见信如晤Letters Live 第13期:'凯丽米洛'读信:我的缪斯女神不是一匹马(2)

 　　I have always been of the opinion that my music is unique and individual and exists beyond the realms inhabited by those who would reduce things to mere¹ measuring.

　　我一直持有这种观点，我的音乐是独特的，唯一的，它的存在超越了纯数值计算。

　　I am in competition with no-one.

　　我不与任何人竞赛。

　　My relationship with my muse² is a delicate one at the best of times and I feel that it is my duty to protect her from influences that may offend her fragile nature.

　　我与缪斯（灵感）女神的交往，恰逢其会，精心雅致。我感到我的职责便是保护她的精巧气质，免受伤害。

　　She comes to me with the gift of song and in return I treat her with the respect I feel she deserves — in this case this means not subjecting her to the indignities³ of judgement and competition.

　　她走近我，赠予我歌之禀赋，我当报以她应得的敬意，如此，也意味着，我不会让她遭受评判与竞争之辱。

　　My muse is not a horse and I am in no horse race and if indeed she was, still I would not harness her to this tumbrel — this bloody⁴ cart of severed⁵ heads and glittering prizes.

　　我的缪斯女神不是一匹马，我也并没有参加赛马比赛。即便她真的曾是匹马，我也不会把她系上这死囚车。那血腥的马车上携着砍下的头颅和璀璨的奖金。

　　My muse may spook! May bolt! May abandon me completely!

　　我的女神也许会受惊，也许会脱缰，也许会彻底抛弃我！

　　So once again, to the people at MTV, I appreciate the zeal⁶ and energy that was put behind my last record, I truly do and say thank you and again I say thank you but no...no thank you.

　　所以，MTV团队，我再一次对你们在我新唱片背后所付出的热忱与精力表示感谢，发自肺腑的不胜感激，真的我要再说一次感谢！但，（关于提名)还是别了，别了……感谢！

　　Yours sincerely, Nick Cave

　　尼克·凯夫敬上

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

3 indignities   

n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The soldiers who were captured suffered many indignities at the hands of the enemy. 被俘的士兵在敌人手中受尽侮辱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What sort of indignities would he be forced to endure? 他会被迫忍受什么样的侮辱呢？ 来自辞典例句

4 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

5 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。