The famed soprano Jenny Lind had plenty of talent and determination. And when she came to America in 1850 she had more than enough publicity. Her promoter was the biggest showman of them all—P.T. Barnum.
Eager to rise above his reputation as a promoter of sideshows and freaks, Barnum had risked his entire fortune on the singer that he dubbed the Swedish Nightingale—a singer whom he had never heard or seen. He saw to it that the risk paid off. When she arrived in New York, her admirers mobbed Jenny Lind. By midnight, when she arrived at her hotel, a crowd of 30,000 had gathered just to get a look at her. At one o’clock, a fire brigade 700 strong ushered in a band of 130 musicians who came to serenade her.
Tickets for her first American concert were in such demand that they were auctioned off. The first ticket went to a hat maker named Genin who paid $225 for it and got several days’ worth of fame in the bargain . At the concert 7000 shouting people crammed into Castle Garden to hear Jenny Lind sing. She received $10,000—all of which she gave to New York charities. She repeated her success in Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Charleston, and Baltimore.
In Baltimore something happened that may have made Jenny Lind decide that things had gotten out of hand. She was on the balcony of her hotel, bowing to the masses below when her shawl fell. Instead of returning it, the crowd fought over the shawl, tearing it to shreds and pocketing the pieces as souvenirs. Soon afterward she backed out of her contract with Barnum—at a cost of $30,000—and completed her American tour. Several years passed before she returned to the concert stage. As for P.T. Barnum, he went into a profession for which he may have been supremely well qualified—politics.
著名女高音詹妮?琳德才華橫溢，意志堅定。1850年，當她到達美國后，獲得了相當高的知名度，她的推廣者是最偉大的廣告家P.T.巴納姆。
為了急于擺脫“穿插秀和滑稽小品推廣大師”的名聲，巴納姆冒險將他的全部錢財賭在這位被他叫做“瑞典夜鶯”的歌唱家身上，而這位“夜鶯”他還聞所未聞呢。這次他必須讓他的賭注撈回來。當琳德到達紐約后，她的“粉絲”將她圍個水泄不通。當她午夜到達旅館時，有3萬人聚集在那里，以求一睹芳容。午夜1點時， 700人的消防隊引來了一支由170人組成的樂隊，他們特意來給她獻情歌。
琳德的美國首場演出票源緊俏，緊俏到需要舉辦拍賣會的程度。第一張票被一名叫格林的帽子制造商以225美元的價格納入囊中，他也因此出了幾天名。音樂會時，7000名觀眾尖叫著擠入城堡公園。琳德賺了1萬美元，她把這筆錢全部捐給了紐約的慈善機構。她在費城、華盛頓、里奇蒙德、查理斯頓和巴爾第摩復制著她的輝煌。
在巴爾第摩發生的事情可能使琳德意識到事態發展得有些失控。當時她在她下榻旅館的陽臺上，她向樓下的觀眾們鞠躬時，披巾掉了下去。觀眾沒有將披巾還給她，為了搶到披巾他們大打出手，結果披巾被撕成了碎片，碎片被裝進了觀眾的腰包留作紀念品。不久，琳德不惜以損失3萬美元的代價終止了和巴納姆簽訂的合同，結束了她的美國巡演。過了好幾年，琳德才重登舞臺。
至于P.T.巴納姆，他開始了新的職業生涯——政治。顯然，在這個領域他如魚得水。
Vocabulary:
1. nightingale: 夜鶯，女歌唱家;Barnum: 即P.T.Barnum，P.T.巴納姆(1810—1891)，美國著名演藝經理人，以主辦聳人聽聞的游藝節目和奇人怪物展覽而聞名。
2. soprano: 女歌唱家。
3. showman: 演出主持人，演出者;善于吸引注意者。
4. rise above: 克服;sideshow: 穿插表演;freak: 怪誕舉動;dub: 給……取雅號。
5. see to it that: 務必使。
6. mob: 圍住。
7. serenade: 對……(尤指所愛的人)唱小夜曲，奏小夜曲。
8. in the bargain: 另外。
