查爾斯·狄更斯如何讓街頭藝人噤聲

By Alice Dunn

Imagine hearing only the clip of your heels on the squares of Covent Garden2. If Charles Babbage3 had had his way in 1864 then a walk through town might have been eerily quiet today.

Babbage， the philosopher and mathematician credited with inventing the first design for a mechanical computer， was extremely averse4 to street music. At the time the streets were， he said， wrought with “the most discordant noises.”5 He dedicated an entire chapter of a book to his thoughts on these“instruments of torture，” describing the detrimental6 effects of buskers on the inhabitants of London. Busking， he said， “robs the industrious man of his time； it annoys the musical man by its intolerable badness； it irritates the invalid.”7

He appeared in court to make noise about noise and wrote several letters to The Times expressing his contempt of street music. He was already well-known for being fastidious8. Seven years before his attack on the sounds from the street， he launched an in-depth investigation into the way each of one factorys 464 panes9 of glass came to be broken.

It may come as no surprise to learn that his impassioned musings on street music were met with musicians “of various tastes” playing “worn-out or damaged wind instruments” at his window under the instructions of his revenge-seeking neighbours.10

Babbages attempt was one of two significant movements against street music in 1864. The second was put forward by the aptly named Michael Thomas Bass， MP11. He tried to put his “Act for the Better Regulation of Street Music in the Metropolis” through parliament and rallied support from influential figures including Alfred Tennyson， John Everett Millais， Wilkie Collins and，12 notably， Charles Dickens， who penned the letter that led the signatures of objection to street music.

Dickens objections to public performance did not however extend to readings of his own work. A year before his letter to parliament， Dickens read A Christmas Carol to a crowd of 2000 working-class people in a town hall in Birmingham. He was a great performer who relished13 every moment on stage. His readings created mass hysteria14 with audience members reportedly fainting during his shows. He described the thrill of reading before an audience and said it made him feel like “a giant refreshed.”

The power of an appreciative audience is one that has continued over the years. It is a symbiotic15 relationship， as musician Leo Humphries tells me： “I found busking to be quite scary at first. It feels like youre breaking an unwritten rule of society. But as soon as someone gives you 20 pence， it vindicates16 you. You feel youre supposed to be there， and it becomes incredibly fun. Its very nice to be playing a song and see enjoyment on the faces of people you dont know. The feeling of connection you get with strangers is not something you get in everyday life—especially in London， where eye contact with strangers feels like a transgression17.” And musical talent is richly rewarded： “Someone once gave me ￡20 for playing ‘Lolaby The Kinks18.”

Perhaps Babbage， Bass and Dickens would be pleased to hear that， to be a busker on the London Underground today， one must pass a rigorous audition process first. The competition to hold a licence is fierce， as Transport for Londons guidelines attest19： “Each busker must go through a shortlist process and then an audition in front of a panel of three judges performing live in one of our stations. Each musician must perform two songs （One prepared number and another selected by the panel， from a submitted set-list.） The judging process reviews the musicians repertoire20， musicality， technical skill and performance. If successful， the musician will receive a 12-month licence to perform on the Underground.”

Last year more than 600 musicians auditioned and 70 were granted licences. If anyone was in any doubt， busking on the Tube is much more than tapping your foot to the beat of your accordion21.

The method of tipping buskers is changing. London is the first city in the world to introduce a contactless card payment scheme. But will that deter giving physical money？ Soprano Seija Knight busks in Covent Garden and tells me： “The younger generation are more than happy to put a few quid from their card on a machine.22 But the older generation can feel a little offended that this service is being offered.”

Whether you prefer hearing the percussive chink of coins hitting a guitar case or the beeps of a card machine，23 its being accompanied by great music that really matters.

假如你走在科文特加登廣場上，只能聽到自己的腳步聲，那會是什么感覺？要是1864年查爾斯·巴貝奇經(jīng)過了這里，那么如今人們步行穿過倫敦城區(qū)，估計會感覺靜得可怕。

查爾斯·巴貝奇是哲學家，也是數(shù)學家，因發(fā)明了第一臺機械計算機而聞名。他特別討厭街頭音樂。在他那個時候，用他的話說，街上充斥著“最刺耳的噪音”。他在一本書里花了一整章來抱怨這些“折磨人的樂器”，描述這些街頭藝人對倫敦居民的有害影響。他說，街頭藝術(shù)“讓辛勤工作的，浪費了時間；讓專搞音樂的，弄臟了耳朵；讓抱病在身的，氣壞了身子。”

因為嫌街頭音樂吵鬧，他跑到法庭上去鬧，還給《泰晤士報》寫了好幾封信，表達對街頭音樂的不滿。他那吹毛求疵的勁兒，其實早已聲名遠揚。在向街頭音樂發(fā)起攻擊的七年前，他就對一家工廠進行過深度調(diào)查，調(diào)查他們的464塊玻璃每塊是如何碎掉的。

