The Cats of Roxville Station (Excerpt IV)《羅克斯維爾火車站的貓》（節選四）

Several days passed without food， and Rachet was ravenous. She climbed out of the tire late in the afternoon and scanned the field. Something moved in a cluster of old milkweeds. A mouse？ She stalked it. But it wasnt a mouse. It was a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis that was hanging from a dried leaf. Rachet watched it pull its The Cats of Roxville Station? （Excerpt IV）

《羅克斯維爾火車站的貓》（節選四）

文/瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治? ?譯析/吳文安

By Jean Craighead Georgesix black legs out of the chitin box in which it had been changing from caterpillar to butterfly for the past two weeks. She gathered her feet under her for a pounce， but suddenly the tan creature shook its nubbin wings. They filled with fluid and expanded. The orange-and-black wings grew like a Japanese water flower. In moments Rachet was looking at a monarch butterfly. The cat in her wanted to play with this creature， but instead she purred. She purred only in the presence of a living creature， be it just a butterfly.

This pleasant purr filled the butterflys world. It had no ears， but it felt the vibrations on its antenna and lifted its wings. The young butterfly hesitated， then took a bearing on the angle of the suns rays and flew off. It was on a ruler-straight line for Mexico. As it went it would fly around buildings and tall obstacles and come back to that straight-line course until it finally arrived in the mountains of Mexico. Hanging from a pine needle， it would spend the winter with millions of other monarch butterflies that had migrated from North America， making the mountainside glow.

Watching it fly over the died milkweed patch， Rachet was aware of a slight tremor in the grass nearby and pounced！ She had a mouse.

This time holding it tightly in her teeth， she carried the mouse back to her tire and ate. It was delicious. She could hunt. She would live.

Rachet curled up tightly in the tire and closed her eyes. At dusk she went out prowling again.

She did not go very far before a storm blew in from the south， bringing rain. Cheeks， the chipmunk， stopped gathering acorns at the first drops and ran to his home in a stone pile by the bridge. He took a trail he had made through and around the rocks， went down a long tunnel in the earth below them， and stopped in his pantry. He stored his acorns， then scrambled down his runway for a visit to his tidy latrine. When the rain began to fall heavily he was in his bedroom/living room.

Mike， who headed home still looking for Rachet， climbed over his fence and ran up the back steps of the Victorian house where he lived. It was known as the “haunted house.” An older woman， Mrs. Dibber， lived there. Before her husband had died of cancer two years ago， she had taken in Mike， who was then an eleven-year-old orphan. The state paid her for fostering him， and he did the chores.

幾天過去了，都沒有食物，拉齊特餓極了。傍晚時分，她爬出輪胎，掃視那塊荒地。有東西在一片干枯的馬利筋叢里動了一下。一只老鼠？拉齊特悄悄靠近它。但那不是老鼠。那是一只蝴蝶，正從掛在干葉子上的繭殼中爬出來。拉齊特在旁邊觀望，看它把六只黑色的腿從角質素外殼中抽出來。過去的兩周時間里，正是在那個殼里它從毛毛蟲變成了蝴蝶。拉齊特四腳收回，作勢欲撲，但是那個棕褐色的東西突然抖了抖片狀的翅膀。翅膀上滿是液體，然后伸展開。那對橙黑相間的翅膀舒展開，像是一朵日本睡蓮。片刻之間，展現在拉齊特面前的就是一只黑脈金斑蝶。拉齊特出于貓的本能想跟這只蝴蝶玩一會兒，最后只是咕嚕了一聲作罷。她只有在活物面前才會發出咕嚕聲，即便僅僅是一只蝴蝶。

然而這一高興的咕嚕聲震動了蝴蝶的世界。蝴蝶沒有耳朵，但它能用觸角感覺到震動，于是抬起了翅膀。這只初生的蝴蝶猶豫了一下，選擇了太陽光的方向，飛走了。這是朝向墨西哥的直線方向。在它的行進過程中，它會繞過建筑物和高高的障礙物，再回到直線軌跡上，直到最終到達墨西哥的山區。它會自己掛到松針上，跟其他數以百萬計的黑脈金斑蝶一起過冬。那些蝴蝶也都是從北美遷徙而來，它們一起讓墨西哥的那片山坡熠熠生輝。

