世事無常人心冷漠：哈利奇平(Harry Chapin)的醒世歌詩-〈岩石〉(The rock)－從台灣聽世界

世事無常人心冷漠：哈利奇平(Harry Chapin)的醒世歌詩-〈岩石〉(The rock)

這首由哈利奇平(Harry Chapin)創作演唱的〈岩石〉(The rock )，收錄在哈利1975年的《肖像藝廊》(Portrait Gallery)專輯。乍聽這首歌似乎是描繪人應該勇於追求自己的夢想或堅持自己該做的事，不要去管大家怎麼想。對普羅大眾的寓意則是人們應接納那些忠於自己信念，想法與眾不同的人。

歌中故事的框架源自流傳已久的民間童話故事(繪本)《小小雞》(Chicken Little)，又名愚蠢母雞(Henny Penny)或《小雞里肯》(Chicken Licken)。三種版本情節不同，但架構相近。2005年，迪斯奈的首部3 D動畫電影《四眼天雞》(Chicken Little)即以此為藍本。下圖為1916年的《小小雞》(Illustration for the story "Chicken Little", 1916)繪本插畫。

來聽聽哈利奇平是怎麼說唱〈岩石〉(The rock )這個故事：

"The rock is gonna fall on us." he woke with a start
And he ran to his mother, the fear dark in his heart
And he told her of the vision that he was sure he'd seen
She said: "Go back to sleep son, you're having a bad dream!"
「落石就要砸到我們。」他從夢中驚醒
他跑到母親身邊，心裡充滿驚恐
他告訴母親他確實看見這情景
她說：「回去睡覺吧孩子，你只是做了個惡夢！」
Silly child--
Everybody knows the rock leans over the town
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground
Remember Chicken Little said the sky was falling down
Well nothing ever came of that, the world still whirls around
傻孩子
大家都知道岩石緊捱著小鎮
大家都知道，它不會滾落到地面
記得小雞曾說天會塌下來
然而卻甚麼都沒發生，世界依然在運轉

"The rock is gonna fall on us," he stood and told the class
The professor put his chalk down and peered out through his glasses
But he went on and said; "I've seen it, high up on the hill
If it doesn't fall this year then very soon it will!"
「落石就要砸到我們」，他站起來告訴班上同學
教授放下粉筆，透過他的眼鏡凝視著
他接著說：「我已經看到那高高的山巔，
如果今年沒有落下也很快就會發生！」
Crazy boy--
Everybody knows the rock leans over the town
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground
We've more important studies than your fantasies and fears
You know that rock's been perched up there for a hundred thousand years
瘋狂的小男孩
大家都知道岩石緊捱著小鎮
大家都知道，它不會滾落到地面
比起你的幻想和憂懼我們有許多更重要的功課
你知道岩石已聳立在那百萬年了

"The rock is gonna fall on us." He told the magistrates
"I believe that we can stop it but the time is getting late
You see I've done all the research my plans are all complete."
He was showing them contingencies when they showed him to the street
「落石就要砸到我們。」他對著當地官員說
「我相信我們可以阻止它，但時間越來越不夠了
你看，我已經做足了研究而我的計劃也已完備。」
他對他們指出危機，當街上人們對他指指點點
Just a madman--
Everybody knows the rock leans over the town
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground
Everybody knows of those who say the end is near
Everybody knows that life goes on as usual round here
不過是個瘋子
大家都知道岩石緊捱著小鎮
大家都知道，它不會滾落到地面
大家都知道是誰說末日已近
大家都知道這裡的生活一如往常

He went up on the mountain beside the giant stone
They knew he was insane so they left him alone
He'd given up enlisting help for there was no one else
He spent his days devising ways to stop the rock himself
One night while he was working building braces on the ledge
The ground began to rumble the rock trembled on the edge
他爬上了巨石旁邊的山
他們知道他瘋了就不理他
他也已放棄了爭取幫助因為沒有人理他
他耗費時日獨自想方設法阻止岩石落下
某夜他正在巨石突出側架設支撐物
地面隆隆作響岩石周邊顫動
"The rock is gonna fall on us! Run or you'll all be crushed!"
And indeed the rock was moving, crumbling all to dust
He ran under it with one last hope that he could add a prop
And as he disappeared the rock came to a stop
「落石就要砸到我們！快跑否則你會粉身碎骨。」
岩石真的在晃動，搖搖欲墜塵土揚起
他跑到岩石下方，添加一個支撐是最後的希望
岩石停止動搖的時候他也已消失

