游樂(lè)場(chǎng)女孩的劍橋之路

Marco Werman

Interviewer： Nomads， by definition， get around a lot. They move so much that their whole lives are defined by being on the road. Nomadic families， in turn， dont follow the same rhythms and patterns of life that many of us do. Take Zoah Hedges-Stocks. She comes from a family thats part of a unique nomadic culture in England， Britains community of travelling showmen. Im talking about families that have been part of travelling carnivals across the country for centuries； “1）carnies，” basically. But Zoah is breaking the mold.

And Zoah， you are the first member of your family to go to university， and not just any university. Youve graduated from Cambridge. You studied or read， as they say， history with the top grade in that field， so congratulations.

Zoah： Thank you very much， Marco.

Interviewer： So I just want to understand how significant an achievement this is， and we really should understand how big a mold youre breaking. How far back does your family go in the carnival business？

Zoah： Well， Ive studied history so I take a keen interest in my familys background， and Ive traced it back personally to 1821， and thats where records get a bit hazy， because a lot of people were illiterate， and obviously we were travelling around.

Interviewer： So what are the kind of carnivals that you guys do？ Describe them. Are they at all like American carnivals？

Zoah： Well， for instance， my mother and I sell 2）candy floss， cotton candy， and candy apples. My uncle has a set of， er， 3）dodgems， and we have the sort of big funfair rides and games that you see travelling from town to town. Interviewer： So how did your childhood differ from most British children？

Zoah： Basically from April to September I was away from school， living in a 4）trailer， travelling from town to town each week and working on the fair.

Interviewer： So how did you go to school and when did you go to school？

Zoah： In the winter months my family have lived in the same small town for 50 years， so I would do the first two terms of the， at school， then my teachers would send me away with a big pile of books， and I would study at home in the summer.

Interviewer： So， Zoah， tell me what inspired you to study at Cambridge？

Zoah： Well， I enjoyed going to school and learning， so I really enjoyed history at school， and teachers said that I was doing quite well and that I should consider university. And Id always gone to Cambridge with the funfair every year at the 5）Midsummer Fair， so it was the only university I knew. And then I realized that actually it was one of the best in the world after Harvard， and that actually it would probably be quite difficult to get there. If I was going to do it， if I was going to break from tradition and do something entirely new for my family， I was going to do it as well as I could.

Interviewer： What was it like when， you know， youve gone through the…the years at university and suddenly youre graduating. How did your parents react？

Zoah： My mother was most worried about whether or not she ought to wear a hat. My mother decided that she wouldnt wear 6）mascara， because she would just spend the whole day crying.

Interviewer： Oh， gosh. Ive gotta ask you this， and its something my own Dad asked me after I graduated with a degree in history. What are you gonna do now？

Zoah： Ive got a place on a journalism course with the Press Association in London in January. Between now and then I will be working on the funfair， because my mother would shoot me if I didnt help， and Im also working on my first novel.

Interviewer： Well， Zoah Hedges-Stocks， its been great meeting you and to speak with you. Thanks so much.

采訪者：從定義上看，游牧者經(jīng)常四處游走。他們遷徙得如此頻繁，以至于他們的整個(gè)生活狀態(tài)可以被定義為“在路上”。因此，游牧家庭的生活節(jié)奏和生活模式跟我們大多數(shù)人不一樣。就以左婭·海其斯-斯多克斯為例。她出身的家庭屬于英國(guó)一種獨(dú)特的游牧文化——英國(guó)的游藝人群體。在英國(guó)，流動(dòng)游藝節(jié)有著數(shù)百年的歷史，我在這里所說(shuō)的家庭正是這種流動(dòng)游藝節(jié)的重要組成部分，說(shuō)白了，他們就是經(jīng)營(yíng)流動(dòng)游樂(lè)場(chǎng)的人。但左婭打破了這種傳統(tǒng)。左婭，你是你們家族第一個(gè)上大學(xué)的，而且上的還不是普通的大學(xué)，你畢業(yè)于劍橋大學(xué)。你學(xué)的是，或者說(shuō)，讀的是歷史專業(yè)，還是這個(gè)專業(yè)的尖子生，真是可喜可賀。

左婭：非常謝謝你，馬可。

采訪者：我很想知道，你從劍橋畢業(yè)這件事情是一件多大的壯舉呢？我們確實(shí)應(yīng)該知道你打破了一個(gè)多么傳統(tǒng)的生活模式。你們家族從事游藝這一行有多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間了？

