英文大觀園
 2 嘴上功夫
打油詩 Limericks

英文的打油詩稱為limerick,出自愛爾蘭Limerick鎮客棧中流行的一首打油詩。它的特色是:

1.每一首有五行

2.第一、二、五行押一個韻,第三、四行押一個韻

3.基本的音步是兩個輕音節後面配上一個重音節

4.第一、二、五行各有三個音步,第三、四行各有兩個音步

5.主題往往荒誕粗鄙,尤其常常帶有性暗示

打油詩首見於十四世紀的英國童謠和民歌中,到了十六、七世紀,街頭乞丐和客棧酒徒也都愛吟唱打油詩。Don Marquis還說打油詩可以分成三種:「可以有女士在場的;不能有女士在場,但可以有教會人士在場的——還有就是真正的打油詩。」言下之意,真正的打油詩不僅猥褻,而且褻瀆神明。不過英國詩人愛德華李爾(Edward Lear)在一八六三年出版的《無理書》(Book of Nonsense)裡面所收錄的打油詩,不涉及猥褻色情,卻也帶動了打油詩的另一波風潮。以下先選出幾首Lear的作品來共賞。



•There was a Young Lady who chin

Resembled the point of a pin:

So she had it made sharp,

And purchased a harp,

And played several tunes with her chin.

有位小姐的下巴

長得就像針尖,

於是她拿去磨利了

再買把豎琴,

用下巴彈了幾首曲子。

•There was an old person of Cromer

Who stood on one leg to read Homer.

When he found he grew stiff

He jumped over the cliff,

Which concluded that person of Cormer.

克洛馬有個老頭子

金雞獨立站著讀荷馬史詩。

他發現讀得全身僵硬,

就從懸崖跳下去,

克洛馬的老頭子就這麼完了。

以下還收集了一些各種主題的打油詩請讀者慢慢欣賞。不過要記得,打油詩的趣味在於字詞中聲韻與意義的巧妙配合,以及朗誦時的輕快節奏,所以光看中文翻譯當然不好玩,還得念出來才有意思。

•There once was a man from Nantucket

Who kept all his cash in a bucket.

Then his daughter named Nan

Ran away with a man.

As for the bucket … Nantucket.

從前有個來自南塔基特的男子

把所有的錢裝在一個水桶裡。

然後他那叫南恩的女兒

跟個男人跑了,

那個水桶呢……南塔基特。

【說明】

地名Nantucket和Nan took it.(南恩拿走了。)諧音。

•So he followed them to Pawtucket …

The man and the girl and the bucket.

He said to the man,

"You are welcome to Nan,

But as for the bucket, Pawtucket."

於是他追到帕塔基特……

追著那對男女還有水桶。

他對男的說,

「你要南恩我不反對, 可是水桶呢,帕塔基特。」

【說明】

地名Pawtucket和Pa'll take it.(老爸要拿走。)諧音。

•There once was a lady named Cager,

Who as the result of a wager,

Consented to fart

The entire oboe part

Of Mozart's quartet in F-major.

從前有個叫做凱姬的女士

因為跟人打賭,

所以同意用放屁來演奏

整個以簧管的部分,

曲目是莫札特的F大調四重奏。

•A Young schizophrenic named Struther

When told of the death of his mother,

Sald, "Yes, it's too bad,

But 1 can't feel too sad.

After all, I still have each other."

有個精神分裂的青年叫做史特拉瑟

聽到他母親的死訊,

說道:「當然很不幸啦,

可是我不會太悲傷。

畢竟,我還是擁有彼此。」

【說明】

精神分裂,一個人等於兩個,故曰彼此。

•There was an old maid of Genoa;

I blush when I think what lowa.

She's gone to her res,

But it's all for the best;

Otherwise I would borrow Samoa.

有一位熱那亞的老小姐,

我想到愛荷華就會臉紅。

她已經長眠地下,

不過這樣最好,

不然的話我會借薩摩亞。

【說明】

地名Iowa(愛荷華)和1 owe her.(我欠她。)諧音,Samoa(薩摩亞)和some more(再多一點)諧音。把這兩處代換進去就可以看懂了。

•There's a notable family named Stein:

There's Gertrude, there's Ep, and there's Ein.

Gert's prose is the bunk;

Ep's sculpture is junk;

and no one can understand Ein!

