snake charmers

Indian's snake charmers are to be retrained as wildlife teachers under a plan to prevent their unique skills and knowledge from being lost. The charmers, who make snakes dance to the sound of flutes, used to be a traditional feature of Indian life, performing in towns and villages, until they were banned in 1972 to control the trade in snake skins.

The government is now considering a plan to train the snake charmers, as they are known, to visit schools and zoos to tell children about forests and wildlife. There is also a proposal to set up a “dial a snake charmer” service to help householders to deal with unwelcome intruders.

“For generations they have been a feature of Indian life but now they can't earn a living for fear of arrest,” said Behar Dutt, a conservationist behind the plans, “if a policeman doesn’t catch them, animal rights activists report them.”

Many snake charmers have continued to work clandestinely since the ban, despite the threat of up to three years in jail. But their trademark cloth-covered baskets, hung from a bamboo pole carried across their shoulders, make them an easy target for police.

The fate of Shisha Nath, 56, from Badarpur, a village just outside of Delhi, is typical of practitioners of the dying art. “I used to earn enough to support my family and send my children to school, "he said. "Now it's hard to earn even for a day. My children want to be snake charmers. It’s our identity. We love the work. But it’s become impossible.”

Next month Dutt’s project to train 30 snake charmers will begin at a snake park in Pune, western India, where experts will enrich their home-grown skills with some formal knowledge.

More than the law, though, it is the dishonest attitude of their fellow countryman that angers many snake charmers.

"'We're disturbed all the time but when people want a snake removed from the house, they rush to us," said Prakash Nath, who was ordered recently to the home of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party leader.

参考译文：
印度耍蛇人将被重新培训成为野生生物老师，这是印度的一项计划，以免这一独特的技能与知识失传。在城镇，村落里，蛇在耍蛇人的笛声诱导下舞动，这曾经是传统印度生活的特点之一。直到1972年为控制贩卖蛇皮，耍蛇被禁止。

现在政府正在考虑一项训练所谓的耍蛇者的计划，让他们访问学校和动物园，告诉孩子们有关森林和野生生物的知识。还有人建议建立“耍蛇者热线”来帮助住户处理不速之客。

“几代以来他们已经成为印度生活的特点，但他们却因为害怕被逮捕而无法过活，”该计划背后的自然资源保护者Behar Dutt说，“即便警察不抓捕他们，动物权利保护者也会举报他们。”

许多耍蛇人自禁令颁布以来，不顾蹲三年监狱的危险，继续秘密地工作着。但是他们标志性的用一根笛子挑着用布盖着的篮子使他们很容易被警察发现。

来 自德里外的Badarpur村子的56岁的Shisha Nath，他的命运就是这个消亡的艺术的从业者的典型。“我以前挣的钱足够维持家庭，供孩子上学，”他说，“现在连一天都很难负担起。我的孩子们想成为耍 蛇者。这是我们的身份。我们爱这份工作。但是已经不可能了。”

下个月Dutt的培训30位耍蛇者的计划将在西印度Pune的蛇园开始。这些专家们将用一些正规的知识丰富他们自家的技能。

然而，让许多耍蛇者愤慨的不只是法律，还有同胞的不诚实态度。

“我们总是被打扰，但是当他们想把蛇赶出房子的时候，他们就会急着来找我们，”最近被国会党领袖索尼娅•甘地任命的Prakash Nath如是说。

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词汇及短语：
charmer: 对异性有吸引力的人
snake charmer：耍蛇人
retrain：重新教育，再教育
wildlife：野生的鸟兽等
flute：笛子
proposal：提议，建议
householder：住户，户主
intruder：未请自入者，闯入者
conservationist：自然资源保护者，生态环境保护者
activist：积极分子，活动家
clandestinely：秘密地，暗中地
trademark：商标
pole：柱，杆
practitioner：从业者
home-grown：本国产的，自产的
fellow countryman：同胞，同乡