于是，鄰居們叫來“風格各異”的音樂家們，在他的窗下玩起了“老舊破損的管樂器”，來報復他對街頭音樂的猛烈抨擊，也就不足為奇了。

巴貝奇的努力是1864年反對街頭音樂的兩股浪潮之一。另一波的推動者是議員邁克爾·托馬斯·巴斯。他試圖讓議會通過“對城市街頭音樂進行更好管控的提案”，還專門聯(lián)合了一些有影響力的名人來表達抗議，如艾爾弗雷德·丁尼生、約翰·埃弗里特·密萊司、威爾基·科林斯和大名鼎鼎的查爾斯·狄更斯。狄更斯帶頭寫過一封針對街頭音樂的聯(lián)合簽名反對信。

不過，狄更斯對這種公開表演的反對并沒有殃及自己的作品朗誦活動。在寫公開信給議會的前一年，他還在伯明翰的市政大廳里，給兩千名來自工人階級的聽眾朗讀了他的《圣誕歡歌》。他是一名很棒的表演者，享受在舞臺上的每一分鐘。他朗誦時會掀起陣陣狂熱，有好幾位聽眾據(jù)說都激動得暈了過去。狄更斯描述了在聽眾前朗讀的快感，并說這讓他感覺自己像“一個滿血復活的巨人”。

熱情的聽眾帶來的能量是經(jīng)久不衰的。這是一種共生的關(guān)系，正如音樂家利奧·漢弗萊斯對我說的：“我最開始覺得街頭音樂特別嚇人，仿佛打破了社會上不成文的規(guī)定。可是一旦有人給你20便士，你就會立刻受到鼓舞。你感覺自己的存在合理了，并且整個過程變得非常好玩。演奏一首歌，看著不相識的聽眾臉上沉醉的表情，這種感覺棒極了。由此與陌生人產(chǎn)生的聯(lián)系是日常生活中難以得到的——尤其是在倫敦這種地方，連直視陌生人都像是罪過。”并且付給音樂天才的報酬也不低：“有人曾因為我演奏了奇想樂隊的《羅拉》，給過我20英鎊?！?/p>

但是，下面這話，或許巴貝奇、巴斯和狄更斯聽到會倍感欣慰：如今要想在倫敦地鐵站當個藝人，得先通過一場嚴格的試演。經(jīng)過激烈的競爭后，才能獲得執(zhí)照。倫敦交通局規(guī)定：“進入候選階段后，每位街頭藝人都得在某個地鐵站臺里，面對由三人組成的評審團進行現(xiàn)場演出。表演曲目有兩首（一首自選，另一首由評審團從規(guī)定曲目中抽取）。評審員主要從表演曲目、音樂才能、專業(yè)技巧和演出表現(xiàn)四個方面評分。一旦通過，即可獲得為期12個月的地鐵表演許可?！?/p>

去年有超過600位音樂人士參加了試演，只有70人獲得了執(zhí)照。所以不必懷疑，在地鐵里演奏可比跟著手風琴的節(jié)拍跺跺腳難多了。

給街頭藝人小費的方式也在改變。倫敦是世界上第一個引入非接觸式磁卡支付方案的城市。此舉是否會影響給現(xiàn)金的小費呢？在科文特加登表演的女高音歌唱家塞亞·奈特告訴我：“年輕人更愿意用刷卡機刷掉幾鎊，但是老年人覺得這樣有點侮辱人，所以更愿意給現(xiàn)金。”

當然，不管你是愿意聽硬幣碰到吉他盒的脆響，還是刷卡機的滴滴聲，真正重要的還是在一旁響起的美好音樂。

1. Charles Dickens： 查爾斯·狄更斯（1812—1870），英國批判現(xiàn)實主義小說家；busker： 街頭藝人。

2. Covent Garden： 科文特加登，倫敦的一處廣場，以經(jīng)營歷三個世紀之久的水果蔬菜市場而聞名，如今已成為劇院、酒吧、咖啡館、手工藝品市場、服裝店的匯集之地，也是一個著名的街頭表演地點。

3. Charles Babbage： 查爾斯·巴貝奇（1792—1871），英國數(shù)學家和發(fā)明家，現(xiàn)代自動計算機的創(chuàng)始人。

4. averse： 反對的，嫌惡的。

5. wreak： 造成嚴重破壞；discordent：（聲音）刺耳的，不和諧的。

6. detrimental： 有危害的。

7. industrious： 勤勞的，勤奮的；invalid：病人，傷殘者。

8. fastidious： 挑剔的，過分講究的。

9. pane： （窗戶或門上的）一塊玻璃。

10. impassioned： 充滿激情的；musing：沉思，冥想；wind instrument： 管樂器。

11. MP： Member of Parliament，議員。

12. Alfred Tennyson： 艾爾弗雷德·丁尼生（1809—1892），英國維多利亞時代的杰出詩人；John Everett Millais：約翰·埃弗里特·密萊司（1829—1896），英國畫家；Wilkie Collins：威爾基·科林斯（1824—1889），英國小說家，著名神秘故事作家。

13. relish： 享受，喜歡。

14. hysteria： 歇斯底里。

15. symbiotic： 共生的。

16. vindicate： 證明……正確。

17. transgression： 違法，罪過。

18. The Kinks： 奇想樂隊，是活躍于20世紀六七十年代的英國搖滾樂隊。

19. attest： 表明，證明。

20. repertoire： 全部曲目。

21. accordion： 手風琴。

22. soprano： 女高音；quid： 一英鎊。

23. percussive： 敲擊的，撞擊的；chink：叮當聲；beep： 嘟嘟聲，滴滴聲。