Danny Boy | 英文广播剧 | 流浪女吉他手的故事

人物自述：科恩有一件著名的蓝雨衣，而我有一件鲜艳的橙色外套。橙色是荷兰足球队的颜色，所以我把它当球衣了。每次当小飞侠罗本在绿茵场上翱翔时，我都会穿上它为他每一次漂亮的内切和射门而欣喜。2010年世界杯，罗本单刀时却让荷兰错失渴望已久的冠军。那一次一定伤透了他的心。自此，我再也没有穿过那件橙色外套了。开了书店之后，我把它挂在体育区的架子上，提醒自己曾经热爱过。店里终日放着科恩和迪伦的歌，我也过了一段不需要妥协的日子。后来，在电子书的冲击之下，传统书店一个接着一个倒闭了，而我的也不例外。再后来，我投身股市，却亏掉了最后一分钱。今天，我来到这家经常来的酒吧，发现那个留短发的驻唱已经离开了。虽然我与她并不相识，只是在这里经常听她唱歌而已，但我想我们是同样的人，在人生这个游戏里奔走着。于是，借着威士忌，我开始述说着这个故事。

Danny Boy.

You don’t know me, but your songs do. I’ve heard your singing multiple times in BadGuys. I come here from time to time when my throat goes dry. Rye whiskey tastes better than real life. Don’t you agree?

I have to say, you are a good singer. Your voice was like comforting rain. I might be wrong, but you seem kind of lost.  Some of your pretty words resonate with me, and some others soothe my troubled mind.

I just asked the bartender why the short hair singer was not on stage tonight, and he told me you’ve left Guangzhou already and you like rambling from city to city. I guess it’s your way of life and I hope you enjoy the next town.

Now that I’ve listened to your stories in your songs so much, and with half bottle of rye down in my lungs, I want to return you with one of mine. I don’t have anyone to talk to anyway.

The thing is, I’ve lost my last penny on the stock market, and now I don’t have anything. Life is pretty crazy, like a rolling stone, isn’t it? 

You know, like you, probably, I was once into books and arts. I ran a bookstore on 7th street. You’ve probably heard of it. It was a big one. Vincent’s. I named it after Van Gogh. We got everything: books, music, snacks. Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen’s tunes were just playing days and nights.

In the sports section, I hanged an oversized orange coat. Lots of people asked me the story behind it. I didn’t tell them. I’ve never worn it since July 2010 when Robben lost his battle. Do you remember that game? Do you watch football? Anyway, I knew how he felt. It was a broken heart after all. When I was eighteen, I broke up with a girl. I thought it took me everything. She said she loved me and she would never leave me, but it’s just a girl’s habit to say that. I recovered after two weeks of sobbing. I hope he’ll be healed too because I really want to see an orange line dotting the green fields. You see, this coat was not for telling people that I’m a Dutch football fan but for reminding me that I had something to love.

I had some good days with Vincent’s. I made a living with no comprises, and then, boom, everyone turned to online stores. They say digital books are cheaper and you can store up to 1000 books in this Kindle thing. What a joke.

I went out and filled my lungs with alcohol, and then went back and pulled the plug. The music stopped, and I was out. No more kicking and struggling anymore.

In later days I turned to the stock market. I thought if my luck was not in the book business, it must be in lotteries or stock trading.

No luck. It was a terrible idea. Should have been a lawyer or something.

Well, I ran out the last drop of this bottle, so I’ll just end it here.

Maybe I’ll try my luck again and open another Vincent’s if I could borrow some money. I’m still young. I got to carry on before this rolling stone catches me.

Good luck to you, Danny, and to me.

月光下，窗台边，有一只小鸟在休息。我在想，它是不是从一个城镇飞往另一个城镇，而这回它想休息了。我在想，它的梦是不是跟我一样的？以鸟开篇之后，借着讲述者的心境和视角去关爱动物，并借此瞥一眼主人公心底的往事。

Out the window on a wintry night, I heard an elephant's sobbing and a deer's silent fight. I wondered, Why no light is around when their souls are searching?

And I wondered, Who taught them to be strong and right from wrong? I got no answer. The wind just kept on moaning.

As my eyes became blurry, a shivering little bird came by and sat on the windowsill. A martlet. I saw two broken moons in her eyes, and she was a bit tired. I guessed she had been traveling from town to town and wanted a rest.

I heard martlets would die if they don't fly. Maybe we share the same dream, I wondered.

Come, come. Elephants, deer, and my beloved nightingales. Come to my cabin. I would build a fire and light up the sky, it's easy to find.

By the river and under the moonlight, I have a shelter for you.

Remember, the world is rough out there, but I'd take care of you. I'd sing for you. I'd take all your worries off your eyes, and I would raise you up like my father would in my dreams.

Come, come, you see, I'm a little lonely when winter comes.

Father, I ran into a dream accident.

You won't believe it. I heard a woody tone from under my bed. I could tell it was a D major. It struck my nerve in the middle of the night. I wondered if I was dreaming.

