009 我的杂耍剧场生涯

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I'm Clarice Smith, and I sing and dance in a black vaudeville show

我是克拉丽丝·史密斯，我在一个黑人歌舞杂耍表演中唱歌跳舞。

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Vaudeville is the name performers have given to the many traveling shows

that move from town to town throughout America.

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Vaudeville shows can have singers, dancers, musicians, jugglers, and

magicians and they play in big cities and small towns.

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Some vaudeville people even perform in tents!

一些歌舞杂耍演员甚至在帐篷里演出！

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They rent out a farmer's field, put up a tent, and

use oil lamps for stage lights.

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I've been in vaudeville since 1900, when I was 16, and I have performed in

big shows and small shows in a thousand different places.

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Sometimes, when my husband Charlie and I are performing with a big show

with lots of stars, we travel in our own railroad car.

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But we've been in small shows too, with just a piano player and a comedian

and then we drive from place to place in an old car.

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Growing up, I'd watch boys sing and dance on the street

corner, and people would throw them pennies.

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It gave me the idea that I could make some money the same way

这让我萌生了也可以这样赚钱的念头。

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We were poor and nobody took dance or music lessons

so I learned songs from the boys.

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I'd just sing and move my feet any way that I liked

我就随心所欲地唱歌，脚步也随意地动。

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People enjoyed my singing so much they threw me nickels, which I gave to my

mama since she didn't make much money washing people's clothes.

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My lucky break came when one of the most popular shows

in the South came to my little town.

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The show was Crackling Charlie and the Butterbeans

and they were wonderful.

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The Butterbeans were the best band I'd ever seen, and

they could really get people dancing.

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I was 13 the first time I saw Charlie

我第一次见到查理时，才十三岁。

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He was the leader of the band and he stopped to see me dance

and sing on the street. He gave me a dollar!

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The next time he came to town I was 14, and he gave

me another dollar and a red ribbon.

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Two years later Charlie came to my house and asked Mama if

I could join his show and marry him too.

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I knew that joining the show would be much better

than doing laundry like Mama,

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so I told her that I was going with Charlie whether

she agreed to let me go or not.

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Mama said yes, so Charlie and I got married

Suddenly I was in show business!

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Right away the piano player taught me some new songs and showed me how

to sing them in a way that made people take notice.

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I soon realized that performing on stage was a lot different than singing

on the street, so I paid close attention to my costumes.

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I sewed beads on a headband that I wore onstage, so that when the

lights flashed on those beads, I sparkled!

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I sewed fringe on some of my dresses too, and I looked so wonderful

people couldn't stop clapping when I sang.

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But performing is hard work too, because in vaudeville you need to be a

great entertainer and develop different talents.

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You have to learn new things and practice all the time

你得不断学习新东西，并一直练习。

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For example, it took Charlie and me a whole week to learn a new

kind of tap dancing called the soft shoe.

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It was a popular dance that everybody wanted to see, so all the vaudeville

performers started putting that dance in their shows.

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Taps are small pieces of metal on the bottoms of your shoes that

make a nice click-click-click when you dance.

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For the soft shoe, we took the taps off and danced quietly on sand

that we'd put on the floor ahead of time.

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Our feet made a nice swishing sound, and the audience loved it!

我们的脚会发出好听的沙沙声，观众可喜欢了！

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Since it's against the law for whites and blacks to work or socialize

together, there are separate theaters for white and black people.

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Charlie and I have performed at many famous black theaters in the country

查理和我曾在全国很多著名黑人剧院演出过，

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such as the Douglass Theater in Macon, Georgia;

比如佐治亚州梅肯的道格拉斯剧院；

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the Liberty in Chattanooga, Tennessee; and even Gibson's

Standard Theater in Philadelphia.

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Sometimes we're in town for a week and sometimes we stay only a day

有时我们会在一个镇上待一周，有时只待一天。

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But I always pack enough food to take with us when we're on the road

because black people aren't allowed to eat in most restaurants.

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The local hotels won't let us rent rooms either, so whenever we get

to a town, we usually stay at someone's home.

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It costs thirty cents to see our show, which is a good

price for such a lot of entertainment.

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Of course the performers only make about $30 a week each, because the

theater owner usually takes most of admission price.

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Right now our show has a full band and a magician too

眼下我们的演出有整支乐队，还有一位魔术师。

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Most of the time, we do four performances a day, seven days a week

多数时候，我们一天演四场，一周七天不停。

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Recently Charlie and I have been doing a new comedy routine

最近，查理和我一直在演一个新的喜剧段子。

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We come out on stage dancing, and we look happy

我们跳着舞登上台，看上去开心极了。

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Then I stop dancing and say," Charlie, you talk too much

然后我停下舞步说：“查理，你话太多了。

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Sometimes I wish you were like a town clock."

有时我真希望你像镇上的大钟那样。”

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" Why, honey?" he asks

“为啥呀，亲爱的？”他问。

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" Because then you'd only speak once an hour," I answer

“因为那样你就一小时才说一次话。”我答道。

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The audience always laughs at that

观众总是被这句话逗得哈哈大笑。

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Charlie and I do a few more dance steps

查理和我又跳了几个舞步。

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Then I stop and say," Charlie, what's the difference

between a teacher and an engineer?"

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" I don't know, honey. What is the difference?" he asks

“不知道，亲爱的，有什么区别？”他问。

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" One trains the mind and the other minds the train," I answer

“一个训练头脑，另一个照料火车。”我回答。

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The audience loves to see a married couple tell jokes

观众就爱看一对夫妻讲笑话。

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Sometimes Charlie asks me if I want to settle down and have children, and

he talks about getting a little place with enough land to farm.

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But times are hard and we don't have enough money saved right now, so I

want to keep on singing and dancing as long as I can.

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If you ever want to have a good time, look for

Crackling Charlie and his Clarice.

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We'll be looking for you, and the Butterbeans will be right

behind us playing their hearts out.