2 A Cool Guitar

Chapter 2 A Cool Guitar At about the same time he started listening to rock, Bob decided to learn guitar. His parents rented one for him. Bob taught himself to play with a book that showed the basic chords. He spent hours practicing and trying out different kinds of sounds. Soon Bob wanted a cooler and better guitar. He had his eye on a flashy guitar from a catalog. It was turquoise with a white wing painted near the strings and cost thirty-nine dollars. (That was a lot of money in the 1950s.)

大约在鲍勃开始听摇滚的同时，他决定学吉他。 他父母给他租了一辆。 鲍勃用一本展示基本和弦的书自学弹奏。 他花了几个小时练习和尝试不同的声音。 不久，鲍勃想要一把更酷更好的吉他。 他看中了目录上的一把华丽的吉他。 它是蓝绿色的，弦附近画着一只白色的翅膀，售价39美元。 （在20世纪50年代，这可是一大笔钱。）

He knew his parents would not understand why he wanted to spend so much money on a guitar. So Bob saved up twenty dollars for the down payment. By doing this, he could take the guitar home. However, until he had completely paid for it, he kept the guitar hidden. Then he started playing it around the house. Bob's parents were impressed with how hard he'd worked to buy that guitar. In high school, Bob and two friends formed a band called the Golden Chords. There was a drummer and a guitar player, and Bob played piano. The Golden Chords soon split up, and Bob formed another band with three other boys. This new, nameless band had electric guitars and very loud amplifiers. When Hibbing High sponsored a talent show, Bob and his friends signed up. As soon as it was their turn, they turned the amplifiers as high as they would go. The music was so loud that no one could hear Bob singing. After just a few minutes the principal cut the power. The nameless band left the stage.

他知道他的父母不会理解他为什么要花这么多钱买一把吉他。 于是鲍勃存了20美元作首付款。 这样，他就可以把吉他带回家了。 然而，直到他付完钱，他才把吉他藏了起来。 然后他开始在家里玩。 鲍勃的父母对他为买那把吉他所付出的努力印象深刻。 高中时，鲍勃和两个朋友组成了一支乐队，名叫“黄金和弦”。 有一个鼓手和一个吉他手，鲍勃弹钢琴。 金和弦乐队很快解散了，鲍勃和另外三个男孩组成了另一支乐队。 这个新的无名乐队有电吉他和非常响亮的扩音器。 当Hibbing高中赞助一个才艺表演时，鲍勃和他的朋友们报名参加了。 一轮到他们，他们就把扩音器调到最高。 音乐太吵了，没人能听到鲍勃唱歌。 几分钟后，校长就切断了电源。 无名乐队离开了舞台。

In high school Bob was something of a loner. He kept to himself and seldom spoke up in class. Nor did he play any sports or join clubs, not even the

高中时鲍勃有点不合群。 他独来独往，很少在课堂上发言。 他也不参加任何运动或俱乐部，甚至没有

school band. He preferred practicing his guitar on his own, or drawing and writing poems. Still, Bob found ways to be noticed. He talked his father into buying him a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Bob wore a black leather jacket and had a cute girlfriend who rode on the back of the bike while he roared around Hibbing. The girl's name was Echo Star Helstrom. She was Bob's first real girlfriend. Echo's family was less well off than the Zimmermans. Her family lived in a tiny house outside of town. Bob's family was middle class and had a nice house in a nice neighborhood. But Echo and Bob shared much in common. They both loved listening to the Louisiana radio stations late at night. Echo was as crazy about rock and roll and rhythm and blues as he was. Like Bob, she didn't fit in at high school. They both wanted to

学校的乐队。他更喜欢自己练习吉他，或者画画写诗。 尽管如此，鲍勃还是找到了引起注意的方法。 他说服父亲给他买了一辆哈雷摩托车。 鲍勃穿着一件黑色皮夹克，有一个可爱的女朋友，当他在希宾岛咆哮时，她坐在自行车的后座上。 那个女孩的名字叫回声星·赫尔斯特罗姆。 她是鲍勃的第一个真正的女朋友。 艾可的家庭没有齐默尔曼家富裕。 她家住在城外的一所小房子里。 鲍勃的家庭是中产阶级，在一个很好的社区里有一所很好的房子。 但艾可和鲍勃有很多共同点。 他们都喜欢在深夜收听路易斯安那州的广播电台。 艾可和他一样痴迷于摇滚、节奏和布鲁斯。 和鲍勃一样，她在高中也不合群。 他们俩都想

get out of Hibbing as soon as they graduated. Bob was already planning a new identity for himself. Changing his last name was part of the plan. Echo was the first person to hear his new name: Bob Dillon. There was a popular TV character called Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke. But Bob told people that he chose the name because he had an uncle named Dillon who was a gambler in Las Vegas. That wasn't true. There was no uncle named Dillon anywhere. A couple of years later Bob changed the spelling of his new last name to D-y-la-n. Some people thought that Bob had picked the name Dylan because of the famous Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. But Bob denied that, too. Like with so many other parts of the Bob Dylan story, he offered no explanation at all. In June 1959, Bob graduated from high school. Under his yearbook picture it said that his ambition was "to join Little Richard."

他们一毕业就离开希宾。 鲍勃已经在为自己计划一个新的身份。 改他的姓是计划的一部分。 艾可是第一个听到他新名字的人：鲍勃·狄龙。 有一个很受欢迎的电视角色叫马特·狄龙。 但鲍勃告诉人们，他之所以选择这个名字，是因为他有一个名叫狄龙的叔叔，他是拉斯维加斯的一个赌徒。 这不是真的。哪里都没有叫狄龙的叔叔。 几年后，鲍勃把他的新姓氏的拼写改成了D-y-la-n。 有些人认为鲍勃选择迪伦这个名字是因为著名的威尔士诗人迪伦·托马斯。 但是鲍勃也否认了。就像鲍勃·迪伦故事的许多其他部分一样，他根本没有给出任何解释。 1959年6月，鲍勃高中毕业。 在他的年鉴照片下写着他的志向是“加入小理查德”。