在法國錯過火車 不如停下聽一段鋼琴曲
You dash through a crowded railway station,tripping over bags, spilling your coffee, only to have the doors slide shut inyour face, leaving you breathless and sweating on the platform as the trainpulls away.
你衝過火車站擁擠的人羣，被大包小包絆倒，弄灑了手上的咖啡，卻眼睜睜看到面前的車門緩緩關閉，火車越走越遠，只剩你在月臺上呼哧帶喘，汗流浹背。
But at least, if you’re inFrance, someone may be playing the piano for you.
但至少，如果你身在法國，也許會有人爲你彈奏鋼琴。
It might be Edith Piaf’s LaFoule or a burst of Frédéric Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu, a rousing rendition of the Pirates of theCaribbean title song or the Tetris theme.
可能是伊迪絲·琵雅芙(Edith Piaf)的《人羣》(La Foule)，可能是一段弗雷德裏克·肖邦(Frédéric Chopin)的《幻想即興曲》(Fantaisie-Impromptu)，也可能是對《加勒比海盜》(Pirates of the Caribbean)或《俄羅斯方塊》(Teris)主題曲的激情演繹。
But it won’t be performed by apaid musician, or even a street entertainer busking for coins.
但演奏者不會是花錢僱來的音樂家，抑或靠賣藝討點小錢的街頭藝人。
It will just be a random passer-by, jammingfor the fun of it on one of the pianos that the national railroad company,S.N.C.F., has installed in nearly 100 stations across France.
他們不過是隨機經過的路人，在鋼琴旁停下腳步，即興找點樂子。法國國家鐵路公司(SNCF)爲全國各地近100座火車站配備了這樣的鋼琴。
They are free for anyone to sit down andplay, and travelers from all walks of life have taken to doing just that.
任何人都可以坐下來彈奏一曲；來自五行八作的旅客們也已經習慣於這樣做了。
Gares & Connexions, the S.N.C.F. division that manages its stations, rentsthe instruments from the manufacturer, Yamaha, which maintains them and tunesthem every month or two.
鋼琴是法國國家鐵路公司旗下負責管理車站的站線建設部(Gares & Connexions)從樂器生產商雅馬哈(Yamaha)那裏租來的。雅馬哈負責鋼琴的維護事宜，每隔一兩個月會調一次音。
The first one was set up in the GareMontparnasse in Paris in 2012.
第一架鋼琴於2012年出現在巴黎的蒙帕納斯車站。
The pianos have proved to be very popular,and the music, blending with the sounds of shouting passengers, screechingtrains and rolling suitcases, can give French stations a peculiar soundscape.
事實證明，這些鋼琴非常受歡迎。琴聲和乘客的叫喊聲、火車的刺耳噪聲、行李箱輪子的滾動聲混合在一起，構成了法國火車站特有的聲音背景。
The amateur musicians have included Irishsoccer fans singing a folk ballad, complete strangers improvising a duet, andeven babies.
那些業餘音樂家裏，有唱着民謠的愛爾蘭足球迷，有即興對唱的陌生人，甚至還有嬰兒。
In 2014, Gares & Connexions and Yamahaorganized a nationwide contest called Your Turn to Play, asking participants tosubmit video clips of themselves using one of the pianos.
在2014年，站線建設部和雅馬哈組織了一場名爲輪到你彈琴(Your Turn to Play)的全國性比賽，讓參與者提交自己用這些鋼琴演奏的視頻片段。
It drew nearly 900 entries.
共有將近900人蔘賽。
Aren’t the railroad andthe company taking a big chance? Apparently not: None of the instruments havebeen vandalized to this day, or even merely damaged, Claire Fournon, aspokeswoman for Gares & Connexions, said in an email.
鐵路方面及雅馬哈冒了很大風險嗎？顯然不是：迄今爲止，這些樂器中沒有任何一架遭到肆意破壞，甚至連受損都沒有，站線建設部的發言人克萊爾·福爾農(Claire Fournon)在郵件中表示。
They are shared and respected by all.
它們被所有人分享，並且得到所有人的尊重。
So if you miss a train in Paris, Bordeauxor Marseille one day, perhaps someone will be playing a favorite piece thatwill ease the sting a bit.
因此，如果有一天你在巴黎、波爾多或馬賽錯過了火車，某個人或許會爲你奉上最喜歡的曲目，沖淡你的懊惱之情。
Or perhaps you’ll sit down,roll up your sleeves and play your frustrations away yourself.
又或者，你會親自坐在鋼琴前，挽起袖管彈上一曲，讓挫敗感消散在琴聲裏。
