瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治　吳文安

Now it was spring—a spring to favor the wolves. The caribou were back. With Kapus good planning they would eat well and grow strong. No pups.

As the caribou moved north， the Avaliks moved north， stopping to feast on caribou that had died of natural causes， or on weak ones that they could isolate and fell. They put on weight. Their fur began to glisten again. They raced north slightly ahead of the great caribou herd， their heads high， their tails straight out behind them. Kapu grew in confidence， and Raw Bones dropped farther behind the young alpha.

Near the Avalik River， Kapu smelled willow， a very special willow： Willow Pup Julie. With a bound he led his pack around and in front of the browsing caribou and came into Kangik head up， tail up. His pack followed like wind dancers. Their muscles rippled under flowing fur. They ran close together， friendly， loving.

Kapu stopped a distance from Willow Pup Julie. He sought her eyes to tell her he was pleased to see her. She understood and dropped to her knees. But she was afraid for him. She warned him away. Then he saw Kapugen， the hunter. He did not smell his gun or see any aggression in his stride， so he walked toward them.

The musk oxen caught his attention. They were outside the corral where Kapugen kept them to raise and harvest their wool. An amusing wolf thought struck him. Chase them.

Off he went， telling Willow Pup Julie through body language and attitude that this was a wolf joke. She read it and smiled.

The musk oxen， after a brief panic， read the wolf message， too. They did not form a circle with their bony heads out， as they usually did when attacked by wolves. They trotted lightly， spread out， and grazed.

The avaliks romped in and out among the musk oxen until they had had enough fun and their tongues were hanging out from overheating. Then they ran off a short distance and watched Willow Pup Julie and her father disappear in the frozen mist. With his extraordinary wolf ears Kapu tracked them back to Kangik. Faintly he heard the door of their green house close.

A quick glance at his pack said， “Follow me，” and the Avaliks jogged back toward the caribou now thundering into view. Julies wolves heard their bleating voices and snorting noses， and they saw the antlers of the females ride above the mass of bodies like a forest of dead sticks.

現(xiàn)在春天來(lái)了，春天對(duì)狼群有利。北美馴鹿會(huì)回來(lái)。卡普早就計(jì)劃妥當(dāng)，春天里他們會(huì)吃得飽飽的，長(zhǎng)得壯壯的。不要狼崽兒。

北美馴鹿北遷的時(shí)候，阿瓦里克河的狼群也會(huì)往北，這樣他們就可以沿途拿自然死亡的北美馴鹿美餐一番，或者將孱弱的馴鹿隔離出來(lái)殺掉。他們長(zhǎng)得膘肥體壯。他們的毛發(fā)又開始閃閃發(fā)亮。他們一路疾馳往北，稍稍領(lǐng)先北美馴鹿的大部隊(duì)一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。他們高昂著頭，尾巴直直地拖在身后?？ㄆ招判谋对?，而生骨越發(fā)比不上這個(gè)年輕的頭狼了。

在阿瓦里克河附近，卡普聞到了柳樹，一種非常特殊的柳樹：就是柳樹娃朱莉?？ㄆ仗饋?lái)轉(zhuǎn)了個(gè)身，帶領(lǐng)狼群調(diào)轉(zhuǎn)方向，經(jīng)過(guò)正在吃草的北美馴鹿，徑直來(lái)到坎吉克鎮(zhèn)。他們昂首挺胸，尾巴高舉，興高采烈的樣子。狼群緊跟著卡普，仿佛風(fēng)中的舞者。在飄逸的毛發(fā)之下，他們健碩的肌肉起伏躍動(dòng)。跑動(dòng)中，他們彼此靠近，十分友好，互示愛意。

在離柳樹娃朱莉還有一段距離的地方，卡普停了下來(lái)?？ㄆ账褜ぶ炖虻难劬?，告訴她自己很高興見到她。朱莉明白，俯身到地上來(lái)回應(yīng)。但朱莉替卡普害怕。朱莉提醒卡普必須離開。然后，卡普看見了卡普根，那個(gè)獵人。卡普沒(méi)有聞到他的槍，也沒(méi)有看到他的步伐中帶有敵意，于是朝他們走了過(guò)去。

