文/哈珀·李 譯析/吳文安
《殺死一只仿聲鳥》(節(jié)選四)
文/哈珀·李 譯析/吳文安
We came to the street light on the corner, and I wondered how many times Dill had stood there hugging the fat pole, watching, waiting,hoping. I wondered how many times Jem and I had made this journey, but I entered the Radley front gate for the second time in my life. Boo and I walked up the steps to the porch. His fingers found the front door knob. He gently released my hand, opened the door, went inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again.
[2] Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.
[3] I turned to go home. Street lights winked down the street all the way to town. I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle. There were Miss Maudie’s, Miss Stephanie’s—there was our house, I could see the porch swing—Miss Rachel’s house was beyond us, plainly visible. I could even see Mrs. Dubose’s.
[4] I looked behind me. To the left of the brown door was a long shuttered window. I walked to it, stood in front of it, and turned around. In daylight, I thought, you could see to the post of fi ce corner.
[5] Daylight … in my mind, the night faded. It was daytime and the neighborhood was busy. Miss Stephanie Crawford crossed the street to tell the latest to Miss Rachel. Miss Maudie bent over her azaleas. It was summertime, and two children scampered down the sidewalk toward a man approaching in the distance. The man waved, and the children raced each other to him.
[6] It was still summertime, and the children came closer. A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishingpole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention.
[7] It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose’s. The boy helped his sister to her feet, and they made their way home.Fall, and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day’s woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, apprehensive.
[8] Winter and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog.
[9] Summer, and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him.
[10] Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.
[11] The street lights were fuzzy from the fi ne rain that was falling. As I made my way home, I felt very old, but when I looked at the top of my nose I could see fi ne misty beads, but looking crosseyed made me dizzy so I quit. As I made my way home, I thought what a thing to tell Jem tomorrow. He’d be so mad he missed it he wouldn’t speak to me for days. As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn’t much else for us to learn,except possibly algebra.
