无处不在的“路边摊”

“Lemonade2！ Who wants to buy some Lemonade！ Fresh Cool Lemonade for sale！”

Our voices were as loud as we dared shout while sitting curbside in the quiet neighborhood in the Los Angeles， California suburbs3. This area was the Southside， composed predominantly of middle-class Black residents， and most were homeowners and were at work during the day.4 Few cars came this way passing our block which was Crocker Street， and fewer still slowed or even turned the corner to pass by where my brother and I positioned a small， crude cardboard box， with a thin plywood top as table， and stools served as the summer Lemonade stand.5 We may have even scrawled the words “Lemonade—10 cents per glass” with colorful crayon on notebook sized paper.6 Our childish sign shifted and lifted frequently at the slightest breeze.7 It is very doubtful that many even noticed us， two determined kids posing as salesmen.8 Sadly， this venture would only last for one day， but little did we know about market forces， cost-benefit analysis， or even direct sales for that matter.9 We wanted to make some spending money， and our dear mother had indulged us this once providing us the necessities we thought would carry our dreams through.10 Little did we know that masters of street selling， and vendors daily making direct contact with customers were traditionally from the Far East.11

In China， I discovered curbside selling to be a rich tradition and norm in virtually every province whether in the city or the countryside.12 In Beijing， and other eastern cities， common sights are newspaper and magazines stands curbside， street musicians playing guitars or strange-looking antique instruments.13 Also， a wide assortment of street transactions include colorful balloon and beverage vendors observed curbside.14 In some provinces it is still customary to see middle aged females with stools and shoe-shine kits in hand， keeping sharp eyes out for leather-soled footwear to shine， as well as， intervening neighborhood police patrols.15 While the capital city Beijing has launched policies to marshal such workers to ply their trades inside， yet outside curbs still have manifestations of countless souls surviving daily on their time-honored skills of hawking food varieties， domestic utensils， and esoteric potpourri along streets and narrow alleys.16 Descendants from times of antiquity， especially rural farmers with donkey carts， park or troll along curbs selling vegetable produce， potted plants， toys for children， or knick-knacks.17 Catching my attention as most unusual are the mobile knife sharpeners， patiently rubbing a wet stone or grinding wheels against now blunt， dull， meat-cleavers， a most essential kitchen tool in all Chinese homes.18 And then there also are mobile barbers with parked bicycles toting baskets holding an assortment of scissors， shaving razors， combs， and battery charged hair clippers.19 A large reflection mirror hangs near the stool upon which a male or female customer sits draped20 in a white cloth. The effect is a curious open-air natural hair salon without walls. Obviously， a leather reclining chair with long well used leather razor strap are items not missed.21

These， however， contrast sharply with western China curbside sights simply being a tad22 more rural. For example， cities in Xinjiang offer few similarities and vastly23 different sights as well as， tastes. Blood-letting of slain animals curbside is as common as are rows of hairy decapitated sheep heads， waiting to be burned and burnished.24 Standing curbside pedestrians can watch these animal skulls torch blackened and smolder producing an outer layer of dark sooty ash.25 Then the now warm， creamy， brains inside these hairless skulls fetch affordable prices for their exotic delicacy.26 Steamed brain is called “Yang Nao Ke Zi”， basically said to be the most nutritious brain part （50 yuan per serving）.27 Sheep brain prepared fried with more meat （15 yuan per serving） is called “Yang Tou.”

In the USA， Hot Dog and Pretzel28 stands are most common. There remains only one curious curbside activity I have seen. Groups of youth gangs entertain tourists on metropolitan streets as musicians and Hip-Hop dance artists.29 In Harlem， New York， groups of women wearing colorful African tribal robes， may be seen weaving braids called “corn-rows”， or hair extensions， into or on the hair of people of all races， skin tones， and cultures.30 Such sights definitely stop traffic momentarily31. Curbside scenes like these definitely surpass my childhood lemonade stand business adventure.32 For sure， visual33 curbside adventures in China promise to be even more surprising. 、

虽然如今商场林立，餐馆随处可见，但仍有很多人钟爱拥有悠久历史的“路边摊”。“路边摊”仿佛已经成为了一种文化传统，在那里，你不仅能够买到各种精美的小摆件，发现许多稀奇古怪的日用品，还能品尝到各地的美食，见识到各种独特的技艺。“路边摊”不仅仅在中国盛行，在美国亦是如此。它究竟有怎样的魔力？

