《外刊精读》巴黎传奇的莎士比亚书店艰难求生

世界最美书店即将消失：“诗和远方”究竟在哪里？ 今日导读 在巴黎塞纳河边、巴黎圣母院的对面，有一家“世界最美书店”—— 莎士比亚书店。它门面窄小，装修老旧，却是巴黎的文化地标。许多影视剧都曾在这里取景：它是电影《午夜巴黎》中男主最爱的巴黎景点，也是《爱在日落黄昏时》里男女主角的重逢之地。在历史上，这家书店还曾是海明威、菲茨杰拉德等文坛巨匠的文化据点。究竟是怎样的一座书店，能让人流连忘返、魂牵梦萦？ 今天就让我们了解一下这家神秘书店的前世今生。 带着问题听讲解 作者用了哪些表达来体现这家书店的重要性？ 文中哪两个单词的含义与“水”有关？ 莎士比亚书店的店主为什么把书店比作“乌托邦”？ 正文 Legendary Paris bookshop Shakespeare and Company begs for help in pandemic 巴黎传奇的莎士比亚书店于疫情中艰难求生 One of the world's most iconic bookshops, Shakespeare and Company, has appealed to its customers for help as it is struggling, with sales that are down almost 80% since March. 世界上最具标志性的书店之一——莎士比亚书店的销售额自三月以来下降了近 80%。在艰难求生之际，书店向顾客寻求帮助。The celebrated Parisian bookstore told readers on Wednesday that it was facing "hard times" as the Covid-19 pandemic keeps customers away. France is expected to impose a new four-week national lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to surge; large swathes of the country,including Paris, are already under a night-time curfew. 这家著名的巴黎书店在周三告诉读者，因为新冠疫情使顾客无法到店内消费，书店正面临着“艰难时期”。由于****病例持续激增，法国预计将实施为期四周的新一轮全国封锁，包括巴黎在内的大部分地区已经实行了夜间宵禁。 First opened by Sylvia Beach in 1919, the Parisian institution was frequented by writers including F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, TS Eliot and James Joyce in the early 20th century. George Whitman opened today's version of the shop in 1951. He envisaged the shop as a "socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore": writers are invited to sleep for free among the shelves in exchange for a few hours helping out, and more than 30,000 of the guests, named "tumbleweeds" by Whitman, have stayed since the storeopened. 1919 年，西尔维亚·比奇首次开设莎士比亚书店。20 世纪早期， F·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德、欧内斯特·海明威、T·S·艾略特和詹姆斯·乔伊斯等作家经常光顾这家巴黎书店。1951 年，乔治·惠特曼开了我们眼前的这家书店。他把这家店设想成一个“戴着书店面具的 社会主义乌托邦”——欢迎作家们免费在店内的书堆之间过夜， 作为交换，他们只须在店里帮忙几小时。自书店开业以来，已经有 3 万多名客人在店中住过，他们被惠特曼称为“风滚草”。 Since appealing to customers on Wednesday morning, Whitman said the shop had been deluged with offers of support — and more importantlyorders. 惠特曼说，自从周三上午向顾客发出呼吁以来，书店已经收到了大量支持——更重要的是，还新增了许多订单。 The appeal follows a similar move from iconic New York bookshop the Strand, which said last week that the impact of Covid-19 meant that "we cannot survive the huge decline in foot traffic, a near-complete loss of tourism and zero in-store events."Nancy Bass-Wyden, proprietor of the 93-year-old American store, said revenue was down nearly 70% from 2019, and that "we are now at a turning point where our business isunsustainable". 此前，纽约著名的斯特兰德书店也采取了类似举措。上周该书店表示，受****影响，“我们无法在客流量大幅下降、旅游业几乎完全亏损和店内活动数量为零的情况下生存下来。”这家美国老店拥有 93 年的历史，它的所有人南希·巴斯-怀登表示，书店收入比 2019 年下降了近 70%，“我们正处于一个转折点，生意难以为继”。