Chapter 189: A Cat's Fantasy
Translator: Isentreal
感觉阿金这人背着吉他在外找灵感也不容易,郑叹再次在校园里碰到阿金的时候,很给面子地带着阿金去了竹子形成的拱形门洞那里,只是,去的时候,那里已经有人坐着弹吉他了.
Based on thought, it seemed that A Jin tends to have a hard time finding inspiration. When Zheng Tan happened to see A Jin around the campus, with pride, he brought A Jin to the bamboo shaped door. The only thing was that when they went, there were already numerous people who found seat to play guitar.
郑叹看了看,那人微胖,T恤上印着个茄子,面上瞧着挺嫩,估计是个大一的.
Zheng Tan looked around. That person was a little chubby, with an eggplant printed on his T-shirt. He seemed pretty young. Probably a first year.
看到背着吉他的阿金,那人招呼阿金过去交流交流.视线落在郑叹身上时,那人面上僵了僵,不过没说什么.
Seeing A Jin who carried a guitar on his back. The person waved A Jin over to start a conversation. When the person saw Zheng Tan, he froze for a moment, but didn't say anything.
原本准备走开的郑叹想了想,走到旁边跳上一棵树,听这两人聊.
Originally Zheng Tan was going to leave, but he stopped for a moment to think. He walked to the side and jumped onto a nearby tree and listened in on the two's conversation.
这人叫张且,熟悉的人叫他茄子,大一,是校吉他协会的,由于他协会每年五月和十月份都会有场校内的表演,但不是每人都有机会上台,最近协会正在挑选上台的人,张且打算多练练,争取有机会上台秀一把.
This person went by the name Zhang Qie. His close friends gave him the nickname eggplant. He was in first year and was a member of the guitar club. The club has annual performances during the months of May and October within the school, but not everyone had a chance to go on stage and perform. The club was going to host auditions in the next while to make their selections. Zhang Qie was determined to practice a bit more to secure a seat to show off on stage.
只是,相比起阿金来说,论吉他弹奏的技术,张且还是嫩了些.
But, compared to A Jin, conversing about guitar techniques, Zhang Qie was still a little wet behind the ears.
"哥们不错啊!"张且赞道,听说阿金不是本校的还有些遗憾,不然就可以拉去加入协会了.又听说阿金在广场和地下通道里演奏过,一脸佩服地道:"以前每次看到那些弹吉他的街头艺人,我总是忍不住想凑人家边儿上待着,我同学还嫌我丢人呢.说起来,那些人大多数都弹奏得相当不错,地下通道里的音效也格外好."
"Not bad bro!" Zhang Qie exclaimed. Hearing that A Jin wasn't a student here was quite the let down, else he could've been brought into the club. After hearing that A Jin had performed in plazas and underpasses, he spoke in awe: "Every time I saw those performing street musicians, I always wanted to get super close and stay right beside them. My friends always said I was being an embarrassment though. But really, most of those people are really exceptional. And even then, the acoustics in an underpass are equally as good."
感慨过后张且又谈起自己的吉他史.
After that downpour of emotions, Zhang Qie started to talk about his history with guitars.
"刚开始按不住弦,后来起茧之后之后就好多了,过程还是有些疼的,但,男人嘛,不能怕疼!!对自己狠一点!不这样练不好吉他!"张且抬手秀他好不容易练出来的茧.
"When I started, I couldn't even hold down a fret. But the more I practiced, the better it got. The process was pretty painful, but you know, as a man, you don't give up in the face of pain! Be a little hard on yourself! If I didn't do that, I wouldn't be half as good as I am not at guitar!"
郑叹往那边扫了眼,这小胖子真容易满足.
Zheng Tan rolled his eyes. This fatty was pretty easily satisfied huh.
呆了会儿后,张且跟阿金交换了下手机号码,让阿金下下周有空来楚华大学,到时候带阿金去看看他们吉他协会的表演.
After a while. Zhang Qie exchanged numbers with A Jin and scheduled for A Jin to visit Chu Hua university again next week. Then, he could bring A Jin along to check out the guitar club's performances.
带着阿金在校园里转了一圈后,郑叹就没管他了,自己出去找乐子.