1. curbside： 路边的。

2. lemonade： 柠檬水。

3. suburb： 郊区。

4. be composed of： 由……组成；predominantly： 主要地；resident： 居民；homeowner： 房主。

5. 很少会有车辆路过我们克罗克街区，更没有什么车会减速或是拐弯来经过我和我弟弟的“摊位”。我们在那儿摆了一个简陋的小纸箱，上面放了一个薄胶合板当桌子，还摆了几个凳子，这就组成了我们的“夏日柠檬水摊位”。block： 街区；position： v. 放置；crude： 简陋的；cardboard box： 硬纸板箱；plywood： 胶合板；stool： 凳子；stand： 摊位。

6. scrawl： 潦草地涂写；crayon： 蜡笔。

7. childish： 幼稚的；shift：（左右）移动；lift： （上下）移动；breeze： 微风。

8. doubtful： 不确定的；pose as： 假装……的样子。

9. venture： 冒险事业，冒险行动；market force： 市场力量；cost-benefit analysis： 成本效益分析；direct sale： 直销。

10. spending money： 零用钱；indulge： 纵容，满足；necessity： 必需品；carry through： 完成。

11. master： 擅长者，能手；vendor： 小贩，摊贩。

12. norm： 常例，常规；virtually： 事实上。

13. antique： 古老的，古董的；instrument： 乐器。

14. a wide assortment of ： 各种各样的；transaction： 交易；beverage： 饮料。

15. 在一些省份，你仍经常能看见一些中年女性带着板凳，手里拿着擦鞋工具箱，敏锐地寻找着需要擦皮鞋的客户，并时刻警惕巡逻城管的干 预。customary： 习惯的，惯常的；kit： 工具箱，一整套工具；leather-soled： 皮底的；footwear： 鞋子；intervene： 干涉，介入；patrol： 巡逻。

16. 虽然首都北京已经出台了政策来管理这些商贩使其进行室内销售，但是路边摊仍存在着，还有不计其数的人靠着这项历史悠久的技能在养家糊口。他们在街道旁或是狭窄的小巷里兜售各种各样的食物、家庭用具和秘传的香包。launch： 发布，发动；marshal： 管理，安排；ply： 从事；curb： 此处指路边摊；manifestation： 表现，显现；countless： 无数的；soul： 人；time-honored： 历史悠久的；hawk： 叫卖，兜售；domestic： 家庭的；utensil： 用具； esoteric： 秘传的；potpourri： 百花香（指放在罐内的干燥花瓣和香料混合物，能散发香味）； alley： 小巷。

17. descendant： 后代，子孙；antiquity： 远古；donkey cart： 驴车；troll： 闲逛，溜达；potted： 盆栽的； knick-knack： 小摆设。

18. 最吸引我的还是最不同寻常的“流动磨刀匠”，他们耐心地把中国家家厨房必备的、现在却已钝掉的切肉刀在湿的磨刀石或磨轮上打磨。knife sharpener： 磨刀匠；rub： 摩擦；grinding wheel： 磨轮，砂轮；blunt： 钝的；meat-cleaver： 切肉刀。

19. barber： 理发师；tote： 手提，携带；shaving razor： 剃须刀；hair clipper： 理发剪。

20. drape： 披，盖。

21. reclining chair： 躺椅，活动靠背扶手椅；razor strap： 磨刀皮带。

22. a tad： 稍微。

23. vastly： 极大地。

24. blood-letting： 放血；slain： （slay的过去分词）被杀死的；hairy： 多毛的；decapitated： 被斩首的；burnish： 打磨，抛光。

25. pedestrian： 行人；skull： 颅骨；torch： v. 用火烧；blacken： 使变黑；smolder： 闷烧；outer layer： 外层；sooty： 乌黑的；ash： 灰烬，灰。

26. creamy： 乳脂状的；brains： [复数]（煮熟供食用的）动物脑；fetch： 售得，卖得；affordable： 不太贵的，买得起的；exotic： 异国风情的；delicacy： 美味，佳肴。

27. steamed： 蒸熟的；serving： 一份（食物）。

28. pretzel： 椒盐卷饼。

29. gang： 一组，一群（年轻人）；metropolitan： 大城市的。

30. Harlem： 哈莱姆区（美国纽约的黑人区）；tribal： 部落的；robe： 长袍；weave： 编织；braid： 辫子；hair extension： 接发；skin tone： 肤色。

31. momentarily： 随时，立刻。

32. definitely： 肯定地；surpass： 超越，胜过。

33. visual： 看得到的。