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二战“战地甜心”、英国传奇女歌手薇拉•琳恩
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Queen in all but name
无冕女王
英文部分选自经济学人20200627期逝者版块
Obituary: Vera Lynn
薇拉·琳恩
Queen in all but name
无冕女王
Dame Vera Lynn, singer and entertainer, died on June 18th, aged 103
歌手、艺人薇拉·琳恩女爵士于6月18日去世,享年103岁。
As soon as her pay for singing with the Bert Ambrose band was doubled in 1938, Vera Lynn bought herself a fur coat. She also got a green Austin 10 with a soft canvas top, and a three-bed semi for herself and her parents in Barking. There she could soak in her very own big bath and go to the lavatory indoors. But the coat was the first thing she bought. It cost £75. Every young girl in the 1930s wanted that sort of coat, of course. And she also felt she needed it, even deserved it, for what she was doing. When it settled heavily on her shoulders, she felt like royalty.
1938年,薇拉·琳恩与伯特·安布罗斯乐队合作的唱酬刚翻一番,就立即为自己买了一件毛皮大衣。她还买了一辆软帆布棚顶的绿色奥斯汀10,还给自己和父母在柏京买了一栋三个卧室的半独立式住房,在那儿她可以躺在完全属于自己的大浴缸里泡澡、使用室内的盥洗室。但她首先买的是那件大衣,花了75磅。毫无疑问,30年代的每个女孩都想要那种大衣。而她也觉得自己需要一件,甚至说凭她所做的事情她值得拥有一件。当大衣沉甸甸地落在肩上时,她觉得自己像皇室成员。
She was always well aware of what she was worth. More than the 6/6d a week she got for sewing buttons in her first job; she left after a day. More than the £20 a week Ambrose paid her for being a “crooner”, so she let him know she could get good work as a non-crooning soloist elsewhere. More than the dismissive look some people gave her because she was toothy and gawky and, when she opened her mouth, talked Cockney—or at least East Ham, which was not the East End, really Essex. And she was worth a lot more, when she started recording, than being just the “vocal refrain” on the b-side of a sixpenny Woolworth’s record. Her ambitions were much bigger than that.
她总是很清楚自己价值几何。超过她第一份缝扣子工作的六先令六便士周薪——这活儿她干了一天就不干了。高过安布罗斯为她的“低声哼唱”而支付的20磅周薪,于是她让他知道自己可以在别处得到很好的非低哼的独唱工作。她也配得上比一些人投来的鄙夷的目光更高的待遇:他们之所以这么对她是因为她有大板牙、看起来又呆呆的,并且当她开口说话时,蹦出来的是伦敦腔——或者说至少是东哈姆口音,东哈姆口音不是伦敦东区口音、而是埃塞克斯郡口音。当她开始录唱片时,她的价值远远胜过只给伍尔沃斯集团六便士唱片的B面曲唱“人声副歌”。她的野心远不止此。
And why not? Her voice was clear and strong, a deep contralto, once songs were pitched low enough to suit it. Her enunciation was crisp and bright. And she had a real nose for a good song. When she went along to Denmark Street to browse through the publishers’ sheet music, she could pick out a winner at once, by the words. She never could read music, but the tune was almost an afterthought. It was all about the feeling. If the lyrics had the right sentiment, were simple and from the heart, the song was right for her. She could believe in it then, and perform it with such complete sincerity that she moved her audience to tears.
为什么不呢?她的声音清晰有力,一旦歌曲定调足够低,便是一副深沉的女低音。她咬字清脆明快。并且她也擅长辨识好的歌曲。当她前往丹麦街浏览出版商的活页乐谱时,她能够凭歌词,一下子找出最优者。她从来都不识谱,但曲调差不多也是后来才会去考虑的东西。一切都关乎感觉。如果歌词的情感对了、简单又发乎内心,那么这首歌就合适她。她就信任这首歌,并且用全部的真诚去演绎它,将听众感动得热泪盈眶。
注:
have a (good) nose for sth: to be naturally good at finding and recognizing something 天生擅长寻找(识别)某事物
So she proved during the second world war, when songs she’d found— “We’ll Meet Again”, “The White Cliffs of Dover”, “There’ll Always be an England”—had an extraordinary effect on Britain. Her voice, whether on scratchy 78s, crackling through a wireless or live in London halls with sirens wailing outside, became the bluebird of “White Cliffs” that flew hopefully above the horrors. On Sunday evenings listeners at home and abroad were glued to her “letter to the forces”, “Sincerely Yours”, as she played requests and relayed messages. She so raised the morale of both the home front and the boys abroad that she was sometimes jokingly credited with winning the war all by herself. And it secured her a status so lasting that 80 years later, in another crisis, Britain turned to her again, giving her a billing and an affection second only to the queen’s.
