小波比

《小波比》（），英语童谣，编号为6487。

歌词及旋律
《小波比》在口耳相传中歌词多有变化，现代最常见的版本是：

:Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
:and doesn't know where to find them;
:leave them alone, And they'll come home,
:wagging (bringing) their tails behind them.

:小波比丢失了她的羊，
:她不知到哪里去寻找；
:羊会回来，我不用烦恼，
:连尾巴也不会缺少。

第二行有时也作"And can't tell where to find them"。第四行常作"Bringing their tails behind them"，有时也作"Dragging their tails behind them"。童谣的旋律最早于1870年被作曲家、童谣收集者录下，见于National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs。

以下四节也常被加到歌词中：
:Little Bo-Peep fell fast asleep,
:and dreamt she heard them bleating;
:but when she awoke, she found it a joke,
:for they were still a-fleeting.

:Then up she took her little crook,
:determined for to find them;
:she found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
:for they'd left their tails behind them.

:It happened one day, as Bo-Peep did stray
:into a meadow hard by,
:there she espied their tails side by side,
:all hung on a tree to dry.

:She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye,
:and over the hillocks went rambling,
:and tried what she could, as a shepherdess should,
:to tack each again to its lambkin.

:小波比甜蜜地睡着了，
:在梦中她听见羊叫；
:她醒过来，就觉得好笑，
:原来羊还在外面奔跑。

:她马上拿起牧羊棍，
:下决心把羊群找到；
:那羊找到了，但情况不妙，
:因为羊的尾巴都掉了。

:

:小波比叹息擦眼泪，
:她跑遍所有的山岗；
:她只能够尽自己力量，
:把羊的尾巴缝上。

起源及历史
童谣的最早记录见于1805年左右的一份手稿中，原文中称呼“小波比”只是因为她个子矮小而不是因为她年龄小，未成年。16世纪有一种儿童游戏叫做波比，一般认为即指躲猫猫，莎士比亚的《李尔王》第一幕第四场也有所提及（Then they for sudden joy did weep, / And I for sorrow sung, / That such a king should play bo-peep / And go the fools among. 朱生豪译：她们高兴得眼泪盈眶，／我只好唱歌自遣哀愁，／可怜你堂堂一国之王，／却跟傻瓜们作伴嬉游。），但没有证据表明这首童谣早于18世纪就已经存在了。末四节则最早见于1810年书籍Gammer Gurton's Garland; Or, The Nursery Parnassus。

参考资料