瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治 吳文安

He looked up and smiled. Julie looked up too. A solitary bull was running toward them. She glanced at her father. Kapugen did not seem alarmed， and sure enough， when the bull was only a few yards away， he stopped. He ogled them. Shreds of qivit trailed from his shoulders.

The bull was massive but not very tall. He barely came up to Kapugen’s chest. His huge neck muscles formed a hump on his back that was higher than his head. His tail was remarkably short， his hair so long it swept the ground like a skirt. His feet were enoumous ice choppers. A bold boss of horn， curved tips pointed forward， met in the middle of his forehead like a helmet. The chuncky rocklike animal bore a strong resemblance to the wooly mammoths of the past. He snorted.

“One of the last old-time animals，” Kapugen said. “White men say he is a goat-antelope. To the Eskimo he is uminmak， the animal born to the ice and the wind and the snow.” Kapugen held out a bilberry stalk to him. “Once，” he went on， “there were millions of uminmaks in northern Alaska. When the Eskimo got guns， they shot them all. Every one.

“The U.S. government tried to bring them back. They got thirty-three calves from Greenland and set them free on Nunivak in 1930. When that herd was large， they brought some calves to Fairbanks and later set them free. We have a few wild ones on the North Slope now.

“The government helped me bring bull and cow calves to Kangik to start a qivit industry.”

The bull snorted and pawed the ground， then rubbed his head against his foreleg.

“Is he angry？” Julie asked.

“He is rubbing a gland near his eye on his leg. The scent from the gland warns the herd. It is not musk， as the white man calls it. It smells fresh and clean， like snow.

“What is he afraid of？” Julie asked.

“He is prey，” Kapugen said. “He is concerned about all things; you， me， our guns， and the odors on the wind.” Kapugen sniffed and squinted into the glaring snow. “He is saying the grizzly bear is awake.”

“The grizzly bear？” Julie asked.

“Aklaq awakened last week in a warm spell，” he said. “She has two yearling cubs and they are hungry. She has been staying close to the musk oxen， all right，” he said. “That is not good. Like the wolf， the grizzly can kill an uminmak. Uminmak is smaller than a bear and not very bright.”

Kapugen cupped his hands behind his ears.

“The herd is coming，” he said， and smiled proudly. Out of a bright spot of ice glare the other musk oxen appeared， rolling along as if on wheels and seemingly pushed by the wind. They were a sturdy， well-knit group. The beasts slowed down， hesitated， then circling like whirlpool， forced the yearlings and calves into the center of their group for protection.

卡普根抬起頭，面露微笑。朱莉也抬頭看。有一頭公麝牛獨自朝他們跑了過來。朱莉瞥了一眼父親。父親好像一點也不驚慌?？磥碚娴牟豁汅@慌，因為那頭牛在幾碼遠(yuǎn)的地方就停住了。他深情地望著這父女倆。一綹綹的麝牛絨從肩上披散下來。

這頭公牛體型寬大，但個頭不高，剛剛夠到卡普根的胸口。他頸部的肌肉粗壯，在背上形成肉坨，比頭還要高。他的尾巴出奇地短，毛發(fā)卻很長，拖在地上，就像裙子。而他的腳掌恰似碎冰機一樣寬大。弧形的牛角尖朝前伸，粗壯的牛角根部在前額中間會合，像是頭盔。這種矮矮胖胖壯如小山的動物像極了遠(yuǎn)古時代毛發(fā)紛披的猛犸象。這時公牛打了個響鼻。

“這是我們最后的遠(yuǎn)古動物之一，”卡普根說，“白人稱他們?yōu)樯搅缪?。對愛斯基摩人來說，他們是尤敏麥克，是專為冰雪和寒風(fēng)而生的動物?！笨ㄆ崭贿呎f著一邊拿起一根覆盆子莖稈遞給公牛。卡普根接著講：“曾幾何時，阿拉斯加北部有幾百萬頭尤敏麥克。但愛斯基摩人有槍的時候，就把他們都打死了。一個不剩。

“美國政府想讓麝牛回到本土。1930年，他們從格陵蘭島買了33頭小麝牛，然后在努尼瓦克島放生。牛群足夠大的時候，他們又把一些小麝牛帶到費爾班克斯，稍后也放生了?，F(xiàn)在我們北坡那里有幾頭野生的麝牛。

