自译 ｜ Love Minus Zero / No Limit

Love Minus Zero / No Limit

爱不减/无限

My love she speaks like silence

我的爱人她言语无声

Without ideals or violence

没有理想，不带暴力

She doesn’t have to say she’s faithful

她不必自证忠贞

Yet she’s true, like ice, like fire

而她如冰似火般真切

People carry roses

别人捧着玫瑰

Make promises by the hours

大花时间承诺

My love she laughs like the flowers

我的爱人笑靥如花

Valentines can’t buy her

礼物可收买不了她

In the dime stores and bus stations

在廉价商店和公交车站

People talk of situations

人们谈天说地

Read books, repeat quotations

读经用典

Draw conclusions on the wall

定论在墙

Some speak of the future

有人高谈未来

My love she speaks softly

我的爱人低语以待

She knows there’s no success like failure

她明白没有成功像是失败

And that failure’s no success at all

这样失败也绝算不上成功

The cloak and dagger dangles

斗篷和匕首悬荡着

Madams light the candles

女士们燃点起蜡烛

In ceremonies of the horsemen

在骑士的册封盛典上

Even the pawn must hold a grudge

无名小卒也定会心怀妒忌

Statues made of matchsticks

火柴堆砌的雕像

Crumble into one another

一根接一根倒塌

My love winks, she does not bother

我的爱人眨了眨眼，袖手旁观

She knows too much to argue or to judge

她了然太多而不会去争论评判

The bridge at midnight trembles

午夜的桥梁在颤抖

The country doctor rambles

乡村的医生在漫游

Bankers’ nieces seek perfection

银行家的侄女们寻求完美

Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring

期待着智者们带来的礼物

The wind howls like a hammer

风呼啸如槌

The night blows cold and rainy

夜湿冷地吹

My love she’s like some raven

我的爱人好似乌鸦

At my window with a broken wing

带着一只受伤的翅膀留在我的窗边

一些随想： Bringing It All Back Home的第四首，Love Minus Zero / No Limit，读作“Love Minus Zero over No Limit”，此处的“over”即是“devide”，所以歌名直译过来应该是“爱减零，再除以无限”。这首主要由三个简单的和弦构成的歌，最初名为“Dime Store”（出自歌词第二节第一句），“廉价商店”和“减零”应指的是“爱”的起始点很低，但如果想继续发展，则就会面临“无限”的风险。或许就像有的评论家所说，歌里的爱人展所现出的是一种禅(Zen)的爱，它是那么真切，如冰似火，悄无声息。