英譯 ——暮沉武德殿
Dec. 15, 2016
同學給我聽閃靈樂團的《暮沉武德殿》。民謠版的還滿有韻味，但搖滾版的應該只有看過歌詞才懂吧。不過，我去搜尋台文歌詞的中文意思，有一些字，網友也眾說紛紜。Freddy 立委! 您唱的這麼用心，歌詞如此文雅，情節如此動人，但是就不能翻個白話版，體恤台語不好的人嗎!!! 後來我問我爸爸一些字，我才懂。這就算了，我又點到一個網友翻的英文版，另一個一個自由廣場現場官方剪接的演唱版的中英字幕，這些英文....嗯....(我就不特別附連結了)
所以我來自己翻一個英文版。不是可以唱的，只是意思。基於動態對等的觀點，因為台文是比較文雅的，我也用較文雅的英文，而且為了韻腳有添加一些虛字，我想大家可以諒解。台文的隸定，還是根據閃靈自己的寫法。一些網友的解釋和閃靈自己的網站解釋，我都有參考到，因為不是學術論文，我就不一一標注了。為了閱讀方便，重複的歌詞我沒有完全抄錄。當然，因為我不太會台語，舛誤必多，請多指正。
關於背景，從閃靈的Youtube官方說明，“1930年霧社事件，日本的剿番本部在南投埔里武德殿；到了1947年，武德殿又是二二八事件中台灣民兵的二七部隊的指揮本部。” 至於MV中其他畫面，我想不用太拘於一詞。
% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
暮沉武德殿 Dusk falls on Butik Hall*
民謠輕柔版: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kta4ZAwI6rY
金屬嘶吼版: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5z-AOdCAx8
閩南詞 Southern-Min* Text ◎ 林昶佐 Freddy
演奏 Performance ◎ 閃靈樂團 Chthonic
譯詩 Verse translation* ◎ 鄭子宇 Tzu-Yu Jeng
厝崩 橋㽎 眾生掣
The buildings crumble, bridges shake, and living beings* are scared,
霆雷 爍爁 天烏陰
The thunder roars, lightning shines, the sky is gloomy there.
砲火 銃聲 獨裁者
The tyrant, and resounding rifles, cannons scarlet-flared,
邪氣 屍臭 魔神仔
The stink of bodies, the evil spirits, and the sinister air.
昨暝夢中 輕聲細說 是誰人 (敢是我)
Last night in the dream,
Who was it that I noticed
Was speaking soft and low?
(Was it I myself?)
今日亂世 改朝換代 是佗一冬 (敢是夢)
When is it overthrown,
The present world chaotic,
The empire* — when, which year?
(Is that but a dream?)
武德殿外 敵我不明 對誰來效忠 (佮誰參詳)
Outside the Butik Hall
To whom shall we be faithful?
Who are they, friend or foe?
(With whom shall we dicuss?)
醒靈寺內 鬼神難分 向誰來詛誓 (等誰宣判)
Among the haunting gods*
Inside the Singling Temple*,
To which one shall I swear?
(Who will judge and declare*)
向誰詛誓
To which one shall I swear?
等誰宣判
Who will judge and declare?
孽鏡台 鑿目光
The Sinner's Mirror* flashes the eye-scorching*
火薰中 愈來愈明
Beam of light, in thick smoke growing clearer.
跤鐐手銬 拖磨聲
The chains and shackles jingle sound of torturing,
迷亂中 愈來愈清
Which to my apprehension* has come nearer*.
萬劫不復
The million-eon torment doomed!*
萬劫不復....
The million-eon torment doomed!....
數百年 戰袂煞 我輩武德
For hundreds of years
In war incessant*,
We men of Butik* have proceeded,
千萬人 拚袂退 勇者無敵
The thousands of us,
The never held-back,
The ones undaunted, unimpeded*.
千年也萬年
How many thousand years?*
我孤魂已束縛佇遮
Alone my soul here tied up, lies.
千年也萬年
How many thousand years?
生死簿的名字
The names on Death Book* marked
目睭前一逝一逝
Are, line by line, before my eyes,
生死簿的名字
The names on Death Book marked.
數百年....
For hundreds of years....
千年也萬年....
How many thousand years?....
% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Butik Hall: Butik, literally “martial virtue”. The hall was built by one Japanese martial art organization, aiming to promote martial culture. This pronunciation is the Southern-Min one. Background from Chthonic's website quoted here, written in English: “The Butik Palace in Puli was used as command headquarters by Japanese colonial government to repress a Seediq Aboriginal Uprising in Wushe in 1930. During the initial phase of the 228 Massacre in 1947, militiamen in Taiwan also used it as its command headquarters.”
Southern-Min: In the broad sense. Suffice to say, such written form of Taiwanese-Hokkien is intelligible to Southern-Min users.
Verse translation: This translation is not singable, but aims to retain part of the original rhyme scheme, while, as I hope, is still reasonably close to the original.
living beings: A traditional rendition of Sanskrit “sattva”, or beings. I point this out because some of the following lines make better sense in a Buddhism tinge.
The empire: Literally “dynasty”, also meaning “epoch”.
haunting gods: Some of them are benign and some evil, so the speaker is unsure to which he shall pray. I have rendered simple.
Singling Temple: Literally “awakened soul”.
Who will judge and declare: Literally “For whom shall we wait to declare the judgement?”
the Sinner's Mirror: A mirror hung in the hell that, in Chinese belief, shines at evil persons, so that the beam of light reveals what sin they have commited.
eye-scorching: Literally “eye-piercing”, an idiom.
to my apprehension: Or possibly “astray and in disorder”.
nearer: Literally “more clearly heard”.
in war incessant: Or alternatively, “We, fighting, are never stopped”.
The million-eon torment doomed: A set phrase, now often used humorously, meaning someone's soul “is not to return for ten thousand kulpa's”. That is some 40 trillion years, which is insanely long. The soul is thus essentially never able to reborn as human again, but continue to get punished in the hell.
We men of Butik: Probably the pun is intended that “We are virtuous warriors”.
unimpeded: Or alternatively, “like nobody else”, or “no one matches us”.
How many thousand years: Meaning uncertain; has the sense “one thousand, perhaps also ten thousand years”. Maybe “if not one thousand, or rather ten thousand years”.
Death Book: The book, in Chinese belief, the hellish officials own, which records, by which moment, who among every one of us will die.
留言列表
