

● PSP
Sony Corp will release the PSP machine in North America on March 24 and have 1 million units ready for sale in the first week.
为了在掌上型游戏机市场上与任天堂的NDS一决高下,索尼公司宣布将于3月24日在北美发布其新开发的便携式游戏机,并将在第一周内上架100万台.
PSP是Play Station Portable的缩写,意为"便携式游戏机".

● lineup
More than 40 Hollywood stars will come to China in groups from March to July. The star-studded lineup includes Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Hanks and so on.
从3月起,中国观众将有机会在北京、上海面对面聆听好莱坞电影大师们的讲座. 此次"世界电影论坛"将囊括当今好莱坞最著名的导演、影星、制片人阵容.
lineup,阵容. 可以用在体育比赛里,也能表示"阵形"、"列队".

● grandmaster
Chinese grandmaster Zhu Chen, 27, the ninth Women's World Chess champion, won the Accoona Women's World Chess Championship by defeating American rising star Irina Krush, 21.
女子国际象棋冠军系列对抗赛决赛在纽约结束,美丽的诸宸不改大师本色. 在这场复出战中,她以1胜1和击败全美冠军伊莉娜·克鲁什.
grandmaster,大师(最高棋手等的称号). 表示"在任何方面有特殊成就的人".

 

 

Cartoon English
By Bo & Bob

 

 

Oh, No, No...
By Suky

哦,不不不! 你会说"不"吗? 会用英语say no 吗? 有时候说"不"比说"是"困难很多倍,可是我们还是要慢慢学会去拒绝,甚至下命令,不是吗?

1. Oh, no, Not today, please
哦,不要! 今天就饶了我吧.

考试了. 噢,可是没有准备好啊,不要今天考吧,饶了我吧. 交房租了. 没钱啊,改天再说吧! 当你泪眼汪汪的说"please"的时候,No的成功率就多了一倍. 这句话来自Shrek中那只穿着衣服的佐罗猫的台词.

2. The proposal produced only nays.
求婚的结果只是拒绝.

Proposal可以用作提议,建议,而且又是求婚的专用名词,要依照上下文语境而定. nay即是no.

3. Make love not war We won't go to war.
要爱情不要战争. (美国反越战时期的口号. )

我们不希望诉诸于战争. Go to除了去什么地方的意思,还可以表达"采取"的含义.

4. This is our play road. We don't like them to pass through here.
这里是我们游戏的地方. 我们不希望汽车通过这里.

很多人狠不下心直接说"no",不妨可以用比较委婉的说法Don't like.

5. No further
够啦,别再说啦.

要是有人一直在耳边絮絮叨叨碎碎念,除了狠狠瞪他一眼之外,还可以大声地说一句:No further!当然作为far的比较级,no further也可以表达"别再向前走啦"的意思.

 

 

水银灯下
By Ivan

虽然一年一度的奥斯卡颁奖已落下帷幕,但大家谈起电影还是兴致勃勃. 毋庸讳言,电影已成为都市生活的点缀,丰富了百姓的娱乐世界.

Oscar,奥斯卡金像奖.
素以学院派闻名的奥斯卡其实还有另一个叫法:Academy Awards. 中国自己的电影奖项是Golden Rooster Awards(金鸡奖).

hero,男主角.
男主人公就算不是相貌堂堂、一身正气的英雄人物,那他八成也要个性十足或心地善良. 女主角是heroine.

thriller,恐怖片.
thrill是动词"发抖". 按内容分,电影的种类可谓名目繁多. 比如feature film(故事片),ethical film(伦理片),epic film(史诗片),war film(战争片).

G级,普通级别.
电影的文字介绍后头,总有一个括号标明是G级或R级等等,这个就是电影的级别啦. G级指General Audience. U级和G级一样,指Universal Category. 大受年轻人欢迎的 "American Pie"和 "Road Trip"之类反映美国大学校园生活的片子,一般都是R级,即Restricted under 17(17岁以下受限制). 看到PG级时,你可别把它当成宝洁公司,这指的是Parental Guidance(家长指导). 当然还有X级,X-rated,可不要随便看成人片哦.

running schedule,档期.
常能在娱乐节目里听到这个词. 也可以说filming schedule,拍片期.

dubbed film,译制片.
dub是配音,dubber就是配音演员. 乔臻、丁建华曾给我们带来许多快乐时光,但现在时兴看原声电影original version.

director,导演.
screenwriter是编剧. 像徐静蕾这样自编自导的,就叫screenwriter-director. 有点像文字游戏啊. 当然,更重要的还是监制人supervisor和制片人producer.

public show,公映.
公映之前叫上一拨记者专家预映一番,就叫preview. 剧中明星齐上阵大张旗鼓的首映式,就是first run.

