芬尼根的守灵多快活！
春天到，屋里却凉了，暖气在死去。寒夜，在书中读到EB·怀特的随笔《一头猪的死亡》，十分锥心。熬到天亮，腿也麻木。在早餐桌上向康布谷同学推荐这本《这就是纽约》。她不肯读，也不好好吃鸡蛋。我说：你知道EB·怀特是谁吗？她随口报出三本书名：《夏洛的网》、《精灵鼠小弟》，还有一本我听也没听过。
我不甘心失败：“你知道吗？怀特并不完全是个童话作家，或者说，童话只是他很小很小的一个方面。”
“我不管。”康布谷同学说。
不过，上了车，她还是读了《一头猪》，一边听着丁杨唱片公司出品的《放牛狂的春天》。在学校门口，我把整本书都借给她。她一转眼就跑不见了。
天阴着，我回家喝茶，看到老克留言索歌，才想起这欢乐的爱尔兰酒歌——
The Clancy Brothers现场演唱的《蒂姆·芬尼根的守灵》（Tim Finnegans Wake）。
大意是，酒鬼芬尼根喝多了，爬梯子摔破头。同伴以为他死了，扶尸守灵，连吃带喝，又哭又闹，乱了，酒瓶子倒在芬尼根头上，死人活过来。芬尼根的守灵多快活！
歌词版本不一，我重新校对一遍。不过，“gob”是什么意思——“give her a belt in the gob”？还有“Thanum an Dhul”？戴博士有空儿指点一二可好？
Tim Finnegans Wake
(chorus)
Tim Finnegan lived in Watling Street,
A gentle Irishman — mighty odd –
He’d a beautiful brogue so rich and sweet,
To rise in the world he carried a hod
You see he’d a sort of a tipplin’ way,
With a love for the liquor poor Tim was born
To help him on with his work each day
He’d a drop of the crater every morn’!Whack fol-de-dah now dance to your partner,
Welt the floor, your trotters shake!
Wasn’t it the truth I told ya?
Lots of fun at Finnegan’s Wake!One morning Tim was rather full,
His head felt heavy, which made him shake;
He fell from the ladder and broke his skull,
And they carried him home his corpse to wake.
They rolled him up in a nice clean sheet,
And laid him out upon the bed,
With a bottle of whiskey at his feet,
And a gallon of porter at his head!(…chorus)
His friends assembled at the wake,
And Mrs Finnegan called for lunch.
First they served in tea and cakes,
Then pipes, tobacco, and whiskey punch.
The Biddy O’Brien began to cry,
“What a nice, clean corpse did you ever see?
Tim avourneen, why did you die?”
“Arrah hold your gob!” says Billy Magee.(…chorus)
The Meggy O’Connor took up the job,
“Arrah! Biddy”, says she, “You’re wrong, I’m sure.”
But Biddy then gave her a belt in the gob,
That left her sprawling on the floor!
Then the war did soon engage:
‘Twas woman to woman and man to man
Shillelah Law was all the rage –
And a row and a ruction soon began!(…chorus)
Then Mickey Maloney raised his head,
When a bottle of whiskey flew at him.
It missed him, falling on the bed,
The whiskey scattered over Tim!
My God, he revives! See how he rises!
Timothy rising from the bed!
Say, “Whirl your whiskey around like blazes!
Thanum an Dhul, do ye think I’m dead?”(…chorus)
