《狼女朱莉》（節選五）

瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治

She awoke with a start a short time later and looked about in puzzlement. The sky vaulted above her. A grass blade tickled her face， and she remembered where she was—up on the frost heave with the wolf pack！ Breathing deeply to quell a sense of uneasiness， she finally relaxed， unrolled， and sat up. Kapu was curled against her leg. His feet were flipping and he yipped as if challenging some wolf badman in his dreams. Softly she stroked his fur.

“All’s well，” she whispered and his paws stopped moving. He sighed and dreamed on peacefully.

She glanced around. All of the wolves were asleep， although they usually went hunting when the sky was lime-green. Perhaps they knew something she didn’t know. Sniffing and turning her head， she saw nothing different from any other evening. Then in the distance a thick wall of fog arose. It blotted out the horizon， the far dips and heaves， the grasses， the pond， and finally her own frost heave. The fog streamed up the wolf slope and enveloped the members of the pack one by one until only Kapu was visible. Fogs were part of the Arctic summer， rolling in from the sea for only an hour or for many days， but Miyax had never given them much thought. Now she remembered that when the fog rolled over Barrow， airplanes were grounded， ships and boats had to be anchored， and even the two jeeps in town sat where they had stopped in the fog. She also remembered that people were prisoners of the fog， too. They could not see to hunt.

Now， if the wolves did not bring her some meat， she might not eat for days. She could resort to the belly-basket again， but Jello was jumpy and she doubted if she had enough courage to put her hands in the mouths of the others. Perhaps Kapu would share his meals with her.

“Kapu？” He sighed and pushed tighter against her. The whiskers that protected his sensitive nose and warned him of objects nearby， twitched as her breath touched them. His lips curled up. Whatever he was dreaming about now must be funny， she thought. She hoped so， for her wide-awake dream was hardly amusing—it was desperate.

She was looking at Silver stretched not far away in a thin spot of fog. Zing， the incorrigible Zing， was nursing again. Silver growled. The pup rolled to his back， paws outstretched like an upside-down chair. The Silver moved out of the fog. She snuggled up to her mother， suckled two or three times， more for comfort than food， and fell back to sleep.

過了一小會兒，米婭克斯猛地驚醒，困惑地看看四周。頭頂是弧形的天空。一枝草葉戳到她臉上，她想起了自己在哪里——她在凍土堆頂上跟狼群在一塊兒！她深吸一口氣，讓不安的感覺稍稍平復，然后終于放松下來，挺直身子，坐起來。卡普緊挨著她的腿，蜷縮著身子。他的腳在翻動，口里尖叫，似乎在夢中挑戰某只惡狼。米婭克斯輕柔地撫摸卡普的毛發。

“一切都很好。”她小聲地跟卡普說，然后卡普的爪子不動了。卡普嘆一口氣，繼續安靜地做夢。

米婭克斯瞥一眼四周。所有的狼都在睡覺。一般情況下，天空呈現淺黃綠色的時候，他們該去狩獵了。也許有些事情她不知道，但狼群知道。她轉著頭，聞一聞周圍，沒看到跟其他傍晚有什么不同。然后，在遠處，有一層濃重的霧幔緩緩升起。大霧遮蔽了遠方的地平線，然后是遠處的洼地和凍土堆，然后是草地、水塘，最后是她所在的凍土堆。大霧緩緩流動，爬上了狼群所在的斜坡，將群狼一個一個包裹起來，最后只有卡普還看得見。濃霧是北極地區夏天常見的天氣，從海面而來，持續僅一個小時或者數日，但米婭克斯對此從來沒有多想過。現在她記起來，大霧彌漫之時，巴洛鎮的航班就會停飛，大小船只必須靠港，甚至是鎮上的兩輛吉普車都要待在原地不動。她還記起來，人們也會成為大霧的囚徒。因為看不見，就不能狩獵。

