Jokerman - Bob Dylan歌词中的圣经意象考据之六
Jokerman
Standing on the waters casting your bread
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing.
Distant ships sailing into the mist,
You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing.
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.
So swiftly the sun sets in the sky,
You rise up and say goodbye to no one.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,
Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show one.
Shedding off one more layer of skin,
Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.
You're a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds,
Manipulator of crowds, you're a dream twister.
You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah
But what do you care? Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister.
Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame,
You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name.
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.
Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers.
In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed,
Michelangelo indeed could've carved out your features.
Resting in the fields, far from the turbulent space,
Half asleep near the stars with a small dog licking your face.
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh. oh. oh. Jokerman.
Well, the rifleman's stalking the sick and the lame,
Preacherman seeks the same, who'll get there first is uncertain.
Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks,
Molotov cocktails and rocks behind every curtain,
False-hearted judges dying in the webs that they spin,
Only a matter of time 'til night comes steppin' in.
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.
It's a shadowy world, skies are slippery gray,
A woman just gave birth to a prince today and dressed him in scarlet.
He'll put the priest in his pocket, put the blade to the heat,
Take the motherless children off the street
And place them at the feet of a harlot.
Oh, Jokerman, you know what he wants,
Oh, Jokerman, you don't show any response.
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.
在完成了1979-1981福音三部曲之后,1982年Dylan没有发行唱片,也没有接受任何采访,有报道指出他在一个犹太教学会学习了一段时间,这引起了不少流言说他的基督信仰已经终结。Dylan没有作任何回应。
1983年,Dylan发行了新专辑,名为Infidels,无信仰的人。
异教徒这个词的意味显然比atheist更重。面对关于他的信仰的质疑,Dylan从未正面回答。实际上Dylan之前也从不声称他是基督徒,而是说“ 我遵从基督的道”,这一点他从未否认。Indidels中也依然遍布圣经意象。这一时期的Dylan也还创作了 Lord Protect My Child,Foot of Pride这样的宗教意味浓重的歌曲,尤其是这首Jokerman.
这也是Dylan创作能力在1997年全面复兴之前最后的黄金时期,不但这张专辑中的歌曲皆为佳作,未收入专辑的曲目也水准极高,感人至深的Death Is Not The End也是此时的作品,后收录在1988年的Down In The Groove中,Nick Cave曾翻唱作为专辑谋杀情歌的终曲。
"Standing on the waters casting your bread"
【传11:1】 当将你的粮食撒在水面,因为日久必能得着。
Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
这个预言在新约里实现并引申。据约翰记载,第一天,耶稣行了五饼二鱼以及在水面行走的神迹,第二天有人还来求神迹。耶稣就说:
【约6:32-35】 耶稣说,我实实在在地告诉你们,那从天上来的粮,不是摩西赐给你们的,乃是我父将天
上来的真粮赐给你们。因为神的粮,就是那从天上降下来赐生命给世界的。他们说,主阿,常将这粮赐给
我们。耶稣说,我就是生命的粮。到我这里来的,必定不饿。信我的,永远不渴。
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread
from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
这样,耶稣站在水面上抛撒他的面包就可理解为基督的传道:
【约6:51】 我是从天上降下来生命的粮。人若吃这粮,就必永远活着。我所要赐的粮,就是我的肉,为世人之生命所赐的。
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
"While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing.
Distant ships sailing into the mist,"
不祥的景象使水面上的基督显得孤独无助。
"You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing."
希腊神话中,赫拉克勒斯出生后,他的母亲赫拉把两条蛇放在他身边,试图杀死他。然而这个婴儿用超人的力量扼死了蛇。而耶稣是为赎人之罪而生,原罪的诱因则是伊甸园里的蛇。
"Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?"
自由已在角落里等候,因为基督升天的日子即将到来,而他仍然忧心:
【路18:8】 我告诉你们,要快快地给他们伸冤了,然而人子来的时候,遇得见世上有信德吗?
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall
he find faith on the earth?
同样,各卷福音书都记载了基督的叹息:
【路9:41】 耶稣说,嗳,这又不信又悖谬的世代阿,我在你们这里,忍耐你们,要到几时呢?
And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you,
and suffer you?
"So swiftly the sun sets in the sky,
You rise up and say goodbye to no one."
