是馬戲團還是海軍陸戰隊？The Circus or the Marine Corps?

在約翰菲利普蘇沙十三歲時的一天，他正在家中練習小提琴，一個男人敲了他家的門，說他在門外聽到房裡傳來的音樂、讓他印象深刻，那名男子對蘇沙說：「你演奏得非常好、你想過加入馬戲團的表演嗎？」那名男子是一個馬戲團樂隊的指揮，希望邀請蘇沙加入表演的團隊；蘇沙思考了一下、想像出「美麗女孩身著亮麗緊身衣」和「水桶中裝滿粉紅色檸檬水」的畫面，他回答：「好的，我願意加入」，但是必須先獲得父親的同意；蘇沙說：「我父親人很好，一定要經過他的同意我才能去」。

那名男子企圖說服蘇沙、最好是能馬上出發，他告訴蘇沙隔天晚上當馬戲團的人整理帳棚的時候和他碰面，在途中蘇沙就可以寫信告訴父親、他有多喜歡馬戲團的生活了，到時候他的父親一定會同意他的選擇。

One day, when 13-year-old John Philip Sousa was at home practicing the violin, a man knocked on his door. He could hear music from outside and was impressed. He said to Sousa, "You play very nicely. Have you ever thought about joining a circus?" The man was the leader of a circus band, and he was ready to hire Sousa on the spot. Sousa thought about it. He imagined "beautiful ladies in spangled tights" and "pink lemonade in buckets." Yes, Sousa told the man, he'd like to join the circus. But first he had to ask his father. Sousa said, "I wouldn't think of it without asking him, since he was an awfully nice father."

The man convinced Sousa that it would be best not to ask his father right away. He told Sousa to meet him the next evening when the circus people were packing up their tents. Once they had been on the road for a couple of days, Sousa could write his father and tell him how much he was enjoying the circus. By then, his father would be more likely to say yes.

1 / 4 頁