2016年諾貝爾文學獎頒給了美國歌手卜戴倫（Bob Dylan），不少人感意外，因為諾貝爾文學獎一向很「文學」，頒給流行歌手是首次。這在各地引起很多爭論，不少人認為卜戴倫的歌詞雖好，但到底始終是音樂人，頒給他將會打開音樂人泛濫湧入文學殿堂之先例；而且，卜戴倫的歌詞又怎能跟偉大小說家的傳世作品相比呢？
獲獎實至名歸
拿卜戴倫的歌詞跟偉大小說相比的確比較難，不過，拿他的歌詞跟詩人的詩作相比，就相對容易比較了。如果詩人可以得到諾貝爾文學獎，那麼卜戴倫值得拿獎麼？這樣看答案就明確了：值得！因為他的歌詞，完全可跟近代出色詩作相比。若講到對全世界的影響力，那麼卜戴倫比任何當代詩人更大！若諾貝爾文學獎頒給出色詩人是大家都接受的話，卜戴倫得獎也就是應該的了。
在卜戴倫得獎的討論中，我甚少見到有人談到他寫的自傳Chronicles, Volume One，這本由卜戴倫親手執筆的回憶錄，展示了他內心思想是如何廣大深邃。自傳本身容或未足以令他得到諾貝爾文學獎，但它讓我們看到卜戴倫不是聰明或有才華的歌手這麼簡單；他廣學多聞，二十來歲已博覽群書，知識淵博，胸襟開放，具有哲學家級思維。讀過自傳的，都會知道卜戴倫同時是位學者和知識分子，他能得到諾貝爾文學獎並非偶然。
與佛因緣甚深
在宗教上，卜戴倫曾信奉基督教，數年後離開，又曾親近猶太教、回教。至於佛教，卜戴倫雖沒公開說過自己是佛教徒，不過他早期曾接觸過一點佛法，早年面對傳媒時更經常採用「充滿禪機」式的回答，成為佳話。
上世紀六十年代，卜戴倫與當時的一班Beat Generation詩人／作家如Allen Ginsberg、Jack Kerouac、Neal Cassady等甚為投契，交往甚密，這班嬉皮士詩人／作家均深受東方宗教包括佛教影響。卜戴倫也一直跟佛教有一定的接觸與呼應，他的作品固然有佛教思想痕跡，他還以佛教僧侶作為畫畫對象。2011年，卜戴倫在紐約舉行了名為Bob Dylan: The Asia Series畫展，展出了他在日本、中國、韓國及越南所繪畫的畫，當中就有出家人畫像。
對卜戴倫與佛教因緣的研究，Steven Heine是這方面的首席學者。Heine在佛羅里達國際大學任教，專研東方宗教及佛教，尤其熟悉道元禪師。Heine著有Bargainin’ for Salvation: Bob Dylan, A Zen Master? 一書，解構卜戴倫與佛之因緣，並解讀其作品之佛義。該書深入詳盡，對一般讀者而言或許太細析了，有興趣的讀者可自行找來閱讀。
就卜戴倫的代表作，大多數人會想到Blowing in the Wind, The Times They Are A-Changin’ 等。我今且選譯一首較少人論及的歌，讓大家一窺卜戴倫的深邃遠大。歌名為No Time to Think, 1978年推出，收錄於專輯Street Legal。原調共十八段，於流行曲而言是首巨著，現粗略試譯前四段，讓大家感受一下卜戴倫的「文學感」：
沒時間去想 [1]
在死亡中你面對生命帶同妻兒由你夢中夢遊進入牆壁
你是仁慈的士兵你冷酷你詛咒
不被信任的必將滅亡
孤獨、柔情、上流社會、惡名昭彰
你獨行為著捍衛王座而戰
不知正在慢慢沉淪
而一切沒時間去想
在聯邦城你為了秘密和一些轉變被摧毀被憐憫
女皇吸引著你但欺壓分散你注意令你感到暴烈與怪誕
思憶、狂喜、暴政、偽善
在缺連山谷涼風之夜你被一吻出賣
而你沒時間去想
三十多年前已寫出今天人們面對的困難處境──沒時間去想。No Time to Think的觀察力確非常人。此歌詞意象之複雜、用詞之多及深奧絕對超越流行歌詞範疇，足供長時間細味消化，而具此規模與視野之作品，卜戴倫多的是。卜戴倫得諾貝爾文學獎，是人類文化一個可喜突破。
[1] No Time To Think
In death you face life with a child and a wife
Who sleep-walks through your dreams into walls
You’re soldier of mercy, you’re cold and you curse
He who cannot be trusted must fall.
Loneliness, tenderness, high society, notoriety
You fight for the throne and you travel alone
Unknown as you slowly sink
And there’s no time to think.
In the Federal City you been blown and shown pity
For secret, for pieces of change
The empress attracts you but oppression distracts you
And it makes you feel violent and strange.
Memory, ecstasy, tyranny, hypocrisy
Betrayed by a kiss on a cool night of bliss
In the valley of the missing link
And you have no time to think.
Judges will haunt you, the country priestess will want you
Her worst is better than best
I’ve seen all these decoys through a set of deep turquoise eyes
And I feel so depressed.
China doll, alcohol, duality, mortality
Mercury rules you and destiny fools you
Like the plague, with a dangerous wink
And there’s no time to think.
Your conscience betrayed you when some tyrant waylaid you
Where the lion lies down with the lamb
I’d have paid off the traitor and killed him much later
But that’s just the way that I am.
Paradise, sacrifice, mortality, reality
But the magician is quicker and his game
Is much thicker than blood and blacker than ink
And there’s no time to think.
Anger and jealousy’s all that he sells us
He’s content when you’re under his thumb
Madmen oppose him, but your kindness throws him
To survive it you play deaf and dumb.
Equality, liberty, humility, simplicity
You glance through the mirror and there’s eyes staring clear
At the back of your head as you drink
And there’s no time to think.
Warlords of sorrow and queens of tomorrow
Will offer their heads for a prayer
You can’t find no salvation, you have no expectations
Anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
Mercury, gravity, nobility, humility
You know you can’t keep her and the water gets deeper
That is leading you onto the brink
But there’s no time to think.
You’ve murdered your vanity, buried your sanity
For pleasure you must now resist
Lovers obey you but they cannot sway you
They’re not even sure you exist.
Socialism, hypnotism, patriotism, materialism
Fools making laws for the breaking of jaws
And the sound of the keys as they clink
But there’s no time to think.
The bridge that you travel on goes to the Babylon
With the rose in her hair
Starlight in the East you’re finally released
You’re stranded but with nothing to share.
Loyality, unity, epitome, rigidity
You turn around for one real last glimpse of Camille
‘Neath the moon shining bloody and pink
And there’s no time to think.
Bullets can harm you and death can disarm you
But no, you will not be deceived
Stripped of all virtue as you crawl through the dirt
You can give but you cannot receive.
No time to choose when the truth must die
No time to lose or say goodbye
No time to prepare for the victim that’s there
No time to suffer or blink
And no time to think.