I traced the sound and found the player was a rat. It was trapped in the guitar strings. I'm not a rat fan, but I help with the strings and let loose this poor creature. Maybe it was a signal. I wondered. This rat risked its life to remind me of something I almost forgot. My guitar has been lying here all alone for how long I couldn't remember. How could I do that?

I pulled a chair and sat down and picked up what it left. I played Canon in D Major. I was in the right mood, and my mind was still sharp, but too bad my neighbor interrupted. He knocked and asked me to stop in the middle of it. He was rude. And he forgot to comment on my technique.

I stray too far from my dream, father. I'm sorry. I just thought my idea of singing and rambling around is absurd when I could barely pay my rent. I stopped romanticizing my plan and I become a mediocre realist now.

Something must be changed. I made a promise to keep.

My heart is racing again. Thank the rat, and so long. 

出品：StoryLab

作者与后期：Vince

配音：Christie

Come home, Danny.

You have been through a lot of ups and downs and all the things bumpy.

With all the thunderstorms and lightnings, what else do you want to see?

Don't tell me about your muse, and enough talks of weeping, drowning, and shaking, just come home and tell me everything.

Last time you said your muse was dying. I thought a lot of words meant comforting. Listen to this, Do you know that everyone is dying? Every king, soldier, warrior, coward, saint, politician, prostitute, and thief; they are either dead or dying. From time to time, your muse may not be listening, but your love for music won't be fading.

And by the way, your tale lives on in our town. So just pack your guitar and come home, everybody is waiting. 

出品：StoryLab

作者与后期：Vince

配音：Carlett

剧情：Sammy回忆一双手套的事情，表达对DannyBoy的思念。 

Dear Danny,

How are things going? Years have gone by since we parted, but you haven’t changed a bit in my memory.

I still keep your lousy poems. When things are not going well, I read them to bury my sorrow.

Do you remember the gloves I knitted for you？I didn’t tell you how many nights I’d been knitting and how many nights my heart had been racing. I had clumsy hands back then, and the five-letter gave me extra pain. Anyway, you sent them back to me on our graduation day. You said you wanted to keep me warm when in fact you just wanted to send me away and leave for another girl. I thought we had a lot of fun and you were the one. I was so sad and so mad that I changed Danny to Daddy and hoped my memory of you would be fading.

Why are things changing so rapidly, Danny? When we were fifteen, you knew what to sing and I thought I was queen. And when we turned thirty, everything starts burning. Maybe this is the reason I stop dreaming.

I have to sign off now. I am not supposed to talk to you. I just want to know if you still remember Sammy and how things are going.

在很小的时候，DannyBoy会背着一个空书包上学。她的书包为什么是空的？

本集主要反映她小时候的性格以及表现出来的灵气。

大人们总是没有经过小朋友们的同意就擅自往他们书包里塞东西，并借此占用了他们大部分时间。如果让他们自己选择的话，他们会往书包里装什么？

此文是Danny Boy专辑中的其中一集，所以少不了夜莺这个符号。

I carry a school bag on my shoulders，
but if you look inside，
it’s empty.

On my way to school，
My bag dangles, and I walk, I jump, I dance.
When the wind comes, I run into it.
When the birds sing, I sing with them.

“Why is your bag empty, Danny?” you ask.
It’s full. I fill it with my things.
“What are they?” you ask again.
It’s full of fairies, witches, castles, and my dreams about the nightingales.

她是广州一个酒吧的驻唱。总是一头短发，清秀的脸庞，又爱喝威士忌，像一个男孩子，很多人都叫她Danny Boy. 2020年11月20日晚，她说要离开广州了。为什么想离开？“因为在这里看不见星星，这里的车不让人，这里的夏天太长，这里的楼总是一个劲地往上长。”她说话就像唱歌一样。她还说她属于森林，那里有夜莺和狼嚎。但也许这些都不是原因，她只是喝多了。在她决定离开的前一天晚上，有一个老人来酒吧找她。那个人点了一杯苏格兰威士忌，喝了一大口，又拿出一张长发少女的照片，问：“请问见过这个孩子吗？" 

Guangzhou, I’m leaving now. I was hit by a ray of moon last night. I wanted to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, only to find the stars were missing. If the skyline was glowing, how come the stars were not twinkling?

Guangzhou, I’m leaving now. I don’t belong here. My sword is too sharp, it misses all the spines, thorns, and prickles like a wolf misses a howl. The spirit inside of me belongs to a forest, a big one, with stars in the sky, and lullabies from the nightingales.

Guangzhou, I’m leaving now. I was under an order to make this city beautiful. I brought whiskey, jazz, and Monet—trying to add a little texture to it. I looked around: cars were racing, people were swearing, rap music was blasting, concrete boxes were soaring, and they cheer this never-ending summer. But I’m only a moon-kissed girl. 

Guangzhou, I am leaving now. This is my last shot of whiskey. An old man walked into a bar last night, he ordered a scotch, took a long sip, and asked, “I’m looking for a girl.” He is looking for me, and I am drinking my memory away. You pulled the trigger, you broke my heart,  and I, on the contrary, will never stop loving you. 

曲毕，愿天下所有Danny Boys看得见星星。