Lemon Andersen performs "Please don't take my Air Jordans"

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Josephine Yeung 校对人员: Ming Chen

"My Air Jordans cost a hundred with tax.

"我的乔丹气垫鞋价值100大洋连税"

My suede Starters jacket says Raiders on the back.

我的Starters山羊皮夹克衫后面写着"侵略者"

I'm stylin', smilin', lookin' real mean,

我很有型、我笑意盈盈、我看起来可真了不得，

because it ain't about being heard, just being seen.

“无所谓有没有人听见你， 重要的是被看见。”

My leather Adidas baseball cap matches

“我的纯皮阿迪棒球帽，”

my fake Gucci backpack. (Laughter)

配着假的酷奇包。（笑声）

Ain't nobody who looks as good as me,

“没人比我酷”

but this costs money, it sure ain't free,

“但这些都是要花钱的， 哪里有免费的午餐”

and I gots no job, no money at all,

“我没工作没钱“

but it's easy to steal all this from the mall.

"但我可以轻而易举地从商场里偷这些东西"

Parents say I shouldn't, but I knows I should.

"大人们说我不该这样， 但我觉得我就该这样"

Got to do what I can to make sure I look good,

”我得竭尽所能让自己好看“

and the reason I have to look real good, well, to tell you the truth, man,

”为什么要把自己打扮得花见花开呢？“

I don't know why. Guess it makes me feel special inside.

”说实话，我也不知道为什么。 也许是为了让我由内而外地特别起来“

When I'm wearing fresh gear I don't have to hide,

”当我穿着新装备的时候， 我不用躲躲闪闪“

and I really must get some new gear soon

”我必须尽快弄点新装备“

or my ego will pop like a 10-cent balloon.

”不然我的自尊会像一只廉价气球一样爆掉“

But security is tight at all the shops. Every day there are more and more cops.

”但商场里的保安越来越严格。 条子也一天天多起来“

My crew is laughing at me because I'm wearing old gear.

”我的哥们儿们都在嘲笑我， 穿得又旧就没型。“

School's almost over. Summer is near.

”快放假了，夏天要来了“

And I'm sportin' torn Jordans.

”我还穿着破破烂烂的乔丹运动“

I need something new. Only one thing left to do.

”我要弄点新装备“ ”就差一件事没做了“

Cut school Friday, catch the subway downtown,

”逃学，坐地铁去市中心，“

check out my victims hangin' around.

”寻找我那些到处晃荡的猎物“

Maybe I'll get lucky and find easy prey.

”也许我够走运，不费吹灰之力便有所得“

Got to get some new gear. There's no other way.

”必须得弄点新装备了“ ”我别无所选了“

I'm ready and willing. I'm packing my gun.

”我准备好我的枪“

This is serious business. This ain't no fun.

”这可是件正经事“ ”这可不能开玩笑“

And I can't have my posse laughin' at me.

”我不能让我的哥们儿们嘲笑我“

I'mma cop something dope, just wait, you'll see.

”我得弄点够酷的东西“ ”你们就等着瞧吧！“

Come out of the station, West 4th near the park,

”走出地铁站“ ”来到公园西四路“

brothers shooting hoops and someone remarks,

“哥们儿们在打篮球” “有人说：

'Hey homes, where you get them Nik's?'

“嘿，你的耐克哪买的？”

I says to myself, 'Yeah. I likes 'em, I likes.'

“我自言自语：我喜欢那双鞋！我真喜欢那双鞋“

They were Q-tip white, bright and blinding my eyes.

”它们看起来像棉签一样白， 亮闪闪的简直照瞎了我的双眼“

The red emblem of Michael looked as if it could fly.

”乔丹的红色标志就像会飞起来一样“

Not one spot of dirt. The Airs were brand new.

”一尘不染“ ”气垫鞋还是全新的“

Had my pistol and knew just what to do.

”我已准备好手枪“ ”我知道我该如何行动“

Waited until it was just the right time, followed him very closely behind.

