Clothes Line Saga
After a while we took in the clothes
Nobody said very much
Just some old wild shirts and a couple pairs of pants
Which nobody really wanted to touch
Mama come in and picked up a book
An’ Papa asked her what it was
Someone else asked, “What do you care?”
Papa said, “Well, just because”
Then they started to take back their clothes
Hang ’em on the line
It was January the thirtieth
And everybody was feelin’ fine
The next day everybody got up
Seein’ if the clothes were dry
The dogs were barking, a neighbor passed
Mama, of course, she said, “Hi!”
“Have you heard the news?” he said, with a grin
“The Vice-President’s gone mad!”
“Where?” “Downtown.” “When?” “Last night”
“Hmm, say, that’s too bad!”
“Well, there’s nothin’ we can do about it,” said the neighbor
“It’s just somethin’ we’re gonna have to forget”
“Yes, I guess so,” said Ma
Then she asked me if the clothes was still wet
I reached up, touched my shirt
And the neighbor said, “Are those clothes yours?”
I said, “Some of ’em, not all of ’em”
He said, “Ya always help out around here with the chores?”
I said, “Sometime, not all the time”
Then my neighbor, he blew his nose
Just as Papa yelled outside
“Mama wants you t’ come back in the house and bring them clothes”
Well, I just do what I’m told
So, I did it, of course
I went back in the house and Mama met me
And then I shut all the doors
晾衣绳传奇
[美]鲍勃·迪伦
李皖 译
郝佳 校
稍后我们把衣服改短
谁都没多说什么
只是几件皱的旧衬衣和两条裤子
没有人真的愿意碰
妈妈进来拿起一本书
爸爸问她是什么
另一人说：“关你什么事？”
爸爸说：“这个，不为什么”
然后他们开始取回他们的衣服
挂到绳子上
这是一月三十号
人人都感觉不错
第二天大家起来
看衣服干了没有
狗在叫，一个邻居经过
妈妈，当然她说：“嗨！”
“你听说那新闻了吗？”他问，咧开嘴
“副总统疯了！”
“在哪？”“城里。”“什么时候？”“昨晚”
“嗯，啧啧，这可真糟！”
“咳，我们对此无能为力，”邻居说
“不过是些我们得忘掉的事”
“是的，我想也是。”妈妈说
然后她问我衣服是不是还湿着
我伸手，摸我的衬衣
邻居问：“这些衣服是你的？”
我说：“有些是，不全是”
他说：“你总在帮忙干这些杂事？”
我说：“有时候，不是所有时候”
然后邻居擤起了鼻涕
这时候爸爸在外面喊
“妈妈叫你把衣服给他们拿进屋”
哦，我只是听令行事
所以，我当然这样做了
我进了屋，妈妈迎着我
然后我关上所有的门
（与书中译文比较，有以下改动：
1. 另一人说：“关你什么事？”书中原译文为：其他人说：“关你什么事？”
2. “不过是些我们得忘掉的事”，书中原译文为：“过不多久这事就会被忘掉”）
注：这首歌原名《对“颂歌”的回答》（“Answer to ‘Ode’”），克林顿·黑林（Cliton Heylin）认为它是对美国民谣歌手波比·金特里（Bobbie Gentry）的歌曲《比利·乔颂歌》（“Ode to Billie Joe”）的戏仿。
出自专辑《地下室录音带》
创作于1967年，发行于1975年
《鲍勃·迪伦诗歌集/敲着天堂的大门1970－1975》
广西师范大学出版社
2017年6月第1版
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