After playing tour guide around the campus for A Jin, Zheng Tan lost interest and went off by himself to find the next point of amusement.
三天后,郑叹以为阿金已经离开楚华大学的时候,又见到了他.
When Zheng Tan thought A Jin had finally left Chu Hua campus, he happened to see him again a mere three days later.
那天郑叹没出学校遛弯,因为警长和阿黄都难得被放出门,大胖也被他家老太太赶出来让它跟着多运动运动.于是,四只猫走走停停来到老瓦房区.
That day, Zheng Tan hadn't left the school grounds. Tiger and Sheriff had it hard to get out of their homes. Even Fatty had the old lady's eyes on him. He could barely get out to even exercise. And so, the four cats stopped numerous times before finally arriving at the old tiled buildings.
郑叹本以为能够找个有树叶遮阴的清净地方趴屋顶上睡一下午觉,没想到还没靠近就听到那边传来电吉他的声音.
Zheng Tan originally though that he would be able to find a clean patch of area covered in shade to get some shut eye for the afternoon. He didn't expect to coincidentally also hear the sound of guitar playing.
警长动了动耳朵,有点想要转身离开,只是看郑叹依然往那边走,另外两只也没离开,它也跟了上去.
Sheriff twitched his ears and wanted to turn around to leave. Only when he saw Zheng Tan heading in the direction of the sound did he stand his ground and eventually followed along.
郑叹是好奇这里什么时候来了个吵闹的元素,想看看究竟.
Zheng Tan wondered at what point these sounds had invaded their peace and quiet and headed out to investigate.
有个放杂物的瓦房被整理出来了,里面有十多个学生,声音就是从这个瓦房里传出来的.
A room which was meant for storage has been cleaned out. Inside, there sat around 10 students. The sounds came out of this tiled house.
另外三只都在不远处停下,只有郑叹靠近,跳上窗台,往里看.
The other three cats had all stopped in their tracks not too far away. Only Zheng Tan ventured closer and leapt onto the window sill. From there he peered into the room.
窗户开着,郑叹所站的地方靠近一张大桌子,桌上放着一盆花,刚好将郑叹挡着些,里面的人也没注意到他,也根本没心思注意,都盯着屋里中间的两人.
The window was open and near where Zheng Tan stood was a large table. On the table was a vase of flowers. And it just happened to be perfectly placed so that Zheng Tan was partly hidden from view. No one in the room noticed him. Everyone had their eyes on the two who stood at the center of the room.
靠窗台的桌子上还放着一把吉他,桌子前面没有人,所以郑叹能够看到屋里的情形.
On top of that same table was also a guitar. No one stood in front of the table, so Zheng tan was able to see into the room without any obstruction.
屋里正中站着两个年轻人,其中一个就是阿金.另外一人穿着黑背心,染了一头黄发,头发还有些长,扎了个小辫子.
Two young men stood in the center of the room. One of them was A Jin. The other had on a black tank top, with bleached blonde hair. His hair was long enough to be pulled back into a quick braid.
这两人在飙电吉他,郑叹不知道飙的时候是什么感觉,但见到这两人满头大汗,估计不怎么轻松.
These two were rifting through their electric guitars. Zheng Tan didn't have an understanding of what that was like but seeing the two guys standing there with faces dripping sweat, he could at least tell that it was no easy feat.
周围的人,包括郑叹见过的那个张且,都跟打了鸡血似的,兴奋得面色涨红,似乎在极力忍耐什么,有人手里还不自觉地比划着.
The people who stood around observing, including that Zhang Qie guy Zheng Tan saw last time, acted as if they were all on steroids. Their excitement showed on their red faces, as if on the verge of something big. Some even mimicked the strumming unintentionally.
等两人终于停下来的时候,站在边上的人哄一下议论开了,其中还有几人尖叫.
When the two finally stopped, the people who surrounded them broke into discussion, amongst all of that, a few screams added to the huddle.
果然外行人只能看个热闹,虽然郑叹觉得这两人弹吉他很厉害,但也不像其他人那么激动,不过,这两人弹奏的时候手指真他玛快.
Sure enough, a simple passerby was only here to join in on the fun. Even though Zheng Tan did think that the two guitarists were pretty good, he had no where the amount of excitement the others were consumed in. But when these two played their guitars, the finger speed was f***ing like lightning.
