瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治　吳文安/譯析

A knock sounded at his door.

門(mén)口傳來(lái)敲門(mén)聲。

“Its me， Singing Bird. Lets go fishing.”

“是我，歌唱鳥(niǎo)。我們?nèi)メ烎~(yú)吧?！?/p>

Charlie opened the door a crack and peered out. There stood his very best friend， Singing Bird. The two of them had met in second grade when her parents bought land and built a ranch house across the irrigation ditch from Granddad. Her parents had seen the Grand Teton Mountains when they were first married and pledged that somehow， some way， they must live near those majestic snowcapped peaks. Although the Teton Sioux Nation had never lived in the valley below these mountains， Singing Birds parents felt a kinship with them. The Indian name Teton came from Tutonwan， one of the Teton Sioux tribes that lived along a river. It meant “people in community.”

查理把門(mén)打開(kāi)一條縫，向外張望。外面站著他最好的朋友歌唱鳥(niǎo)。他們倆初次見(jiàn)面是在二年級(jí)。那時(shí)候歌唱鳥(niǎo)的父母購(gòu)買(mǎi)土地建起了牧場(chǎng)大屋，與查理爺爺家隔著灌溉渠相望。歌唱鳥(niǎo)的父母剛剛結(jié)婚時(shí)，曾經(jīng)看到過(guò)大提頓山脈，發(fā)誓要想方設(shè)法到這些雄偉的雪峰旁邊居住。雖然提頓蘇人從沒(méi)有在這些高山下的山谷里居住過(guò)，但歌唱鳥(niǎo)的父母覺(jué)得跟這些高山血脈相親。印第安人名字提頓來(lái)自圖頓灣，那是一個(gè)提頓蘇人部落，曾經(jīng)沿河而居。這個(gè)詞語(yǔ)的意思是“聚族而居的人們”。

School separated Singing Bird and Charlie when Charlies family moved to Jackson and Singing Birds parents returned to the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota for the school year. But each spring Singing Bird and her family came back to Sagebrush Flats when school was out.

因?yàn)樯蠈W(xué)，歌唱鳥(niǎo)和查理彼此分開(kāi)了。那時(shí)查理一家搬到了杰克遜鎮(zhèn)，而歌唱鳥(niǎo)的父母回到了南達(dá)科他州的立巖保護(hù)區(qū)，以方便孩子上學(xué)。但每個(gè)春天放假之時(shí)，歌唱鳥(niǎo)和她的家人都會(huì)回到山艾公寓。

“Hey，” Charlie said， his eyes almost closed by his big smile. “When did you get back？”

“嗨?！辈槔碚f(shuō)。他笑得合不攏嘴，眼睛瞇成一條縫，“你什么時(shí)候回來(lái)的？”

“Yesterday，” said Singing Bird. “The balsamroot is blooming. We always come back when it blooms.”

“昨天，”歌唱鳥(niǎo)說(shuō)，“香根開(kāi)花了。香根開(kāi)花的季節(jié)我們都會(huì)回來(lái)?！?/p>

Charlie was more than happy to see her. Not only was she a good fisherman and nifty storyteller， but she was also an observant naturalist. He needed her on his study.

看到歌唱鳥(niǎo)，查理高興極了。她不僅僅是一個(gè)釣魚(yú)好手，特別擅長(zhǎng)講故事，還是一個(gè)善于觀察的博物學(xué)家。查理的研究需要她幫忙。

“The caddis flies are hatching，” she said. “The cutthroat trout will be biting in Cache Creek. Come on out.”

“石蛾開(kāi)始孵卵了?！备璩B(niǎo)說(shuō)，“卡什溪的克拉氏鮭魚(yú)即將咬鉤子。我們趕緊去。”

Singing Bird wore her long hair in two braids with beautiful black and brown feathers of the prairie chicken tied near their ends. Her bronze cheeks glowed， and her large eyes were as dark as Gentian Canyon in a storm. Slender eye brows arched over them， emphasizing her pretty face. Silver squash blossom earrings dangled from her lobes. This morning Singing Bird wore her fishing outfit， a pair of faded and frayed blue jeans and a T-shirt that said： STANDING ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS AND BOYS BASEBALL TEAM. Charlie stepped out the door and quickly closed it behind him.

