花花公子的开支缩小 Downsizing for Italy's Casanovas

Hello I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by Finn. Hi Finn.
大家好我是Rob。欢迎来到BBC6分钟英语。今天和我一起的是Finn。你好，Finn、
Hi Rob.
你好Rob。
Today we are talking about Casanovas. Finn, could you explain what one is?
今天我们来说说花花公子。Finn，你能解释下什么样的人称之为花花公子吗？
Yes a Casanova is a man who is a smooth talker, very charming and great at seducing women –to be blunt, or to be honest, they are good at getting women into bed!
好的。花花公子是指一个能言善道、很迷人而且很会勾引女人的人--坦率或坦白讲，他们非常擅长骗女人上床！
Yes, they have many sexual partners. Do you know anyone you could call a Casanova?
是的，他们有很多的性伴侣。你认识的人中有可以称得上花花公子的人吗？
No, nobody. The name is often related to Italian men because it comes from the 17th Century Italian adventurer and writer, Giacomo Girolamo Casanova, who was known for his sexual adventures.
不，没有。这个名字通常也会和意大利男人联系起来因为这个词来自17世纪的意大利冒险家和作家，Giacomo Girolamo Casanova,他因性冒险而闻名。
Well the modern-day Casanova could be in trouble, as we’ll be explaining soon. But first, a question for you Finn.
好吧，在现代，浪荡公子可能有麻烦，接下来很快我们会解释。但是首先，Finn问你有一个问题。
I hope you won’t be asking how many sexual partners he had?
我希望你不是问他有多少性伴侣？
Nothing like that. Do you know which Italian city he was born in? a) Florence b) Rome c) Venice
没有。你知道他是在哪个意大利城市出生的吗？a) Florence佛罗伦萨b）Rome罗马c) Venice威尼斯
I consider Venice the city of love so let’s say c) Venice.
我觉得威尼斯是一座爱的城市，所以我选择c）威尼斯。
It’s a beautiful city I know , but I’ll let you know the answer at the end of programme. So let’s talk more about Italian Casanovas. These promiscuous men are suffering because of today’s economic problems.
我知道这是一座美丽的城市，我会在节目的最后揭晓答案。所以让我们继续说说意大利的花花公子。由于今天的经济问题，这些混杂的人很痛苦。
Yes – unlike me and you Rob – they’re struggling to woo women – that means to attract them and give them attention. They often do this financially – by spending money on them.
是的--不像我和你Rob--他们追求女人们--那意味着吸引她们并引起她们的注意。他们经常通过经济上在她们身上花钱。
So these Italian Casanovas used to buy their ladies gifts and treats, like meals or a night in a swanky hotel, but now they can’t afford it.
这些花花公子以前对女士出手很大方，像吃大餐或在一个奢华的酒店的度过一夜，但现在他们负担不起了。
Well, no sympathy from me. But like all of us, they have had to cut costs - but in Italy, where unemployment is more than 12%, they’ve had to make some bigger sacrifices.
好吧，我不同情他们。像我们所有的人一样，他们不得不节省开支--但是在意大利，失业率超过12%，他们要做更大的牺牲。
Ha, you mean they have had to give up some of their women – or at least cut back – reduce – the gifts they are buying.It means the Italian women they woo will have to lower their expectations – they’ll have to expect less!
Ha，你的意思是他们不得不放弃一些他们的女人——或者至少减少-减少他们购买的礼物。这意味着他们吸引的意大利妇女将不得不降低她们的预期,她们会减少期待!
Or go elsewhere! This is something the BBC’s Emma Jane Kirby has been investigating for the programme From Our Own Correspondent.She discovered real life examples of men who are downsizing – in other words, spending less.
或者去其他地方！下面是BBCFrom Our Own Correspondent栏目的记者Emma Jane Kirby一直在调查的。她发现人们缩小开支的真实例子--换句话说，花费减少。
Let’s hear some of her report now. What word is used to describe a Casanova’s secret girlfriend’? And what gifts did the Casanova traditionally give her?