拉齊特正看著蝴蝶飛過那片枯死的馬利筋，突然覺察到附近草叢里有輕微的顫動，于是撲了過去。她抓到了一只老鼠。

這一次，拉齊特用牙齒把老鼠緊緊地咬住，帶回自己的輪胎那里，然后吃掉。太美味了。她能捕獵。她可以活下去了。

拉齊特在輪胎里緊緊地蜷縮著身子，閉上了眼睛。黃昏時，她再次出門搜尋食物。

她還沒走太遠，一陣暴風雨就從南面襲來，風雨交加。花栗鼠奇克斯在雨剛剛落下時就不再收集橡樹果，跑回家中。他的家在大橋旁邊的石堆里。在巖石中間和巖石旁邊，奇克斯有自己踩出來的小路。他走過這段路，又鉆進地面之下一條長長的隧道，最后停在自己的儲藏室里。奇克斯放下收集來的橡樹子，沿著自己的跑道爬下去，光顧了一次自家整潔的廁所。雨越下越大時，奇克斯已經待在自己的臥室兼客廳里了。

邁克一邊往家走一邊尋找拉齊特。他翻過籬笆，沿著那座維多利亞式房子后面的臺階上去。他住在那里。那座房子被叫作“鬼屋”。有一位年老的女士，迪波夫人，住在那里。兩年前，她的丈夫因為癌癥去世。在此之前，迪波夫人就收養了邁克。那時候邁克11歲了，是個孤兒。州政府因為她收養邁克給她資助，而邁克可以做家務。

【背景知識】拉齊特開始了艱難的獨自求生，并且吸取教訓，捉到了第一只老鼠。這一選段里，作者還借助拉齊特的目光觀察周邊的自然環境，介紹了黑脈金斑蝶、花栗鼠的生活習性。不愧是科普性生態文學。主人公邁克所住老屋也出場了。

【第一段】這里有一種英漢語言的差別值得注意，即英語的不定冠詞翻譯方法。英語中的不定冠詞加名詞組合（a + noun）翻譯為中文時不宜全部轉換為“一個+名詞”。有時候中文可以靈活表達。比如，for a pounce，就不必翻譯為“為了撲一下”，這是少見的中文表達，譯文是“作勢欲撲”，更符合中文習慣。原文有一個短語chitin box（角質素盒子），實際指毛毛蟲的繭殼。原文有科普意義，譯文中要靈活對待。原文中還使用了三次creature（生物），借助貓咪視角，傳遞一種科普含義，也是有趣的視角，因為作為一只小貓咪，對周遭的事物并不了解，充滿了好奇。倒數第二句中的the cat in her（她身上的貓性）意思是她有貓的好奇本能，譯文沒有直譯，明晰化為“出于貓的本能”。

【第二段】該段可以稱為傳神的科普段落，生動地展現了黑脈金斑蝶天生的方向感以及按季節遷徙的習性。最后一個單詞glow傳遞的畫面逼真而動人：數以百萬計的蝴蝶掛在松針上，讓整片山坡閃耀著蝴蝶的輝光。

【第三段】意外之喜。貓咪沒有準備的撲殺，竟然捕獲了一只老鼠。譯文添加了“突然”，讓上下文聯系更緊密。

【第四段】原文簡單的敘述充滿了感情。拉齊特吸取教訓，緊緊咬住老鼠，不想再次失去獵物。最后的三個短句借助全知視角，對第一次成功捕獵大加贊揚。

【第六段】這一段借助貓咪引出她的鄰居花栗鼠，又是科普作品的特點之一。第一句中bringing rain的譯文為“風雨交加”，稍加增益。原文后面描寫花栗鼠不慌不忙地回家，有條不紊地生活，從容而優雅，字里行間充滿了作者對大自然以及野生動物的喜愛和贊美。花栗鼠有自己的專用小道、長長的隧道、儲藏室、自家整潔的廁所、自家的跑道，以及客廳和臥室。譯文“光顧了一次自家整潔的廁所”意在再現原文隱含的幽默感。

【第七段】這一段文字簡約，語義豐富。鬼屋出現，迪波老婦人也出場了。原文暗示她收養邁克純粹是出于私心（讓他做家務），并非是多么愛他。這為后來她嚴禁邁克養貓做好了鋪墊。倒數第二句譯文使用了分句技巧，把原文的一句話分譯為三句話。這樣譯文更符合中文習慣。

【小結】這一選段把生態文學和科普作品結合得非常好，在描述主要人物貓咪以及邁克的同時，向讀者介紹了黑脈金斑蝶以及花栗鼠的生活習性。原文翻譯的難度并不大，但用詞十分考究，字里行間寓意豐富，譯者需要深入體會原作的用心，并在譯文中再現原文的意蘊和趣味。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?□