The people ran into the street but by then all was still
The rock seemed where it always was or where it always will be
When someone asked where he had gone they said: "Oh he was daft.
Who cares about that crazy fool." And then they'd start to laugh
人們跑到街上，但那時一切都已靜止
岩石似乎靜止在原地是或以後也都如此
當有人問他去了哪裡？他們說：「哦，是那個傻子嗎?
誰在乎那個瘋狂的傻瓜。」然後他們開始大笑
But high up on the mountain
When the wind is hitting it
If you're watching very closely
The rock slips a little bit
然而在高聳的山巔
當風兒陣陣襲過來
如果你靠近仔細瞧
岩石滑落了一點點
django中譯

哈利奇平使用了許多表面意涵的字詞(denotative terms)，諸如 “tumble”, “ground”, “falling”, “hill”, “street”, “mountain”, “giant”, “stone”, “ledge”, “crushed”, “crumbling”以及“dust”，用以描繪出岩石這首歌的具體意象。他也用了一些隱藏意涵的字詞(connotative terms)，例如“dark”, “hundred thousand years”, “braces”, “prop”, “stop”以及“still”，藉以引導閱聽者探索〈岩石〉此歌背後的寓意。

哈利奇平另運用對句(couplet)的手法，在這首歌詩中的核心對句(central couplet)就是：
Everybody knows the rock leans over the town
Everybody knows that it won’t tumble to the ground
在第一詩節中核心對句後面緊接著
Remember Chicken Little said the sky was falling down
Well nothing ever came of that, the world still whirls around
哈利藉童話故事《小小雞》(Chicken Little)點出主角大概的年齡，並以傻孩子(Silly child)稱之。
第二詩節裡，核心對句後接著的是：
We've more important studies than your fantasies and fears
You know that rock's been perched up there for a hundred thousand years
哈利以功課(studies)呼應瘋狂的小男孩(Crazy boy)的年紀，並藉小學的地理課點出岩石的年代久遠。
第三詩節在核心對句後接著：
Everybody knows of those who say the end is near
Everybody knows that life goes on as usual round here
此詩節哈利不採比較手法而是直接延伸陳述核心對句的意涵：「末日將至、眾人無感。」並指出主人翁已長大成人，被人稱為瘋子。
綜觀整首歌詩，了無生息的岩石隱藏著危機，像徵了死亡，世事無常。哈利巧妙深刻的連結了岩石與死亡，例如搖搖欲墜塵土揚起(crumbling all to dust)，還有這句“The people ran into the street but by then all was still”以靜止描繪了死亡的幽暗面以及死亡的不可避免。
再回頭審酌核心對句：
Everybody knows the rock leans over the town
Everybody knows that it won’t tumble to the ground
哈利所要傳達的是人們雖然明瞭死亡為生命不可避免的結果，可是眾人卻總是認為自己如岩石般不朽，不至於死到臨頭。第三詩節中的“life goes an as usual”點出大人們都不相信死亡的陰影已籠罩著他們。

第四詩節為此歌詩的高潮，哈利描繪瘋子以自身肉體支撐岩石，呈現了瘋子犧牲小我，拯救全鎮民眾的諷刺結局。主人翁的犧牲小我對比人們嘲諷他為“silly”, “crazy”, “madman”, “insane”, “fool”以及“daft”，人心冷漠是多麼地令人心酸。
哈利奇平在〈岩石〉(The rock)這首醒世歌詩中展現精妙的語言層次(language levels)，運用了表面意涵(denotation)、隱藏意涵(connotation)、意象(image)、直喻(simile)、隱喻(metaphor)以及象徵(symbol)的手法，對人們傳達了強而有力的警世訊息。