听歌学英语:伦敦街道 Streets Of London

听歌学英语:伦敦街道 Streets Of London

经典民歌“Streets of London”是英国歌手（Ralph McTell ）1969年的作品，这首歌翻唱的人至少超过两百位，连我们熟知的张国荣也唱过这首歌曲。谱写这首歌的时候，歌手才二十四岁，是根据自己流浪多年的经历，以及在伦敦卖唱民歌的感受，而激发灵感的。写的是伦敦街头的老人，以及歌手对老人的悲悯情怀，苍凉的画面、忧郁的吉他声，安抚着无数落寞的心。

Have you seen the old man
你可曾见过那么老的一个人
In the closed down market
在市场打烊后
Kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes
拖着他破烂了的鞋子踢着被丢弃的报纸
In his eyes you see no pride
在他的眼睛里你看不到自豪的神采
Hands held loosely at his side
双手散漫的垂在身旁
Yesterday's paper, telling yesterday's news
过期的报纸上，写着过期的故事
So how can you tell me you're lonely
你怎么能告诉我你是孤独的呢
And say for you that the sun don't shine
说太阳都不肯为你散发光亮
Let me take you by the hand
让我牵着你的手
And lead you through the streets of London
带着你走过伦敦的街头吧
I'll show you something
让你看看那儿发生的事情
To make you change your mind
它们会把你来改变
Have you seen the old girl
你可见过那年华不再的女子
Who walks the streets of London
姗姗走过伦敦的街头
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags
披着她灰脏的头发和碎破的衣服
She's no time for talking
她没有空儿停下来聊点什么
She just keeps right on walking
就只是一劲儿向前走着
Carrying her home in two carrier¹ bags
带着两只旅行包，那是她的全部家当
So how can you tell me you're lonely
所以你怎么能告诉我你是孤独的呢
And say for you that the sun don't shine
说连太阳都不肯把你照耀
Let me take you by the hand
让我牵着你的手
And lead you through the streets of London
带着你走过伦敦的街头吧
I'll show you something
让你看看那儿发生的事情
To make you change your mind
它们会把你来改变
In the old night cafe at a quarter past eleven
十一点一刻，古旧的咖啡夜店里
The same old man sitting there on his own
还是那同一个老人独自坐在那儿
Looking at the world over the rim² of his teacup
越过他茶杯的边缘看着这个世界
Each tea lasts an hour, and he wanders home alone
每一杯他都会喝一个小时，然后拖着孤独的脚步回家去
Have you seen the old man
你见过那些老去的男人们吗
Outside the seaman's mission³
他们结束了海上的漂泊使命
Memory fading with the minor⁴ ribands that he wears
记忆和他佩戴的缎带一起慢慢褪色
In our winter city the rain cries little pity
在这个城市的冬季，细雨呜咽出辛酸的惋惜
For one more forgotten hero
为着被遗忘的英雄
And a world which doesn't care
和这毫不为此牵挂的世界
So how can you tell me you're lonely
所以你怎么能告诉我你是孤独的呢
And say for you that the sun don't shine
说连太阳都不肯把你照耀
Let me take you by the hand
让我牵着你的手
And lead you through the streets of London
带着你走过伦敦的街头吧
I'll show you something
让你看看那儿发生的事情
To make you change your mind
它们会把你来改变

歌词：Have you seen the old man walking through the closed down market,kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes.
你可曾见过那么老的一个人，在市场打烊后，拖着他破烂了的鞋子踢着被丢弃的报纸。
Close down：关闭，停业。比如：
It is midnight and we are now closing down.
时间已到午夜，本台现在停止广播。
歌词中用到过去分词形式来做定语，指已经打烊的市场(the closed down market).
Kick：用脚踢。Kick up本意为踢，引申含义为“激起，引起”。比如：
The truck can kick up a lot of dust.
卡车激起很多灰尘。
He felt his stomach started to kick up.
他感到胃开始不舒服了。
Worn是wear穿戴的过去分词。歌词中的worn out指“穿破了的；破旧的”，再比如：
The book is worn out and has ink stain⁵ on its cover.
这本书破旧了，封面上有墨渍。
Worn out还可以指“疲惫不堪的”，比如：
I was worn out after a day of shopping.
逛了一天商店，我都累坏了。
歌词：So how can you tell me you're lonely?
所以你怎么能告诉我你是孤独的呢？
Lonely指“孤独的，寂寞的”，后面的歌词出现了alone，同样指“孤独的”，那么这两个词有什么区别呢？Lonely有浓厚的感情色调，指因缺少朋友、同情、友谊时所发生的一种悲伤的和忧郁的感情，通常做形容词。比如：
He felt very lonely when he left his family.
当他离开家后，他感到非常孤独。
Alone只是陈述一个客观事实，意思是“独自一人”、“没有同伴或助手”，用作表语。比如：
He was alone in the house.
他独自一人在屋子里。
Each tea lasts an hour, and he wanders home alone.
这是后面的歌词，意思是：每一杯他都会喝一个小时，然后拖着孤独的脚步回家去。
另外，alone 可用作副词，表示“独自地”、“单独地”。例如：
My sister lives alone. 我姐姐只身独居。
体会一下这句话：I was alone,but not lonely. 我虽单独一人，但是并不寂寞。
歌词：Have you seen the old girl, who walks the streets of London, dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags.
你可见过那年华不再的女子，姗姗走过伦敦的街头，披着她灰脏的头发和碎破的衣服。
我们都对dirty肮脏的一定都不陌生，歌词中的dirt为dirty的名词形式，意思是污垢，泥土，灰尘。比如：
The boy helped Mother sweep the dirt away.
男孩帮助母亲清除尘土。
Rag: n. 破布；碎屑。短语in rags表示“衣衫褴褛”。
歌词：The same old man sitting there on his own, looking at the world over the rim of his teacup.
还是那同一个老人独自坐在那儿，越过他茶杯的边缘看着这个世界。
On one's own是固定短语，表示“单独，独自”。
You should do the homework on your own.
你应该独立完成作业。
Rim：边缘。
She put a flower on the rim of the hat.
她在帽子边上放了一朵花。

1 carrier   

n.运货人；带菌者；运输军队的交通工具

参考例句：

• The airplane lifted from the aircraft carrier.飞机从航空母舰上起飞。
• I applied for the job as a mail carrier.我申请邮差的工作。

2 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

3 mission   

n.使命，任务，天职；代表团，使团

参考例句：

• He was charged with an important mission.他受委托承担一项重要使命。
• I'll leave you to undertake an important mission.我要让你承担一项重要使命。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 stain   

n.污染，污点，著色；v.沾染，染污，著色

参考例句：

• It will remain an indelible stain on his memory.这将成为他记忆中一个不可磨灭的污点。
• Does this material stain easily?这种料子容易染色吗？