好英语网年薪15万美元的英国管家
Downton Abbey may reference an era a century past. But Carson’s real-life butler descendants – armed with Blackberries as well as silver polish – are more stylish than ever.
《唐顿庄园》也许代表着百年之前的那个时代。但在现实生活中，卡森（唐顿庄园的管家）的后代们要做的不仅仅是擦亮银器，他们现在手持黑莓手机，过着比以往更时髦的生活。
About 350 to 400 butlers are trained each year in Britain, estimates Gary Williams, former head butler at the Ritz and now principal of the British Butler Institute. Of these, only about half stay in the UK, he says. The rest go overseas, particularly to increasingly middle-class China and to the oil-rich countries of the Gulf.
盖瑞.威廉斯（Gary Williams）曾在丽姿卡尔顿酒店担任首席管家（British Butler Institute），他现在是英国管家学院的校长。根据威廉斯的估算，全英国每年大约培训350到400名管家，而其中仅有一半会待在英国。其他的会去国外工作，特别是前往中产阶级不断扩大的中国，还有石油丰富的海湾国家。
Butlering in Bahrain?
在巴林当管家？
Roughly 30% of the people hiring British butlers are in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, says Swedish-born Sara Vestin Rahmani, who runs the British Butler Academy. Like the British Butler Institute, the Academy is London-based but offers courses worldwide.
在瑞典出生的萨拉 维斯丁.拉玛妮（Sara Vestin Rahmani）负责运营英国管家研究院（British Butler Academy）。她说，大约30％英国管家的雇主来自阿联酋、卡塔尔和沙特等国家。跟英国管家学院一样，英国管家研究院也座落在伦敦，不过在全球各地都可授课。
Employers are a mixture of royals, sheikhs and oil proprietors, with an average of at least three houses – and 15 staff per home, Rahmani says.
拉玛妮说找管家的雇主有皇室成员、部落高官还有石油大亨，他们平均都有三处房产，每个房产平均雇佣15个工作人员。
In the UK, salaries average from £40,000 to £50,000 ($57,000 to $71,000), Williams says. Pay is slightly higher in the Gulf, says Rahmani, where butlers’ pay averages £65,000 ($93,000) per year. This is tax free and with bonuses “the norm”, she adds.
威廉斯说，在英国，管家的平均薪水是4万到5万英镑（约合57000－71000美元）。拉玛妮说海湾国家的薪水会给得高些，平均年薪为6.5万英镑（约合93000美元）。管家不用交工资税还能享有额外奖金，“这已经是通行标准了”，拉玛妮说。
But the pay then soars for ‘super-butlers’, who are those boasting good references from the stateliest hotels or from the royal family and who work for particularly wealthy overseas ‘principals’ (how butlers refer to their employer). They might easily earn £100,000 to £110,000 ($143,000 to $157,000).
但是对于所谓的“超级管家”来说，他们的薪酬还会一路飙升。超级管家是指那些拥有高档奢华酒店的工作经验或者有皇室推荐信的，同时为极其富有的海外主顾(管家们通常喜欢这样称呼自己的雇主)工作的那些管家。他们每年轻轻松松就可以挣到10万或11万英镑（约合143，000－157,000美元）。
In 2014, Rahmani placed 30 ‘super-butlers’ in positions in the Gulf paying more than £100,000 ($143,000). In 2015, she placed double that number – a sign of just how much the trend of hiring butlers abroad has grown.
2014年，拉玛妮在海湾国家安排了30个“超级管家”的职位，他们的年薪大约在10万英镑左右（约合143,000美元），而到了2015年，通过她安排的职位的数量已经翻倍了，很显然雇佣管家之风在海外越来越盛行。
Meet Jeeves
吉夫斯式（Jeeves）的理想男仆
One super-butler is John Deery, in his mid-40s and a native of Northern Ireland. Along with planning travel arrangements for his principal, a businessman, and valeting, serving meals, and making sure visas are up to date, Deery manages three of his employer’s properties. One is in the Balkans with 34 staff, there is a London residence with another 12, and a third is being developed.
约翰迪瑞（John Deery）就是其中一位超级管家，他40来岁，来自北爱尔兰。他的主顾是一位生意人，迪瑞的工作除了要安排雇主的出行计划，熨烫衣物，端茶送水，管理签证等工作，他还同时管理着雇主的三个房地产项目，一个在巴尔干地区，有34名雇员，一个在伦敦有12个工作人员，第三个地产正在建设中。
“You need to know when to be in the background, not too intrusive, very respectful of his time and space to ensure his comfort at all times and that the household runs like clockwork,” Deery says. “You have to be on your toes, very dedicated, and you don’t have too much of a private life. But I have to say, I love it.”
