Julie of the Wolves (Excerpt III)

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The black one greeted Jello by tackling his feet.Another jumped on his tail, and before he could discipline either, all fi ve were upon him.He rolled and tumbled with them for almost an hour; then he ran down the slope,turned, and stopped.The pursuing pups plowed into him, tumbled, fell, and lay still.During a minute of surprised recovery there was no action.Then the black pup flashed his tail like a semaphore signal and they all jumped on Jello again.

[2]Miyax rolled over and laughed aloud.“That’s funny.They’re really like kids.”

[3]When she looked back, Jello’s tongue was hanging from his mouth and his sides were heaving.Four of the puppies had collapsed at his feet and were asleep.Jello flopped down, too, but the black pup still looked around.He was not the least bit tired.Miyax watched him, for there was something special about him.

[4]He ran to the top of the den and

小黑狼抱住果冻的脚算是见面礼。另一个狼崽儿跳到果冻的尾巴上。果冻还没来得及教训他们俩，五个狼崽儿一拥而上。果冻跟他们翻翻滚滚地打闹了几乎一个小时。然后果冻跑下斜坡，转过身，停下来。追过来的狼崽儿们又把他围住，翻滚，跌倒，然后静静地躺着。仅仅安顿了一分钟，大家一动不动，随后立马满血复活。小黑狼甩了甩尾巴，像是旗语，然后大家又跳到果冻身上。

[2]米娅克斯翻过身来，高声大笑。“太好玩了。他们真的跟孩子一样。”

[3]米娅克斯回头看去，只见果冻的舌头伸在外边，两肋快速地起伏。四只小狼崽儿瘫倒在果冻脚边，已经睡着了。果冻也砰然倒地，但小黑狼仍然在四处张望。他一点儿都不累。米娅克斯看着他，因为他身上有些特殊的东西。

[4]他跑到狼窝顶上，开barked.The smallest pup, whom Miyax called Sister, lifted her head, saw her favorite brother in action and, struggling to her feet, followed him devotedly.While they romped, Jello took the opportunity to rest behind a clump of sedge, a moisture-loving plant of the tundra.But hardly was he settled before a pup tracked him to his hideout and pounced on him.Jello narrowed his eyes, pressed his ears forward, and showed his teeth.

[5]“I know what you’re saying,”she called to him.“You’re saying, ‘lie down.’”The puppy lay down, and Miyax got on all fours and looked for the nearest pup to speak to.It was Sister.

[6]“Ummmm,”she whined, and when Sister turned around Julie narrowed her eyes and showed her white teeth.Obediently, Sister lay down.

[7]“I’m talking wolf! I’m talking wolf!”Miyax clapped, and tossing her head like a pup, crawled in a happy circle.As she was coming back she saw all fi ve puppies sitting in a row watching her, their heads cocked in curiosity.Boldly the black pup came toward her,his fat backside swinging as he trotted to the bottom of her frost heave, and barked.

[8]“You are very fearless and very smart,”she said.“Now I know why you are special.You are wealthy and the始吠叫。那只被米娅克斯叫作小妹的最小的狼崽儿抬起头来，看到她心爱的哥哥没有休息，就挣扎着站起来，贴心地跟上去。狼崽儿们自己嬉闹的时候，果冻趁机走到一丛苔草之后休息。这是北极冻原上一种喜湿的植物。不过他还没躺好，就有一个狼崽儿找到了他的藏身处，扑了上去。果冻眯缝着眼睛，压平耳朵往前伸，露出了牙齿。

[5]“我知道你在说什么，”米娅克斯朝着果冻喊，“你在说，‘躺下’。”那个狼崽儿躺下了。米娅克斯四肢着地，想找个最近的狼崽儿说说话。那就是小妹。

[6]“嗯。”米娅克斯叫了一声，小妹转过身来，朱莉就眯缝起眼睛，露出了白牙。乖乖地，小妹躺下了。

[7]“我会跟狼说话了！我会跟狼说话了！”米娅克斯拍着手，像一个狼崽儿那样摇晃着脑袋，兴高采烈地爬了一圈儿。她爬回来的时候，看到五个狼崽儿坐成一排看着她，脑袋翘起来，一副好奇的样子。小黑狼大胆地朝她走过来，胖乎乎的屁股摇来摆去，来到米娅克斯所在冻土堆的底部，然后吠叫起来。

[8]“你胆子真大，也很聪明，”米娅克斯说，“现在我知道你为什么与众不同了。leader of the puppies.There is no doubt what you’ll grow up to be.So I shall name you after my father Kapugen, and I shall call you Kapu for short.”你很富有，你是狼崽儿们的头儿。毫无疑问，你长大了就会是头领。所以我要用我父亲卡普根的名字给你起名，简单点儿，我就叫你卡普吧。”

【背景知识】迫于求生需求，米娅克斯密切观察狼群，学习狼群之间沟通的方法。果冻在狼群里地位低下，相当于小狼崽儿的保姆。他与狼崽儿们的嬉闹有趣之极，也能让米娅克斯看出很多门道。米娅克斯想到，先从天真无邪的狼崽儿入手，取得他们的信任，不啻为接近狼群的捷径。

【第一段】这一段动词很多，灵活准确，翻译难度大，比如tackle、discipline、roll、tumble、plow into等，需要根据场景仔细选择对应的中文。倒数第二句虽然简短，用词和语序较难处理，译者在此调整了语序，没有直译surprised recovery，而是使用“立马满血复活”来表达“让人惊讶的精力恢复”之意。

【第三段】第一句是客观描写的句子，表面上指舌头伸出，两肋起伏，实则指果冻跟狼崽儿们玩耍，非常劳累。而小黑狼精力充沛，已经显示出头狼的潜质。

【第四段】第二句中的两个短语in action和副词devotedly不容易翻译，需要根据上下文灵活选择中文词语。最后一句的动作表情，正是米娅克斯要学习的沟通方法。

【第五段】米娅克斯一边自言自语，一边趴在地上，学习狼语。小妹是最好的练习对象。

【第六段】最后一句中的副词obediently放在句首，这是作者有意为之的强调，因此译文需要保留这一倒装语序。

【第七段】口语“I’m talking wolf!”极易理解，如何翻译却颇费思量。译者在此选择了口语化的表达“我会跟狼说话了！”，以此传递米娅克斯的兴奋之情。最后一句中的boldly也是倒装副词表强调，需要适当翻译才行。

【第八段】这里的wealthy并非一般意义的富有，而是爱斯基摩人所认为的勇敢、聪明和具有领导能力。倒数第二句中的what在译文里明晰化为头领，更易于理解。最后一句也点名了米娅克斯给卡普命名的来历。

【小结】这一选段总体上翻译难度不太大，但仍有一些动词和短语需要反复斟酌之后才能翻译。此处原文的文风活泼，少女的行为举止和语气跃然纸上，所以译文不应过于书面化和古板，也应该轻松自然充满童趣才好。□