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)在春天來了，春天對狼群有利。北美馴鹿會回來?？ㄆ赵缇陀媱澩桩敚禾炖锼麄儠缘蔑栵柕?，長得壯壯的。不要狼崽兒。

北美馴鹿北遷的時候，阿瓦里克河的狼群也會往北，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殺掉。他們長得膘肥體壯。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一點點。他們高昂著頭，尾巴直直地拖在身后。卡普信心倍增，而生骨越發(fā)比不上這個年輕的頭狼了。

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饋磙D(zhuǎn)了個身，帶領(lǐng)狼群調(diào)轉(zhuǎn)方向，經(jīng)過正在吃草的北美馴鹿，徑直來到坎吉克鎮(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，仿佛風中的舞者。在飄逸的毛發(fā)之下，他們健碩的肌肉起伏躍動。跑動中，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。卡普搜尋著朱莉的眼睛，告訴她自己很高興見到她。朱莉明白，俯身到地上來回應。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，那個獵人?？ㄆ諞]有聞到他的槍，也沒有看到他的步伐中帶有敵意，于是朝他們走了過去。

麝牛引起了卡普的注意。麝牛待在圍欄之外?？ㄆ崭话愣荚趪鷻诶镲曫B(yǎng)麝牛并收獲牛毛。這時卡普突然有了一個有趣的想法。追麝牛去。

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

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

阿瓦里克河狼群在麝牛群里高興地跑來跑去，直到玩夠了，身體過熱舌頭伸了出來。然后他們跑到不遠處，看柳樹娃朱莉和她的父親消失在冰冷的霧氣中。卡普用自己非同尋常的狼耳朵追蹤他們，聽到他們回到了坎吉克。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”，然后阿瓦里克河狼群跟隨他朝著北美馴鹿跑去。遠處，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在鹿群之上，仿佛一片枯枝構(gòu)成的森林。

【背景知識】這是一大段對阿瓦里克河狼群的描寫。正值春天，他們意氣風發(fā)膘肥體壯，在大草原上恣意奔跑和娛樂。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，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”，以增加趣味和文學性。

【第二段】原文的描寫生動形象，簡潔有力。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“head up， tail up”的隱含意義是“狼群因為要去見老友而高興”。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中的舞者”是直譯，讀者可以想見狼群風中奔跑時優(yōu)雅的姿態(tài)。而ripple一詞較難翻譯，譯文使用了“起伏躍動”，希望可以傳遞原文的動態(tài)形象。

【第四段】短語dropped to her knees字面意思是“跪倒在地”，其實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有敵意，竟然直接走了過去。

【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。他們對此視若無物，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，但卡普仍然能覺察他們的動向。

【第九段】又是傳神的動態(tài)描寫。其中動詞thunder不容易找到對應詞，譯文使用了“奔騰”，力圖體現(xiàn)馴鹿群奔跑時的壯觀場景。最后一句話既是如實的描繪，同時也暗示著鹿角帶來的死亡風險。

【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。但是原文意象繁復文采飛揚，譯文不宜過于直白和樸素，也應適當鋪陳才是。