音乐咖啡厅:9·11纪念Christmas In The Trenches 战壕圣诞

这是9·11死难者纪念音乐会演唱曲目之一，也是一首著名的反战歌曲。原作于第一次世界大战后，以白描的手法讲述了一个英国士兵在法国战场上度过的圣诞节：德军和英军同时在战壕里哼唱着“寂静的圣诞夜”，不同的语言但同样的曲调、相似的心情。于是，一首接着一首的圣诞歌交融在空中，士兵们跨入隔离带，交换自己的私藏，白兰地、巧克力、家人的照片——直至清晨的来临偷走了欢乐，小伙子们再次成为敌人。——《战壕里的圣诞节》，让一个简单的问题盘旋在人们心中：我们为什么要成为敌人？

 

英文歌词
My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from Liverpool.
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school.
To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here
I fought for King and country I love dear.

It was Christmas in the trenches², where the frost so bitter hung,
The frozen fields of France were still, no Christmas song was sung
Our families back in England. They were toasting us that day
Their brave and glorious lad is so far away.

I was lying with my messmates on the cold and rocky ground
When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar³ sound
Says I, "Now listen up, me boys!" each soldier strained to hear
As one young German voice sang out so clear.

"He's singing bloody⁴ well, you know!" my partner said to me
Soon, one by one, each German voice joined in harmony
The cannons⁶ rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more
As Christmas brought us respite⁷ from the war

As soon as they were finished and a reverent⁸ pause was spent
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" struck up some lads from Kent
The next they sang was "Stille Nacht.""It's'Silent Night'"said I
And in two tongues one song filled up that sky

"There's someone coming toward us!" the front line sentry⁹ cried
All sights were fixed¹⁰ on one long figure trudging¹¹ from their side
His truce¹² flag, like a Christmas star, shown on that plain so bright
As he, bravely, strode unarmed into the night

Soon one by one on either side walked into No Man's Land
With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand
We shared some secret brandy and we wished each other well
And in a flare-lit soccer game we gave'em hell

We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home
These sons and fathers were far away from families of their own
Young Sanders played his squeezebox and they had a violin
This curious and unlikely band of men

Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more
With sad farewells we each begun to settle back to war
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wondrous¹³ night
"Whose family have I fixed within my sights?"

It was Christmas in the trenches where the frost was so bitter hung
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung
For the walls they'd kept between us to exact the work of war
Had been crumbled¹⁵ and were gone forevermore

My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell
Each Christmas come since World War I, I've learned its lessons well
That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame¹⁶
And on each end of the rifle we're the same

中文歌词
我的名字是弗朗西丝-陶利弗，我来自利物浦
两年前中学毕业后等待我的是战争
到比利时和佛兰德斯，到德国再到这里
我为国王以及我所钟爱的国家而战

就是那个圣诞节，在战壕里，那里的寒霜是如此严酷
冰冻的法兰西大地一片寂静，没有圣诞的歌声
我们的家在英格兰后方。那天他们也许正向我们举杯
他们英勇光荣的孩子却离他们如此遥远

我和同伴正躺在寒冷坚硬的地上
这个时候一个特别奇怪的声音穿过阵地飘来
我说：“起来听，小伙子们！”所有士兵都努力去听
一个年轻的声音用德语唱着，那么清晰

“他唱得真是棒！”我的伙伴对我说
很快，一个接一个，所有德国人加入了和声
大炮静静地坐落，战争的烟云不再弥漫
圣诞节带我们暂离了战争

他们刚刚结束，一阵虔诚的停顿后
“上帝佑你幸福，先生”来自肯特郡的几个青年开始歌唱
他们下一首唱的是“Stille Nacht”。“那就是‘寂静的圣诞夜’”我说
然后两首语言唱的同一首歌充满了天空

“有个人向我们走过来！”前线的哨兵叫喊
所有目光都锁定一个从那边跋涉而来的长长身影
他的停战旗，像圣诞之星，显现在那片平原是如此明亮
当他，勇敢地，不带武装跨入夜晚

很快一个接一个，双方都走进无人区
既不带枪也不带刺刀，在那里我们见面、握手
我们分享一些私藏的白兰地，我们相互祝福
在一场球赛中我们把他们打得大败

我们交换着巧克力，香烟，从家里带来的照片
这些儿子和父亲远离着他们自己的家
年轻的桑德斯拉着他的手风琴，而他们那边有把小提琴
组成了这个古怪和不太有把握的乐队

很快天明不经意间到来，法兰西又成了法兰西
相互悲伤地道别，我们又开始陷于战争
但这个疑问却萦绕在经历那个奇妙夜晚的每人心头：
“目之所及我保护的是谁的家庭？”

就是那个圣诞节，在战壕里，那里的寒霜是如此严酷
法兰西冰冻的大地被唱响的和平之歌温暖
因为，为了强化对立，他们在我们之间横亘的墙
已经倒塌，永远地倒塌了

我的名字是弗朗西丝-陶利弗，我来自利物浦
从一战的那个圣诞节，我学到这一课
那就是发动战争的人不会在死伤之列
在每支来复枪下我们都一样

生僻词汇
Liverpool n. 利物浦
trench¹ n. 战壕
lad n. 青少年，小伙子

frost n. 霜冻，严寒
toast vt. 敬酒
messmate n. 同餐桌的伙伴

strain v. 拉紧，尽力
reverent a. 虔诚的
strike up v. 开始演奏，使开始

sentry n. 岗哨
trudge¹⁷ v. 跋涉
truce n. 休战

stride v. 大步走
bayonet n. 刺刀
crumble¹⁴ v. 粉碎，崩溃

rifle n. 来复枪
cannon⁵ n. 大炮
unarmed a. 不带武装的

1 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

2 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

3 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

4 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

5 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

6 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。

8 reverent   

adj.恭敬的，虔诚的

参考例句：

• He gave reverent attention to the teacher.他恭敬地听老师讲课。
• She said the word artist with a gentle,understanding,reverent smile.她说作家一词时面带高雅，理解和虔诚的微笑。

9 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 trudging   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• There was a stream of refugees trudging up the valley towards the border. 一队难民步履艰难地爬上山谷向着边境走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Two mules well laden with packs were trudging along. 两头骡子驮着沉重的背包，吃力地往前走。 来自辞典例句

12 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

13 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

14 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

15 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

16 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

17 trudge   

v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行

参考例句：

• It was a hard trudge up the hill.这趟上山是一次艰难的跋涉。
• The trudge through the forest will be tiresome.长途跋涉穿越森林会令人疲惫不堪。