"会长,就他了吧?!"有个梳马尾身材高挑的女孩子说道.
"President, it's him, right?!" a slim and tall girl who had her hair pulled into a ponytail asked.
刚跟阿金飙琴的那个扎小辫子的背心男点点头,又跟阿金说了几句,接了个电话,便拜托阿金和张且还有另外两人留在这里帮忙照看一下东西,他们要离开一会儿.
The other guitarist in the braids and black tan nodded and had a few quick words with A Jin. Just as he was about to make a call, he asked A Jin and Zhang Qie to stay there to watch things for him since he would be away for a bit.
吉他协会原来的训练地方现在学校统一装修,所以他们不得不暂时挪地方,向学校申请了老瓦房区这边的一栋房作为暂时的聚集地,到时候等那边装修好了再搬回去.
The guitar club's usual practice room was currently being renovated so that had to find another temporary practice area. So they had applied for a house in the old tiled houses area as a temporary meeting area. When their old place was done with renovations, they would move back.
听留在屋里的四个人谈论,郑叹才知道,原来是关于下周校吉他协会的表演,他们准备开场曲是双吉他演奏的卡农,可惜原本和协会会长合作的那个吉他手手指受伤了,不得不换人,可协会内一时找不到让大家都满意的人选,所以,退而求其次,准备找找外援,张且便联系了阿金.七个从其他学校吉他协会找来的外援再加上阿金,选来选去,再经过刚才飙琴,协会的决策人员才敲定了阿金.
Listening to the four who were left in the room, Zheng Tan understood what was going on. Originally for the guitar performance next week, they had prepared a duo performance of Canon as the opening act, but the other guitarist that was supposed to perform with the president had injured their hand. They could only now find a replacement. But within the guitar club, there was no one they could find that was at par. So, without any other ideas, they decided to get outside help. Zhang Qie then contacted A Jin. They had found 7 outsiders including A JIn. After numerous tryouts and debates, especially after that performance, the club members were set on A Jin.
听到阿金被选上,张且很高兴,相比之下,阿金倒是平静很多,他听其他几人弹奏之后就知道会有这样的结果,能留在夜楼表演的基本都是玩职业的,而且技术还不耐,在夜楼熏陶加实战这么久,比学校里面大多数人都要强上一些.
Seeing that A Jin had been selected, Zhang Qie was ecstatic. In contrast, A Jin seemed much more calm. After he heard all the other play, he foresaw this conclusion. The ones that could continue to perform at the night tower were practically all professionals with good technique. After competing for so long at the night tower, he had a better fighting chance than most people at the school.
其实,选择过来试试,阿金一开始并没有立马答应下来,毕竟一旦决定,在演出之前就要经常过来训练配合,再加上夜楼那边也有几场重要演出,时间上很紧.考虑了半天后才决定过来,现在,他一点都不后悔答应来这里.
But truthfully, A Jin hadn't immediately agreed to come and tryout. After they made their decision, he would have had to come often to practice with the other guitarist before the performance date. He also had a few important performances at the night tower, so the timing of everything was incredibly tight. After weighing his options for half a day, he finally decided to make his way over. Now, he was completely glad that he made the decision to come.
步入了这个复杂的社会,跳进这个大染缸,难以独善其身,尤其是在夜楼打工这些日子,阿金更是明白其中的艰难,看到过圈内一些光鲜背后的污浊,但习惯之后,却发现少了那份纯粹的热情,而在这里,他找到了丢失的那份纯粹.
Stepping into the complicated society, as if jumping into a gigantic dye tank. It was hard to be alone. Especially working all those nights at the night tower. A Jin was more aware of the difficulties, especially now being aware of the dirty things that could occur behind closed doors. But now as he got used to it, he found that he had lost the pure enthusiasm he used to have. But here, he found that pure enthusiasm again.
屋里四人依然兴致盎然谈论吉他相关的一些东西,什么金属5和弦,高八位分解等等郑叹听不懂,张且提到的"十字街头"后面的飙琴片段郑叹也没看过,所以,郑叹对于这些人的对话内容实在没兴趣.
The four in the room were still wrapped in their discussion of guitars. Something about metal 5 and chords, high eight-bit composition and what else that Zheng Tan couldn't understand. The rift piece in "Cross Street" that Zhang Qie mentioned, Zheng Tan had also never seen. And so, Zheng Tan quickly lost interest in this conversation.
正想从窗台上下去找别的地方睡个觉,郑叹却发现警长和阿黄都凑了过来,估计是因为现在没人飙吉他了才大着胆子靠近,跳上窗台好奇地看着屋内.
Just as he was about to leap off from the window sill and find a nicer place to nap, Zheng Tan found that Sheriff and Tiger both scooched over. THey were probably only brave enough to move over since they stopped rifting guitars. Then leapt onto the window sill and peered into the room.
大胖看着窗台上的三只猫,懒洋洋地打了个哈欠,然后慢悠悠走过来,跳上窗台.
Fatty looked at the three cats upon a window sill, lazily yawned and casually walked over and similarly jumped up on the window sill as well.
四只猫并排蹲在窗台,里面的人立马就注意到这边了.
Four cats side by side on a window sill, how could they not be immediately noticed.
反应最大的还是张且,这家伙见到四只猫的第一反应就是立马将自己搁在桌子上的水杯捞进怀里.
The one with the biggest reaction happened to be Zhang Qie. The moment he saw the four cats, he immediately reached for his cup on top of the table and brought it back into his arms.
包括阿金在内的三人对张且的行为很诧异.
Including A Jin, the three others turned to A Jin with confusion.
"干嘛这反应啊,茄子?"一人问道.
"What's with your reaction, Eggplant?" one asked.
张且朝窗台上四只猫那边努努嘴,"军训的惨痛经历!"
Zhang Qie pouted his lips in the direction of the cats and said. "The painful experiences of military training!"
那两人"哦——"了一声,见阿金还在疑惑,便将当初军训时的那件趣事说了出来.
The two opened their mouth in a "O——", seeing A Jin who was still confused, they began to talk about that military training incident.
当初军训时张且所在的方阵离焦威他们并不远,张且也是警长和阿黄推水杯事件的受害者之一.张且最喜欢的一个水壶,被阿黄给推下台阶,摔掉了一大块漆,把张且心疼得瘦了两斤.
Initially, when Zhang Qie went to military training, his assigned area wasn't too far from Jiao Wei. And he was also a victim of Sheriff and Tiger's water pouring pranks. Zhang Qie's favourite cup had been pushed off the steps and had chipped off a huge piece. It caused him to be so depressed that he lost 2 kilograms.
在那两人说话的时候,被关在家这么久精力充沛并手贱更甚的警长从窗台踏上那张大桌子,来到搁在那里的吉他前.
Just as those two were talking, Sheriff, who had been locked indoors for so long and was brimming with energy stepped into the table and walked to the guitar that was there.
屋里三人看向阿金,那把吉他是阿金的.来这栋瓦房的时候弹奏过,之后飙电吉他,便将吉他暂时搁在这儿,也没装袋子里.他有三把吉他,这把吉他是其中最便宜的,比较平民化,和协会一些学生用的差不多,太贵的他可不敢背着到处走动,但即便如此,不代表他不在乎,只是,看了看蹲在窗台上的黑猫,阿金有片刻的犹豫.
The three all towards A Jin since that guitar was his. When he had come to the old tiled houses, he had performed on his guitar and then to rift on the electric guitar, he had left his own on the table, and hadn't thought about putting it back into its case. He owned three guitars, and this one happened to be the cheapest of the bunch. It was pretty basic and was very similar to what students would usually have. He wasn't going to carry an expensive guitar with him. But even as he thought of all of this, it didn't mean he didn't care. It was just that he took a look at the black cat on top of the window sill and had a sudden moment of hesitation.
如果郑叹不在这里的话,阿金早就冲过去护吉他了.
If Zheng Tan wasn't here. Tiger would've already taken a swipe at the guitar.
郑叹没阻止警长,他比较好奇警长接下来会干嘛.
Zheng Tan didn't stop Sheriff. He was interested in seeing what Sheriff would do next.
屋里四人谁也没出声,都盯着警长那边.一时间,相比起十分钟前飙电吉他气氛白热化的情形,现在就真符合老瓦房区的安静了.