 

 

金门大桥
By 郑启五

编者按:
随着与西方世界的更多交流, 中文词汇也日渐丰富. 一些新兴的外来词语或翻译过来的词语大量涌入我们的眼帘. 一些我们已习以为常, 一些我们还陌生依旧. 究竟那些外来词汇的命运如何, 是将融入我们的文化, 生命长存呢? 还是昙花一现, 消逝无踪? 我们特别开设"翻译大家谈"栏目. 希望能借助这个平台, 让更多的读者在此畅所欲言, 一起探讨外来词汇翻译的问题.

路遇英语系曾炳辉先生,街头寒暄,得知他刚从旧金山探亲归来,风尘仆仆. 他说有小礼物相赠,随即从黑提包里摸出一张域外的风景明信片. 我也不客气了,道声谢谢,物轻谊重,一帘友情的雨丝悄然抖落心湖.

回家后净手,泡午子绿茶,然后静心品茗,赏看曾教授的馈赠. 哦,原来是熟悉的旧金山金门桥,一座举世闻名的跨海大桥,电视里画报上百睹千看,我本人也曾在18年前漫步桥上. 那么为什么没有一眼认出呢? 因为明信片上的金门桥是摄影家眼中的金门桥,角度独特:近景是海滩、礁石、细浪以及细浪上反射出的金色残阳,至于大桥,只是一个远处的"片段",在黄昏的白云下显露出它一曲弧形的腰身,给人绵绵的遐想,化作自己脑海许多曾经的夕照.

茶汤氤氲,一口甘醇:审看明信片白洁的背面,有条形码,就是一纸小小的明信片照样有严格的条形码,毫不含糊! 另有几行微型的小字,第一行诗情画意,不大好译:The magnificent Golden Gate Bridge shines in the late afternoon sun.我试译为"夕照辉映金门桥",尽管漏了magnificent(壮美),但似乎壮美的意境已潜藏在"辉映"之中了.

闭目片刻,含茶,慢饮细读:第二行是摄影者的姓名,还有摄影的时间1990年,可见人家对摄影著作权的尊重与敬畏. 而最让我吃惊的是第三行英文Printed in Korea. 堂堂美国,不会连张明信片也印不出来吧! 但千真万确,在美国旧金山出售的旧金山金门桥的风景明信片居然跑到万里之外的韩国去印制. 不过联想到雅典奥运村出售的纪念品大多是中国浙江和福建沿海私营厂家的产品,也就不足为奇了. 什么叫"全球经济一体化",也许这也是个小小的注脚.

茗叶若沉若浮,思绪辽远:金门桥,一座雄踞在海岸与海岸之间的大桥,而明信片本身则是一片搭在心岸与心岸之间的小桥,无论是收藏、赠送还是寄往远方……我决定把它寄给对岸金门的邮友,将来我们厦门和金门之间也要建造这么一座跨海大桥的,我想这桥最好是命名"金门大桥",这里的"金门"是双关语,除了祖国大陆接往金门岛,更是新世纪通往祖国和平统一的"金色之门"(GOLDEN GATE),至于该桥的英语则意译成XIAMEN-JINMEN BRIDGE(金厦大桥),让英文名和中文名各司其职.

 

 

鸡同鸭讲

编者按:
Funny English (《鸡同鸭讲》)栏目诞生至今,仅短短的四个多月,但因其浅显易懂,妙趣横生,深受中小学生的喜爱. 在双语周刊2004年度读者调查中,位列"读者最喜爱的栏目"前列. 希望能看到更多小读者的投稿.

小王最近发了,买了新房,也把老爸接来享享清福. 这阵子老先生赶时髦,学几句英语,偶尔还出国去旅游.
有一次他去英国. 坐在飞机上,空姐问:"Coffee or tea? "他想:tea我喝过了. 于是就要了coffee. 喝下后他觉得神清气爽,简直棒极了!
几天后回国,在飞机上他又遇见上次那个空姐. 空姐问:"Coffee or tea? "他想了想:coffee我喝过了,tea我也喝过了,不如这次点别的好了. 于是他对空姐说:"我要or,中间那个. "空姐没明白过来,瞪大了眼睛. 老先生以为她没听清楚,再次强调说:"or,中间那个or . "

李洵(演武小学)

肖土对英语一窍不通. 有一次,他住宾馆时遇见住隔壁房间的一位外国人. 那位外国人很礼貌地冲他说:"Hello! "肖先生想当然以为对方在问他姓名,便脱口回答:"Xiao Tu. "当天晚上,肖土请教他人,终于明白了"Hello"是"你好"的意思. 于是第二天,当他再次遇到那位外国人时,就抢先说:"Hello! "可意想不到的是,外国人却回敬他:"Xiao Tu! "

王宇佳 (槟榔小学)