有個叫做斯坦的知名家族,

裡面有葛楚德、艾普和愛因。

葛楚德的散文亂寫一通。

艾普的雕塑是垃圾,

愛困說什麼沒有人聽得懂!

【說明】

這三個人其實不是一家子,連姓都不一樣。Gertrude Stein是旅居法國的美籍作家,Sir Jacob Epstein是出生在美國的英國籍雕塑家,還有就是著名的科學家Albert Einstein(愛因斯坦)。不過這三人的姓都有一項特點,那就是裡頭都有stein這幾個字。如此打油詩中Gertrude Stein,Ep Stein,Ein Stein連名帶姓的念出來,不就是暗指這三位名人了嗎?

•There was an old widower, Dovle,

Who wrapped up his wife in tinfoil.

He thought it would please her

To stay in the freezer;

And, anyway, outside she'd spoil.

有個老鰥夫叫做杜爾,

他把老婆用錫箔包起來。

他認為老婆會喜歡

待在冷凍庫裡——

反正放在外面她會餿掉。

•There was an old man of Peru

Who dreamt he was eating a shoe.

He awoke in the night.

With a terrible fright

And found it was perfectly true.

祕魯有個老頭子

夢到他在吃鞋子。

他夜裡醒來

嚇了一大跳,

發現全都是真的。

•She frowned and called him Mr.

Because in sport he kr.

And so in spite

That very nite

This Mr. kr. sr.

她皺著眉頭叫他「先生」,

因為他開玩笑地親了她。

所以,為了洩忿,

就在那天晚上,

這位先生親了她妹妹。

【說明】

Me. Kr.和sr.必須要押韻才能符合打油詩的規則,所以kr.要念成kissed her,sr.要念成sister。而nite和spite押韻,代表night。

•A fly and a flea in a flue

Were imprisoned, so what could they do?

Sald the fly, "Let us flee!"

"Let us fly!" said the flea.

So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

一隻蒼蠅和一隻跳蚤在排煙管裡

被困住了,怎麼辦?

蒼蠅說:「我們逃吧!」

「我們飛吧!」跳蚤說。

於是牠們從排煙管的裂縫裡飛走了。

【說明】

這邊的fly是「飛」和「蒼蠅」的雙關語,flee(逃走)和flea(跳蚤)則是諧音。這一則打油詩其實與前一篇「繞口令」中的一則非常相似,只是為了要符合打油詩的規則而稍有不同,不過仍保留了繞口令拗口的趣味。

•A rocker explorer named Wright

Once traveled much faster than light.

He set out one day

In a relative way,

And returned on the previous night.

有位火箭探險家名叫萊特,

有一回旅行的速度比光快得多。

他在某一天出發,

採相對的方式,

結果在前一天晚上回來。

【說明】

愛因斯坦在相對論中預言,若物體行進的速度超過光速,時間就會倒流。

•There was an old codger of Broome,

Who kept a baboon in his room.

"It reminds me," he said.

"Of a friend who is dead."

But he never would tell us of whom.

布魯市有個怪老頭子,

在房間裡養了一隻狒狒。

他說:「牠讓我想起

一位故友。」

可是他從不肯說是誰。

•I once had a skunk named Sue

That I hit in the head with a shoe.

She raised up her tail

I ran like hell,

Has this ever happened to you?

我養過一隻臭鼬叫做蘇,

我用鞋子敲牠的頭。

牠翹起尾巴,

我趕快逃走。

你碰過這樣的事嗎?

•There was a young fellow named Sudney

Who drank till he ruined his kidney.

It shriveled and sharnk

As he sat there and drank,

But he'd had a good time at it, didn't he?

有個年輕人叫悉尼,

喝酒喝到腎都壞了,

腎臟乾癟皺縮,

他就坐在那裡喝,

不過他喝得過癮,不是嗎?

•There was a young lady of Lynn

Who was so uncommonly thin

That when she essayed

To drink lemonade,

She slipped through the straw and fell in.

有個琳恩市的少女,

長得不是普通的瘦。

她嘗試

喝檸檬水,

結果從吸管裡滑進去了。


Copyright © 2024 Super Teachers Club- All Rights Reserved  最佳瀏覽:IE 6 版本以上瀏覽器