Frightful’s Mountain (Excerpt V)

文/琼·克雷格黑德·乔治 译析/吴文安

Frightful knew exactly where she was going. She sped into the wind and covered the thirty miles to the one mountain among thousands in less than ten minutes.

[2] She dropped down onto the one hemlock among millions and came to the rest.

“Creee, creee, creee, car-reet,” she called.

There was silence, then, “Frightful!”

Sam put down the plumping-mill crossbar he was repairing and jumped to the rock by Baron Weasel’s home.Frightful peered at him through lacy hemlock limbs.

[3] “Frightful!”

She dropped down three limbs.

“Frightful.” Sam’s voice lowered to a whisper. “You came back.”

She hopped down to the next limb and looked for her perch. It was not there. But the plumping-mill crossbar was. Frightful alighted on it.

“Creee, creee, creee, car-reet.” She

“惊悚”精确地知道她要去哪里。她御风而行，不到十分钟，就飞越三十英里，来到了群山中的那座山。

[2]她下降高度，落到林海中的那棵铁杉树上休息。

“可里，可里，可里，咔里。”她叫道。

一开始没有声音，然后有人喊：“惊悚！”

山姆放下手里正在修理的锤打式磨坊横梁，跳到黄鼠狼男爵家旁边的岩石上。隔着铁杉树的树枝，“惊悚”盯着山姆看。

[3]“惊悚！”

她往下跳了三个树枝。

“惊悚。”山姆压低嗓门说，“你回来了。”

“惊悚”跳到旁边的树枝上，寻找她的栖木。没有了。但锤打式磨坊的横梁还在。“惊was home.

[4] Sam leaped from the rock and walked slowly toward her. His blue eyes looked into hers. His suntanned face creased with his big smile of wonder.

“Now, what do I do with you, beautiful bird?” he asked. “I can’t keep you.The Feds say I’m not old enough to have a falconer’s license.” Frightful tipped her head and focused an eye on Sam.

[5] “If I keep you, the Fish and Wildlife Service will just take you away from me. Maybe even jail me. You’re an endangered species. I can’t harbor an endangered species. I’ve learned that much!

“But,” he said, leaning closer to her,“if I don’t jess and leash you, you’re not a captive bird.

“Will you stay anyway?”

[6] Frightful made soft noises and flew to the Baron Weasel rock. The plumping-mill stick slipped and fell to the ground.

It hit with a force that scared Fright-悚”就落到横梁上。

“可里，可里，可里，咔里。”她回家了。

[4]山姆从岩石上跳下来，慢慢走向“惊悚”。山姆的蓝眼睛看着“惊悚”的眼睛。他被太阳晒得黝黑的脸因为惊喜乐开了花。

“现在我该拿你怎么办呢？漂亮的鸟儿。”山姆问道，“我不能养着你。联邦官员说我年龄不够，不能持有驯养游隼的执照。”“惊悚”歪着头，用一只眼睛盯着山姆。

[5]“如果我养着你，鱼类和野生动物署就会把你带走。或者干脆把我抓进监狱。你是濒危物种。我不能私藏濒危物种。这些我都知道了！

“但是，”山姆一边说一边朝“惊悚”靠得更近，“如果我不给你系上脚带和脚绳，你就不是一只家养的鸟儿。

“那么你还会待在这儿吗？”

[6]“惊悚”轻轻地叫了几声，然后飞到黄鼠狼男爵的岩石上。这时锤打式磨坊的木棍滑落到地上。

木棍落地的声音很大，吓了“惊悚”一跳。她飞到铁杉树最低的树枝上。山姆坐在那里一动不动。ful. She flew to the lowest limb of the hemlock. Sam sat still.

“I missed you,” he said. She lifted her feathers and softened her eyes. His words held the sounds she recognized as human love and affection. He chatted on.

[7] “I am pretty good at getting squirrels now, Frightful,” he said. “I had to learn to hunt them after they took you from me. I use the same kind of sling David used to kill Goliath. It’s accurate and packs a wallop. But it’s not like hunting with you. We were a team, and we shared such good food. Tasty rabbit for you, rabbit stew for me; good pheasant liver for you, pheasant pot pie for me. Squirrels just don’t quite make it.”

Frightful bobbed her head and listened. Sam talked on.

“我想你。”山姆说。“惊悚”撑起羽毛，目光也变得柔和了。她知道山姆说话的声音里充满了人类的爱意和柔情。山姆继续唠叨着。

[7]“我现在很擅长抓松鼠了，惊悚。”山姆说，“他们把你弄走以后，我不得不学会抓松鼠。我用的投石器，跟大卫杀死歌利亚的一样。投石器准极了，力道也足。但还是不如和你一起打猎。我们是一个团队，我们分享好吃的食物。美味的兔子给你，兔子炖汤给我；好吃的野鸡肝给你，野鸡锅饼给我。用松鼠做不出这些好吃的来。”

“惊悚”的脑袋上下耸了耸，只是听着。山姆不停地讲。

【背景知识】被假环保官员抢走的“惊悚”回来了，山姆却不能再养她。山姆年龄太小，不能拿到驯养猎鹰的许可证。“惊悚”听不懂这些，只知道这个男孩子就是自己的亲人，不能离开他。这是小男孩和猎鹰面临的困境。

【第一段】小说的主题句“群山中的那座山，林海中的那棵树”一再出现，成为整部作品的线索，也是非常动人的文字。该段中的动词很生动，sped和cover需要好好琢磨一下译文的效果。

【第二段】句中的象声词是在模拟游隼的叫声。山姆听到“惊悚”的叫声，惊喜至极，一跃而起。“惊悚”却要隔着树枝打量一番，趣味横生。lacy指丝边的、花边的，这里指隔着树枝看山姆。

【第三段】山姆为什么要压低声音呢？因为他已经无权养育猎鹰了，怕别人听见。所以“惊悚”的栖木也被移走。“惊悚”也有自己的语言，她高兴地表示自己回家了。

【第四段】这里情态描写极为细致，也很感人。山姆看着“惊悚”的

〔〕〔〕眼睛，脸上乐开了花。但英文使用了crease（起皱、弄皱）一词，不宜直译。“惊悚”不太懂山姆的话，所以用一只眼睛歪着头看山姆。

【第五段】山姆的心情很复杂，不舍得“惊悚”，又不敢公开驯养她，所以在想折中的办法。词语captive（被俘的、被抓的）此处指被人驯养的野生动物。

【第六段】英文里多用代词，而中文多用名词，该段的代词it、she、he要适时地换为名词。猎鹰的特殊动作，比如“撑起羽毛、目光柔和”都有特殊意义，表明鸟儿也能感知人类的细腻情感。

【第七段】这里再次引用了圣经故事，提到其中的大卫和歌利亚。其实山姆的知识很有限，能从圣经故事里学会用投石器很是难得。短语packs（包装、塞满）a wallop（猛击、痛击）不好翻译，译文只选取了文字背后的意思——“力道也足”，指能重击松鼠。倒数第二句的四个排比句式很有童趣，正如儿童在对话。猎鹰有头颈上下耸动的习惯，这种精微的描绘来自作者细致的观察。

【小结】“惊悚”和山姆久别重逢，都是欣喜异常，但人和鸟儿各自表达的方式不同。山姆的心情非常复杂，欲说还休、欲走还留，只是喋喋不休地对着鸟儿讲话，而“惊悚”用鸟儿特殊的方式来“理解”主人。该选段原文用词细腻、绘声绘色，译文也当再现原文的生动场面。 □