人生赌场— The Gambler

文 _ 张仪

人生赌场— The Gambler

文 _ 张仪

在中国的很多传奇故事里，往往会有这样的情节：当英雄失意于江湖，走投无路之时，往往会偶遇高人。高人往往寥寥数语，便使英雄茅塞顿开。正当英雄准备叩谢时，高人已不见踪影。这样的老桥段，在西方的很多故事里也不鲜见。美国乡村歌手Kenny Rogers在1978年推出的歌曲《赌徒》中也描述了这样一段奇遇。

在一列不知目的地的火车上，失意的“我”巧遇了一位不知名的赌徒。他看出了“我”的落魄，于是给了“我”一些忠告。他说他一辈子混迹于赌场，要想在赌桌上求生，就必须知道哪些牌该守、哪些牌该走。要想玩，就得好好玩，因为胜负都在那一手牌，成也是它，败也是它。说完之后，赌徒缓缓睡去。听完赌徒的话，“我”如醍醐灌顶。

在这个故事中，赌徒用牌局宝典作为人生箴言，举一反三。要想在人生的江湖行走，何尝不是学习、运用游戏规则的过程。胆小者步步小心，无惊险亦无惊喜；胆大者剑走偏锋，不按常理出牌，享受着天堂般的成功，也承担着下地狱的风险。在生活的赌局中，一旦下注就落子无悔，愿赌服输。都说人生无悔，那是赌气的话，如果真无悔，该有多无趣！赌徒最后那句“最大的愿望是在睡梦中死去”，蕴含了多少欲言又止的弦外之音。

On a warm summer's evening on a train bound for nowhere，

在某个夏日夜晚，在一列没有方向的火车上

I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.

我偶遇了一个赌徒，我俩都困乏异常却难以成眠

So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness

所以我们轮流看着窗外的黑夜

Till boredom overtook us， and he began to speak.

直到彼此闲极无聊，他率先打破了沉默

He said， "Son， I've made a life out

of reading people's faces，

他说，孩子，我一辈子都在察言观色

And knowing what their cards were by

the way they held their eyes.

看看人们的眼色，就知道他们手里有什么牌

And if you don't mind my sayin'， I can see you're out of aces.

恕我直言，我可以看出你时运不济

For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."

如果你赏我一口威士忌，我会给你一些忠告

And the night got deathly quiet， and

his face lost all expression.

夜晚一片死寂，他面无表情

Said， "If you're gonna play the game，

boy， you gotta learn to play it right.

他说，如果你想玩，就得知道怎么玩

You got to know when to hold 'em， know when to fold 'em，

你得知道何时该守，何时该弃

Know when to walk away and know when to run

知道何时该走，何时该逃

You never count your money when you're sitting at the table.

当你一上赌桌，就永远不要点钱

There'll be time enough for counting when the dealin's done.赌局结束，你有时间慢慢盘点

Every gambler knows that the secret to surviving

每一个赌徒都知道赌场上的求生之道

Is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep

就是要知道哪些牌该出，哪些牌该留

Cause every hand's a winner and every hand's a loser，

因为每一手都可以让你赚到手软，也可以让你输个底掉

And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."

最大的愿望是在睡梦中死去

And when he'd finished speaking， he

turned back toward the window，

说完之后，他忘向窗外

Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.

掐掉香烟，渐渐睡去

And somewhere in the darkness， the gambler he broke even.

黑暗中的某个地方，这个赌徒打了个平手

But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

但在他最后的那句话中，我发现了自己的王牌

The Gambler

赌徒