二战期间,薇拉·琳恩就显示出了这种鉴赏力——她挑出的歌曲《我们将会重逢》(We’ll Meet Again)、《多佛的白崖》(The White Cliffs of Dover)、《永远的英格兰》(There’ll Always be an England)深深地影响了当时的英国。她的歌声——无论是从带有沙沙声的78转唱片机中发出、还是在无线电收音机的噼啪杂声中响起、又或者是在警报尖啸下的伦敦音乐厅里现场演绎——变成了《白崖》里的蓝色知更鸟,带着希望飞来,驱走盘旋在众人头顶的恐惧。每逢周日晚上,海内外听众都全神贯注地听她主持的节目《给部队的信》和《谨致问候》,她在节目中播放点播歌曲、转达战时信息。她极大地鼓舞了国内前线和国外将士的士气,于是有时会被打趣地称赞她一个人打赢了这场战争。这为她赢得了持久的崇高地位,以至于80年后当英国陷入另一场危机时,人们再次向琳恩寻求帮助。她受到的咖位待遇和爱戴仅次于英国女王。
注:
1. scratchy: a scratchy voice or musical sound is rough and not smooth and pleasant (嗓音)沙哑的;(音乐)带沙沙声的
2. give sb top/star billing: to name a particular performer, actor etc as being the most important person in a show, play etc 选定某人领衔主演
Not all approved of her wartime popularity. She was at the lowly end of the social scale, the daughter of a plumber and a seamstress, and if she didn’t care about that, others did. It made some people shudder (as it had made her teachers shudder) that she had forged her teenage singing career in those terrible places, working-men’s clubs. High-ups at the BBC called her songs “slush”, and some generals and MPS complained that they might make soldiers desert. Her quick retort was to point to her postbag: 1,000 letters a week from servicemen, who adored her because she was ordinary, friendly and sisterly, the sort of girl they had left behind. What was more, they especially liked the sentimental songs. She knew they would. They were corny but home-bred, like a conversation between two people who found it hard to express their feelings to each other, as many ordinary English people did. We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when...
然而并非人人都认同薇拉·琳恩的战时声望。她出身社会底层,父亲是水管工,母亲是裁缝。就算她对此毫不在意,别人却不这么想。十几岁的琳恩在工人俱乐部这种可怕的地方开创了歌唱生涯,让某些人心里直打颤(就像曾经也让她的众老师哆嗦)。英国广播公司的高层称她的歌曲“滥情庸俗”,一些将军、下院议员抱怨她的歌曲会让士兵脱逃,她会立即提到她收到的公众来信予以回击:一周能收到一千封战士来信。战士们喜爱她,因为她普通、亲切、像他们的姐妹,是那种他们留在后方的女孩。更重要的是,他们格外喜欢那些感伤的歌曲。她知道他们一定会喜欢。那些歌曲虽然老套却是家乡出品,就像两个难以诉说对对方情意的人之间的谈话——许多英国普通人就是这样的。“我们将会重逢,不知会在何处,不知会在何时……”
注:
slush: feelings or stories that seem silly because they are too romantic 庸俗的浪漫情调;无聊的爱情故事
She wasn’t glamorous like the Hollywood stars, Betty Grable for example, whom the fighting men all lusted after. Nothing sparkled on her; she wore utility suits and, often, uniform. She was not remote; she brought home closer to the boys and, at home, she was in the fight with everyone else. She sang in factories, on airfields, and in the Underground during the Blitz. After concerts in London she would drive home in her Austin 10, a tin hat beside her in case shrapnel came through the roof. She popped over with flowers to hospitals where soldiers’ wives had just had babies, to announce the good news on her show. And in 1944 she went out to the Far East to sing to her farthest-flung listeners in person.
薇拉·琳恩不像诸如贝蒂·格拉布尔这种令所有战士疯狂迷恋的好莱坞明星那样光彩照人。琳恩身上没什么闪闪发光的衣服;她穿工装套装,经常就是一身制服。她并不是遥不可及;她让海外士兵们更近距离地感受到家乡;而在家乡,她和其他所有人一起战斗。她在工厂和机场歌唱,闪电战期间在地铁里歌唱。在伦敦,音乐会结束后,她会开着奥斯汀10回家,手边放着一顶钢盔,以防弹片穿透顶棚飞下来。她带着鲜花去医院慰问刚刚生产的军人妻子,在她的节目上播报好消息。1944年,她飞到远东亲自给她最遥远的听众唱歌。
It was her special duty, she felt, to cheer up boys who were forgotten. In Burma, the toughest part of the trip, she was one girl among 6,000 men. She swapped her flowing chiffon frock for shapeless khakis that at least kept the mosquitoes out, and sang until her make-up ran in the humidity and her voice became a croak. In camp she lived as the boys did, in a grass hut, washing out of a bucket. She drank tea with them, and sat on their beds in field hospitals to chat, even though the stench of gangrene almost overwhelmed her. The battle of Kohima was raging not far off, and she was game to record her songs against the gunfire. That was forbidden but, in any case, she was already the sweet voice of the war.
