THE MOSS歌词全解：完全不是小清新的黑色童话

THE MOSS BY COSMO SHELDRAKE Legend has it that the moss grows on the north side of the trees Legend has it that when the rain comes down, all the worms come up to breathe Legend has it that when the sunbeams come, the plants, they eat them with their leaves 【最后一句“当阳光落下，植物开始用叶子啃食这些光束”，黑色元素渐入佳境。】 Legend has it that the world spins round on an axis of 23 degrees 【黄赤交角——假设身处维多利亚时代，这还是一个很新鲜的概念。歌词引用了很多维多利亚时代漫画家、打油诗大家Edward Lear的诗。】 But have you heard the story of the rabbit in the moon 【月兔，出自《楚辞》的典故，但此处并非一定特指中国的月兔，很可能是更广义上的亚洲流传着的月兔的故事。】 Or the cow that hopped the planets while straddling a spoon 【解析：出自16世纪很有名的童谣集Mother Goose's Melody或者是1760的另一部总集Sonnets from the Cradle： High diddle diddle, The Cat and the Fiddle, The Cow jump'd over the Moon, The little dog laugh'd to see such Craft, And the Dish ran away with the Spoon.】 Or she, who leapt up mountains, while whistling up a tune And swapped her songs with swallows while riding on a broom Well, we can all learn things both many and a-few From that old hunched woman who lived inside a shoe 【解析：“There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” is a popular English language nursery rhyme. Debates over its meaning and origin have largely centered on attempts to match the old woman with historical female figures who have had large families, although King George II (1683–1760) has also been proposed as the rhyme's subject. “曾经有个住在鞋子里的老妇人”是一首流行的英文童谣。有很多关于童谣的含义和源头的争辩，由于鞋作为生殖象征所以其中大多集中在“老妇人究竟指的是历史上哪个有大家庭的女性”上（尽管乔治二世也曾被提名为“老妇人”的人选）。需要指出，乔治二世的妻子育有8个子女。此处很可能是指乔治二世的妻子。 流传最广的版本如下： “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children; she didn't know what to do; She gave them some broth without any bread; Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.” The phrase "gave them some broth without any bread" may refer to George's parsimony in the wake of the South Sea Bubble of 1721, and his attempts to restore his own and the country's finances. 至于为什么是乔治二世，大约是童谣里的那句“给他们一些清汤却不给他们面包”暗指1721年南海泡沫丑闻（经济危机、股市崩盘）时乔治二世的吝啬以及他尝试恢复自己和国家财政的举动。

*有待考证】 Or the girl that sang by day and by night she ate tear soup 【解析：Tear Soup, a recipe for healing after loss is a family storybook that centers around an old and somewhat wise woman, Grandy. Grandy has just suffered a big loss in her life and so she is headed to the kitchen to make a special batch of Tear Soup. To season her soup Grandy adds memories like the good times and the bad times, the silly and the sad times. She does not want to forget even one precious memory of her loss.不确定是不是选自这本书还是仅仅是歌词里字面上的意思（一个白天歌唱晚上却以泪洗面的女孩）有待商榷。这本书是一本儿童读物，开导了很多内心郁结的小朋友（大概）。泪汤是一种具有治愈能力的汤，而已其为名的家庭读物以一个年长且有些智慧的老妇人格兰迪展开。格兰迪刚刚失去了人生挚爱，她直奔厨房去做她的泪汤。为了给她的汤调味，格兰迪加入了她的记忆：好的记忆、坏的记忆、可笑的时光、哀伤的时光。她不想忘却任何一个和她痛失挚爱有关的记忆。】 Or the man who drank too much and he got the brewers' droop 【解析：Erectile dysfunction: Consumption by men of large levels of estrogenic compounds can lead to erection problems later in life. In fact, there is a well-known condition in England called Brewer's Droop which is regularly contracted by bartenders and brewers after years of exposure to hopped beers and ales. 直译是啤酒下垂，但其实并不是得了啤酒病或者啤酒肚，而是在英格兰男性酒鬼中常见的勃|起问题（严肃）。是由啤酒中含有雌激素的化合物引起的，对女性没有什么影响。】 Come listen up all ye fair maids to how the moral goes Nobody knew and nobody knows How the pobble was robbed of his twice five toes 【解析：取自一首诗叫The Pobble Who Has No Toes by Edward Lear，原文如下： I The Pobble who has no toes Had once as many as we; When they said, 'Some day you may lose them all;'-- He replied, -- 'Fish fiddle de-dee!' And his Aunt Jobiska made him drink, Lavender water tinged with pink, For she said, 'The World in general knows There's nothing so good for a Pobble's toes!' II The Pobble who has no toes, Swam across the Bristol Channel; But before he set out he wrapped his nose, In a piece of scarlet flannel. For his Aunt Jobiska said, 'No harm 'Can come to his toes if his nose is warm; 'And it's perfectly known that a Pobble's toes 'Are safe, -- provided he minds his nose.' III The Pobble swam fast and well And when boats or ships came near him He tinkedly-binkledy-winkled a bell So that all the world could hear him. And all the Sailors and Admirals cried, When they saw him nearing the further side,-- 'He has gone to fish, for his Aunt Jobiska's 'Runcible Cat with crimson whiskers!' IV But before he touched the shore, The shore of the Bristol Channel, A sea-green Porpoise carried away His wrapper of scarlet flannel. And when he came to observe his feet Formerly garnished with toes so neat His face at once became forlorn On perceiving that all his toes were gone! V And nobody ever knew From that dark day to the present, Whoso had taken the Pobble's toes, In a manner so far from pleasant. Whether the shrimps or crawfish gray, Or crafty Mermaids stole them away -- Nobody knew; and nobody knows How the Pebble was robbed of his twice five toes! VI The Pobble who has no toes Was placed in a friendly Bark, And they rowed him back, and carried him up, To his Aunt Jobiska's Park. And she made him a feast at his earnest wish Of eggs and buttercups fried with fish;-- And she said,-- 'It's a fact the whole world knows, 'That Pebbles are happier without their toes.' 一首silly & weird的诗，大概是要教育小孩子保管好自己的东西。Pobble失去了他的脚趾，他的姑姑告诉他只要他能让自己的鼻子一直保持温暖就没有什么能威胁到他的脚趾。然而，在Pobble游泳的时候他脱下了围巾，最终他的脚趾都被海豚拿走了。很符合Cosmo喜欢nonsense verse风格，而且他很喜欢这个作者，一个与维多利亚时代格格不入的大胡子漫画家。】 Or how the dong came to own a luminous nose The Dong with the Luminous Nose by Edward Lear 【原诗太长我就不摘录了，也是一样很nonsense的风格。】 Or how the jumblies went to sea in a sieve that they rowed And came to shore by the chankly bore where the bong trees grow The Jumblies by Edward Lear 【又一首Edward Lear的打油诗。】 Where the jabberwocky's small green tentacles do flow And the quanglewangle plays in the rain and the snow REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_was_an_Old_Woman_Who_Lived_in_a_Shoe http://www.griefwatch.com/tear-soup-home.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erectile_dysfunction http://www.gaianstudies.org/articles6.htm http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/96580968 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173869 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241166