夕阳的沉没象征基督赎罪的完成,而当他从坟墓里起来,他并没有遇见任何人,妇女走进坟墓时,他已经离开。
【太28:5-6】 天使对妇女说,不要害怕,我知道你们是寻找那钉十字架的耶稣。他不在这里,照他所说的,已经复活了。你们来看安放主的地方。
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus,
which was crucified.He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
最终,复活的基督见到了他的门徒,并与他们谈话,但不是告别:
【太28:20】 凡我所吩咐你们的,都教训他们遵守,我就常与你们同在,直到世界的末了。
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,
Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show one."
【太24:36】 但那日子,那时辰,没有人知道,连天上的使者也不知道,子也不知道,惟独父知道。
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
"Shedding off one more layer of skin,"
【林前9:22】 向软弱的人,我就作软弱的人,为要得软弱的人。向什么样的人,我就作什么样的人。无论如何,总要救些人。
To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
"Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within."
"persecutor within"或许是基督面临的诱惑,即他内心的,逃脱天父的痛苦计划的欲望,这种刻画在福音书里不多见,参见这最后的祈祷:
【可14:36】 他说,阿爸,父阿,在你凡事都能。求你将这杯撤去。然而不要从我的意思,只要从你的意思。
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
"You're a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds,
Manipulator of crowds, you're a dream twister."
基督变容发生在山上,而当他下山后,很多人来跟随他。
"Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame,"
前者使徒行传第三章中有记录,后者见约翰福音。
【约8:7】 你们中间谁是没有罪的,谁就可以先拿石头打她。
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
"You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name."
路加福音十六章中记述了耶稣所讲的乞丐与财主的寓言。乞丐死后得安息,财主却在火焰中受苦。乞丐叫做拉撒路,财主无名。
"Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers."
这里有些难解,Leviticus和Deuteronomy是摩西五书中最强调律法的两部,而对于伟大的宗教改革家的耶稣,很难说那是他唯一的导师。不过耶稣也有言词激烈的时刻,这和他的讲道之间的矛盾,应是作为人的耶稣面对人之子的身份和责任时心中的矛盾的体现,如同《基督最后的诱惑》中所刻画。而丛林与海洋的律法,则是在凶险中生存之道,这也是一直面对法利塞人敌意的耶稣所遵守的,直到那注定的时刻。
"In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed,"
【启19:11】 我观看,见天开了。有一匹白马。骑在马上的,称为诚信真实。他审判争战都按着公义。
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
"Resting in the fields, far from the turbulent space,"
【可6:31】 他就说,你们来同我暗暗地到旷野地方去歇一歇。这是因为来往的人多,他们连吃饭也没有工夫。
And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
"Well, the rifleman's stalking the sick and the lame,
Preacherman seeks the same, who'll get there first is uncertain.
Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks,
Molotov cocktails and rocks behind every curtain,
False-hearted judges dying in the webs that they spin,"
以赛亚的预言,对当时的以色利,Dylan创作此曲是的以色列和今天的以色列都很适用。
【赛59:4】 无一人按公义告状,无一人凭诚实辨白。都倚靠虚妄,说谎言。所怀的是毒害,所生的是罪孽。他们抱毒蛇蛋,结蜘蛛网。人吃这蛋必死。这蛋被踏,必出蝮蛇。所结的网,不能成为衣服,所作的,也不能遮盖自己。他们的行为都是罪孽,手所作的都是强暴。
None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
"Only a matter of time 'til night comes steppin' in."
同Thief in the night的比喻
"It's a shadowy world, skies are slippery gray,
A woman just gave birth to a prince today and dressed him in scarlet.
He'll put the priest in his pocket, put the blade to the heat,
Take the motherless children off the street
And place them at the feet of a harlot.
Oh, Jokerman, you know what he wants,
Oh, Jokerman, you don't show any response."
最后一节中穿着红衣的prince的伪善行为可看作对反基督徒的讽刺。而从根本上悖逆基督的道的,不是严肃的怀疑论者,而是教会中的官僚们。正如Dylan 在Slow Train中所写到的:"But the enemy I see,wears a cloak of decency".
"Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman."
这是的Dylan失去了Every Grain of Sand中的平静,这世界的狂乱又使他不得不回到了现实,基督也化作了jokerman在很好的月光中,模仿起夜莺的舞步。
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