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Scarborough Fair（斯卡布罗集市）
电影《毕业生》插曲 （THE GRADUTE， 1967）
Are you going to Scarborough Fair 您去过斯卡布罗集市吗？
Parsley,sage,rosemary and thyme 芜荽,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
Remember me to one who lives there 代我向那儿的一位姑娘问好
She once was a true love of mine* 她曾经是我的爱人。
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt 叫她替我做件麻布衣衫
(Oh the side of a hill in the deep forest green) （绿林深处山刚旁）
Parsley,sage,rosemary and thyme 芜荽,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
(Tracing of sparrow on the snow crested brown) （在白雪封顶的褐色山上追逐雀儿）
Without no seams nor needle work 上面不用缝口，也不用针线
(Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain) （大山是山之子的地毯和床单）
Then she`ll be ture love of main 她就会是我真正的爱人。
(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call) （熟睡中不觉号角声声呼唤）
Tell her to find me an acre of land 让她替我找一块地
(On the side of a hill a sprinkling of leaves) （从小山旁几片小草叶上）
Parsley,sage,rosemary and thyme 芜荽,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
(Washes the grave with silvery tears) （滴下的银色泪珠冲刷着坟茔）
Between the salt water and the sea strand 就在咸水和大海之间
(A soldier cleans and publishes a gun) （士兵擦拭着他的枪）
Then she`ll be a true love of mine 她就会是我真正的爱人。
Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather 叫她用一把皮镰收割
(War bells blazing in scarlet battalion) （战火轰隆，猩红的枪弹在狂呼）
Parsley,sage,rosemary and thyme 芜荽,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
(Generals order their soldiers to kill) （将军们命令麾下的士兵杀戮）
And gather it all in a bunch of heather 将收割的石楠扎成一束
(And to fight for a cause they`ve long ago forgotten) （为一个早已遗忘的理由而战）
Then she`ll be a true love of mine 她就会是我真正的爱人。
歌曲以一位在战火中亡故的普通士兵的口吻唱出，他再也不能回到那朝思暮想的家乡，再也不能与心上人一同享受生活的甘甜了。心中的悲愤化作一声声催人泪下的控诉，成千上万普通士兵如野花一般被战火摧毁在沙场上，那些战争的作俑者最终难逃时间的淘洗。野花自在芳香;然而，唯有时间才能检验出谁是真正的贤明圣哲;或许，亘古永恒的时间才是真正的圣哲！
那是生命流变的声音，它用美丽的和弦影射一切一去不返的美丽的花期和生命。赫黄、青绿、蔚蓝的气息被朴素的嗓子浅吟低唱。从那低郁幽长的声音里经过，摇曳的山花竞相开放， 一朵一朵浅淡的芬芳，因为韶华已逝而倍加美好。开放在回忆里的花朵总是比当时看到的更加芳香。遗失在阳光下的叹息凋零在《斯卡布罗集市》所占据的春季.
附：在网上搜寻了整整两个小时，终于找到西蒙和加芬克尔的原唱！
The history of Scarborough and its fair
This English folk song dates back to late medieval times, when the seaside resort of Scarborough was an important venue for tradesmen from all over England. Founded well over a thousand years ago as Skarthaborg by the norman Skartha, the Viking settlement in North Yorkshire in the north-west of England became a very important port as the dark ages drew to a close. |
Scarborough''''s bay |
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Scarborough and its surroundings |
Scarborough Fair was not a fair as we know it today (although it attracted jesters and jugglers) but a huge forty-five day trading event, starting August fifteen, which was exceptionally long for a fair in those days. People from all over England, and even some from the continent, came to Scarborough to do their business. As eventually the harbour started to decline, so did the fair, and Scarborough is a quiet, small town now. |
The history of the song
In the middle ages, people didn''''t usually take credit for songs or other works of art they made, so the writer of Scarborough Fair is unknown. The song was sung by bards (or shapers, as they were known in medieval England) who went from town to town, and as they heard the song and took it with them to another town, the lyrics and arrangements changed. This is why today there are many versions of Scarborough Fair, and there are dozens of ways in which the words have been written down.
