在法国错过火车？不如停下听一段钢琴曲

You dash through a crowded railway station, tripping over bags, spilling your coffee, only to have the doors slide shut in your face, leaving you breathless and sweating on the platform as the train pulls away.

你冲过火车站拥挤的人群，被大包小包绊倒，弄洒了手上的咖啡，却眼睁睁看到面前的车门缓缓关闭，火车越走越远，只剩你在月台上呼哧带喘，汗流浃背。

But at least, if you’re in France, someone may be playing the piano for you.

但至少，如果你身在法国，也许会有人为你弹奏钢琴。

It might be Edith Piaf’s “La Foule” or a burst of Frédéric Chopin’s “Fantaisie-Impromptu,” a rousing rendition of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” title song or the Tetris theme. But it won’t be performed by a paid musician, or even a street entertainer busking for coins.

可能是伊迪丝·琵雅芙(Edith Piaf)的《人群》(La Foule)，可能是一段弗雷德里克·肖邦(Frédéric Chopin)的《幻想即兴曲》(Fantaisie-Impromptu)，也可能是对《加勒比海盗》(Pirates of the Caribbean)或《俄罗斯方块》(Teris)主题曲的激情演绎。但演奏者不会是花钱雇来的音乐家，抑或靠卖艺讨点小钱的街头艺人。

It will just be a random passer-by, jamming for the fun of it on one of the pianos that the national railroad company, S.N.C.F., has installed in nearly 100 stations across France. They are free for anyone to sit down and play, and travelers from all walks of life have taken to doing just that.

他们不过是随机经过的路人，在钢琴旁停下脚步，即兴找点乐子。法国国家铁路公司(SNCF)为全国各地近100座火车站配备了这样的钢琴。任何人都可以坐下来弹奏一曲;来自五行八作的旅客们也已经习惯于这样做了。

Gares & Connexions, the S.N.C.F. division that manages its stations, rents the instruments from the manufacturer, Yamaha, which maintains them and tunes them every month or two. The first one was set up in the Gare Montparnasse in Paris in 2012.

钢琴是法国国家铁路公司旗下负责管理车站的站线建设部(Gares & Connexions)从乐器生产商雅马哈(Yamaha)那里租来的。雅马哈负责钢琴的维护事宜，每隔一两个月会调一次音。第一架钢琴于2012年出现在巴黎的蒙帕纳斯车站。

The pianos have proved to be very popular, and the music, blending with the sounds of shouting passengers, screeching trains and rolling suitcases, can give French stations a peculiar soundscape. The amateur musicians have included Irish soccer fans singing a folk ballad, complete strangers improvising a duet, and even babies.

事实证明，这些钢琴非常受欢迎。琴声和乘客的叫喊声、火车的刺耳噪声、行李箱轮子的滚动声混合在一起，构成了法国火车站特有的声音背景。那些业余音乐家里，有唱着民谣的爱尔兰足球迷，有即兴对唱的陌生人，甚至还有婴儿。

In 2014, Gares & Connexions and Yamaha organized a nationwide contest called Your Turn to Play, asking participants to submit video clips of themselves using one of the pianos. It drew nearly 900 entries.

在2014年，站线建设部和雅马哈组织了一场名为“轮到你弹琴”(Your Turn to Play)的全国性比赛，让参与者提交自己用这些钢琴演奏的视频片段。共有将近900人参赛。

Aren’t the railroad and the company taking a big chance? Apparently not: “None of the instruments have been vandalized to this day, or even merely damaged,” Claire Fournon, a spokeswoman for Gares & Connexions, said in an email. “They are shared and respected by all.”

铁路方面及雅马哈冒了很大风险吗?显然不是：“迄今为止，这些乐器中没有任何一架遭到肆意破坏，甚至连受损都没有，”站线建设部的发言人克莱尔·福尔农(Claire Fournon)在邮件中表示。“它们被所有人分享，并且得到所有人的尊重。”

So if you miss a train in Paris, Bordeaux or Marseille one day, perhaps someone will be playing a favorite piece that will ease the sting a bit. Or perhaps you’ll sit down, roll up your sleeves and play your frustrations away yourself.

因此，如果有一天你在巴黎、波尔多或马赛错过了火车，某个人或许会为你奉上最喜欢的曲目，冲淡你的懊恼之情。又或者，你会亲自坐在钢琴前，挽起袖管弹上一曲，让挫败感消散在琴声里。