她认为,鼓舞那些被遗忘的战士是她的特殊使命。在缅甸——这段旅程里最艰辛的地方,她作为女孩子跟6000名男士并肩作战。她换下顺滑的雪纺连衣裙,穿上毫无造型但至少可以防蚊的卡其布军装来为战士们歌唱,直至妆容被湿热的空气弄花、嗓音变得沙哑。在营地里,她跟战士们一样生活,住在草屋,用水桶浇着洗澡。她和他们一起喝茶,坐在战地医院的病床上同伤员聊天,哪怕坏疽的恶臭几乎令她窒息。科希马战役在不远处进行得如火如荼,而她有胆量冒着炮火录制歌曲。她这个想法并未获得许可,但无论如何,她都已是战地甜嗓。
She traded on that for the rest of her long life. Any brave things she had done were brushed off, as she kept her Burma souvenirs (the tiny secret diary, the fresh-tugged bullet she was given by a surgeon) in a plastic bag stowed in a drawer. After all, she had been one among so many. But she went on singing the songs and working for forces’ charities, and thus stayed firmly fixed in public hearts. Producers of her many concerts and TV shows, from the 1950s to the 1980s, often tried to update her. They persuaded her to wear modern gowns and to sing Lennon-McCartney and country music, both of which she rather liked. But if they dared to suggest that “White Cliffs” or “I’ll Be Seeing You” were outmoded, she was horrified and offended. The songs summed up Britain in its finest hour. She—after 1975, Dame Vera—had to keep that memory alive.
薇拉·琳恩的漫长余生依仗这个标签而铺展。当她将缅甸之行的纪念物——一个小的秘密日记本、一颗外科医生送给她的刚取出来的子弹——放入塑料袋并收进抽屉中时,她所有英勇的举动都随之被拂去。毕竟,投身战争的人很多很多,她只是其中一个。但是,她继续唱着那些歌,为部队慈善机构工作,因而也被大众牢牢地记在心里。从20世纪50年代到80年代,她举办了多场演唱会,参加了许多电视节目,共事的制作人经常试着让她跟上潮流。他们劝说她穿时尚的礼服,唱列侬和麦卡特尼搭档创作的以及乡村风格的音乐,这两样她都十分喜欢。然而,如果他们胆敢表示《白崖》或者《后会有期》已过时,她会大为震惊并觉得受到了冒犯。这些歌曲概括了最光辉时刻的英国。她薇拉·琳恩——1975年获封大英帝国女爵士后被称作“薇拉女爵士”——要让那些记忆延续下去。
The public certainly understood. Her appearances, even with her voice long gone, drew crowds who cheered her as warmly as ever. In chillier weather the regal fur came out again, if only as a hat. She would smile back in constant delight, regularly waving, as if she had been born to it. Women would sometimes curtsy to her, feeling it was right somehow. For this was like a queen passing.
公众当然理解。即使琳恩早已唱不了了,但她的出现依然引得人群欢呼,人们热情依旧。寒冷的日子里,她那皇家毛皮再次现身,哪怕只是作为帽子。她向观众报以微笑,始终面露喜悦,频频挥手,仿佛这副做派与生俱来。女士有时会向她行屈膝礼,她们觉得反正就是该这么做。因为眼前的景象就好像是女王走过一样。
翻译组:
Alex,不务正业的理工男
Ronnie,动物保护主义者
Lixia,女,爱爬山的健身小白,美食狂人校对组:
Fiona,口笔译小菜鸟,胡粉Lenka粉
Lee,爱骑行的妇女之友+Timberland粉
Qianna,追求专业的非英专,很讲逻辑,英伦摇滚迷
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本次感想
Sheri,坚信可以forever young的老年人
提起二战时的英国,有人会想起丘吉尔在抨击绥靖政策时,以一声咆哮结束了演讲;也有人会想起那部以真实事件为题材的著名电影《国王的演讲》,其中乔治六世对德宣战的演讲令人难忘。而《经济学人》的这篇讣告又让我们听到了另一个声音,那就是薇拉·琳恩的歌声。
有人会说,在世界大战中,拼得是军队规模、武器装备、战略战术,歌声能有什么用?丘吉尔是这样评价琳恩的,“琳恩相当于四个陆军师的力量。”在大战中,输赢进退往往是政治家们所关注的,而士兵本身会被忽略。即便在战争中没有受过伤,亲眼目睹战争的残忍给士兵们留下了极大的心灵创伤。在《飘》中,艾希礼参加了南北作战,他愿意为了南方而战,但是在给妻子梅兰妮的信中,他提到:“For, win or lose, we lose just the same.”从本质上来说,战争是没有赢家的,士兵们更能体会到这一点,再勇敢的士兵都会有消极的情绪,而亲人朋友又不在身边,这时琳恩的歌声便给他们带来了精神的慰藉。
很多时候,人们看重的是物质的东西,就像战争中的兵器,而忽视了人心。但正是那些像声音一样无形的东西,在最黑暗的时刻带来了希望与温暖。
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