书城外语课外英语-七彩音符常青的爱(双语版)
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第3章 拳击手

我只是个穷孩子虽然没人知道我的经历,

可我已耗尽了全部气力。

因为我有许多承诺之类的话,

人们听到的都是谎言与笑话,

想听到这样的话而非是其他。

呣……

当我离开了故乡和家人,

在陌生人中只不过是个孩子。

战战兢兢地待在车站僻静之处,

我贫困潦倒去寻找穷人常去的地方,寻找这样的地方,

只有他们会知道。

啦……

只求一般的工资我来找工作,

但却找不到。

正好在第七街碰到妓女在拉客,

我承认当我那么孤独时,

在那里得到了安慰。

啦……

我准备好冬季的衣物,

希望我已离开回故乡。

纽约的冬天不会那么冷,

引我回到家乡。

在一个空旷的地方,

站着一位职业拳击手。

他带着难忘的每只手套,

只只手套使他想起惨败时,

在愤怒和耻辱下的喊叫,

“我要回家,我要回家。”

但职业拳击手还是留下了。

呣……呣……

啦……啦……

【语言点解析】

1.I’m just a poor boy though my story’s seldom told.=Though nobody knows my background,I’m just a poor boy.虽然没人知道我的经历,我只是个穷孩子。

2.I have squandered my resistance.=I have tried all my best to resist my poor background.我已尽了最大努力来摆脱我的困境。

squander(名词)意为:浪费、滥用、乱花(时间、金钱等),使分散,驱散。

例如:Never squander a single cent.绝不乱花一分钱。

3.For a pocketful of mumbles such are promises.

=For there are lots of mumbles such as promises.因为我有许多承诺之类含糊的话。

pocketful:这一词的构词法是在名词的后面加ful,其词性不变。应特别注意这一类词,因它和形容词的后缀一样,可以修饰可数和不可数名词。

例如:a bagful of books一大包书,a bowlful of rice一满碗米饭。

4.All lies and jests still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest .=What a man wants to hear is all kinds of lies and jests and he disregards the rest.人们听到的都是谎言与笑话,而不是其他别的什么。

5.I was no more than a boy in the company of strangers in a quiet of a railway station running scared.=I was only a boy standing in the company of strangers in a quiet of a railway station.我只不过是个孩子,站在陌生的人群中,战战兢兢地待在车站僻静之处。

no more than...只不过,才……(=only)

例如:He wrote no more than three novels.他不过才写了三部小说而已。

not more than不多于,至多。

例如:He wrote not more than three novels.他写的小说不多于三部。

6.Laying low seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go.我贫困潦倒去寻找穷人去的地方。

lay low:意为:使倒下,打倒,击败,推翻;弄死。

例如:I was laid low by influenza.流行感冒把我弄得病倒了。

seek out:搜寻出,(在人群中)挑出;竭力找(某人)做伴。

7.Asking only workman’s wages.只求一般工人的工资。

workman(名词)意为:工人、劳动者、工匠。

例如:Bad workmen quarrel with(or often blame)their tools.(或An ill workman quarrels with his tools.)[谚语]拙匠常怪工具差。

8.Just a come on from the whores on Seven Avenue.正好在第七街碰上拉客的妓女。

a come on=invitation吸引,诱惑(物)。

whores:(名词)妓女。

9.I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome.

我承认当时我那么孤独。

do是用来强调,要重读。

10.Then I’m laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone going home.

我准备好冬季的衣物,希望我已离开回家乡。

11.Where New York City winters aren’t bleeding me.=Where New York City winters are not that cold for me.纽约的冬天不会那么冷。

12.In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade.=A boxer and a fighter by his trade stands in the vacancy.一位拳击手——职业拳击手站在一块空地上。

clearing=vacancy空场、空地。

a fighter by his trade职业拳击手。

【注释与赏析】

保罗·西蒙和阿特·加蓬格尔是20世纪60年代世界流行乐坛上的最佳重唱组之一,俩人的演唱配合得天衣无缝,表现手法变化多姿。西蒙的嗓音珠圆自然,加蓬格尔的音乐轻柔高洁,两人和声如诗一般优美,令人如痴如醉。加之保罗·西蒙富于哲理的歌词,具有戏剧色彩的吉他弹奏以及加蓬格尔对声音细腻的完美处理,奠定了二人进入世界级的超级歌星中的地位。20世纪60年代至20世纪70年代是西蒙和加蓬格尔音乐生涯中的最佳时期。在这十几年中他们佳作迭出,风靡世界。

《拳击手》就是一首反映人生奋斗的歌曲。歌中用第一人称描述了一个穷孩子成长为一个真正拳击手的经历:我只是个穷孩子虽然没有人知道我的经历,当我离开故乡,我只不过是个孩子站在陌生的人群中,时刻不忘被打翻被打痛的耻辱……拳击手的成长与经历是痛苦而艰难的。一次次的失败,一次次地站起,这不正是英雄行为吗?实际上,从该首歌曲的整体意义上来看,它所要表达的是一些到美国去寻梦者顽强的拼搏精神,并赋予了他们成功的金钥匙。只要努力,吃苦耐劳,顽强地拼搏,最终都能实现自己的梦想,《拳击手》就是一个例子.

Yellow Bird

Yellow bird,up high in a banana tree.

Yellow bird,you sit all alone like me.

Did your lady friend leave your nest again?

This is very sad,makes me feel so bad.

You can fly away,in the sky away.

You’re more lucky than me.

I also had a lady friend,

She’s not with me today.

They are all the same,those pretty girls,

Take tenderness,then they fly away.

Yellow bird,up high in a banana tree.

Yellow bird,you sit all alone like me.

Let her fly away,in the sky away.

Make a town and soon take her from night to noon.

Black and yellow you,like banana too.

They might pick you someday.

Wish that I were a yellow bird,

I’d fly away with you.

But I am not a yellow bird,

So here I sit,nothing left to do.

Yellow bird...