現在，如果狼群不能給她帶一些肉來，她也許數天都吃不上飯。她或許還能再指望一下狼群的口中儲備，但果凍現在緊張不安，她懷疑自己是否有足夠的勇氣再把手伸進其他狼的嘴里去。也許卡普會把自己的肉跟她分享。

“卡普？”卡普又噓了口氣，挪了挪，朝她靠得更緊了。卡普的胡須一般是用來保護他敏感的鼻子，或者提醒他附近有什么東西，現在由于米婭克斯的呼吸吹到了胡須，胡須就抽動了幾下。卡普的嘴唇撅了起來。不管他現在夢到了什么，肯定是可笑的事情，米婭克斯想。她希望如此，而她自己的白日夢一點兒都不可笑——而是絕望極了。

她又看到了銀白，在不遠處舒展著身體睡覺，周圍一層薄霧。津，那個無比固執的津，又開始給小狼喂奶了。銀白怒吼了一聲。小狼崽翻了個身，肚子朝上，四個爪子伸開，就像一把底朝天的椅子。銀白從大霧中走了過來。銀白依偎到狼媽身邊，咂了兩三口，與其說是喝奶，不如說是尋求安慰。然后銀白躺下來睡著了。

【背景知識】米婭克斯面臨絕境，僅靠自己難以生存，就混進狼群，從熟悉的狼崽兒那里討要一點兒食物維持生命。她與狼為伍，時時刻刻膽戰心驚，又不知道何時會有新的情況。因此她小心翼翼，密切觀察周圍的動向。該選段就是米婭克斯在狼群求生的一個片段。

【第一段】第一句譯文調整了原文的順序，因為中文的動作一般按照時間順序來敘述，而英文的句式以主語為中心。接下來的兩個動詞vault和tickle都不宜按照字面翻譯，譯文中把vault變成了形容詞，而tickle也沒有譯為“撓癢”。后面的動詞unroll和flip都需要斟酌翻譯。

【第二段】英語的主謂短語she whisper（她低語）在譯文里補出了對象“跟卡普說”，目的是讓中文更自然流暢。

【第三段】情況不同尋常，該狩獵的時候狼群卻在睡覺。米婭克斯開始琢磨到底是為什么。原文里，大霧的隱喻是a thick wall of fog（濃重的霧墻），不符合中文習慣，于是改為“濃重的霧幔”。接下來原文的名詞詞組之間譯文增加了“然后”，使句子更連貫。

【第四段】第二句中的belly-basket不能直譯為（肚子籃子），這里指狼用嘴巴給其他狼帶來的碎肉，吐出來給別的狼吃。米婭克斯是伸手從狼的嘴里撈出碎肉，非常危險，她擔心目前行不通了。僅能指望自己的好朋友卡普給她分享一點兒吃的。

【第五段】動詞push不宜直譯為“推了推”，這里指躺著的狼挪動了一下。譯文添加了幾個字，讓中文更自然。英文短句twitched as her breath touched them非常簡潔，中文在此做不到，只能靠添加文字來傳遞原文的意思：“現在由于米婭克斯的呼吸吹到了胡須，胡須就抽動了幾下。”最后兩句話語義比較曲折，描述卡普夢里碰到了好笑的事情，但米婭克斯面臨的卻是絕境，其中wide-awake dream（清醒時做的夢）純屬自我調侃，并非真的指白日夢。

【第六段】狼崽吃奶，會招致哥哥姐姐們的嫉妒。因此銀白會用低吼表達不滿。然而長大了的狼喝奶又實在沒什么用。該段的描寫真實而有趣。譯文添加了一些連接詞語，讓譯文更順暢。

【小結】該選段的翻譯難點有二：一、動詞的譯法。一些動詞不能直譯，要根據上下文靈活選擇，確保中文自然順暢;二、有幾個英文句子十分簡潔，中文譯文需要適當添加詞語才能讓中文語義貫通、文通字順。這里原文的特點是描寫精微細膩，譯文也當體現這一文學特色。