《中英對照讀新聞》Italy's divas goes on hunger strike 義大利女伶絕食抗議

◎ 俞智敏

Opera lovers in Italy this season may notice something different about the performers. Many of them are looking distinctly svelte after going on hunger strike to protest about proposed cuts to the country's arts budget. Living on only water, fruit juice and coffee, singers' weights have shrunk.

義大利的歌劇愛好者本季可能會發現演員們有點不一樣。許多歌劇演員在進行絕食抗議政府打算刪減藝術預算後，身型明顯苗條不少。這些演員絕食期間只喝清水、果汁和咖啡，體重大幅縮水。

Barbara Vignudelli, a soprano at the famed La Scala opera house in Milan, has had no solid food for two weeks. 'I feel OK, but I'm dreaming of a mortadella sandwich,’she said. 'I'm doing this to try to shame our politicians. We have one of the most important cultural heritages in the world - it will be a disaster for Italy if these cuts are implemented.’

在米蘭著名的史卡拉歌劇院擔任女高音的維努黛莉，已連續兩週沒吃固體食物。「我覺得還好，但實在很想吃一份義式香腸三明治，」她說。「我這麼做，是想讓政治人物感到羞恥。我們擁有全世界最重要的文化遺產之一，假如這些預算刪減計畫真的實施，將對義大利帶來大災難。」

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's coalition government has proposed a 35 percent cut to state funding for the arts in the 2006 budget as part of financial measures aimed at reducing Italy's annual deficit.

義大利總理貝魯斯孔尼的聯合政府已提議把明年政府預算中對藝文類的補助金裁減35%，這項財政措施的目的在於減低義國的年度赤字。

新聞辭典

downsize：裁減（員工）人數；縮小尺寸或規模。如 The company downsized itspersonnel in response to a poor economy.（這家公司精簡人事以因應經濟不景氣）。

shame：在此做動詞，指讓.感到羞愧，如 The number of people out of work hasshamed the government into taking action toprevent further job losses.（失業人口數目多到讓政府感到羞愧，不得不採取行動防止更多工作機會流失）。