“你需要懂得什么时候进退，不能显得太碍眼，要尊重他的时间，给予雇主足够的空间以确保他时刻都能感觉自然舒适，同时确保雇主的家庭事务要有条不紊的进行，”迪瑞说，“你需要忙个不停，尽职尽责，因此你并没有太多自己的生活，但是我必须要说，我热爱这样的工作。”
Particularly for wealthy employers from Middle Eastern, Asian or Russian backgrounds, one of the attractions of a British butler is their knowledge of the nuances of the traditional English way of dining or formal dressing.
对于来自中东，亚洲或者俄罗斯的有钱人来说，英国管家的吸引力在于，他们懂得英式就餐和着装礼仪中间的那些细微之处。
But the stereotype of a butler as a lifelong position held by an older man is no longer the case. The average age of a newly employed butler is 41, and 40% of the people placed by the British Butler Academy are women, says Rahmani. (Many work as combined lady’s-maids and personal assistants to women from the Gulf).
而且传统观念中一个年长的管家在同一个职位上干一辈子的情况现在已经发生变化了。拉玛妮说现在新聘请的管家的平均年龄在41岁，英国管家研究院安排的的管家中40%是女性。（很多在海湾国家工作，同时兼任女主人的贴身女仆和私人助理）。
And many butlers are career changers. Deery had a first career as a graphic designer. With cutbacks in the armed forces, many other butlers were previously in military service. There are also a good number of former actors, unsurprising given the element of performance required in the role.
很多人并不是一辈子都是管家，也有从别的行业进来的人。例如迪瑞之前就曾经是一位平面设计师。很多人曾服兵役，但由于军队裁员，重新择业而进入了管家行业。当管家的还有一部分人来自演艺圈，这也不奇怪，因为管家职业本身也需具备一定的表演成分。
Others find their way from traditional British crafts, which form part of a butler’s art. Deery mentions a Jermyn Street tailor-turned-butler who previously made handmade shirts.
另外一些人则来自于传统手工艺行业，成为一个管家才艺修养的一部分。迪瑞提到的一个管家就是如此，他之前在杰明街（Jermyn Street）制作手工衬衫后来转行做了管家。
Everyone wants a Carson
人人都需要卡森（Carson）
With the worldwide desire for butlers increasing, training them has become a flourishing British industry.
随着世界各国对于管家的需求不断增大，管家培训如今已经成为英国一个蒸蒸日上的行业。
To meet demand, the City & Guilds Butlers Diploma was set up in 2010. The course’s syllabus runs the gamut, with lessons on fire control and first aid, how to care for leather, wool and wood, food preparation and service, wine, basic sewing, etiquette around the world and how to manage a busy property.
2010年伦敦城市管家行业文凭协会（City & Guilds Butlers Diploma）的设立便是为了满足这一不断攀升的需求。这个文凭的课程涉及各个领域，例如防火急救课程，皮具护理，羊毛和木质产品护理，备餐与服务，红酒品鉴，基本缝补，世界各国礼仪以及如何打理大家族产业。
The diploma came about because the Savoy and the royal household were training their staff internally to a very high standard, says Patricia Paskins, one of the course’s organisers. “But they had no accredited qualification at the end of their training,” she says. “They wanted them to have a diploma they could build on.”
开发管家文凭的动力来源于那些类似于萨沃伊饭店（Savoy）和皇室家族对于员工高标准的培训要求。课程主办方之一怕特里夏.帕斯金丝（Patricia Paskins）说，皇室和酒店担心员工培训完之后没有权威认证的合格证书，他们希望自己的员工有一个文凭作为日后继续提升自我的基础。
Paskins is currently training butlers for Etihad Airways, who will staff private suites on the airline’s Airbus A380 aircraft.
帕斯金丝目前正在为来自阿布扎比的阿提哈德航空(Etihad Airways)培训管家，他们将为该航空公司在空客380飞机上设的私人套间的乘客服务。
Another surprising butler employer is the university system. Richard Hein is head butler at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he has worked for five years. Cambridge’s oldest college, Peterhouse’s butlers date back at least to its early statutes of 1344.
很多大学也需要管家这样的人才，这点或许有些出乎意料。理查德.海恩（Richard Hein）是剑桥大学彼得豪斯学院（Peterhouse）首席管家，他已经在这里工作了5年。彼得豪斯学院是剑桥最老的学院，而管家这一职位从1344年建院时就存在了。
Today, of course, one major difference is the technology. “We have a WhatsApp group with the staff,” he says. “I use it for covering the shifts and for training, to take a picture of something new or interesting and send it round.”
当然相比较于今天，最大的区别在于科技的使用。“我们和雇员有一个WhatsApp群聊小组”，他说，“在这里我们可以讨论诸如换班，培训等事情，另外还以发发新鲜有趣的照片。”
The butlers of yesteryear may not have approved. But it seems safe to assume that they would, at least, be glad to see their profession flourishing.
昔日的管家或许不赞成这样的行为。但是至少有一点可以确定的是，他们一定很开心看到自己的职业正在焕发新机，蒸蒸日上。