现在让我们一起听一下她的报道。过去用什么词来形容花花公子的秘密情人呢？这些人通常给他们的情妇什么礼物呢？
The economic crisis has hit Italian men where it hurts most; with their country still in recession and the cost of living soaring, the Latin lover has had to rein in his appetite.The traditional kept mistress, secretly hidden away in her fully paid-up flat and lavished with furs and jewels, has been consigned to history.
经济危机最让意大利男人心疼的地方是，他们的国家仍在衰退，生活成本飙升，拉丁情人不得不控制他的胃口。过去的情妇悄悄地隐藏在全款付清的公寓，挥霍着皮草和珠宝的日子已经成为历史了。
That’s Emma Jane Kirby describing the economic situation in Italy. She says the country is in recession – that means the economic situation is bad. It also means, as she said, the cost of living is soaring – so going up.
这就是 Emma Jane Kirby描述的目前意大利的经济形势。她说国家处于衰退期--也就是说经济形势不好。这也就是说，就像她说的生活成本在飙升--所以上升。
And it’s these rising costs that has hit Italians ‘where it hurts most’.
这些上升的成本撞击了意大利人“最疼的地方”。
That sounds painful! But of course she means ‘in the pocket’ – in other words the biggest pain men are suffering is financial. Financial pain.
这听起来很痛苦！当然她指的痛苦“在口袋里”--换句话说人们最大的伤痛是经济。经济伤痛。
Did you hear another name the correspondent used for a Casanova? It was a Latin lover. The Latin lover has had to rein in his appetite – so he’s had to learn to control or limit his romantic habits.
你听过记者给花花公子起的另一个名字吗？拉丁情人。拉丁情人不得不减少他的胃口--因此他不得不学着控制或减少浪漫的习惯。
And one of his habits was having a kept mistress – so another woman he would support financially. These women were kept secret, hidden away but lavished with furs and jewels.
其中之一的习惯就是有一个情人--他要在经济上供养另一个女人。这些女人是秘密保养的，不露面的，但是却挥霍着皮草和珠宝。
Lavished – that’s a good word – it means to give a lot – so these men were giving their mistresses lots of gifts. But not any more!
挥霍--这是一个好词--这说明要给与很多--这些男人会给他们的情妇很多的礼物。
No. Now some of them can only offer simple pleasures like a cup of coffee, a walk in the park and if they’re eating out they might have to ‘go Dutch’ – that means split the bill 50:50.
是的。现在他们只能提供简单的快乐例如一杯咖啡，在公园散个步，如果外出吃饭他们会选择“各自付账”也就是AA制。
It sounds tough being a Casanova these days. But I wonder what their wives think about this?
听起来今天要变成花花公子很艰难。但是我想知道的是他们的妻子会怎么想呢？
Well, they probably don’t know, but the number of people getting divorced is going down as the Casanova can no longer afford to support two women.So maybe the recession in Italy is having a positive effect for married women at least!
Well，他们很可能不知道，但是人们离婚的数量在降低因为花花公子们同时养不起两个女人。所以或许至少意大利经济的衰退对结婚的女性来说是一个积极的作用！
For now, the Casanova can only rely on his charm and good looks and possibly just stick to window shopping – or just eyeing up women without taking things further.
现在花花公子只能依靠他的魅力和姣好的外貌，并且很可能只是坚持逛街--或只是盯着女士看而不会采取进一步行动。
It sounds like hard work being a Casanova Rob. I’ll stick with women one at a time!
Rob，听起来成为一个花花公子是一项艰难的工作。我会一次只和一个女人！
Very wise. Now let me reveal the answer to today’s question. Earlier I asked you which Italian city was Giacomo Girolamo Casanova born in?
太明智了。现在让我揭晓今天问题的答案。早些时候我问你 Giacomo Girolamo Casanova 是在意大利的那座城市出生的？
I said c) Venice.
我回答的是c）威尼斯。
You were right.He was born in Venice in 1725.Well that’s it for this programme. Please join us soon again for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
你说对了。他于1725年出生于威尼斯。好了这就是今天的节目。欢迎继续加入我们下一期BBC6分钟英语。
Bye.
再见。