瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治

The packs met. Stiff-legged， nervous， they greeted each other with mouth sniffs and brief tail whisks. All tails curved downward and cricked in suspicion， then each hung loose and relaxed to tell the other wolves they would cooperate and hunt together. Antlered animals with their sharp hoofs are violent prey. The more wolves， the better.

But it was not that simple. There can be but one alpha male and one alpha female leading a pack. Kapu and Raw Bones snapped at each other， testing to see which it would be. They were both leaders. The battle for rank began as they lifted their tails. Then each inhaled the other’s scent and learned of his health， vigor， and dominance. Finally each growled his lower note. Raw Bones was older. This gave him the advantage. He raised his head above Kapu’s to say he was boss. Kapu would not tolerate it. He threw Raw Bones to the ground. Raw Bones quickly got to his feet. Kapu lifted his head above Raw Bones’s. Both wrinkled their brows and curled back their black lips to show gleaming white fangs. Growling， they threatened each other. Raw Bones tried to get his paw on Kapu’s back， but Kapu kept his head and chest above him. He snarled deep and low. With that the battle was over. Not a drop of blood was spilled. Kapu had won.

That was an important victory for the young wolf leader. Upon the death of his father， Amoroq， he had taken over the leadership of the pack. The death of an alpha male wolf is a tragedy， like the death of a nation’s president. For the wolves it takes many years to make a leader as strong and knowkedgeable as Amaroq had been. Kapu did not have time to develop with Raw Bones in his pack. To survive， he had to be dominant now. He had the fearlessness and initiative of an alpha， but he was young. That is a disadvantage when confronted with an older wolf. By sheer bravodo， by snarling and growling and keeping his head above Raw Bones’s， Kapu had held on to his rank as alpha male wolf of the Avaliks.

Raw Bones did not like it. He would try again.

Leadership settled for the moment， the six wolves worked together that early-autumn season hunting the moose that had been protected for years in the no-wolf zone. At first they fared well; then the moose became scarce. Grizzlies and human hunters were also harvesting them.

The famine went on. The caribou did not migrate south through Avalik land in the late fall. The wolves lost weight and vigor. In March， the breeding month， Kapu made the decision for himself and Aaka as well as for Silver and Raw Bones not to have pups

兩群狼相會在一起。他們腿腳有些僵硬，都很緊張，彼此嗅一嗅嘴巴，再甩甩尾巴，算是見面禮。接下來所有的尾巴向下彎曲，直挺挺地懸著，然后尾巴又變軟放松，告訴其他狼他們會彼此合作并一起捕獵。他們要捕殺的獵物帶著長角，蹄子鋒利，而且性情兇猛。狼的數(shù)目越多越好。

但事情并非這么簡單。狼群的頭領只能是一只公頭狼和一只母頭狼?？ㄆ蘸蜕腔ハ帻b牙咧嘴，試探著誰能當頭狼。他們以前都是頭狼。當他們都抬起尾巴，頭狼的爭斗就開始了。他們彼此聞一下對方的氣味，從中了解對方健壯與否、活力幾何、有無統(tǒng)治力。最后都是朝著對方一陣低吼。生骨年紀大一點。這是他的優(yōu)勢。他抬起頭，高過卡普，意思是我是老大?？ㄆ諢o法接受這一點?？ㄆ瞻焉撬さ乖诘厣稀Ｉ强焖俚卣酒饋?。卡普又抬起自己的頭高過生骨。兩只狼都雙目圓睜，縮回黑色的嘴唇露出亮閃閃的白牙來。他們低聲怒吼，彼此示威。生骨想用爪子按住卡普的背，而卡普的頭和胸一直都在生骨之上?？ㄆ瞻l(fā)出尖利的叫聲，然后又是低沉的吼聲。到此，頭狼之爭結(jié)束。沒有流一滴血?？ㄆ斋@勝了。

對卡普這個年輕的頭狼而言，這是一場重要的勝利。在卡普的父親阿馬羅克死去以后，卡普接管了狼群的領導權(quán)。一只公頭狼的去世是一個悲劇，就像某個國家元首的離世一樣。狼群需要很多年才能產(chǎn)生一個像阿馬羅克那樣強壯和見多識廣的頭狼。有生骨在狼群里，卡普沒有時間慢慢成長。為了生存，卡普不得不現(xiàn)在就成為頭狼。他具有頭狼必需的無所畏懼和主宰一切的精神，但他還年輕。與年長的狼相比，年輕是一個劣勢。但僅憑無所畏懼的精神，以及尖叫和低吼，還有把頭保持在生骨之上，卡普保住了他作為阿瓦里克河狼群公頭狼的地位。