左婭：呃，我學(xué)的是歷史，所以我對(duì)自己的家庭背景非常感興趣，我自己追溯了一下我的家族歷史，可以追溯到1821年，再往前歷史記錄就有點(diǎn)模糊了，因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)候很多人不識(shí)字，而且我們又到處游走。

采訪者：你們辦的是什么樣的游藝節(jié)？請(qǐng)描述一下。跟美國(guó)的嘉年華有什么相似的地方嗎？

左婭：呃，比如說(shuō)，我和我媽媽賣棉花糖，還有糖衣蘋果。我的叔叔有一套碰碰

車，我們還有那種大型的游樂(lè)場(chǎng)設(shè)施和游戲，就是你們看到的從一個(gè)地方搬到另一個(gè)地方那些。

采訪者：那你的童年跟大多數(shù)的英國(guó)孩子有什么不同呢？

左婭：最根本的不同就是從四月到九月我不上學(xué)，而是住在拖車?yán)?，每個(gè)星期從一個(gè)城鎮(zhèn)去到另一個(gè)城鎮(zhèn)，在游樂(lè)場(chǎng)做事。

采訪者：那你是怎樣接受學(xué)校教育的呢？你什么時(shí)候去上學(xué)？

左婭：在冬季的那幾個(gè)月我們家會(huì)待在一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)里，我們?cè)谀抢镒×?0年了。那時(shí)我就可以在學(xué)校上前兩個(gè)學(xué)期的課，然后我的老師們就會(huì)給我一大堆書(shū)讓我?guī)еx開(kāi)學(xué)校，夏季的時(shí)候我就在家自學(xué)。

采訪者：左婭，能不能跟我談?wù)勀闶窃趺聪氲揭虼髮W(xué)讀書(shū)的呢？

左婭：呃，我喜歡上學(xué)，喜歡學(xué)習(xí)，我上學(xué)的時(shí)候很愛(ài)學(xué)歷史，老師們都說(shuō)我學(xué)得很不錯(cuò)，應(yīng)該考慮上大學(xué)。而且我每年都會(huì)去劍橋大學(xué)，那里有個(gè)夏季游藝會(huì)，所以那是我唯一知道的一所大學(xué)。后來(lái)我發(fā)現(xiàn)劍橋原來(lái)是世界上最頂尖的大學(xué)之一，僅次于哈佛大學(xué)，而且還非常難進(jìn)。如果我要去那里上學(xué)，要打破傳統(tǒng)，做些我們家族從來(lái)沒(méi)做過(guò)的事情，我就要盡我所能去做好。

采訪者：你上了幾年大學(xué)，現(xiàn)在忽然間你就要畢業(yè)了，這是一種怎樣的感覺(jué)？你父母對(duì)此有什么反應(yīng)？

左婭：我媽媽非常糾結(jié)她要不要戴頂帽子去參加我的畢業(yè)典禮。她決定不涂睫毛膏，因?yàn)樗龝?huì)哭一整天。

采訪者：哦，天哪。我還要問(wèn)你一個(gè)問(wèn)題，我自己從歷史專業(yè)畢業(yè)拿到學(xué)位的時(shí)候，我父親也問(wèn)過(guò)我這個(gè)問(wèn)題。你現(xiàn)在打算做什么？

左婭：我報(bào)讀了英國(guó)報(bào)業(yè)協(xié)會(huì)一月份在倫敦開(kāi)的新聞?wù)n程。在那之前我會(huì)在游樂(lè)場(chǎng)做事，因?yàn)槲也粠兔Φ脑捨覌寱?huì)殺了我的，還有，我在寫(xiě)我的第一本小說(shuō)。

采訪者：左婭·海其斯-斯多克斯，很高興能跟你見(jiàn)面和聊天。謝謝。

Travelling Funfair and Travelling Showmen

A travelling funfair （UK English） or carnival （North American English） is a small to medium sized travelling show where people pay to ride on various machines for amusement or try to win prizes in games. A travelling funfair contains a mixture of attractions， usually including adult or thrill rides， childrens rides， sideshows and sidestalls offering various games or food.

Funfairs derive from fairs for goods trading in the Middle Ages. Throughout the centuries， the trade arm diminished as the amusement side increased. In the UK， many larger towns host travelling fairs at specific times of the year. There are some ancient and famous fairs， such as Kings Lynn Mart， Nottingham Goose Fair， Mop Fairs， etc.

The people who organize and operate the traveling funfair， known as traveling showmen， usually take it from one place to another. The showmens sense of community is strong. They are proud of their heritage and have their own language. The community is closely knit and somewhat insular（孤立的）. This by definition makes running fairgrounds a family business passed down through the generations.