Listen to this article沉默是金
夜风凛凛 独回望旧事前尘
是以往的我充满怒愤
诬告与指责 积压着满肚气不忿
对谣言反应甚为着紧受了教训 得了书经的指引
现已看得透不再自困
但觉有分数 不再像以往那般笨
抹泪痕轻快笑着行冥冥中都早注定你富或贫
是错永不对真永是真
任你怎说安守我本份
始终相信沉默是金是非有公理 慎言莫冒犯别人
遇上冷风雨休太认真
自信满心里 休理会讽刺与质问
笑骂由人 洒脱地做人受了教训 得了书经的指引
现已看得透不再自困
但觉有分数 不再像以往那般笨
抹泪痕轻快笑着行冥冥中都早注定你富或贫
是错永不对真永是真
任你怎说安守我本份
始终相信沉默是金是非有公理 慎言莫冒犯别人
遇上冷风雨休太认真
自信满心里 休理会讽刺与质问
笑骂由人 洒脱地做人少年行 洒脱地做人
继续行 洒脱地做人Automatic transliteration. May contain errors.
書經: Abbreviated form of 四書五經 (four books and five classics) which formed the basis of classical education in ancient china.
分數: This has nothing to do with “score” or “points” or worse still “counting score”; only in very specific contexts is that kind of translations valid. Common meaning is “Don’t you worry! I know what I am… ⋙
冥冥中: Domain of the unknown, a supernatural or divine “twilight zone” where fate and destiny is predetermined. Meaning markedly divergent from that of the character 冥
Reticence is golden
The night’s winds stiff and biting [I] look back alone to affairs and dust [not yet settled] of the past
That former me full of raw anger
Maligning and blaming [others around me] was choked by a bellyful of indignancies [and]
Tended to respond irascibly to gossips[With] lessons learnt [from life] [and] guidance imparted by an education
Now [I] can look past [it all] [and] not let myself be troubled
Alas [I] feel empowered with clarity no longer led by impulsive naivety like before
[I can] wipe off lines of tear [and] with a smile carry on merrilyInscribed in the ether rich or poor is long decided for you
Wrongs will always be immoral virtue will always be true
No matter how you tell it [I will] adhere to [my] principles and accept [my] fate
In the end [I] believe that reticence is goldenMorality sets [the bounds of] rights and wrongs speak guardedly lest offending others
[When] confronted by frosty weather quit facing it with much attention
Poised with self-worth in [my] heart ridicule and judgmental questions cease to be of concern
Let them taunt and chide [I] conduct [myself] with dignified light-heartedness[With] lessons learnt [from life] [and] guidance imparted by formal education
Now [I] can look beyond [it all] [and] not let myself be troubled
Alas [I] feel empowered with clarity no longer led by impulsive naivety like before
[I can] wipe off lines of tear [and] with a smile carry on merrilyInscribed in the ether rich or poor is long decided for you
Wrongs will always be immoral virtue will always be true
No matter how you tell it [I will] adhere to [my] principles and accept [my] fate
In the end [I] believe that reticence is goldenMorality sets [the bounds of] rights and wrongs speak guardedly lest offending others
[When] confronted by frosty weather quit facing it with much attention
Poised with self-worth in [my] heart ridicule and judgmental questions cease to be of concern
Let them taunt and chide [I] conduct [myself] with dignified light-heartednessBehaving youthfully [I] conduct [myself] with dignified light-heartedness
Carrying on [I] conduct [myself] with dignified light-heartedness
Submitted by justanotherone
Author’s comments:
沉默 is routinely translated in isolation as “silent” or “silence”. It is worth noting that the song is clearly using this as a shortened form for 沉默寡言. While the first two characters were used, the emphasis is in the last two, despite their omission, which means “rarely speak”. In the context of the song, 沉默 is about being guarded with one’s words, miserly so. This is also explicitly written in line 25 – 慎言. It would be entirely wrong to give in to the temptation of treating the title as “silence is golden” for a good-enough translation.
前塵 Lit: Past dust. Dust is a term used in Buddhist texts to describe secular and worldly things. In this line, I feel a hint of regrettable unfinished business
對謠言反應甚為著緊 Lit: Towards rumours, react quite anxiously
教訓 Lit: (character by character): teaching and training, together they mean lesson learnt or taught a lesson
書經的指引 Lit: “Books’ and classical texts’ pointing and leading”. 指引 is guidance, to point and to lead. 書經 is an abbreviation for the Four Books and Five Classics which form the foundation of formal education in pre-modern times (until no so long ago actually) for over a thousand years (Four books: 論語, 孟子, 大學, 中庸; five classics: 詩經, 尚書, 禮記, 周易, 春秋). Here, they mean formal education and this two-character word is from time to time used to mean “educated”.
有分數 Lit: Have the score, and all translation engines return “score”, but this has nothing to do with that. It means “[I] know what [I am] doing”. It is typically used as a somewhat dimissive response to advice or caution.
安守我本份 Lit: Calmly keep my assigned station [in life], very much a fatalist’s view of one’s destiny and role in life.
始終 Lit: Beginning [and] end
公理 Lit: Public reasoning. Widely accepted code of morality
冷風雨 is a terms used quite often to describe adversity or unfavourable reception
自信 Lit: Self-belief, very often translated as confidence or self-confidence, but also self-esteem (albeit that 自尊 is specific vocabulary for that) or self-worth. Here it has to be the latter
灑脫 This is acting “cool” in a way, but also not allowing things to get to you, letting things slide off.
少年行: Unsure what the intended meaning is here. It could be “youth walking”, “youth’s behaviour”
