《罗克斯维尔火车站的猫》（节选二）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治

A blade of grass twitched just outside the tire. Rachet instinctively drew her feet under her and studied the grass through the tear in the tire. It quivered—something alive. Her hunger told her—mouse. Her tail twitched， her rear end went up， her chest lowered， and she pounced， swinging an open-clawed paw—and missed.

The mouse ran. It scurried down its trail and dove under a soda can. Rachet ran after it but only so far. Sitting down behind a clump of grass， she waited， motionless， for the mouse to come out and go home.

The ground shook， and a train roared into the station. She remained still and listened. Moments later a mans voice shouted “All aboard！” The mouse took advantage of the sound and scurried into its nest in the ground.

With its disappearance Rachet felt really hungry. She sniffed. But she didnt smell mouse. She smelled more cats crossing the vacant lot.

Queenella was first. Well behind her， running short distances， then stopping， came Ice Bucket， a white but dirty cat. Next came Flea Market. Her brown fur was matted from biting fleas. A small calico， Elizabeth， came slinking low from the vacant lot. She crept daintily and shyly. Then came Tatters and Tachometer， sisters. They dashed out from under the old tollbooth at the entrance to the station parking lot， where they had made their First Home after the parking meters had been installed and the booth abandoned. All cats seek a First Home， the place to which they return again and again， be it a pillow by a fire， a corner of a couch， or a sheltered spot in the wilds. It is not necessarily a permanent place， for a cat will shift homes according to food supply， mood， and events. Sometimes one will change First Homes just for a cat whim.

All the cats were walking to the railroad station. Their inner alarm clocks told them it was 6：45 A.M.—the time the Bent Lady put out cans of cat food by the station platform. She came there every day to feed the cats of Roxville Station. She liked them better than the people in the housing project， who rarely spoke to her. The cats liked her， too. They meowed and said hello by bumping their foreheads against her trousers.

Rachet smelled the food—the kind of food from a can she had sometimes been fed. Its aroma piqued her hunger， and the hunger drove her forward. Boldly she joined the cats on the trek to the Bent Ladys hand-out—stopping and starting to keep out of their sight. Near the station platform she sat down and watched Ice Bucket and Flea Market approach the food. Their tails were up， not quite as high and straight as Queenellas， and they swished them to express their wariness of the queen.

就在轮胎外面，有片草叶抖了抖。拉齐特本能地把爪子收到身子底下，通过轮胎空隙观察那棵草。草的抖动意味着有活物。她的饥饿感告诉她——是老鼠。拉齐特尾巴抖了抖，臀部抬起，胸部放低，爪子张开挥舞着扑了过去，但是没有扑到。

老鼠跑了。它沿着鼠道逃窜，钻到了一个汽水罐底下。拉齐特追着跑，但也只能到此为止。她在一个草丛后面坐下来，一动不动，等着老鼠从藏身处出来回家。

地面震动起来，一辆火车轰鸣着驶入车站。拉齐特待着不动，仔细倾听。过了一会儿有个男人喊：“各位请上车！”老鼠利用这个嘈杂的机会，窜进了地下的鼠窝。

老鼠消失了，这让拉齐特感到的确很饿。她嗅了一下。没闻到老鼠，却闻到有很多猫在穿过那块空地。

女王艾拉走在最前面。紧跟其后，跑跑停停的，是冰桶，一只脏兮兮的白猫。再后面是跳蚤市场。因为总是咬跳蚤，她的棕色毛发结成了硬块。一只小花猫，伊丽莎白，伏低身子悄悄从空地溜过来，优雅又胆怯。然后是破布和转速计两姐妹。她们是从那个老收费亭底下跑出來的。收费亭在火车站停车场的门口，因为安装了新的计费表而废弃。破布和转速计两姐妹从此就把老收费亭当作自己的大本营。所有的猫都会找一个大本营，就是它们会一次又一次回去的地方，不管是火炉旁的一个枕头、沙发的一角，还是野外的某个藏身处。大本营不一定是永久的居所，因为猫会根据食物供应、情绪和事件搬家。有时候，猫更换大本营仅仅是因为兴之所至。