生骨不喜歡這樣。他還會再次為頭狼而爭。

頭狼之爭暫時落定之后，六只狼就一起開始捕獵。他們在早秋時節(jié)在這個無狼區(qū)里一起捕殺那些多年被保護的麋鹿。最初一切都很好。然后麋鹿就變得很少見了。因為灰熊和獵人也在圍捕麋鹿。

饑餓在持續(xù)。深秋時節(jié)北美馴鹿也沒有經(jīng)過阿瓦里克河地區(qū)往南遷徙。群狼變得日漸消瘦和沒有活力。到了三月，本來應該是繁殖季節(jié)，卡普卻決定自己和阿卡，以及銀白和生骨今年不會生狼崽。

【背景知識】在朱莉的幫助下，兩個狼群合二為一，這樣更利于捕獵和生存。然而，按照狼群的習性，一個狼群必須有一只頭狼，不是兩只。選段把爭奪頭狼的過程一一展現(xiàn)出來，讓人大開眼界。

【第一段】第二句原文非常簡潔，而中文不能照搬原文句式，譯文按照中文習慣改變了句式，采用了中文流水句的方式。

【第二段】這里有幾個很難翻譯的點。其一是snap，其英文解釋是if an animal such as a dog snaps at you， it opens and shuts its jaws quickly near you， as if it were going to bite you（如果有動物，比如狗，對著你snap，意思是它的下巴很快地張開合上，似乎將要咬你）。這在中文里沒有對應的表達。這種情況下我們一般用“齜牙咧嘴”，而齜牙咧嘴對應的英語應該是bare their teeth，而不是snap。為了簡潔，譯文使用了“齜牙咧嘴”，實際上不是snap的準確意思。第六句中的句式是learned of his health， vigor， and dominance（了解到他的健康、活力和統(tǒng)治力），譯文為各個名詞添加了相應的詞語，譯為“從中了解對方健壯與否、活力幾何、有無統(tǒng)治力”，是為了譯文更清楚明白。另外一點是wrinkled their brows（皺起了眉頭）。中文里很少說狼或者狗能夠皺眉頭，譯文在此進行了轉(zhuǎn)譯，翻譯為“雙目圓睜”。

【第三段】第四句中的make意義寬泛，譯文使用了“產(chǎn)生”來翻譯。而第五句中的develop（發(fā)展）是指卡普在狼群中本來應該慢慢“成長”，卻不得不過早地為頭狼而戰(zhàn)。第六句中的to be dominant（要主宰一切），其譯文明晰化為“不得不現(xiàn)在就成為頭狼”（否則就只能忍辱偷生）。第七句中的initiative（If you have initiative， you have the ability to decide what to do next and to do it， without needing other people to tell you what to do.自己做主發(fā)號施令，無須聽命于他人。）不宜按照字面翻譯，譯文處理為“無所畏懼和主宰一切的精神”，把前后兩個詞用“精神”聯(lián)系起來。

【第四段】每一只狼都有性格，生骨很倔強，最后也會為此付出代價的。第三句比較長，譯文使用了分句技巧。最后一句之前添加了“因為”，把原文的因果關系明晰化。

【第五段】這一段描述狼群嚴酷的生存條件，他們完全依賴大自然而生存，氣候和環(huán)境的變化都會帶來兇險。第三句譯文添加了“變得日漸”，把原文中隱含的漸進性表示出來。而第四句，譯文添加了“本來”，這樣就在譯文中明示了原文的邏輯關系。

【小結(jié)】這一部分原文描寫頭狼之爭的戰(zhàn)斗，細膩傳神，栩栩如生。但翻譯難度較大。有幾組詞語都不能按照字面來直譯，需要根據(jù)原文意思以及中文的習慣加以變通之后才能合適。另外，原文為了追求簡潔生動，有些句子之間沒有使用連接成分，這需要譯者在譯文中適當添加邏輯詞語，讓中文譯文的句子更加連貫，不至于破碎和生硬。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?□