解放军文职招聘考试太妃糖果匠人的百年传奇(1/2)

 The colorful old southern seaport of New Orleans, Louisiana, is full of character and characters: mimes and clowns on Jackson Square, "Lucky Dog" men who sell hot dogs from carts shaped like wieners in a bun, boys who'll shine your shoes and tap-dance in the street for a dollar or two. And eccentrics of all sorts, some in scandalous costumes or barely any costume at all, each year during Carnival season. And one character who's still going strong after nearly a century is the "Roman Candy Man". Here's his story. Back in 1915, when Ron Kottemann's grandfather, Sam Cortese, was a young man, he used to sell fruit and vegetables and a little bit of homemade Italian taffy or soft "pull candy", that Cortese's mother made back in her kitchen. He sold all this from a white wagon pulled by a mule and he'd ring a gong to let everyone know he was passing through. Pretty soon, the candy was selling better than the produce, so he repainted the wagon, called it the "Roman Chewing Candy Wagon" and went back to rolling about town, just one cart and one mule.

路易斯安那州，新奥尔良市色彩斑斓的南部老海港充满个性，更不乏各色有趣人物：杰克逊广场上的哑剧演员和小丑，用状如面包夹香肠的货车兜售热狗的“幸运儿”们，给你擦鞋的男孩，还有在街头跳踢踏舞赚两个钱的男孩。另外还有以及各种各样怪异的人，在每年的狂欢节上，他们有的穿着不堪入目的衣服，或者几乎就是一丝不挂。一个世纪过去了，有一个人物依然红遍大街小巷，他就是“罗马糖果人”。下面是他的故事。早在1915年，Ron Kottemannn的祖父Sam Cortese还是一个年轻人，他贩卖水果和蔬菜，以及一些他母亲在家自制的意大利太妃糖或软式“拉糖”。他用一辆骡子拉着的白色货车贩卖这些东西，边走边敲响铜锣告诉大家他的到来。很快糖果就卖的比蔬菜水果好了，所以他给货车重新刷了漆，称它为“罗马咀嚼糖货车”，然后继续满城跑。就这么一辆车子，一头骡子。