Julie’s Wolf Pack (Excerpt III)《朱莉的狼群》（节选三）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治

Yet Kapu loved pups. Pups aroused the most tender emotions in him and all wolves. Those emotions were so strong， they could overflow to pups not their own. When Kapu was young， his parents， Amaroq and Silver， had nurtured a lost girl-pup. She had learned to speak wolf with whimpers and posturing and had endeared herself to them. She had shared Kapu’s puppy food and romped with him when he spanked the ground inviting her to play.

As Kapu became friends with the girl-pup， a name for her formed in his mind. It was a scent name： Willow. She smelled of the tiny tundra willows she had crept through to join him and his brothers and sister at their den. She was a puppy herself， and so she became Willow Pup.

Many months later， when she went back to her people， he heard them call her “Julie” and added that sound to his scent， sound， and sight picture of her. She was Willow Pup Julie. The wolf names of the Avaliks were changed by their association with Julie. Kapu’s wolf name had been Wind Caller for his lilting voice， Zing’s Berry Brother， and Silver’s Saxifrage， a scented plant she liked to roll in. But Willow Pup Julie had named them only with sound—Kapu， Zing， and Silver. The sounds were vivid， and they began to know each other by Julie’s names for them.

Willow Pup Julie became more than a playmate to Kapu. She was a mother-sister. She had nursed him back to health after a hunter in a roaring metal bird had sent a bullet into his flesh and another had killed his father. Her care had inspired in him a deep loyalty. It was the love he felt for his parent alphas， and the love that dogs， the descendants of wolves， feel for their masters.

After Willow Pup Julie returned to her people pack， devoted Kapu checked on her often. He would stop out of sight of her home and call her back to her pack. She would answer with concern in her howl， and he would go away. She was afraid for him.

In the purple darkness of winter Kapu had found Aaka， the graceful rime-gray daughter of Storm Alarm and Star Gentian， leaders of the lower Colville River Pack. They lived east of the Avaliks and were a powerful tribe of nine. Amaroq had respected the Lower Colville wolves. He had marked the border between their properties with stronger messages than on any other border.

When Aaka was two years old， she became tired of helping Storm Alarm and Star Gentian with their puppies. She wanted her own. On a sunny afternoon she stole into the no-wolf land between the Avaliks and the Lower Colvilles and hid in the scrubby alders. She listened and waited for Kapu to find her. She had liked him for a long time.

可是卡普喜欢狼崽。狼崽能唤起卡普最温柔的情感。所有的狼都跟卡普一个样儿。这种柔情过于强烈，以至于能够泛滥到别人家的狼崽身上。卡普还小的时候，他的父母，阿马罗克和银白，曾经养育过一个迷路的女娃。她学会了狼的语言，可以像狼一样哀鸣、摆姿势，大家都喜欢她。她曾经分享卡普的狼崽食物。当卡普用爪子拍打地面，邀请她一起玩耍，她就会跟卡普玩闹。

卡普和这个女娃成了朋友，头脑里就给她起了个名字，一个有关气味的名字：柳树。女娃闻起来有冻原上那种矮小柳树的味道，因为她每次爬到狼窝里跟卡普的兄弟姐妹一起玩，都需要爬过柳树丛。她自己还是一个女娃娃，所以就叫她柳树娃。

七个月以后，她回到人们那里，卡普听人们叫她“朱莉”，于是把这个声音加上，组成了有关她的气味、声音和样貌的画面。她就是柳树娃朱莉。阿瓦里克河狼群里每一只狼的名字都因为跟朱莉发生联系而产生了变化。卡普的狼名原本是风之呼喊者，因为他的叫声高低起伏极为悦耳，像是歌唱。津的狼名是浆果弟弟，而银白的狼名是虎耳草，因为银白喜欢在虎耳草丛里翻滚，经常带着这种草的气味。但是柳树娃朱莉只是按照声音给他们起名字——卡普、津和银白。这些声音很生动，所以每只狼也都知道朱莉给他们起的名字。

柳树娃朱莉后来不仅仅是卡普的玩伴。她既是母亲也是姐妹。卡普重伤之后，是朱莉照顾他养好了伤。那一次，有个猎人坐在轰鸣的金属大鸟里面，把一颗子弹射到他的身体里，另一颗杀死了他的父亲。朱莉对他的照料让他产生了深深的依恋。这种爱就像他对自己头狼父母的爱，就像狼的近亲——狗——对主人的爱。

柳树娃朱莉回到人们那里之后，依恋着朱莉的卡普还经常去探望她。卡普会停在朱莉家看不见的地方，喊朱莉回到狼群去。朱莉会回答他，声音里充满关切。卡普就会走开。朱莉替他害怕。

