2022年高级口译阅读：法国小酒馆的命运

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　　Time running out for France’s faltering bistros

　　Times are hard for Le Fontenoy, the only surviving cafe in this village in

　　north-central France which once had three, as well as a butcher’s, a

　　boulangerie, a grocer’s and a restaurant. Now, as changing habits and new laws

　　alter the residents’ relationship with an erstwhile local fixture, its future is

　　looking bleak. It is a bistro with no kitchen, a former tabac with no

　　cigarettes, and Letouzey’s coffers are as empty as his bottle of pastis.

　　In a last-ditch attempt to save the cafe he deems "the social link of the

　　village", the determined patron has launched an online appeal for donations

　　which he hopes will bring in enough money to keep the business afloat in the

　　short term. If he does not get the ¤10,000 (￡9,000) he has asked for, he warns,

　　"we’ll be dead. It’ll be quick."

　　The fundraising mission at Fontenay-Saint-Père, about 35 miles north-west

　　of Paris, has attracted considerable media attention. But its struggle is just

　　the tip of the iceberg. Last year, in its ?le de France region alone, about

　　2,000 bistros and cafes went under. Across France as a whole, about are 35,000

　　still open. In the 1960s there were 200,000.

　　Last week Le Parisien, the capital’s daily newspaper, issued a clarion call

　　for the hard-hit bistro, warning on its front page that time was running out to

　　save the "fast disappearing" bastion of "jambon beurre baguettes, egg

　　mayonnaise, jokes, chat and table football".

　　But opinions are divided on how to go about this. Many, including the

　　government, feel that it is up to the industry to adapt according to the needs

　　of society and that any business that cannot keep up with the pace of change

　　does not deserve to survive.

　　Bernard Quartier, president of an industry group representing cafes and

　　brasseries, believes the onus is on owners to provide their customers with new

　　services, such as showing sporting events on television or offering coffees for

　　the symbolically low price of one euro. (Parisian customers can often expect to

　　pay almost three times as much for an espresso.)

　　But while the need to adapt is widely acknowledged, others feel this

　　approach is short-sighted. For them, the combined effect of a smoking ban, a

　　drink-driving crackdown, the arrival of supermarkets and a widespread reliance

　　on mobile phones and computers for human interaction has made the forces working

　　against local establishments too great for individual patrons to withstand.

　　Letouzey now plans to follow the words of Balzac and strengthen the

　　bistro’s role as "a parliament of the people" by holding more concerts at the

　　weekend, so-called cafe philo sessions for debate, and fairytale readings for

　　children.

　　"Maybe it sounds a bit utopian," the patron says, "but … close the cafe and

　　neighbours won’t meet each other any more. They go to work, they go home. Not

　　every neighbour is going to make the effort to approach others."　　"As soon as

　　it’s nice outside everyone is on the terrace and the bar is deserted," he said.

　　"People are more individualistic. There are still some people who come in to

　　have a chat over a drink or a coffee but they are rare. That’s society changing

　　… People have less time for each other. In Paris, that is; in the provinces it’s

　　different."

　　For the hundred or so regulars of Le Fontenoy battling to save their bistro

　　it is certainly different.

　　"It’s a place where I come a lot, just to chat, meet friends, talk about

　　our days, our personal stuff," said Tony Carrier. "I remember when there were

　　places like that all over the village, and now this is the only one. It would be

　　a real shame if it closed."

　　Pulling together to organise fundraising concerts and community events, the

　　bistro’s patrons have made clear their loyalty to a building that has served for

　　years as their local lieu de vie – place of life. That’s not going to change,

　　they say – even if there is no more pastis.

　　词句笔记：

　　last-ditch attempt：最后的努力

　　an online appeal：网上呼吁、请求

　　a drink-driving：酒后驾车

　　fundraising：筹款

　　baguette：法式长棍面包

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