文/瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治 譯析/吳文安
Frightful knew exactly where she was going. She sped into the wind and covered the thirty miles to the one mountain among thousands in less than ten minutes.
[2] She dropped down onto the one hemlock among millions and came to the rest.
“Creee, creee, creee, car-reet,” she called.
There was silence, then, “Frightful!”
Sam put down the plumping-mill crossbar he was repairing and jumped to the rock by Baron Weasel’s home.Frightful peered at him through lacy hemlock limbs.
[3] “Frightful!”
She dropped down three limbs.
“Frightful.” Sam’s voice lowered to a whisper. “You came back.”
She hopped down to the next limb and looked for her perch. It was not there. But the plumping-mill crossbar was. Frightful alighted on it.
“Creee, creee, creee, car-reet.” She
“驚悚”精確地知道她要去哪里。她御風(fēng)而行,不到十分鐘,就飛越三十英里,來到了群山中的那座山。
[2]她下降高度,落到林海中的那棵鐵杉樹上休息。
“可里,可里,可里,咔里。”她叫道。
一開始沒有聲音,然后有人喊:“驚悚!”
山姆放下手里正在修理的錘打式磨坊橫梁,跳到黃鼠狼男爵家旁邊的巖石上。隔著鐵杉樹的樹枝,“驚悚”盯著山姆看。
[3]“驚悚!”
她往下跳了三個樹枝。
“驚悚?!鄙侥穳旱蜕らT說,“你回來了?!?/p>
“驚悚”跳到旁邊的樹枝上,尋找她的棲木。沒有了。但錘打式磨坊的橫梁還在?!绑@was home.
[4] Sam leaped from the rock and walked slowly toward her. His blue eyes looked into hers. His suntanned face creased with his big smile of wonder.
“Now, what do I do with you, beautiful bird?” he asked. “I can’t keep you.The Feds say I’m not old enough to have a falconer’s license.” Frightful tipped her head and focused an eye on Sam.
[5] “If I keep you, the Fish and Wildlife Service will just take you away from me. Maybe even jail me. You’re an endangered species. I can’t harbor an endangered species. I’ve learned that much!
“But,” he said, leaning closer to her,“if I don’t jess and leash you, you’re not a captive bird.
“Will you stay anyway?”
[6] Frightful made soft noises and flew to the Baron Weasel rock. The plumping-mill stick slipped and fell to the ground.
It hit with a force that scared Fright-悚”就落到橫梁上。
“可里,可里,可里,咔里?!彼丶伊恕?/p>
[4]山姆從巖石上跳下來,慢慢走向“驚悚”。山姆的藍(lán)眼睛看著“驚悚”的眼睛。他被太陽曬得黝黑的臉因為驚喜樂開了花。
“現(xiàn)在我該拿你怎么辦呢?漂亮的鳥兒?!鄙侥穯柕?,“我不能養(yǎng)著你。聯(lián)邦官員說我年齡不夠,不能持有馴養(yǎng)游隼的執(zhí)照?!薄绑@悚”歪著頭,用一只眼睛盯著山姆。
[5]“如果我養(yǎng)著你,魚類和野生動物署就會把你帶走。或者干脆把我抓進(jìn)監(jiān)獄。你是瀕危物種。我不能私藏瀕危物種。這些我都知道了!
“但是,”山姆一邊說一邊朝“驚悚”靠得更近,“如果我不給你系上腳帶和腳繩,你就不是一只家養(yǎng)的鳥兒。
“那么你還會待在這兒嗎?”
[6]“驚悚”輕輕地叫了幾聲,然后飛到黃鼠狼男爵的巖石上。這時錘打式磨坊的木棍滑落到地上。
木棍落地的聲音很大,嚇了“驚悚”一跳。她飛到鐵杉樹最低的樹枝上。山姆坐在那里一動不動。ful. She flew to the lowest limb of the hemlock. Sam sat still.
“I missed you,” he said. She lifted her feathers and softened her eyes. His words held the sounds she recognized as human love and affection. He chatted on.
