這個“潘多拉的盒子”會帶給人快樂

With the simple flip of a switch and turn of a dial, I recently opened the good version of a Pandora's box, unleashing melodious bliss into my surroundings.
我最近簡單地通過開關(guān)和調(diào)節(jié)鍵就打開了“潘多拉的盒子”，讓音樂環(huán)繞了我。
The palm-sized box had just arrived by courier in Beijing, and it was no sooner out of its packaging than the magic of radio, long absent from my life, was in the air again.
我網(wǎng)購了一個小收音機(jī)，久違地聽起了廣播。
I remember my father and grandmother describing how, long before the arrival of television, American families would gather around huge tube-radio cabinets, which had a single speaker the size of a manhole cover, to listen to music, news and popular radio series. 
我的父親和祖父曾說過，在電視機(jī)發(fā)明之前，美國家庭會聚在大型收音機(jī)周圍，收聽音樂、新聞和熱門廣播劇。
My generation saw the invention of the transistor radio, which gave music instant mobility. My brother and I each had such a radio about the size of a pack of cigarettes, and these tiny wonders went everywhere we did.
我們這代人見證了晶體管收音機(jī)的出現(xiàn)。由于收音機(jī)只有煙盒般大小，我和哥哥人手一個，走到哪里都帶著。
So it was that "The Mighty 1290 KOIL", the hugely popular local AM radio station of my childhood, became an ever-present friend. 
我家鄉(xiāng)的熱門廣播頻道成了我無處不在的朋友。
That was many decades ago. But now, in Beijing, I have a friend again in radio — and a very welcome one at that, considering the recent isolation amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.
聽廣播是多年前的事了，但我在北京的隔離期間，又找回了收音機(jī)這個老朋友。
The mysteries of the airwaves were rekindled via a small but stylish radio housed in a wooden cabinet reminiscent of those tube radios of long ago.
我買的這個復(fù)古收音機(jī)小巧時髦。
Curious, I switched on the radio as soon as I got it, adjusted the antenna, slowly turned the dial, and stumbled onto a Beijing FM station that, much like the Mighty 1290 did so many years ago, dishes out (for the most part) one tasty tune after another, freely mixing genres.
我第一時間調(diào)臺，找到了北京的調(diào)頻廣播頻道，一首首地播放歌曲，正如多年前我老家的電臺一樣。
Years back, FM turned commercial radio on its ear, emphasizing "album-oriented" music — meaning that any song from an album was fair game — rather than the hit-single approach of AM radio. FM radio also featured mind-blowing (at the time) stereo sound.
多年前，調(diào)頻廣播成為商業(yè)廣播，重點(diǎn)推介音樂專輯的音樂，即播放專輯中的所有歌曲。而調(diào)幅廣播則只播放熱門單曲。調(diào)頻廣播在當(dāng)時代表了立體聲。
Sadly, the underground feel of FM radio in its 1970s heyday was quickly corrupted by corporate "suits" who killed radio slowly, introducing strict music formats that restricted, and eventually choked off, the flow of all but the most commonplace music.
可惜的是，上世紀(jì)七十年代調(diào)頻廣播的鼎盛時期很快被無損音樂打破，這種被嚴(yán)格限制的音樂模式逐漸取代了大眾音樂。
Fast-forward to Beijing and Easy FM 91.5, which is one reason broadcast radio has taken up a new berth in my head. 
中國國際廣播電臺的輕松調(diào)頻91.5換發(fā)了我對電臺的記憶。
The Beijing station has startled me time and again by eschewing format and tapping into a widely inclusive play list that ranges from The Clash, King Kooba, Snoop Dogg and Joy Division to The High Kings, Marvin Gaye, JB McPherson, Tom Waits, Rose Murphy, Beth Ditto, Nick Drake, the London Jazz Four and Joni Mitchell. Occasionally the station goes far astray, as when once it played the ditzy fluff of Jack Johnson back to back with AC/DC's real-deal rock.  
這個節(jié)目的曲單涵蓋甚廣，偶爾還會播放小眾音樂。
Jazz, punk and lots of funk; music that's old, recent and contemporary; house, rhythm and blues and samba — they all find a niche at Easy FM, which boasts "real music variety from China's biggest library".
輕松調(diào)頻這個節(jié)目會播放爵士、朋克和放克音樂，浩室、節(jié)奏布魯斯和桑巴也能在這里找到一席之地。
But don't stop there. Turn the dial a notch or two higher for a range of contemporary music as well as made-for-radio English-language presentations, including the works of Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw, and still higher for hip-hop and pop heavy Metro Radio 94.5.
但不要僅限于此，轉(zhuǎn)換一下頻道就能找到播放當(dāng)代音樂和莎士比亞、蕭伯納等人作品的英文電臺。 都市調(diào)頻94.5頻道還會播放歐美流行音樂。
Further up the dial are a number of Chinese pop stations, a host of talk-radio programs (usually found on AM radio in the West) and even, around 104, a station that plays traditional Chinese music, including Peking Opera.
接著調(diào)臺還能找到播放中國音樂的電臺，不僅有流行樂，還有京劇在內(nèi)的傳統(tǒng)樂曲。
As you can see (or, more accurately, hear), FM radio is teeming with activity in Beijing. I counted 24 active stations late one night (although on some nights all but one or two vanish).
北京的調(diào)頻電臺很活躍，我一晚可以找到24個這樣的頻道。
Dialing in to broadcast radio, rather than logging in, is pleasing for more than nostalgic reasons, too. Broadcast FM, a truly magical medium whose signal must be "grabbed" with a tuner, just feels warmer than listening online.
通過電臺聽音樂也關(guān)乎懷舊。相對于網(wǎng)絡(luò)音樂，從電波里“抓取”頻道更讓人感到溫暖。
And you're wrong if you think FM's broadcast signal lags behind high-tech online radio. In fact, that old-fashioned signal has lower latency, or delay, so you'll actually hear it sooner than its high-tech counterpart.
不要以為電波音樂落后于網(wǎng)絡(luò)音樂。實(shí)際上，電波信號更少延遲，能比網(wǎng)絡(luò)信號更快傳輸。
At any rate, I now spend many a relaxing afternoon or late night simply turning the dial and seeing where those magic signals might take me next.
我現(xiàn)在經(jīng)常在下午或夜里收聽廣播，將思緒帶到遠(yuǎn)方。