《中英對照讀新聞》Kind officials 'house' homeless Italians 好心官員收容義大利遊民

◎ 俞智敏

Modesta Valenti was a bag lady. She lived, and died 22 years ago, in the Termini railway station in central Rome. She would never have dreamed that one day she would have a street named after her. Yet today Rome has a Via Modesta Valenti. It is home to almost 700 people.

摩德絲塔．華倫汀是個街頭遊民。她在羅馬市中心的特米尼火車站附近生活，22年前去世。她恐怕作夢也想不到，有一天會有1條街以她為名。但現在羅馬就有1條「摩德絲塔．華倫汀」街。將近7百人以此為家。

But try to get a taxi driver to take you there, and you will have difficulties. Look it up in a street guide and you will draw a blank.

但假如你試著請計程車司機載你到那裡去，你就會遇上麻煩。在街道圖上也絕對找不到這條街。

For Via Modesta Valenti is one of at least a half a dozen “virtual streets” in Italy that bear witness to Italian inventiveness, soft-heartedness--and skill at dodging awkward laws.

因為摩德絲塔．華倫汀街其實是義大利境內至少5、6條「虛擬街道」之一，這些街道也見證了義大利人在規避不便法條時所發揮的創意、古道熱腸和高明技巧。

They were invented by local authority bureaucrats as a way of providing help to the homeless. Under Italian law, you cannot get identity documents without a registered address--and without identity documents you cannot receive benefits, medical care or even, sometimes, charitable help.

這些街道是由地方政府官員所發明，用來幫助無家可歸的遊民。因為根據義大利法律規定，除非你有註冊地址，否則無法取得身分證明文件─而沒有身分證明文件，就不能獲得社會福利、醫療補給、有時甚至還拿不到慈善捐助。

It seems it was a caring bureaucrat in Bologna who hit upon the idea of creating a fictitious street for the homeless. He or she called it Via Senza Tetto, or Roofless Street.

波隆那的1位好心官員似乎是在無意間想出發明虛構街名來幫助遊民的好辦法。這位官員把這條街取名為「無屋頂街」。

新聞辭典

bag lady：俗語，指無家可歸、把全身家當都放在1個隨身大袋子裡的女性遊民。

draw a blank：（非正式）片語，指找不到或想不起某人或某事。如 He asked me for my phone number and I drew a blank--I just couldn't remember it.（他問我的電話號碼，我的腦袋一片空白─我一時間就是想不起來。）

bear witness to：片語，指見證、成為某事的證據。例如The success of the show bears witness to our good planning.（演出的成功證明我們計劃周全。）

hit on/upon：無意間或意外想出某個主意，尤指可解決問題的辦法。如 When we first hit on the idea, everyone told us it would never work.（當我們剛想出這個辦法時，每個人都告訴我們一定不會成功。）