[7] “I am pretty good at getting squirrels now, Frightful,” he said. “I had to learn to hunt them after they took you from me. I use the same kind of sling David used to kill Goliath. It’s accurate and packs a wallop. But it’s not like hunting with you. We were a team, and we shared such good food. Tasty rabbit for you, rabbit stew for me; good pheasant liver for you, pheasant pot pie for me. Squirrels just don’t quite make it.”
Frightful bobbed her head and listened. Sam talked on.
“我想你?!鄙侥氛f?!绑@悚”撐起羽毛,目光也變得柔和了。她知道山姆說話的聲音里充滿了人類的愛意和柔情。山姆繼續(xù)嘮叨著。
[7]“我現(xiàn)在很擅長抓松鼠了,驚悚?!鄙侥氛f,“他們把你弄走以后,我不得不學(xué)會抓松鼠。我用的投石器,跟大衛(wèi)殺死歌利亞的一樣。投石器準(zhǔn)極了,力道也足。但還是不如和你一起打獵。我們是一個團(tuán)隊,我們分享好吃的食物。美味的兔子給你,兔子燉湯給我;好吃的野雞肝給你,野雞鍋餅給我。用松鼠做不出這些好吃的來?!?/p>
“驚悚”的腦袋上下聳了聳,只是聽著。山姆不停地講。
【背景知識】被假環(huán)保官員搶走的“驚悚”回來了,山姆卻不能再養(yǎng)她。山姆年齡太小,不能拿到馴養(yǎng)獵鷹的許可證。“驚悚”聽不懂這些,只知道這個男孩子就是自己的親人,不能離開他。這是小男孩和獵鷹面臨的困境。
【第一段】小說的主題句“群山中的那座山,林海中的那棵樹”一再出現(xiàn),成為整部作品的線索,也是非常動人的文字。該段中的動詞很生動,sped和cover需要好好琢磨一下譯文的效果。
【第二段】句中的象聲詞是在模擬游隼的叫聲。山姆聽到“驚悚”的叫聲,驚喜至極,一躍而起。“驚悚”卻要隔著樹枝打量一番,趣味橫生。lacy指絲邊的、花邊的,這里指隔著樹枝看山姆。
【第三段】山姆為什么要壓低聲音呢?因為他已經(jīng)無權(quán)養(yǎng)育獵鷹了,怕別人聽見。所以“驚悚”的棲木也被移走?!绑@悚”也有自己的語言,她高興地表示自己回家了。
【第四段】這里情態(tài)描寫極為細(xì)致,也很感人。山姆看著“驚悚”的
〔〕〔〕眼睛,臉上樂開了花。但英文使用了crease(起皺、弄皺)一詞,不宜直譯。“驚悚”不太懂山姆的話,所以用一只眼睛歪著頭看山姆。
【第五段】山姆的心情很復(fù)雜,不舍得“驚悚”,又不敢公開馴養(yǎng)她,所以在想折中的辦法。詞語captive(被俘的、被抓的)此處指被人馴養(yǎng)的野生動物。
【第六段】英文里多用代詞,而中文多用名詞,該段的代詞it、she、he要適時地?fù)Q為名詞。獵鷹的特殊動作,比如“撐起羽毛、目光柔和”都有特殊意義,表明鳥兒也能感知人類的細(xì)膩情感。
【第七段】這里再次引用了圣經(jīng)故事,提到其中的大衛(wèi)和歌利亞。其實山姆的知識很有限,能從圣經(jīng)故事里學(xué)會用投石器很是難得。短語packs(包裝、塞滿)a wallop(猛擊、痛擊)不好翻譯,譯文只選取了文字背后的意思——“力道也足”,指能重?fù)羲墒蟆5箶?shù)第二句的四個排比句式很有童趣,正如兒童在對話。獵鷹有頭頸上下聳動的習(xí)慣,這種精微的描繪來自作者細(xì)致的觀察。
【小結(jié)】“驚悚”和山姆久別重逢,都是欣喜異常,但人和鳥兒各自表達(dá)的方式不同。山姆的心情非常復(fù)雜,欲說還休、欲走還留,只是喋喋不休地對著鳥兒講話,而“驚悚”用鳥兒特殊的方式來“理解”主人。該選段原文用詞細(xì)膩、繪聲繪色,譯文也當(dāng)再現(xiàn)原文的生動場面。 □