”等到时机恰好时“ ”紧紧地跟着他“

He made a left turn on Houston, I pulled out my gun,

”当他在休斯顿街左转时“ ”我拿出我的枪“

and I said, 'Gimme them Jordans!'

“说‘ 把你的乔丹鞋给我！’”

And the punk tried to run.

“那个小阿飞居然要逃跑”

Took off fast, didn't get far. I fired,'Pow!'

“他飞快的跑来，却没跑多远” “‘嘣’ 我扣响扳机”

Fool fell between two parked cars.

“阿飞倒在两辆车之间”

He was coughing, crying, blood spilled on the street.

“咳嗽、哭喊、血肉四溅”

And I snatched them Air Jordans off of his feet.

“我把乔丹气垫鞋从他脚上扒下来”

While laying there dying, all he could say

“躺在地上，小阿飞却只知道说”

was, "Please man, don't take my Air Jordans away."

“求你了，哥们儿，别抢我的乔丹”

You'd think he'd be worried about staying alive.

“你可能会以为他会担心自己的生死存亡”

As I took off with his sneakers, there was tears in his eyes.

“但当我把乔丹鞋从他脚上扒下来时， 他的眼里却饱含泪水”

Very next day, I bopped into school

“第二天，我穿着新乔丹去学校”

with my brand new Air Jordans, man, I was cool.

“兄弟们呐，我可是帅呆了”

I killed to get 'em, but hey, I don't care,

“我杀了人才得到这双鞋 但我一点也不在乎”

because now I needs a new jacket to wear."

“因为现在，我又需要一件夹克衫”

Thank you. (Applause)

谢谢大家。（掌声）

For the last 15 years that I have been performing,

在过去的15年里， 我一直都从事表演，

all I ever wanted to do was transcend poetry to the world.

将诗词传播于世界是我一直心驰神往的事。

See, it wasn't enough for me to write a book.

对于我而言，写作并不够。

It wasn't enough for me to join a slam competition,

加入大满贯比赛也难以满足我，

and while those things hold weight,

尽管这些都举足轻重，

it wasn't the driving force that pushes the pen to the pad.

但仍然难以成为使我的笔尖落到实处。

The hunger and thirst was, and still remains:

我的渴望，欲望曾在，到现在亦然、

How do I get people who hate poetry

我怎样才能使讨厌诗词的人，

to love me?

喜欢上我？

Because I'm an extension of my work,

因为我是我作品的延续,

and if they love me, then they will love my work,

假如他们喜欢我，自然就会喜欢我的作品，

and if they love my work, then they will love poetry,

如果他们喜欢我的作品，就会喜欢诗词，

and if they love poetry, then I will have done my job,

如果他们喜欢诗歌，那我的使命就完成了，

which is to transcend it to the world.

我要使诗词在世界传播。

And in 1996, I found the answer in principles

1996年，我在一位叫做 Reg E. Gaines的朗诵艺术大师那里，

in a master spoken-word artist named Reg E. Gaines,

找到了最初的答案，

who wrote the famous poem, "Please Don't Take My Air Jordans."

他是诗歌名篇《请别拿走我的乔丹气垫鞋》的作者。

And I followed this guy everywhere until I had him in the room,

我四处追随这位艺术家， 直到我等到了和他独处的机会，

and I read him one of my pieces,

我朗诵了我写的诗，

and you know what he told me?

你们知道他跟我说了什么吗？

"Yo' wack.

他说：“真糟糕."

You know what the problem is with you, homie?

“你知道你哪儿有问题吗？ 哥们儿”

You don't read other people's poetry,

“你不朗诵别人的诗歌”

and you don't got any subordination for verbal measures

“你的诗里没有一个动量词的附属词”

to tonal consideration." (Laughter)

“一点也没有考虑音调”（笑声）

Now he kept on rambling

他继续在那儿闲聊，

about poetry and styles and Nuyorican Friday nights.

