T he lyrics of The Gambler tell the story of a sad-looking train passenger sitting next to a gambler. Some readers asked me to explain these lyrics in the song: "I've made a life out of reading people's faces, knowing what the cards were by the way they held their eyes". The meaning is simple. The gambler told the passenger he spent his whole life learning how to know what people are thinking and feeling by looking at their faces. He knew what cards other poker players had by the way their held their eyes, which means by the way their eyes looked. The gambler tells the sad-looking passenger: "I can see you're out of aces." In poker, the ace is the best card. When you're out of aces, it means you're out of luck, or have no more luck left.
The song has the lyrics: "The gambler, he broke even." To break even in gambling means you neither win nor lose. If you start a mahjong game with $1,000, lose or win a lot during the game but end the game with $1,000, you have broken even. In the song the gambler tells the passenger: "The best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep". After the gambler gets some whisky and a cigarette from the passenger for giving him advice, the gambler goes to sleep and dies. The passenger then knew the gambler had broken even.
上星期我解釋過習語"know when to hold them and know when to fold them"。習語是從一首歌《賭徒》的歌詞（lyrics）裏來的，Lyrics 就是歌詞，有些讀者想我解釋一下《賭徒》裏的其他歌詞（lyrics）。正如上星期解釋過，"know when to hold them and know when to fold them"來自撲克牌遊戲。To fold就是當你的牌很爛時你棄牌。To hold就是繼續玩下去。精明的賭徒知道，甚麼時候叫牌（hold），甚麼時候棄牌（fold）。上星期我問道，參與佔中的示威者又是否知道，應何時繼續（hold），和何時棄牌（fold）？
《賭徒》的歌詞（lyrics）說的是某個面容憂傷的乘客坐在賭徒旁邊的一個故事。有些讀者想我解釋歌裏這些歌詞（lyrics）的意思："I've made a life out of reading people's faces, knowing what the cards were by the way they held their eyes".這裏的意思很簡單。賭徒告訴那位搭客，他窮一生去學習單靠讀懂對方的面容，就知悉那些人在想甚麼或有甚麼感受。By the way their held their eyes 就是單靠其他撲克玩家的目光，他便知道他們手中的牌。賭徒跟那位面容憂傷的乘客說："I can see you're out of aces."在撲克牌裏，A牌就是最好的牌。當你已經 out of aces，就是說你正走霉運，或是你的運數已盡。
歌裏也有歌詞（lyrics）說："The gambler, he broke even." 在賭局中break even，就是你沒贏沒輸。若你玩麻雀，開始的時候是一千元，玩的時候贏或輸很多，但結束時還是一千元，那你就剛好broken even了。在歌裏賭徒跟那位搭客說：「你所能期盼最美好的事，就是在睡夢中死去。」當賭徒從搭客那裏喝過威士忌、抽過煙，也給了他一些忠告以後，賭徒就睡覺並悄悄死去。搭客便知道，賭徒沒贏也沒輸（broken even）。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=311876§ion_name=wtt&kw=126