我們來到街角的路燈處,我心想有多少次啊迪爾就站在那里抱著那根粗大的燈桿,張望,等待,滿懷希望。我還想有多少次啊杰姆和我走過這段路,但走進(jìn)拉德利家的前門,我這輩子才是第二次。布爾和我從臺階走上門廊。他用手摸到了前門把手,然后輕輕松開我的手,打開門,走進(jìn)去,關(guān)上了身后的門。自那以后我再沒見過他。
[2]鄰居之間,有人去世會送食物,有人生病會送花兒,其他的事情送些小物件兒。布爾是我們的鄰居。他給我們兩塊肥皂刻的娃娃,一只帶鏈子的破舊懷表,一對象征好運的硬幣,還有我們的生命。但鄰居們都應(yīng)回送一些東西。我們從樹洞里取出東西,卻從沒有放回去什么:我們什么都沒有給布爾,這讓我感到傷心。
[3]我轉(zhuǎn)身回家去。路邊一排延伸到鎮(zhèn)上的路燈不停閃爍。我從來沒有在這個角度看過我們的街區(qū)。有莫迪小姐家、斯蒂芬妮小姐家、還有我們家,我能看到我家門廊上的秋千——蕾切爾小姐家離我們很遠(yuǎn),也看得一清二楚。我甚至能看到杜博思太太家。
[4]我朝后看。棕色門的左邊是一個長長的百葉窗。我走過去,站在窗前,又轉(zhuǎn)過身來。我想,如果是白天,我能一直看到郵局那個拐角。
[5]白天……在我的頭腦中,夜晚逐漸褪去。是白天,街區(qū)很繁忙。斯蒂芬妮·克勞福德小姐穿過街道,去跟蕾切爾小姐聊最新發(fā)生的事兒。莫迪小姐俯身照料她的杜鵑花。這是夏天,兩個孩子蹦蹦跳跳地跑下人行道奔向一個從遠(yuǎn)處走來的男人。男人揮揮手,孩子們爭先恐后跑向他。
[6]還是夏天,孩子們走得更近。一個男孩慢吞吞地沿著人行道走,身后拖著一根魚竿。一個男人雙手叉腰站在那里等他。還是夏天,他的孩子們在前院跟朋友玩耍,演出他們自己創(chuàng)作的一幕怪異小戲劇。
[7]畫面又轉(zhuǎn)到秋天,他的孩子們在杜博思太太門前的人行道上打鬧。男孩把妹妹從地上扶起來,然后一起走回家。還是秋天,他的孩子們慢慢跑著經(jīng)過拐角處,臉上寫著一天的喜怒哀樂。他們在一棵橡樹那里停下,又高興,又迷惑,忐忑不安。
[8]冬天,他的孩子們站在前門口發(fā)抖,對面房子失火了,孩子的身影映襯在火光中。還是冬天,一個男人走到大街上,放下眼鏡,射殺了一條瘋狗。
[9]夏天,他看到自己的孩子們傷心欲絕。又是秋天,布爾的孩子們很需要他。
[10]阿迪克斯是對的。有一次他說,你永遠(yuǎn)都不會真正了解一個人,除非你穿上他的鞋子到處走。僅僅站在拉德利家的門廊上就足夠了。
[11]細(xì)雨濛濛,街燈變得模糊起來。往家里走的時候,我感覺很蒼老,但當(dāng)我盯著鼻尖看,可以發(fā)現(xiàn)細(xì)小的霧蒙蒙的水珠,不過對眼看東西讓我頭暈,只好不再看。往家里走的時候,我在想明天要告訴杰姆什么。他錯過了這些會發(fā)瘋的,會好幾天不跟我說話。往家里走的時候,我在想杰姆和我都會長大,但再也沒有很多其他東西需要我們學(xué),也許代數(shù)除外。
【背景知識】這是小說的最后部分。作者仍然從小姑娘的視角寫景狀物,排比句很多,文學(xué)色彩濃厚。從第五段到第十段都是小姑娘的想象和回憶,仿佛電影鏡頭,一幕幕情景交融,感人至深。
【第一段】斯科特送布爾回家,第二次走入布爾家的前門,感慨萬千。段落中有兩個排比句,譯文應(yīng)盡量保留。這是夜里,看不清,所以布爾found the front door knob譯為“摸到了前門把手”。
【第二段】小姑娘回想過去,有些內(nèi)疚。他們只是拿走布爾送的東西,卻沒有回送什么。因此心中翻江倒海,喟嘆不已。
【第三段】斯科特站在布爾家的門口看周圍,什么都盡收眼底。這也能解釋布爾天天坐在家里,卻能觀察他們兄妹倆的一舉一動。
【第五段】斯科特在想象布爾眼中的世界。兩個孩子就是哥哥杰姆和斯科特,那個男人就是爸爸阿迪克斯。
【第六段】走得更近,指孩子們走得離布爾家更近。而所謂怪異的小劇目,是指從布爾的眼中看來,這些劇目較為怪異。因為這些諷刺布爾家的事情他不一定很清楚。
【第七段】仍然是斯科特設(shè)想布爾眼中的場面。布爾在橡樹洞里放東西,然后觀察孩子們的反應(yīng)。
【第八段】街區(qū)上發(fā)生的事情都逃不過布爾的眼睛。鄰居家失火了,布爾在背后觀察,并且暗中幫忙。阿迪克斯射殺瘋狗的英雄行為也看在眼里,所以布爾尊重阿迪克斯,愛護(hù)他的子女。
【第九段】這里是阿迪克斯看到孩子們很傷心,因為法庭辯護(hù)失敗了。孩子們需要布爾,因為有人要傷害他們。
【第十段】短語stand in one’s shoes本意是“設(shè)身處地”,這里譯者選取字面意義,因為兩句話連續(xù)使用這一類比,讀者能夠看懂保留原文形象的譯文。
【第十一段】該段情景交融,有三個排比句。小斯科特仿佛長大了,了解到世間的酸甜苦辣,感覺很蒼老,除了課本知識,不需要更多了解社會了。
【小結(jié)】這一選段重點在于斯科特心理的描寫。她從布爾家轉(zhuǎn)過身來,設(shè)身處地,頭腦中一幕幕場景紛至沓來,讓她瞬間成熟長大。這些描述從側(cè)面反映出作者對社會復(fù)雜性的點明(布爾家并非壞人)、對兒童幼稚行為的點破(演出戲劇嘲諷布爾家)以及對人性善惡的思索。譯者需要從全書的背景來理解和翻譯這一部分,否則譯文可能不著邊際,偏離作者本意。 □
To Kill a Mockingbird (Excerpt IV)
By Harper Lee