小夜曲: 如今

 A Little Night Music (1973)
- Now

小夜曲 (1973):如今
by 斯蒂芬·桑德海姆
飘尘译

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyi0HXczVY0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e-wsE2217U&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB8f4HbqsWY&feature=related

Now 如今
as the sweet imbecilities 当甜蜜，傻傻的欲念
Tumble so lavishly 如此贪婪地
Onto her lap. 在她的大腿上翻滚。
Now, 如今
there are two possibilities: 这里有两种可能性：
A, I could ravish her, A，我会恣意她，
B, I could nap. B，我会打个盹。。

Say 说到
it's the ravishment, then we see 恣意她，我们看到的
The option 当然是，
Which follows, of course: 以下的选择：
A, the deployment of charm, or B, A，施展魅力，或者B，
The adoption 采用
Of physical force. 体力。

Now B might arouse her, 眼下选B会把她弄醒
But let us assume 让我们设想这样的情景：
I trip on my trouser 我穿着裤子磕磕碰碰
Leg crossing the room... 双腿交叉，在屋里穿行。
Her hair getting tangled, 她的头发纷乱如麻，
Her stays getting snapped 她的吊带正被拉断
My nerves would be jangled, 我的神经发生错乱，
my energy sapped... 我大伤真元...

Removing her clothing 她脱去衣服
Would take her all day, 会用上一个整天，
And her subsequent loathing 她随后会厌恶地
Would turn me away 把我抛在一边，
which eliminates B 这就排除了B
Which have us with A... 我们只能把A来选。。。。

Now 如今
Insofar as approaching it, 实现A的方式，，
What would be festive 会是什么表演
But have its effect? 才有它的效验？？...
Now 如今
There are two ways of broaching it: 有两种方式交谈：
A, the suggestive， A，暗示
And B, the direct.. 和B，直截了当...
Say 比如说
That I settle on B, to wit, 我选B，机智，
A charmingly 一种迷人
Lecherous mood... 好色的心情...
A， A,
I could put on my night shirt or sit 我可以穿着睡衣，或者打坐
Disarmingly, 引起她的惊奇，
B, in the nude... B，全身赤裸。。。

That might be effective, 这可能会有效果
My body all right, 我的身体还算不错，
But not in perspective 但艺术丰采无丝毫
And not in the light... 而且不能见光照。。。

I'm bound to be chilly 我一定会觉得冷
And feel a buffoon, 感觉象个小丑，
But night shirts are silly 可这睡衣太傻了
In mid-afternoon... 又是在午后。

Which leaves the suggestive, 剩下的是暗示
but how to proceed? 如何来进行？
Although she gets restive, 尽管她的春心蠢动
Perhaps I could read... 或许我能够读懂。。。

In view of her penchant 基于她的爱好
For something romantic, 寻觅某些浪漫，
De Sade is too trenchant 萨德太犀利
And Dickens too frantic, 狄更斯太狂癫，
And Stendhal would ruins 司汤达将会毁掉
The plan of attack 进攻的盘算，
As there isn't much blue in 因为没有多少蓝色
The Red and the Black 在红与黑中间。

De Maupassant's candor 德茂帕山特的坦率
Would cause her dismay, 会让她感到沮丧，
The Brontes are grandor 勃朗特姐妹的著作宏伟
But not very gay. 但不是快乐无边。
Her taste is much blender, 她的口味很单调，
I'm sorry to say. 我只能说声抱歉。
But is Hans Christian Ander- 但汉斯·克里斯蒂安 安德森
sen ever risque? 是否一直有风险？
Which eliminates A... 这就排除了A ...

Now, 如今
With my mental facilities 我精神的设施
Partially mudded 部分已糊涂如泥
And ready to snap... 距离倒塌咫尺远。。。
Now, 如今
Though there are possibilities 尽管有可能
Still to be studied, 依然待调研
I might as well nap... 我也可能去睡眠。

Now 如今
Though I must 虽然我必须
To adjust 调整
My original plan... 我原来的盘算
How 该如何
Shall I sleep 我才能睡在
Half as deep 半睡半醒中
As I usually can? 象通常的那般？

When now I still want and/or love you, 如今我依然想要/爱你，
now as always, 现在，象往常一般
Now, 现在
Anne... 安妮。。。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyi0HXczVY0

Note:

1. "As there isn't much blue in"...here, blue means sex and dirty things.

2. "I could put on my night shirt or sit, Disarmingly,..." 这里，Disarmingly 内在的涵意是“to supprise his wife by taking off his cloth ready for sex."

3. The Red and the Black 红与黑: Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black), 1830, by Stendhal, is a historical psychological novel in two volumes,[1] chronicling a provincial young man’s attempts to socially rise beyond his modest upbringing with a combination of talent and hard work, deception and hypocrisy — yet who ultimately allows his passions to betray him.

4. De Maupassant's candor - Henri Ren Albert Guy de Maupassant (5 August 1850 - 6 July 1893) was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents. Many of the stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s and several describe the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught in the conflict, emerge changed. He authored some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. The story "Boule de Suif" ("Ball of Fat", 1880) is often accounted his masterpiece. His most unsettling horror story, "Le Horla" (1887), was about madness and suicide.

5. The Brontes -were a nineteenth-century literary family associated with Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (born 21 April 1816), Emily (born 30 July 1818), and Anne (born 17 January 1820), are well known as poets and novelists. They originally published their poems and novels under masculine pseudonyms, following the custom of the times practised by female writers. Their stories immediately attracted attention, although not always the best, for their passion and originality. Charlotte's Jane Eyre was the first to know success, while Emily's Wuthering Heights, Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and other works were later to be accepted as masterpieces of literature. The three sisters and their brother, Branwell, were very close and they developed their childhood imaginations through the collaborative writing of increasingly complex stories. The confrontation with the deaths first of their mother then of their two older sisters marked them profoundly and influenced their writing. Their fame was due as much to their own tragic destinies as to their precociousness. Since their early deaths, and then the death of their father in 1861, they were subject to a following that did not cease to grow. Their home, the parsonage at Haworth in Yorkshire, now the Bront□Parsonage Museum has become a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

6. Hans Christian Andersen - Hans Christian Andersen (Danish, referred to using the initials H. C. Andersen in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia; April 2, 1805 - August 4, 1875) was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling." During his lifetime he was acclaimed for having delighted children worldwide, and was feted by royalty. His poetry and stories have been translated into more than 150 languages. They have inspired motion pictures, plays, ballets, and animated films.

[biaochen]

回复tern2的评论:回复tern2的评论:谢谢桐儿！谢谢你fwd的连接。我抽时间去听听。我的那位老师在给我Stephen Sondheim 的 Finishing the Hat 时，也给了我一套CD。纽约时报(10/31/2010)的书评 (Title Isn't it Rich by Paul Simon)和华盛顿邮报(C11, Review, 10/31/2010). 因为zhiwei对Lyrics很有造诣, 所以我告诉了他我的WXC博克网址。他好像没有在WXC开博.

[tern2]

好译，有功底。留给之微兄来评吧：）
几个音乐版本，这个比较清晰。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyi0HXczVY0

[biaochen]

之微兄: 这是我翻译Stephen Sondheim 的lyrics的草稿, 请之微兄指正，尤其是在歌词的韵律方面。我发现，Stephen Sondheim 的lyrics其实是当代优秀的诗歌，我只译了一段，就喜欢上了它们。我以后会陆续选择性地翻译他的这些概念音乐剧，并将它们与音乐剧的CD 连接起来，作一个Project.