所有的猫都在走向火车站。生物钟告诉它们现在是早上6点45分，是驼背夫人在站台上放猫食罐头的时间。她每天都到那里去喂罗克斯维尔火车站的猫咪。与做房地产项目的人相比，驼背夫人更喜欢猫，那些人很少跟她说话。猫咪们也喜欢驼背夫人。它们喵喵叫着，用前额蹭着她的裤脚打着招呼。

拉齐特闻到了食物的香味——是那种她有时候也能吃到的罐头食物。香味激起了她的饥饿感，饥饿感驱使她往前走。她大胆地加入了奔向驼背夫人猫食的大军。她走走停停，不想让别的猫看见。在站台附近，拉齐特坐下来，远远看着冰桶和跳蚤市场走向食物。她们的尾巴高高举起，但不如女王艾拉的尾巴那么高那么直，而且她们摆动着尾巴，表示出对女王的警惕。

【背景知识】刚刚被抛弃的拉齐特在荒野里艰难求生，一顿饱餐都不易获得。万幸的是，她还可以去蹭吃爱心人士的猫粮。不过，要吃猫粮也要看其他猫咪的脸色，毕竟，她是外来的。

【第一段】这里有两处语序调整。第一处是第一句的地点状语提前（就在轮胎外面），这样更符合中文习惯。第二处是最后一句的方式状语swinging an open-clawed paw（爪子张开挥舞着）提前，因为如果放在动作后面不符合中文叙事的一般逻辑。由此可见，英译汉当中，状语经常有需要调整语序的时候。第三句是一个省略句，译文添加了“意味着”，把整个句子连接起来。

【第二段】所谓mouse trail，就是老鼠来回走的小路。这里是老鼠的地盘，它熟门熟路，不容易被抓到。拉齐特年幼，没有经验，更不容易抓到老鼠。

【第三段】第一句是猫咪视角：先是感觉地面震动，然后意识到火车到来。译文不宜调整语序。

【第四段】第一句开头的方式状语中使用了抽象名词disappearance，翻译为中文时一般需要变换为动词。如果仍然沿用名词，比如“随着老鼠的消失”，译文会有较重的翻译腔。

【第五段】猫群当中一般都有一个地位最高的。在这些流浪猫当中就是女王艾拉了。进食的时候，其他猫咪都要按照地位高低依次而行，不得僭越。即使自由自在的野外，也不是完全自由的天堂，同样有暴力和欺压。拉齐特只能慢慢适应环境。该段有多个猫咪的名字需要翻译。一般情况下，动物名字都有意义，按照字面翻译即可，除非名字的意义不明确。像拉齐特（rachet）的意思是“棘齿”，跟全书的意义没有必然联系，因此按照发音翻译。而其他的猫咪，如冰桶、跳蚤市场、破布和转速计姐妹等，都一一按照字面意义翻译。至于文中的专有术语First Home，如直译“第一家”，中文不容易理解，所以转译为“大本营”。

【第六段】这里提到做房地产项目的人，为以后他们毒死猫咪埋下伏笔。最后一句的译文同样调整了方式状语的语序：方式状语提前（用前额蹭着她的裤脚），动词短语“打招呼”挪到了后面。

【第七段】第三句原文把副词boldly放在句首起强调作用，然而中文却不能照搬，这不符合中文习惯。名词trek的本意是“行程、旅程”，在这里稍嫌夸张，译文转译为“大军（猫群）”。最后对猫咪高举尾巴的动作描写算是知识普及：尾巴举多高显示出猫咪在猫群的地位，举得越高地位就越高。举起尾巴摇摆是一种友好的示意。

【小结】该选段当中有多处状语的翻译需要注意，尤其是方式状语的翻译。原文的几个方式状语在译文中都调换了位置，若非如此，中文会显得不太自然。译者有时候面临抉择：照搬原文语序或改变原文语序。本文中的几处实例属于不得不调换语序的范畴。