关于诗歌、关于诗的风格以及新波多黎各人周五的晚上。

Now I could have quit. I should have quit.

我本来可能就此放弃。 我也应该放弃了。

I mean, I thought poetry was just self-expression.

我原本以为诗歌只是一种自我表达。

I didn't know you actually have to have creative control.

我却不知道还需要富有创意。

So instead of quitting, I followed him everywhere.

但我没有就此放弃。 我反而开始四处跟随他。

When he was writing a Broadway show, I would be outside of the door.

他写百老汇剧本的时候，我就在门外候着。

I would wake him up at, like, 6:30 in the morning

我会在早上六点半叫醒他，

to ask him who's the best poet.

问他谁是最优秀的诗人。

I remember eating the eyes of a fish right out of the sea

我记得，我吃过刚从海里捕出来鱼的眼睛，

because he told me it was brain food.

因为他说鱼眼补脑。

Then one day I told him,

有一天，我问说，

"Reg E., what is subordination for verbal measures to tonal consideration?" (Laughter)

”Reg E. 什么是考虑音调的动量词附属词啊？“ （笑声）

And he handed me a black-and-white printed out thesis

他递给我一份白纸黑字的论文，

on a poet named Etheridge Knight

一篇关于诗人Etheridge Knight，

and the oral nature of poetry,

以及诗歌口头艺术本质的论文，

and from that point,

而从那一刻开始，

Reggie stopped becoming the best to me,

Reggie对我来说，再也不是最好的了，

because what Etheridge Knight taught me

因为那个叫 Etheridge Knight的诗人让我明白，

was that I could make my words sound like music,

怎样使我的诗词像音乐一样动听，

even my small ones, the monosyllables,

即使那些细小的部分，单音节词，

the ifs, ands, buts, whats,

if ，and，but，what这些词，

the gangsta in my slang could fall right on the ear,

以及我使用的一些黑帮俚语听起来都那么悦耳，

and from then on, I started chasing Etheridge Knight.

从那以后，我就一直追随者Etheridge Knight.

I wanted to know which poet he read,

我想知道他都读了哪些诗人的诗，

and I landed on a poem called ["Dark Prophecy: Sing of Shine"],

我开始练习一首叫做《黑暗预言：光亮之歌》，

a toast signifying that got me on the biggest stage

这首诗歌把我送上了一个诗人

a poet could ever be:

梦寐以求的舞台：

Broadway, baby.

百老汇的舞台！ 同志们！

And from that point, I learned how to pull the mic away

而从那时开始，我学会了如何甩开麦克风，

and attack the poetry with my body.

用我的身体抒发诗歌的情感。

But that wasn't the biggest lesson I ever learned.

但这还不是我学到的最重要的一课。

The biggest lesson I learned was many years later

最重要的一课是很多年后，

when I went to Beverly Hills and I ran into a talent agent

我在比佛利山庄遇见一个经纪人时学到的，

who looked at me up and down

他上下打量着我，

and said I don't look like I have any experience

说我的经验还不足以

to be working in this business.

让我在这一行混口饭吃。

And I said to him, "Listen, punk fool,

我回答道：“听着！你个蠢驴，”

you're a failed actor who became an agent,

“你做不了演员，就来做经纪人”

and you know why you failed as an actor?

“你知道你为什么做不了演员吗？”

Because people like me took your job.

“是因为像我这样的人才拿了你的工作”

I've traveled all the way from Cleveland and Essex

“我从克利夫兰和艾塞克斯一路走来”

in East New York, took the local 6 line up to the hookers of Hunt's Point

“亨特港的渔船边上排满了长队”

who were in my way on my way to master the art of space,

“他们挡塞住了我的去路”

and the one-to-infinite amount of man, woman and child

“我一个人娱乐着无数的男人女人和小孩”

you can fit in there only so I can push them

“他们在舞台下”

to the back of the wall with my experience.

