顺便说一下,偶然看到歌词的一个英译版本,译者不详,据说是来自香港电台的“听歌学英文”节目:
The Blue Guitar
Play my solitary guitar
Recall the moments sweet and bitter
until the emptiness is filled with dreams of you
Thoughts that drift from past to present
wonder how your love is faring
Are you by any chance comparing me with him?
Ooh...can I still cling to illusions
that there'll be a solution?
Ooh...am I a fool still chasing shadows
without a star to follow?
But after all's said and done
I can't help wishing you well
I still believe time will tell...
If he breaks your heart
if he turns away
I'll take up the part
I won't ever stray
So play, blue guitar
Play that sad refrain
Carry me so far
till I feel no pain
译事艰难,不可苛责。把歌词大意译出来,还要能唱,实在不容易。译者的英语水平显然是很高的,尤其是“我再笑我似个笑话,一生都追踪空气”译得十分出色,巧妙用自我反诘的语气译出“笑我”的意味,用cling to illusions来译“一生都追踪空气”也很贴切。不过,也可以看出,原文有些精华损失掉了。比如“无知的结他,难解你别离”,在译文中荡然无存;“我也说过休息放弃吧,但实在舍不得你”也完全走样了。I won't ever stray也是译文生造的,无法对应原文的“如果未嫌弃”,表现出原文痴心和无奈的意味。