文/瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治譯析/吳文安

《遠(yuǎn)方山林》（節(jié)選二）

文/瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治譯析/吳文安

手腕一翻，他把頭罩套到“驚悚”頭上，然后用牙和另一只空閑的手系緊了拉繩。我看得出來(lái)，他的確是一個(gè)馴鷹手，而且是好手。我的膝蓋發(fā)軟。

With a twist of his wrist he slips a hood over her head and tightens the drawstrings with his teeth and free hand. He is a falconer, I see, and a good one. My knees feel rubbery.

[2]“驚悚”安靜地待著。她看不見，就不動(dòng)，這就是為什么要給她戴頭套。獵鷹戴了頭套，就不會(huì)扇動(dòng)翅膀亂動(dòng)，也就是說(shuō)它不會(huì)飛離你的拳頭，頭朝下掛在腳帶上，扇動(dòng)翅膀讓自己受傷。

“你要拿她怎么辦？”我問(wèn)。

“你抓到她的時(shí)候她多大？”

“出生后大約10天?！?/p>

“既然這樣我不能放她。你是她的第一印象。如果你從小養(yǎng)一只鳥，它會(huì)認(rèn)為你是它的媽媽，它就像你。這樣的鳥不會(huì)跟同類配對(duì)，因?yàn)樗讶丝醋魍?。如果放生，?duì)于它們種群的延續(xù)沒什么意義。而延續(xù)種群生存是保護(hù)瀕危動(dòng)物的首要目的——讓它們繁殖并增加種群數(shù)量?！?/p>

[2] Frightful sits quietly. She cannot see, so she does not move, which is the reason for a hood. If a falcon is hooded she will not bate, that is, she won’t fl y off your fi st and hang head down by her jesses, beating her wings and hurting herself.

“What will you do with her?” I ask.

“How old was she when you got her?”

“About ten days.”

“Then I can’t let her go. She is imprinted on you. If you raise a bird from a chick, it thinks you’re its mother and that it looks like you. Such a bird won’t mate with its kind, because it sees people as its kind. Set free it is worthless as far as the perpetuation of the species is concerned. And perpetuation of the species is what protecting endangered animals is all about—to let them breed and increase their kind.”

[3]“沒有饑餓紋，”他把手上的“驚悚”轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)來(lái)，打量了一番，“我必須得說(shuō)，作為一個(gè)孩子你把鳥兒照顧得很好。”鳥兒初長(zhǎng)羽毛的時(shí)候，如果吃不上恰當(dāng)?shù)氖澄铮舶秃统岚蛏暇蜁?huì)有饑餓紋。

[3] “No hunger streaks,” he comments as he turns Frightful on his fi st and looks her over. “I must say, you take good care of your bird for a kid.” Hunger streaks appear in tail and wing feathers if a bird does not get the right food during the time the feathers are growing in.

[4]我在想該做什么。朗布里奇先生把腳帶緊緊纏在手上，開始往前走。

我走在他旁邊，拼命想著救“驚悚”的辦法。

我先試試同情心?！跋壬姨枰@只鳥了。我和她一起打獵。她給我的餐桌提供食物。”

“附近的德里有個(gè)超市?！彼f(shuō)，邊說(shuō)邊加快了腳步。我也快步跟上。

我再試試禮貌的懇求?！扒竽懔耍壬?，放了她吧?！?/p>

“剛才都跟你說(shuō)清楚了?！?/p>

[4] I am thinking what to do. Mr. Longbridge has wrapped the leash tightly around his hand and now begins to move.

I walk beside him, desperately working out a plan to save her.

I try pity. “Sir, I need that bird badly. I hunt with her. She provides food for my table.”

“There’s a supermarket in Delhi,” he says, hurrying along. I hurry along too.

I try politeness. “Please, Sir, let her go.”

“You heard me.”

[5]這時(shí)天空的霧氣消散，太陽(yáng)出來(lái)，我可以更清楚地看到他的臉。他兩頰瘦削，鼻子很長(zhǎng)，眉毛粗重，眼角的眼袋深暗而顯眼。

我再試著跟他理論一番?！跋壬阏f(shuō)你不放她因?yàn)樗荒芊敝?。如果她沒什么用，不如讓我養(yǎng)著她。她對(duì)我很有用?！?/p>

“籠養(yǎng)期間她會(huì)繁殖的?！?/p>

“但怎么可能？如果她不會(huì)配對(duì)的話？”

“人工授精。大學(xué)里有一個(gè)很成功的人工繁殖項(xiàng)目，就是為瀕危猛禽準(zhǔn)備的?！边@時(shí)他端著“驚悚”的手往外伸出來(lái)；我伸手去抓“驚悚”。他看到我的動(dòng)作，就把“驚悚”拽回他的胸口。我夠不著了。

[5] The sun now shines out of a hazeless sky, and I can see his face more clearly. He has bony cheeks, a long nose, and heavy brows. Dark crow’sfeet mark the corners of his eyes.