“政府幫我，把公牛母牛和小牛犢帶到坎吉克來，發(fā)展麝牛絨產(chǎn)業(yè)?！?/p>

那頭公麝牛又打了個響鼻，然后用腳刨地，頭在前腿上蹭了又蹭。

“他發(fā)怒了嗎？”朱莉問。

“他是拿自己眼睛旁邊的一個腺體在前腿那里蹭。這個腺體的氣味會告訴牛群他的存在。這不是白人所說的麝香。它的氣味清新干凈，跟雪花一樣?！?/p>

“他害怕什么呢？”朱莉問。

“他是其他動物的獵物，”卡普根說，“他擔(dān)心所有的事情;你、我、我們的槍，還有風(fēng)中的氣味。”卡普根嗅了嗅空氣，又瞇縫著眼睛看了一會兒刺眼的雪地?！八谡f灰熊已經(jīng)醒了?！?/p>

“大灰熊？”朱莉問。

“上周有一股小暖流，阿克拉克醒了?！笨ㄆ崭f?！八袃蓚€一歲的幼崽，都饑腸轆轆。阿克拉克一直都離麝牛群很近。就是這樣，”卡普根接著說，“這可不好。跟狼一樣，灰熊能夠殺死尤敏麥克。尤敏麥克個頭比灰熊小，也不太聰明?！?/p>

這時，卡普根把兩只手做喇叭狀放在耳后傾聽。

“牛群來了。”他說，然后驕傲地露出微笑。一群麝牛從一片刺眼的堅冰之后露出頭來，浩浩蕩蕩，仿佛驅(qū)車而至，又好像御風(fēng)而行。他們看上去彪悍無比又組織嚴(yán)密。牛群放緩了腳步，踟躕不前，然后像漩渦一樣打轉(zhuǎn)，逼迫一歲大的小牛和幼崽們躲到牛群中間去，使之免受傷害。

【背景知識】朱莉的父親卡普根響應(yīng)美國政府號召，在坎吉克鎮(zhèn)進行麝牛養(yǎng)殖，借此振興當(dāng)?shù)亟?jīng)濟。但狼群和灰熊都是麝牛的天敵，必須防范才是。為了讓朱莉了解麝牛的重要性，卡普根帶朱莉來探望麝牛群。

【第一段】這里有好幾處需要推敲譯文的地方。第一句譯文添加了“面露”，句子更完整。第二句把形容詞solitary轉(zhuǎn)換為狀語“獨自”。而sure enough的譯文重復(fù)了“驚慌”，讓上下文更連貫。動詞ogle直譯是“拋媚眼”，放在這里比較突兀，于是改為“深情地望著”（因為卡普根是公牛的主人）。

【第二段】該段描述句多，翻譯難度大。形容詞massive在這里僅指體型寬大，不是高大。牛頸上的肉塊也沒有十分對應(yīng)的中文詞語，只好用“肉坨”?！八楸鶛C”是隱喻，而“頭盔”又是明喻。形容詞rocklike（像巖石一樣）的直譯在中文里很難接受，只能譯為“壯如小山”。毛發(fā)很長的猛犸象，其“長毛”一詞容易讀為“（生）長毛（發(fā)）”，所以選用“毛發(fā)紛披”。

【第三段】愛斯基摩語中的uminmak在原文里屬于語言專有項，以增加原文的地方色彩，所以這里使用音譯。最后一句的every one意在強調(diào)，因此譯為“一個不?！?。

【第五段】第一句話非常簡潔，但意義豐富。第二句譯文添加了“用腳”（刨地）。

【第六段】短句he is prey的譯文需要增譯才意義完整，所以添加了“其他動物的”（獵物）。動詞sniff后面也添加了（他嗅了嗅）“空氣”。

【第七段】短語a warm spell指有幾天天氣很溫暖，為了追求簡潔，譯為“小暖流”。阿克拉克也是愛斯基摩語的音譯，為增加地方特色而保留。

【第八段】第一句譯文添加了“傾聽”，使意思更明晰。and smiled proudly可以是作者的敘述，也可以是朱莉眼中的觀察。這種模糊的敘述視角增加了原文的語義密度和闡釋空間。第三句原文非常形象，且充滿詩意，譯文也模擬了類似的風(fēng)格。原文的主語非常豐富：the herd、the other musk oxen、they、the beasts，譯文雖盡量模仿，但beasts（如果譯為“畜生”在句子里顯得不搭;而“眾?！眲t顯得滑稽）的語氣很難傳譯。最后的for protection選擇了“反譯法”譯為“使之免受傷害”。

【小結(jié)】該選段翻譯難度大，因為原文中使用了很多比喻等修辭手法。此外，原文有些句子極為簡潔，譯文不得不適當(dāng)添加詞語才能使得中文句子完整通順。原文中富有文化特色的愛斯基摩語詞匯也需要謹(jǐn)慎翻譯，否則容易丟失原文的“雜糅”風(fēng)格。