The four in the room didn't dare to make a sound and all stared at Sheriff. In an instant, the atmosphere changed from the hyped-up atmosphere 10 minute ago to what now seemed to suit the current tiled houses more.
警长在吉他面前歪着头看了看,尾巴慢慢摆动,然后抬爪钩上吉他上的一根金属弦,又收回爪.
Sheriff tilted his head and examined the guitar in front of him and slowly waved his tail. Then he raised his paw and hooked a claw on one of the guitar strings and retracted his paw.
金属弦震动发出的声音让警长弓着背往后跳了一步,等声音静下来后,又大胆地凑了上去,似乎玩上了瘾,继续抬爪子钩金属弦.
The sounds of the guitar string caused Sheriff to pounce backwards. Once the sound disappeared, he once again headed forwards with confidence. As if he found a new past time, he went forward and plucked the string with his claws once again.
没按弦,发出的声音也只是空弦音,在郑叹听来纯属噪音,而且警长这种行为就是手贱,好奇下找的玩具而已,不具备任何音乐艺术感.
Without pressing on the string, the sound that is emitted is simply an open string sound. To Zheng Tan, it was pure noise. For Sheriff, this was purely because he wanted to touch something, he was curious and just playing around. There was nothing musical about what he was doing.
而出乎郑叹意料的是,阿金不仅没阻止警长祸害他的吉他,还立马放下手上拿着的吉他谱,从背后吉他袋里拿出一个小本子和笔,开始写起什么来.
But the thing that surprised Zheng Tan the most was how A Jin didn't step forwards to prevent Sheriff from ruining his guitar, but instead, he had immediately put down the guitar score and pulled out a small notebook and pen. From there, he started to write something down.
不知道是不是刚才与人飙琴飙得爽快,现在阿金的状态相当好,动笔之后就一直沉浸在自己的创作世界里,或许,进入他的创作世界的还有警长"演奏"的噪音.
Unsure of whether it was the rifting battle that had just occurred moments before, but A Jin seemed to be in high spirits. After moving his pen, he seemed to be drawn into his own creative space. Or perhaps, it was Sheriff's "playing" that had entered his creative space.
张且走过去看了看,然后嘴巴张老大,轻声走回原处坐下,对两外两人做了个口型——"作曲".
Zhang Qie walked over to take a look and opened his mouth in awe and quietly returned to his seat. He mouthed to the other two —— "composing".
郑叹也看到张且的口型了,看看正在玩吉他琴弦制造噪音的警长,再看看沉浸在作曲中的阿金,郑叹不禁怀疑,自己是不是不仅没音乐细胞,连音乐的欣赏标准都扭曲了.但看到张且三人统一的被噎住一般的脸色,突然觉得,阿金这人似乎真的很有天赋,不然怎么能够从警长那种噪音一般的"演奏"里面听出灵感来的?!
Zheng Tan also saw Zhang Qie's mouthing. He looked back to Sheriff who continued to create noise and transferred his gaze back to the A Jin who was completely immersed in his composition. Zheng Tan not only questioned whether he had any ounce of musical talent but also whether his entire musical appreciation spectrum had been out of wack this entire time. But then seeing Zhang Qie and group's choked up expressions, he suddenly felt, maybe A Jin really was talented. Else, how would he find inspiration through the noise that Sheriff "played"?!
曾经有人说,猫是城市忧郁的诗人,它们天生就是特立独行的流浪艺术家.郑叹一直不觉得,但现在看来,或许真的如此,只是他不懂属于猫的艺术.
Once, someone had said that cats were the city's melancholic poets. Since birth, there were independent and wandering artists. Zheng Tan never agreed. But looking at all this now, perhaps they were right. It's just that he never understood the artistry a cat could produce.
半小时后,奋笔疾书的阿金重新抬头看向窗台上的三只猫,和站在吉他前已经没"演奏"正专心舔着爪子的警长,又提笔在本子上写了四个字——"猫的幻想".
After half an hour, A Jin, who might've been writing a book, finally looked up to observe the three cats on the window sill and back to Sheriff who no longer "played" his guitar and transitioned to cleaning his paws. Once again, he picked up his pen and write down the words. —— Cat Fantasy.
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