“我用我的表演将他们深深地折服”

People have bought tickets to my experience

“人们买票来看我的演出”

and used them as refrigerator magnets to let them know

“他们把我的表演当做冰箱磁铁”

that the revolution is near, so stock up.

“来提醒他们革命即将到来，准备好吧！”

I'm so experienced that when you went

“我的经验够丰富了“

to a privileged school to learn a Shakespearean sonnet,

”当你在贵族学校学莎士比亚的十四行诗的时候“

I was getting those beats kicked and shoved into me.

”那些诗歌的韵律早就烂熟于我心了“

I can master shock of "The Crying Game" with the awe

我能用敬畏之心朗诵《哭泣游戏》，

of a child being called an AIDS victim by a bully who didn't know

就像一个孩子被学校里的恶霸叫做艾滋病患者一样，

that it was his father who gave it to my mother,

而这个恶霸并不知道孩子的父亲传染了母亲，

and that's a double entendre.

母亲又传染给了孩子， 这是一种双关。

I'm so experienced that when you went to the Fell School

”我经验比我丰富得多， 当你去Fell 学校念书时，“

and all the rich little fairy boys decided to sponsor a child

”所有的富家子弟都想帮助其中的一个孩子，“

in it, that was me, but kicked me out when I was caught

”那个孩子就是我， 而我却因为教他们怎样从lee牛仔裤上

teaching the fairy boys how to rob the PATS off a pair of Lee Jeans

偷走一块潮流手帕并将手帕送给那个艾滋病小孩而逐出校园。“

and bring them to VIM. Let me see Chekhov pull that off.

”让我瞧瞧契科夫是怎么把手帕从牛仔裤上面摘下来的

Sanford Meisner was my Uncle Artie yelling silently to himself,

我的叔叔曾用Sanford Meisner [美国演员&表演教师，创造了方法表演（method acting）]的话对自己说，

"Something's always wrong when nothing's always right."

“有些事情总是不正确，也没有事情总是正确。”

Method acting is nothing but a mixture

“方法表演只是多种个性的混合，”

of multiple personalities, believing your own lies are reality,

“相信自己的谎言就是事实，”

like in high school cool Kenny telling me he wanted to be a cop.

“这就像在高中时Kenny告诉我他想做个警察一样。”

Dude, you go to Riker's Island Academy.

“哥们儿，你去里克岛学院学习，”

I could make David Mamet

“我可以让大卫·马梅”

psychoanalyze my attack on dialogue,

“对我的对话进行精神分析，”

Stanislavski be as if he were Bruce Lee

“让斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基 （《演员的自我修养》的作者、演员、导演）像李小龙一样，”

kicking your roster of talentless students up and down Crenshaw.

“把你那些毫无天赋的学生们打得鼻青脸肿”

So what, your actors studied guerrilla theater at the London Rep?

“难道你的演员们都是在伦敦培训机构学习的街头表演吗？”

Let me tell you an ancient Chinese Saturday afternoon

“我告诉你一个

kung fu secret.

中国武术界的秘密。”

Boards don't hit back.

“板子是不会反击的”

You think black entertainers have it hard finding work

“你认为黑人在这一行不好混口饭吃吗？”

in this business? I'm a suspicious mulatto,

“我就不信， 我可是个不信邪的黑白混血”

which means I'm too black to be white and too white to be doing it right.

“我很黑，不算白人；我又太白了，做不了黑人”

Forget the American ghetto. I've cracked stages in Soweto,

“别说什么美国街头” “我在南非索威特都有我的足迹”

buried abortion babies in potter's field and still managed to keep a smile on my face,

“我埋葬过因堕胎而死去的婴儿” “但我仍然可以微笑”

so whatever you curse at me to your caddyshack

“不管在我踏出这道门之后，”

go-for-this, go-for-that assistant when I walk out that door,

“你要跟你那言听计从的助理咒骂我时”

whatever slander you send my way,

“不管你要怎么诽谤我”

your mother.

“尼玛”

Thank you. (Applause)

谢谢（掌声）