瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治

Julie looked out across the tundra and pointed her boots toward the wolves.

She stepped lightly around small snow patches as she followed the Avalik River toward its source. Her heels barely touched the ground as she walked. She skipped around poppies and waved to the snow buntings that flew up from the flowers.

A day’s walk beyond duck camp， Julie came upon a weasel standing on his hind feet， paws draped on his chest. He was no longer wearing his winter fur of white ermine， but a golden-brown coat that blended with the summer tundra. He was boldly blocking her way. Julie stamped her foot at him. He showed his sharp teeth and screamed but did not run. Julie walked closer. When she was almost two feet from him， she stopped.

“I am a person，” she said. “Why aren’t you afraid of me？ Is it because you have never seen a human before？” She lifted her arms and swayed from side to side.

“See how big I am？” The weasel twitched his whiskers and stood his ground. “Learn to be afraid of two-legged animals，” she said. “They shoot little weasels in the winter and make them into glorious ermine coats.” The bright-eyed， pointed-faced weasel stood firm， so she blew him a kiss and went on.

The next day Julie passed a snowy owl on her nest. Like the weasel， the large white bird with its huge golden eyes was not afraid of her. She let Julie come almost up to her fluffy babies before getting up on her feet.

Julie pondered about what she was seeing. The animals were talking to her. The owl and the weasel were saying they were not afraid of people because they rarely saw them. They were saying that Julie was in a wilderness where people did not come. In such country， she knew， the wolves of the Arctic raise their young.

A redpoll flew up from a grassy spot with a piece of fur in her bill. Julie spun around. That was wolf fur. She looked down. The grass had been bent by soft， padded feet， not sharp hoofs. She followed the subtle trail and came upon the sleeping scoop of a wolf. The bits of fur within it were black. Kapu had been here. The trail she was following was his. Her spirits lightened.

Bending low， noting every trampled blade of grass， she traced Kapu’s footsteps from his sleeping scoop to an elbow bend in the river. There before her was the white， stony beach Peter had mentioned. The footsteps became lost on the gravel. She went on upriver. Two wolf tracks appeared in the silt， then three， then many， as if wolves were playing. She rounded a bend， and there before her was a high， sandy bank. Scanning it carefully， she located a dark spot—a den. Just above it a garden of yellow poppies bobbed in the wind.

朱莉目視著一望無際的凍原，動身去尋找狼群。

她沿著阿瓦里克河前行，溯流而上，遇見小片雪地就輕輕地繞過去。走路的時候她的腳后跟幾乎不著地。碰到罌粟花，她就從花旁跳過。有雪鹀從花兒上飛過，她就朝他們揮手。

朱莉走了一整天，已走過鴨子營。她碰到了一只鼬鼠，后腿直立，爪子搭在胸前。鼬鼠身上不再是冬天的白色貂毛，已經(jīng)換上了金黃色的皮毛，跟夏天的凍原融為了一體。鼬鼠就堵在朱莉的路上，膽子很大。朱莉朝他跺腳。他露出尖利的牙齒嘶叫，并不跑開。朱莉越走越近。還有差不多兩英尺的時候，朱莉停了下來。

“我是人?！敝炖蛘f，“你為什么不怕我？因為你從來沒有見過人嗎？”朱莉抬起胳膊，左右揮舞。

“看我多高大？”鼬鼠抖了抖胡須，站在原地紋絲不動?！澳阋獙W(xué)會害怕兩條腿的動物啊，”朱莉說，“他們冬天里會射殺小鼬鼠，用來做華美的貂皮大衣?！边@只鼬鼠眼睛亮閃閃的，嘴巴尖尖的，仍然立在原地，于是朱莉拋了個飛吻，繼續(xù)前行。

第二天，朱莉在路上又看到一只雪鸮待在自己的巢上。跟鼬鼠一樣，這只長著金黃色大眼睛的白色大鳥一點兒都不怕她。朱莉走近鳥巢，幾乎碰到了那些毛茸茸的小雪鸮，她才站起來。

朱莉琢磨她看到的這一切。動物們是在跟她交談。雪鸮和鼬鼠在說他們不怕人，因為很少看到人。他們在說朱莉來的荒野無人涉足。朱莉知道，在這樣的荒野上，北極狼可以撫育幼仔。

一只朱頂雀從一處草叢飛了起來，嘴里叼著一撮毛。朱莉轉(zhuǎn)過身來。那是狼毛。朱莉往下看。踩倒草叢的是柔軟的長有肉墊的爪子，不是尖銳的蹄子。她沿著這條隱隱約約的小徑來到一個狼睡覺的草窩。狼窩里有些黑毛。卡普來過這里。這條小徑是卡普的。朱莉興奮起來。

朱莉一路俯身，找尋每一片被踩倒的草葉，就這樣，卡普的腳印把朱莉從狼窩引到了河流的急彎處。她眼前就是彼得說過的布滿鵝卵石的白色河灘。腳印消失在碎石灘上。她又溯流而上。淤泥上出現(xiàn)了兩個狼的足跡，然后是三個，然后是很多個，好像狼群在這里玩耍過。她繞過一個彎，面前出現(xiàn)了一個高高的沙岸。朱莉仔細(xì)搜尋，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個黑點——狼窩。就在狼窩之上，一大片黃色的罌粟在風(fēng)中搖曳。

【背景知識】朱莉害怕她的狼群靠近父親的麝牛群，這樣會給他們招來殺身之禍，于是一個人深入荒野，想把狼群引到別處。她憑借豐富的凍原生存經(jīng)驗，徒步遠(yuǎn)足，甘冒風(fēng)險也要保護(hù)狼群。

【第一段】詞組look out across并非常見的固定搭配，這里指朱莉從近處一直望向遠(yuǎn)方的動作。

【第二段】最后一句話的中文改變了語序，是為了中文更活潑，句式也整齊。

【第三段】“融為一體”指鼬鼠的保護(hù)色，跟凍原顏色相近，不易被發(fā)現(xiàn)。將句子“He was boldly blocking her way.”中的boldly提取出來，譯為“膽子很大”，這是常見的“外位法”技巧。

【第四段】朱莉把動物當(dāng)作朋友對待，所以平等地跟他們交流。

【第五段】該段有些詞語的譯文作了適當(dāng)引申，比如big譯為“高大”，stood his ground譯為“站在原地紋絲不動”。pointed-face沒有譯為“尖臉”，而是“嘴巴尖尖的”，因為中文里一般不會形容鼬鼠的“臉”如何。

【第六段】鳥兒本應(yīng)該警惕性很高，但荒原上的動物從來沒有見過人，所以不怕。

【第七段】朱莉在分析鳥兒的行為，進(jìn)而推斷出這樣的荒野適合狼群生活。

【第八段】subtle trail就是不仔細(xì)看看不出來的小徑，所以譯為“隱隱約約的小徑”。

【第九段】這一段原文的敘述順序在模擬動作的順序，所以譯文不宜大改原文的語序。原文最后一句頗有詩意，譯文亦可模仿。

【小結(jié)】該選段的敘述文學(xué)性強(qiáng)，具體體現(xiàn)在生動細(xì)致的動物描寫和身臨其境的動作再現(xiàn)。因此中文譯文不要有明顯的翻譯腔，應(yīng)該簡潔細(xì)膩，再現(xiàn)原文的趣味性和動作性。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □