The Cats of Roxville Station (Excerpt X)《罗克斯维尔火车站的猫》（节选十）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治 译析/吴文安 Jean Craighead George

Rachets pupils grew large with anger and fear; her fur bristled. Queenella would not move off her property—her territory. Queenella smelled Rachets ire and unsheathed her claws. She smelled of cat war.

Rachet too， smelled the pheromones of war and pulled in her head to protect her neck， anticipating the worst. She had seen Queenellas unsheathed claws， which spoke of a coming fight.

She looked away， then back when Queenella was looking away. Queenella looked away， then back when Rachet was looking away. A half hour of this and Queenella lifted her hindquarters to dash for the passageway and claim it with her scent.

Rachet sensed this movement on her whiskers and arose. Tail low， she walked stiff-legged toward Queenella， who rolled to her side. Her head and shoulders led her body—a “come fight me” move. Rachet， surprised by this move， stopped walking. Queenella raised a forepaw， feigning a strike. Rachet crept forward again—getting closer.

Queenella struck at Rachets nose， a sensitive spot on most mammals. Rachet lifted her nostrils out of the reach of her unsheathed claws and breathed lionlike. Queenella swung and missed. Enraged， she grabbed and pulled down Rachet with her forepaws， her mouth open， her voice silent. With her hind feet she tried to claw open Rachets vulnerable stomach.

Though she was held tightly in Queenellas forepaws and jaws， Rachets strong rear feet could still rake mercilessly at Queenellas belly. Both cats were on their sides， slashing at each other with claw and tooth. Queenella howled. Rachet hissed， spit， and growled. Suddenly Queenella rolled under Rachet and raked her stomach with her powerful hind feet. Rachet shrieked. Queenella shrieked.

The door to the kitchen opened. Rachet， alarmed by the appearance of the woman， stopped clawing Queenellas stomach and ran back to her heating duct. Queenella jumped to her feet and without even shaking her ruffled fur， dove through the break in the foundation， spraying her scent on the walls of the passageway to claim it as hers. She jumped out into a snowy world， flipped her paws， and leaped back inside. She sped to her box of rags by the hot water pipes.

Rank changed with that fight. Rachet had battled with the queen， and they had come off almost even. She was now second in the Roxville cat hierarchy. After the fight Queenella did not pay any attention to Rachet， and Rachet did not pay any attention to Queenella. They knew their positions， and by obeying them the cat rule of tolerance was established.

拉齐特的瞳孔因为愤怒和害怕而变大。她身上的毛也直立起来。女王艾拉不愿意离开拉齐特的地盘——拉齐特的领地。女王艾拉嗅到了拉齐特的怒火，亮出了自己的爪尖。艾拉发出了猫咪战争的气息。

拉齐特也闻到了战争的气息，她缩起脑袋来保护颈部，以防万一。她已经看到了女王艾拉露出的爪尖，这预示着一场打斗即将来临。

拉齐特看往别处，在女王艾拉看往别处的时候再转过头。女王艾拉看往别处，在拉齐特看往别处的时候再转回头来。这样对峙了半个小时，之后，女王艾拉抬起后腿冲向通道，并且用气味宣称对这个地方的主权。

拉齐特用胡须察觉到了这个动作，站了起来。拉齐特压低尾巴，直着腿走向女王艾拉。女王艾拉侧身翻倒。艾拉的头和肩膀前倾，这是一个“过来跟我打”的招式。拉齐特看到这个招式吃了一惊，停下来不再走。女王艾拉举起了一只前爪虚晃一招。拉齐特再次匍匐前行——越来越近。

女王艾拉伸爪去击打拉齐特的鼻子，这是大部分哺乳动物的敏感部位。拉齐特一仰头，躲开了艾拉伸出的利爪，然后像狮吼一般喘气。艾拉再次挥爪，没有击中。艾拉大怒，用前爪抓住拉齐特拽倒在地，张开口，却不出声。她想用后脚豁开拉齐特脆弱的肚子。

拉齐特虽然被艾拉用前爪和嘴巴紧紧抓住，但她强壮的后脚仍然可以狠狠地抓挠艾拉的肚子。两只猫都侧身躺着，用爪子和牙齿厮打。女王艾拉嚎叫起来。拉齐特嘶嘶叫、吐口水、低吼。突然，艾拉滚到拉齐特身下，用她强有力的后爪撕扯拉齐特的肚子。拉齐特尖叫起来。女王艾拉尖叫起来。

地下室通往厨房的门开了。拉齐特因为妇人的出现而受惊，不再抓挠艾拉的肚子，跑回到暖气管道上。女王艾拉跳起身，来不及抖抖乱蓬蓬的皮毛就跃入地基中的裂缝，然后朝着通道墙面喷洒自己的气味，要占为己有。然后艾拉跳了出去，进入了大雪纷飞的世界，飞快地甩了甩爪子，又跳了回来。艾拉飞奔回热水管道旁边自己的破布箱子。

猫群内的级别在这次打斗之后发生了变化。拉齐特跟猫群的女王打了一架，最后几乎平手。在罗克斯维尔火车站猫群的等级制之中，拉齐特现在排第二。打斗之后，女王艾拉不再理会拉齐特，拉齐特也不再理会女王艾拉。她们知道各自的位置。只要坚持这样的次序，就可以确立彼此容忍的猫群规范。

【背景知识】生态文学动物小说，其中也不乏武打场面。拉齐特为了生存不得不战，即便是女王级别的对手，也要与之奋力一搏。这一战直接提高了拉齐特在猫群的地位，可谓收获颇丰。作者细致传神的打斗场面描写自当来源于日常观察，以及对动物深深的爱。

【第一段】第二句中有两个her，译文里直接明晰化为“拉齐特的”，因为中文里代词使用不宜过多，否则容易混淆不清。最后两句中出现了两次smell，语法作用却不一样。第一个是闻到了别人的气息，第二个是自己发出了某种气息。译者切不可混淆，译文也需明示。

【第二段】站在拉齐特的视角，也已经看到了即将来临的大战，也闻到了战争的气息。短语anticipating the worst没有按照字面翻译为“预测最坏的结果”，而是按照中文习惯转化为“以防万一”。短语spoke of跟上一段的smell of类似，都是“预示”的意思。

【第三段】猫咪对峙的场面奇特而有趣：看往别处，然后再回头，反复多次。作者的描写还原了真实的猫战场景。女王艾拉进一步挑衅，冲到拉齐特的领地去撒尿。战争已不可避免。译文添加了“主权”。

【第四段】猫咪直着腿走近，或者侧身倒地，都是战斗的姿势。艾拉比拉齐特更有经验，把握着主动权，挥动爪子直接挑衅。拉齐特虽然年幼，却不怯阵，步步紧逼。在此，译者需要熟悉猫咪的习性，想象猫战的场景并描绘出来。

【第五段】女王侧卧，姿势比拉齐特低，所以拉齐特仰头躲开攻击。拉齐特愤怒了，所以狮吼一般喘气。拉齐特躲过了艾拉的两次攻击，进一步激怒了女王。女王按住了拉齐特，想要一击致命。肚子是猫咪的弱点，猫战要攻击对方的肚子，同时保护自己的肚子。

【第六段】猫战进入白热化。拉齐特拼死抵抗，要撕裂艾拉的肚子。艾拉變换姿势，也抓向拉齐特的肚子。最后两败俱伤，双双尖叫起来。从战果来看，艾拉稍占上风，拉齐特也不是善茬。译文要尽力再现战争场面，保持短促有力的短句，把原文有意的重复手法再现出来。

【第七段】女主人进来，猫战被迫中断。艾拉趁机抢占地盘，并跳了出去。不料外面大雪纷飞，艾拉又被迫跳了回来。猫战以意料之外的方式收场。

【第八段】第一句原文十分简洁，译文进行了适当增译，使得意思更明白。第三句的译文也有增译，点明了是罗克斯维尔火车站猫群中的级别。第四和第五句的译文保留了原文的重复句式。最后一句的译文也有增译，目的是让译文更清楚明白。

【小结】该选段的主题是猫咪战争场面。原文短促有力，多有重复句式，译文一方面保留了原文的短句特色和重复句式，另一方面在适当的地方进行增译，以便译文更加顺畅易懂和清楚明白。               □