Cotton Fields

When I was a little bitty baby,
My mama would rock me in the cradle,
In them old cotton field back home.

It was down in Louisiana,
Just about a mile from Texarkana,
In them old cotton field back home.

And when them cotton ball get rotten,
You can't pick very much cotton,
In them old cotton field back home.

歌词大意

当我还是个小婴孩时，
妈妈常把我放在摇蓝里摇着我，
在家乡那片老棉花田里。

我的家乡在路易斯安那，
离泰克萨卡那一英里，
在家乡那片老棉花田里。

噢，当棉花桃腐烂时，
你就摘不到多少棉花，
在家乡那片老棉花田里。

歌词、句型分析

1．When I was a little bitty baby，my mama would rock me in the cradle in them old cotton field back home．
　　= When I was still an infant，my mum would rock me to sleep in my cradle on the farm back in my hometown．
　　当我还是一个小婴孩时，妈妈在家乡那片老棉花田里常把我放在摇蓝里哄我睡觉。
　　bitty（形容词）意为：少许，一点点，细短的。
　　例：a little bitty baby = a baby infant
　　小不点，一丁点大的婴孩。
　　Rock vt.摇动，使前后（左右）
　　例：The earthquake rocked the house．
　　那场地震使房屋摇动着。
　　Rock:一般是指激烈地咯咯摇动。
　　Swing:指下垂的东西摆动。
　　Sway:指树枝等的摇动。
　　cradle：摇篮、发源地、婴儿时期。
　　例：The baby is sleeping in the cradle．
　　婴儿在摇篮里睡觉。
　　The Yellow River，cradle of Chinese civilization
　　黄河——中国文明的摇篮
　　The girl has been sickly from the cradle．
　　那个女孩从幼年起便身体虚弱。
　　From the cradle to the grave
　　自生到死；一辈子。
　　in them old cotton field．此短语中的them，本应为the或their，从用词上我们可以看出美国南部的乡下人没有受过良好的教育，用them来代替the或 their，这是他们的习惯；另一方面，这种用法是Black English（黑人英文）的一个特征。因此，我们说这首歌曲与黑人有关。

2．It was down in Louisiana，Just about a mile from Texarkana．
　　= My hometown is down in the southern state of Louisiana，which is about a mile from Texarkana．
　　我的家乡在路易斯安那，离泰克萨卡那一英里。

3．Oh，when them cotton ball get rotten，you can't pick very much cotton in them old cotton field back home．
　　= Oh，when the cotton balls get rotten，you won't have any harvest in their old cotton field．
　　噢，当棉花桃腐烂时，你就不会有什么收成。
　　cotton ball之后应加上“s”表示复数，此处又出现语法上的错误，再次说明他们的文化水平很低。
　　get rotten：变坏，腐烂。（表示一个变化过程，get是系动词）
　　作为系动词的词还有：turn，become，grow，prove，run，go，fall等等。
　　例：These methods have proved effective in English teaching．
　　在英语教学中，这些方法证实有效。
　　Leaves turn yellow in autumn．But when spring comes，they turn green again．
　　秋天树叶变黄，但当春天来临时，树叶又变绿。
　　Rotten a.由动词rot变来的。
　　rot：腐烂，使腐败。
　　“腐烂”的英语表示方法有：decay， rot， putrefy， spoil， crumble， molder， disintegrate， decompose
　　These verbs all refer to gradual change resulting in destruction or dissolution.
　　这些动词都表示导致毁灭或分解的逐步变化。
　　Decay denotes a falling away from soundness; it may imply a stage in deterioration short of complete destruction:
　　Decay 表示从完好健全的状态变弱；指未达到彻底毁灭状态时的恶化阶段：
Dentists advise their patients to brush and floss regularly to prevent their teeth from decaying.
　　牙医建议他们的病人定期刷牙并用洁牙线剔牙，防止蛀牙。
　　Rot is sometimes synonymous with decay ( wood that had rotted), but it often, like putrefy, stresses a stage of deterioration marked by offensiveness to the sense of smell:
　　Rot 有时与decay 的词义一样( 已经腐烂了的木头)， 但正如putrefy， 该词经常强调恶化的阶段，伴有显著的令人作呕的气味：
　　Animal flesh that rots is attractive to vultures.
　　动物腐烂的肉体对兀鹰很有吸引力。
　　The intact carcass of the prehistoric animal was prevented from putrefying by the arctic cold.
　　史前时期动物的完整尸体，是由于北极严寒的保护不致腐烂。
　　Spoil usually refers to the process by which perishable substances, especially food, become unfit for use or consumption:
　　Spoil 通常指食物等易坏的物质变得不能使用或消费的过程：
　　I put the veal scallops into the refrigerator before they could spoil.

在小牛肉可能变质前，我把它们搁在冰箱里。
　　Crumble implies the physical breakdown of a substance into small fragments or particles:
　　Crumble 是物质分裂成碎片的意思：
　　We saw the remains of an ancient church that had crumbled to ruins. To
　　我们看到了那座已变成废墟的古教堂。
　　molder is to crumble to dust:
　　molder 指化为尘土：
　　Her grandmother's shawl had moldered away in the trunk.
　　她奶奶的围巾已经在箱子里腐烂了。
　　Disintegrate refers to complete breakdown into component parts and implies the destruction of usefulness or integrity:
　　Disintegrate 指完全分裂成组成部分，意味着功能整体的被破坏：
　　The sandstone façade had disintegrated from long exposure to the elements.
　　由于长期暴露在自然环境中，沙岩的表面已经风化了。
　　Decompose, largely restricted to the breakdown of substances into their chemical components, also connotes rotting and putrefying, both literally and figuratively:
　　Decompose 主要限于指物质分裂成其化学组成成份，含有腐朽、腐烂的意思，既可以从字面上来理解，也可以从喻意上来理解：
　　“trivial personalities decomposing in the eternity of print” (Virginia Woolf).
　　缺少才华的作家逐渐从永恒的书籍世界中消失 （维琴尼亚·沃尔夫）
　　pick：摘、采（花、果实等）
　　例：She was picking flowers in the field．
　　她在地里摘花。
　　Pick apples 摘取苹果；
　　pick out 挑出，选出。