麝牛引起了卡普的注意。麝牛待在圍欄之外。卡普根一般都在圍欄里飼養(yǎng)麝牛并收獲牛毛。這時(shí)卡普突然有了一個(gè)有趣的想法。追麝牛去。

卡普朝著麝牛飛奔而去。同時(shí)卡普用身體語(yǔ)言和態(tài)度告訴朱莉這不過(guò)是一個(gè)狼群慣用的玩笑。朱莉看懂了，不禁微笑。

麝牛群一開始有些驚慌，但過(guò)了一會(huì)兒也讀懂了狼群的意圖。他們沒(méi)有圍成一圈，并把長(zhǎng)角的頭朝外，像往常遭遇狼群襲擊那樣。他們小跑著四散開來(lái)，然后繼續(xù)吃草。

阿瓦里克河狼群在麝牛群里高興地跑來(lái)跑去，直到玩夠了，身體過(guò)熱舌頭伸了出來(lái)。然后他們跑到不遠(yuǎn)處，看柳樹娃朱莉和她的父親消失在冰冷的霧氣中?？ㄆ沼米约悍峭瑢こ５睦嵌渥粉櫵麄儯牭剿麄兓氐搅丝布?。還隱約聽到他們將溫室的門關(guān)上。

卡普快速地掃視了一下狼群，意思是“跟我來(lái)”，然后阿瓦里克河狼群跟隨他朝著北美馴鹿跑去。遠(yuǎn)處，北美馴鹿正奔騰而至。朱莉的狼群聽到了馴鹿的鳴叫和響鼻，還看到了母馴鹿的鹿角高揚(yáng)在鹿群之上，仿佛一片枯枝構(gòu)成的森林。

【背景知識(shí)】這是一大段對(duì)阿瓦里克河狼群的描寫。正值春天，他們意氣風(fēng)發(fā)膘肥體壯，在大草原上恣意奔跑和娛樂(lè)。他們追逐著北美馴鹿，卻又跟隨頭狼去看望一下好友柳樹娃。他們故意追逐麝牛取樂(lè)，連獵物都懂得他們的心思，毫不畏懼。這一生態(tài)和諧的景象恰是作者的理想境界。

【第一段】譯文的最后一句使用了疊詞“飽飽的”“壯壯的”，以增加趣味和文學(xué)性。

【第二段】原文的描寫生動(dòng)形象，簡(jiǎn)潔有力。譯文也力求活潑多姿，再現(xiàn)原文的特色。

【第三段】第二句的最后短語(yǔ)“head up， tail up”的隱含意義是“狼群因?yàn)橐ヒ娎嫌讯吲d”。在此，譯文采取了明晰化方法，添加了“興高采烈的樣子”。該段最后三句是精彩的描寫，其中使用了明喻和暗喻手法?！帮L(fēng)中的舞者”是直譯，讀者可以想見狼群風(fēng)中奔跑時(shí)優(yōu)雅的姿態(tài)。而ripple一詞較難翻譯，譯文使用了“起伏躍動(dòng)”，希望可以傳遞原文的動(dòng)態(tài)形象。

【第四段】短語(yǔ)dropped to her knees字面意思是“跪倒在地”，其實(shí)是朱莉采用狼的姿態(tài)，在地上爬行，因此譯文模糊化為“附身到地上”。這里卡普極為大膽。他判斷出卡普根并沒(méi)有敵意，竟然直接走了過(guò)去。

【第五段】作者采用了全知視角，從卡普的角度解讀環(huán)境，并且突然有了惡搞的念頭。

【第六段】只有深諳狼群心理的朱莉才能看懂狼群的玩笑。她不禁莞爾。

【第七段】真正獵殺的狼群與蓄意玩鬧的狼群截然不同。連麝牛群也做出了判斷，不再理睬胡鬧的狼群。他們對(duì)此視若無(wú)物，繼續(xù)吃草。

【第八段】狼群自己玩累了，就此作罷。朱莉與父親早已走遠(yuǎn)，但卡普仍然能覺(jué)察他們的動(dòng)向。

【第九段】又是傳神的動(dòng)態(tài)描寫。其中動(dòng)詞thunder不容易找到對(duì)應(yīng)詞，譯文使用了“奔騰”，力圖體現(xiàn)馴鹿群奔跑時(shí)的壯觀場(chǎng)景。最后一句話既是如實(shí)的描繪，同時(shí)也暗示著鹿角帶來(lái)的死亡風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

【小結(jié)】這一選段取景狀物，煞是精彩。具體的翻譯難度不是很大，要傳遞原文大意也不難。但是原文意象繁復(fù)文采飛揚(yáng)，譯文不宜過(guò)于直白和樸素，也應(yīng)適當(dāng)鋪陳才是。