歌名:Indian Summer
歌手:Ozark Henry
专辑:The sailor not the sea
all possible details
mirror all that we put up with
to be safe from harm
a blood red sky-contrails
every motive I supply
to dance away the sight
indian summer
opiate company
as bare as truth can be
without apolagies
I feel the summer
the humming I inhere in
indian summer
there's no apology
where a piano plays satie
would that be the house
where I was born
run-down and bleached
where the history weighs on me
lift me up to your arms
before I pace to leave
indian summer
quietening company
as bare as truth can be
without apologies
I feel the summer
the humming I inhere in
indian summer
has no apology
秋天气候转凉以后,如果突然出现几天暖和的天气,美国人就说是“ Indian Summer”。由此我们知道,“Indian Summer”就是指天冷以后,突然出现的回暖现象。“Indian Summer”的意思还可以引申,形容“复苏”,“重新焕发活力”的现象或情况。例如,The 80-year-old writer experienced an Indian summer of his career, writing five books in the last six years. (80 岁的作家在过去6年里写了5本书,进入他事业的第二春)。
关于“Indian summer”字典还有一个解释,即“一个短暂、温馨、平静的时期。” 大概是因为Indian Summer有着乍冷又暖的喜悦和快乐,因此也就有了温馨平静的含义。如: “In three months, the Bush camp would take over. While bracing for change, everyone in DC was enjoying the Indian summer of the Clinton Administration. (3个月后,布什的人就要走马上任了。此刻,华盛顿特区的人们,一方面准备迎接变化,一方面也尽情享受着克林顿政府最后的宁静而温馨的日子。)
"Indian Summer"首次出现在1778年一位法国籍美国人的书中,他在描写殖民地的农场中写道, "Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares [the earth] to receive the voluminous coat of snow which is soon follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer."
那么他为什么会在文章中提到 "smoke"一词呢?一种说法认为印第安人为了在冬天来临之前用火烧的方法把躲藏起来的猎物驱逐出洞,或者是用火将耕地上的杂草烧尽以便第二年春耕,所以才有了"smoke"一词。爱伦-坡在他的A Tale of Ragged Mountains,也提到"smoke"一词("the thick and peculiar mist, or smoke, which distinguishes the Indian Summer"), 增加了这一说法的可信度。
菲利普-多德里奇在它的Note on the Indian War in West Virginia (1842) 对"smoke"一词提供了另一种说法。他写道,"烟雾笼罩的日子开始了,它将要持续一段时间。这样的天气被称为Indian Summer,因为这段小阳春的天气为印第安人去骚扰移民地区的人们提供了机会。"("The smokey time commenced and lasted for a considerable number of days. This was the Indian summer, because it afforded the Indians another opportunity of visiting the settlements with their destructive warfare.")因为印第安人在天凉以后就不再向移民地区发起突袭,除了有这样一段暖和的天气。那么"smoke"就是印第安人焚烧村庄和房屋的结果。
这些说法到底哪个正确,还是得由您自己作出选择,因为这些都是民间的说法。
在英国,人们也开始用"Indian Summer"来代替 "St. Luke's little summer", "St. Martin's summer", "All Hallows summer"表示"秋老虎"、"小阳春"这个意思。 如 "An Indian summer in the West Country brought peak holiday traffic jams in Devon yesterday" (Sunday Times, September 16, 1962).