The lyrics
The following lyrics comprise most of the more well-known verses as they are commonly sung. A small handful of them were sung by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel on their 1966 album ''''Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,'''' which popularised the song. Paul Simon learned the song from Martin Carthy, a famous folk singer in the UK, while he was on tour there. Despite using his arrangement of the song, Simon didn´;;t even mention Carthy´;;s name in the credits of the album.
Notes and guitar chords to the song
The chords and notes to "Scarborough Fair"
Explanations of the lyrics
The narrator of the song is a man who was jilted by his lover. Although dealing with the paradoxes he sees himself posed to in a very subtle and poetic manner, this was a folk song and not written by nobles. The courtly ideal of romantic love in the middle ages, practised by knights and noblemen, was loving a lady and adoring her from a distance, in a very detached manner. There was hardly a dream and sometimes not even a wish that such love could ever be answered.
As a version of the song exists which is set in Whittington Fair and which is presumed to be equally old, it is puzzling why the lieu d''''action of the song eventually became reverted to Scarborough. A possible explanation is that this is a hint from the singer to his lover, telling how she went away suddenly without warning or reason. Scarborough was known as a town where suspected thieves or other criminals were quickly dealt with and hung on a tree or à la lanterne after some form of street justice. This is why a ''''Scarborough warning'''' still means ''''without any warning'''' in today''''s English. This would also account for the absence of any suggestion of a reason for her departure, which could mean either that the singer doesn''''t have a clue why his lady left, or perhaps that these reasons are too difficult to explain and he gently leaves them out.
The writer goes on to assign his true love impossible tasks, to try and explain to her that love sometimes requires doing things which seem downright impossible on the face of it. The singer is asking his love to do the impossible, and then come back to him and ask for his hand. This is a highly unusual suggestion, because in those days it was a grave faux-pas to people from all walks of life for a lady to ask for a man''''s hand. Yet it fits in well with the rest of the lyrics, as nothing seems to be impossible in the song.
The meaning of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
The herbs parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, recurring in the second line of each stanza, make up for a key motive in the song. Although meaningless to most people today, these herbs spoke to the imagination of medieval people as much as red roses do to us today. Without any connotation neccesary, they symbolize virtues the singer wishes his true love and himself to have, in order to make it possible for her to come back again. |
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
Parsley is still prescribed by phytotherapists today to people who suffer from bad digestion. Eating a leaf of parsley with a meal makes the digestion of heavy vegetables such as spinach a lot easier. It was said to take away the bitterness, and medieval doctors took this in a spiritual sense as well. |
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Sage has been known to symbolize strength for thousands of years. |
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Rosemary represents faithfulness, love and remembrance. Ancient Greek lovers used to give rosemary to their ladies, and the custom of a bride wearing twigs of rosemary in her hair is still practised in England and several other European countries today. The herb also stands for sensibility and prudence. Ancient Roman doctors recommended putting a small bag of rosemary leaves under the pillow of someone who had to perform a difficult mental task, such as an exam. Rosemary is associated with feminine love, because it''''s very strong and tough, although it grows slowly. |
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
According to legend, the king of fairies dances in the wild thyme with all of the fairies on midsummernight; that''''s the best known legendary appearance of the herb. But the reason Thyme is mentioned here is that it symbolizes courage. At the time this song was written, knights used to wear images of thyme in their shields when they went to combat, which their ladies embroidered in them as a symbol of their courage. |
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This makes it clear what the disappointed lover means to say by mentioning these herbs. He wishes his true love mildness to soothe the bitterness which is between them, strength to stand firm in the time of their being apart from each other, faithfulness to stay with him during this period of loneliness and paradoxically courage to fulfill her impossible tasks and to come back to him by the time she can. |
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