冬天紫色的暗夜里，卡普找到了阿卡。阿卡是一只颜色灰白、姿态优雅的母狼。她是科尔维尔河下游狼群头狼的女儿，父亲叫风暴预警，母亲叫星龙胆。这群狼住在阿瓦里克河东边，共有9只，是很有实力的部落。卡普的父亲阿马罗克一直都很尊重科尔维尔河下游的这个狼群。在阿瓦里克河部落和科尔维尔河部落领地之间的边界上，阿马罗克留下了比其他任何边界都强烈的气味信息。

阿卡长到两岁时，已经厌倦了帮风暴预警和星龙胆照顾幼崽。她想要自己的狼崽。一天下午阳光灿烂，阿卡偷偷地溜进阿瓦里克河和科尔维尔河之间的无狼区，躲在矮小的赤杨丛中。她仔细倾听着，等待着卡普过来找她。她早就喜欢上卡普了。

【背景知识】这一部分从狼的视角出发，思考每一头狼的命名原则，体现狼对人类社会的观察，以及人类命名与狼群自我命名的差异。作者把自己设想为狼，从狼的心理视角观察和描述世界，然而狼的心理和思考难免打上作者的烙印和想象。狼的心理与作者的心理难免有矛盾和冲突之处。品味和翻译这样的文字很有趣味。

【第一段】第二句中最后的省略部分in him and all wolves是一个难点，译文需要补足原文意思，即“所有的狼都跟卡普一样对狼崽柔情款款”。这一选段最有趣的是命名方式，第四句中的girl-pup就是其中之一。对人类来说，小女孩是girl，而小狼崽是pup，卡普将这两个词放在一起，表示“跟狼崽一样的人类女娃”。第五句中的speak wolf非常简洁，意思是“像狼一样讲话”或“讲狼语”。译文添加了“像狼一样（哀鸣、摆姿势）”，让句意更明晰。

【第二段】这里作者想象着卡普给朱莉命名的理据，即柳树的味道。作者当然是在想象，因为我们无法了解狼的思维和狼的具体语言。

【第三段】卡普用了many months，也许作者认为狼不识数，数不清几个月。译者根据全文的信息补充了“七个月”，因为中文里不说“很多个月”。至于后面狼群之中的命名理据和叫法，则纯粹是作者想象的结果。lilt一词意思微妙，查阅网络《柯林斯词典》，解释为：If someone’s voice has a lilt in it， the pitch of their voice rises and falls in a pleasant way， as if they were singing. 中文里沒有一个词可以表达如此复杂的意思，译者只好增译，展开这个词语的释义，插入到译文中：“他的叫声高低起伏极为悦耳，像是歌唱。”

【第四段】第三句比较长，英语的叙事顺序是先有结果再补出原因。此类情况一般可以有两种翻译方法。其一是调换译文顺序，先讲原因再讲结果。其二是按照原文的信息结构灵活处理。考虑到原文的信息流当中后文是紧接着解释为什么朱莉既是母亲也是姐妹，因为朱莉帮卡普养好了伤。如果调换语序将打乱和中断原文的信息流。所以译文把全句拆分，先讲朱莉照顾卡普养好了伤，呼应上一句，然后在下一句解释受伤的过程。第四句中的deep loyalty不容易翻译。我们通常认为loyalty对应着“忠诚”，那么deep loyalty不过是“深深的忠诚”，但这样的直译很难理解。查阅网络《柯林斯词典》，loyalty的解释为：Loyalties are feelings of friendship， support， or duty toward someone or something. 在此，译者将loyalty明晰化为“依恋”。最后一句中的descendants of wolves（狼的后裔）一说具有争议，因此译文改为“狼的近亲”。

【第五段】第二句中的短语out of sight of her home按照字面意思是“在看不见她家的地方”，即卡普离朱莉的家很远，在视线之外，但叫声朱莉能听得见，因为卡普不能靠人类太近。最后一句中的“朱莉替他害怕”是指朱莉怕卡普离人类太近而受到人类伤害。

【第六段】这里要注意动物小说中的命名方式，阿卡的父母名字分别为风暴预警和星龙胆。这种带有丰富意义的名字是作者对狼群生活的想象结果。最后一句中的stronger messages实际是指头狼（卡普的父亲阿马罗克）用了更多尿液来标记这两个狼群之间的边界，因为对方实力强劲，阿马罗克心存忌惮。

【第七段】彼此忌惮的部落之间却常常有通婚发生。看来爱情的力量可以超越一切，狼群的故事跟人类非常相似。

【小结】该选段视角独特，从狼的心理思考狼群和人类各自命名的方式，读起来妙趣横生，但翻译难度较大。译文需要在很多地方补足必要的信息，让译文更加清楚易懂，同时保留原文的信息结构不至于发生太大改变。另外，这一部分出现的英文词语意义微妙，译文要采取适当的方式才能准确全面地传递原文思想。                                                                                                        □