I try reason. “Sir, you say you can’t let her go because she won’t breed. If she is useless, I might as well keep her. She’s useful to me.”

“She’ll be bred in captivity.”

“But how, if she won’t mate?”

“Artificial insemination. The university has a very successful arti fi cial breeding program for endangered birds of prey.” He is holding Frightful out from his body; I reach out to grab her. He sees me move and draws Frightful against his chest. I can’t reach her.

[6]我又試著用哲學(xué)來(lái)說(shuō)服他?！暗P(guān)起來(lái)的鳥兒不是真正的鳥兒。一只鳥兒只有成為山林和天空的一部分才算完整。 ”

[6] I try philosophy. “But captive birds are not really birds. A bird must be part of the landscape and sky to be complete.”

【背景知識(shí)】冒牌的保護(hù)區(qū)官員欺騙山姆，把獵鷹沒收。山姆并不知道這位官員是冒牌貨，只能千方百計(jì)把獵鷹要回來(lái)。山姆用盡各種辦法，想讓這位“官員”回心轉(zhuǎn)意，殊不知這位倒賣保護(hù)動(dòng)物的假官員絕不會(huì)輕易罷手。

【第一段】第二句中的插入語(yǔ)“我看得出來(lái)”移至句首，更符合中文習(xí)慣。短語(yǔ)a good one的譯文明確為“好手”。山姆看得出這位“官員”是馴鷹好手，覺得不好對(duì)付，于是腿發(fā)軟。

【第二段】動(dòng)詞bate很特殊，專指鷹躁動(dòng)不安扇動(dòng)翅膀，需要用比較大的詞典才能查到。短語(yǔ)about ten days（直譯：大約十天）需要添加“出生后”，意思才更清楚。而短語(yǔ)be imprinted on在這里的意思也較為特殊，指鳥兒由人工飼養(yǎng)，從小見到的就是山姆，算是鳥兒的第一印象。假官員在此編造理由，哄騙山姆。后來(lái)山姆把“驚悚”放生，它仍然找到了伴侶。

【第三段】此處的“饑餓紋”也是專業(yè)術(shù)語(yǔ)，專指鳥兒初長(zhǎng)羽毛時(shí)如果營(yíng)養(yǎng)不良會(huì)發(fā)生的現(xiàn)象。

【第四段】山姆腦筋急轉(zhuǎn)，嘗試了幾種方法營(yíng)救“驚悚”。一是搶奪，二是激發(fā)同情心，再就是哀求，但都沒用。最后一句you heard me，如果直譯會(huì)是“你聽到我了”，這在中文里意思不明，于是轉(zhuǎn)譯為“剛才都跟你說(shuō)清楚了”。最后兩句描寫假官員的相貌，顯然不是一個(gè)和善的人。

【第五段】短語(yǔ)in captivity意思是“俘虜、囚禁、圈養(yǎng)”等，因?yàn)楂C鷹是鳥，所以選擇“籠養(yǎng)”一詞。山姆一邊跟“官員”理論，一邊想搶奪獵鷹，還是做不到。假官員滿口謊言，還隨時(shí)提防山姆搶奪獵鷹。山姆畢竟是少年，對(duì)付不了假官員。

【第六段】山姆又想到了哲學(xué)說(shuō)理方法，不過(guò)終究都沒有用，因?yàn)檫@位假官員是倒賣動(dòng)物賺錢謀生，唯利是圖，根本不會(huì)考慮少年的心情和動(dòng)物的安全。

【小結(jié)】這一選段有一些專業(yè)術(shù)語(yǔ)，需要深入查證，以免理解錯(cuò)誤。另外，此處心理獨(dú)白和對(duì)話很多，譯文要考慮少年口語(yǔ)的特征，不宜過(guò)于成人化和書面化。同時(shí)，山姆的語(yǔ)氣和假官員的話語(yǔ)也要有所區(qū)別。一些排比句式（比如I try pity/politeness/reason/philosophy）的譯文應(yīng)該既體現(xiàn)原文句式特征，也要表意清楚。 □

On the Far Side of the Mountain(Excerpt II)

ByJean Craighead George