《遠方山林》（節選二）

文/瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治譯析/吳文安

《遠方山林》（節選二）

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，他的確是一個馴鷹手，而且是好手。我的膝蓋發軟。

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，這就是為什么要給她戴頭套。獵鷹戴了頭套，就不會扇動翅膀亂動，也就是說它不會飛離你的拳頭，頭朝下掛在腳帶上，扇動翅膀讓自己受傷。

“你要拿她怎么辦？”我問。

“你抓到她的時候她多大？”

“出生后大約10天。”

“既然這樣我不能放她。你是她的第一印象。如果你從小養一只鳥，它會認為你是它的媽媽，它就像你。這樣的鳥不會跟同類配對，因為它把人看作同類。如果放生，對于它們種群的延續沒什么意義。而延續種群生存是保護瀕危動物的首要目的——讓它們繁殖并增加種群數量。”

[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”轉過來，打量了一番，“我必須得說，作為一個孩子你把鳥兒照顧得很好。”鳥兒初長羽毛的時候，如果吃不上恰當的食物，尾巴和翅膀上就會有饑餓紋。

[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。“先生，我太需要這只鳥了。我和她一起打獵。她給我的餐桌提供食物。”

“附近的德里有個超市。”他說，邊說邊加快了腳步。我也快步跟上。

我再試試禮貌的懇求。“求你了，先生，放了她吧。”

“剛才都跟你說清楚了。”

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

我再試著跟他理論一番。“先生，你說你不放她因為她不能繁殖。如果她沒什么用，不如讓我養著她。她對我很有用。”

“籠養期間她會繁殖的。”

“但怎么可能？如果她不會配對的話？”

“人工授精。大學里有一個很成功的人工繁殖項目，就是為瀕危猛禽準備的。”這時他端著“驚悚”的手往外伸出來；我伸手去抓“驚悚”。他看到我的動作，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]我又試著用哲學來說服他。“但關起來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】冒牌的保護區官員欺騙山姆，把獵鷹沒收。山姆并不知道這位官員是冒牌貨，只能千方百計把獵鷹要回來。山姆用盡各種辦法，想讓這位“官員”回心轉意，殊不知這位倒賣保護動物的假官員絕不會輕易罷手。

【第一段】第二句中的插入語“我看得出來”移至句首，更符合中文習慣。短語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，覺得不好對付，于是腿發軟。

【第二段】動詞bate很特殊，專指鷹躁動不安扇動翅膀，需要用比較大的詞典才能查到。短語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be imprinted on在這里的意思也較為特殊，指鳥兒由人工飼養，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”也是專業術語，專指鳥兒初長羽毛時如果營養不良會發生的現象。

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

【第五段】短語in captivity意思是“俘虜、囚禁、圈養”等，因為獵鷹是鳥，所以選擇“籠養”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，還隨時提防山姆搶奪獵鷹。山姆畢竟是少年，對付不了假官員。

【第六段】山姆又想到了哲學說理方法，不過終究都沒有用，因為這位假官員是倒賣動物賺錢謀生，唯利是圖，根本不會考慮少年的心情和動物的安全。

【小結】這一選段有一些專業術語，需要深入查證，以免理解錯誤。另外，此處心理獨白和對話很多，譯文要考慮少年口語的特征，不宜過于成人化和書面化。同時，山姆的語氣和假官員的話語也要有所區別。一些排比句式（比如I try pity/politeness/reason/philosophy）的譯文應該既體現原文句式特征，也要表意清楚。 □

On the Far Side of the Mountain(Excerpt II)

ByJean Craighead George