游樂場女孩的劍橋之路

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一種獨特的游牧文化——英國的游藝人群體。在英國，流動游藝節(jié)有著數(shù)百年的歷史，我在這里所說的家庭正是這種流動游藝節(jié)的重要組成部分，說白了，他們就是經(jīng)營流動游樂場的人。但左婭打破了這種傳統(tǒng)。左婭，你是你們家族第一個上大學(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，讀的是歷史專業(yè)，還是這個專業(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？我們確實應(yīng)該知道你打破了一個多么傳統(tǒng)的生活模式。你們家族從事游藝這一行有多長時間了？

左婭：呃，我學(xué)的是歷史，所以我對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模糊了，因為那時候很多人不識字，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)？請描述一下。跟美國的嘉年華有什么相似的地方嗎？

左婭：呃，比如說，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場設(shè)施和游戲，就是你們看到的從一個地方搬到另一個地方那些?！?br>