[转帖] Happy Birthday 生日快乐歌的起源

sweetspot

The story of how the song "Happy Birthday to You" came to be, began as a
sweet one, that later soured. Two sisters, Mildred Hill, a teacher at the
1 d- H  Q) o4 B% S  i) c0 ^Louisville, Kentucky Experimental Kindergarten, and Dr. Patty Hill, the
/ r, @0 b5 M& R: Pprincipal of the same school, together wrote a song for the children,
9 l8 W( @: O/ r5 Ientitled "Good Morning to All." When Mildred combined her musical talents, as
the resident expert on spiritual songs, and as the organist for her church,
( `  v% z3 l& F! W/ z% hwith her sister's expertise in the area of Kindergarten Education, "Good
1 [, W" U# J. t# G( sMorning to All" was sure to be a success.
* l1 {. j& [/ V8 {
% R8 f' [/ Z, h6 C: e; m- p; R　　关于“祝你生日快乐”一歌是如何产生的故事，一开始是件令人愉快的事，到后来就变了味，令人很扫兴。事情是这样 的：有姐妹俩，一个叫玛德里德·希尔，路易思维尔市肯德基实验幼儿园教师，一个叫柏蒂·希尔，该校的校长。姐妹 俩一道为儿童们谱写了一首歌，歌名为“大家早上好”。玛德里德是当地赞美歌的专家，再加上她的音乐天分，又是当 地教堂的风琴师，而且她姐姐在幼儿教育方面也很有经验，“大家早上好”一歌无疑是个巨大的成功。

　　The sisters published the song in a collection entitled "Song Stories of
& K4 X  G- [" D! E% uthe Kindergarten" in 1893. Thirty-one years later, after Dr. Patty Hill became
the head of the Department of Kindergarten Education at Columbia University's
Teacher College, a gentleman by the name of Robert H. Coleman published the
- P+ S! C+ N8 A9 bsong, without the sisters' permission. To add insult to injury, he added a
1 v; x# {) j! ^8 M5 a' Jsecond verse, the familiar "Happy Birthday to You."

　　1893年，两姐妹发表了一部歌曲集，题名为“幼儿园的故事”。三十一年以后，在柏蒂·希尔出任哥伦比亚大学师范学院幼儿教育系系主任之后，一个名叫罗伯特·H·科尔曼的男士未经姐妹俩的允许，私自出版了这首歌，在这首歌后又加上了一段，即大家熟悉的“祝你生日快乐”，这就构成了对姐妹俩的伤害和侮辱。科尔曼先生增加的第二段歌词使这首歌很快就十分流行。
5 [; u- b: C% a& b: W5 j
　　Mr. Coleman's addition of the second verse popularized the song and,
5 }. R; z' {: E) ]7 xeventually, the sisters' original first verse disappeared. "Happy Birthday to
; I; S- d+ [. J5 G& @You," the one and only birthday song, had altogether replaced the sisters'
9 ^" H$ Y' C; c& foriginal title, "Good Morning to All."
5 Y7 C3 A; `5 A$ V: M% B
　　最终，姐妹俩的第一段歌词消失了。“祝你生日快乐”，这首唯一的生日歌完全取代了姐妹俩原来的歌曲“大家早上好！”。

　　After Mildred died in 1916, Patty, together with a third sister named
, c$ r2 b. D( W% ~' I8 H- |4 kJessica, sprang into action and took Mr. Coleman to court. In court, they
$ i$ E7 C+ \  |7 b5 Jproved that they, indeed, owned the melody. Because the family legally owns the song, it is entitled to royalties from it, whenever it is sung for commercial
6 q$ }% j" X) g6 Tpurposes.
% @+ a" V% ]+ f7 O5 S
& L5 {0 e  E/ m　　玛德里德于1916年逝世后，柏蒂与其另一个妹妹杰西卡出面将科尔曼先生告上了法庭。在法庭上，她们证明，实际上她们拥有这首歌曲调的版权。由于这首歌曲的法定版权属于希尔姐妹家，它便被赋予了皇权，无论何时这首歌因商用目的而被唱的时候，其皇权总是会受到保护的。