维基百科上收录的Scarborough Fair (ballad) 显然不make sense . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Fair_(ballad) 【Now he has asked me questions three, Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme; I hope he'll answer as many for me Before she shall be a true lover of mine. Tell him to buy me an acre of land, Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme; Between the salt water and the sea sand, Then she shall be a true lover of mine.】
这显然是女士反问男士,最后应该是【Then he shall be a true lover of mine.】 才合理。【Before she shall be a true lover of mine. 】 也应该是 [Before HE will be a true lover of mine] 。
简单再讲解下这首歌的意思:男士向女士传信,若女士能做件无缝衣裳,她就将成为他之所爱;女士回应,若男士能在海水里种地,他就将成为她之所爱。
英文描写的是一种复杂矛盾的心理,莲、懵都翻成了男耕女织。 前者是英国商业社会的写照(标题写的是市场),后者是农耕社会的思维。
莲波、iMan的翻译相当于董永唱天仙配: 你织布来我耕田。
读者可能注意到,莲波翻译的版本,实际是电影《The Graduate》的插曲,参见下列视频
其歌词是:
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
(On the side of a hill in the deep forest green)
Parsely, sage, rosemary & thyme
(Tracing a sparrow on snow-crested ground)
Without no seams nor needlework
(Blankets and bedclothes a child of the mountains)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call)
Tell her to find me an acre of land
(On the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves)
Parsely, sage, rosemary, & thyme
(Washed is the ground with so many tears)
Between the salt water and the sea strand
(A soldier cleans and polishes a gun)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
(War bellows, blazing in scarlet battalions)
Parsely, sage, rosemary & thyme
(Generals order their soldiers to kill)
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather
(And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine.
【This piece is not the first time S&G used two interwoven lyrics with the aim of creating a jarring dislocation in the mind of the listener.】这里 S&G指 Simon & Garfunkel。更多的详细分析(包括越战背景),参见上面的链接。
至于iMan理解成老情人因战争而分开,完全不靠谱。
这说明,没有基本的逻辑思维能力与英文阅读能力,就是一首美妙的英文歌曲也无法真正欣赏,而翻译也就是谬以千里了。
参见
Martin Carthy (1965) -- Scarborough Fair。Simon的版本改自于此
Dylan 的Girl From The North Country
Simon 的The Side of a Hill