歌唱鳥(niǎo)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的頭發(fā)扎成兩條辮子，辮子末梢裝飾著漂亮的棕色和黑色相間的草原松雞羽毛。她棕色的雙頰泛著紅光，一雙大眼睛就像暴風(fēng)雨中的龍膽峽谷一樣黝黑深邃。眼睛上面的眉毛細(xì)細(xì)彎彎，愈發(fā)凸顯出她漂亮的臉龐。耳垂上掛著銀色的西葫蘆花樣式耳環(huán)。今天早上，歌唱鳥(niǎo)穿的是釣魚(yú)套裝，下身一條褪色打磨的藍(lán)色牛仔褲，上身是T恤衫，T恤衫上寫(xiě)著：立巖中學(xué)男女棒球隊(duì)。查理邁步出門(mén)，又快速地隨手帶上門(mén)。

“Where is your fishing rod？” Singing Bird asked. Charlie usually appeared at his door with his rod and creel when she called. Now he looked sneaky， as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Whats the matter？” she asked.

“你的魚(yú)竿呢？”歌唱鳥(niǎo)問(wèn)。通常，歌唱鳥(niǎo)一喊，查理出門(mén)時(shí)都會(huì)帶著魚(yú)竿和魚(yú)簍。而現(xiàn)在查理看上去鬼鬼祟祟的，好像偷餅干時(shí)被抓現(xiàn)行一樣?！霸趺戳?？”歌唱鳥(niǎo)問(wèn)道。

“I cant come with you，” he said. “Im doing a scientific study.”

“我不能跟你去。”查理說(shuō)，“我在進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)科學(xué)研究呢?！?/p>

Singing Bird smiled. “You are？ Whats it about？”

歌唱鳥(niǎo)微微一笑?！笆菃?？什么研究？”

“Ravens. I am studying ravens for Granddad.”

“渡鴉研究。我在為爺爺研究渡鴉?！?/p>

“Ravens.” Her eyes brightened. “Can I help？ I love ravens. Theyre magical.”

“渡鴉?！备璩B(niǎo)的雙眼閃閃發(fā)光，“我能幫忙嗎？我喜歡渡鴉。渡鴉很神奇的。”

Charlie frowned. She sounded like Mr. Spinder—magical， supernatural， all that unscientific stuff—then he remembered that it was she who had inspired him to get a raven because it could cure， and he opened the cabin door to her.

查理皺了皺眉。歌唱鳥(niǎo)怎么聽(tīng)起來(lái)像斯賓得先生——什么神奇、超自然等不科學(xué)的話——然后查理想起來(lái)，正是歌唱鳥(niǎo)啟發(fā)他抓了一只渡鴉呢，因?yàn)槎渗f能治病。于是查理打開(kāi)了木屋門(mén)。

Blue Sky was sitting contentedly in his basket. He wagged his tail and backed up toward Singing Bird.

藍(lán)天正舒舒服服地坐在自己的籃子里?？匆?jiàn)歌唱鳥(niǎo)，藍(lán)天搖搖尾巴，倒退著靠近她。

“He likes you，” Charlie said. “His tail is wagging.”

“鳥(niǎo)兒喜歡你呢，”查理說(shuō)，“他在搖尾巴。”

“That means he wants to give me his little diaper bag so Ill carry it far from the nest. Baby birds do this to keep their nests clean of whitewash so predators wont find them.”

“搖尾巴的意思是把他的小糞便包給我，讓我從窩里拿走。小鳥(niǎo)這么做，是為了保持鳥(niǎo)窩干凈，沒(méi)有糞便，這樣獵食者就找不到他們?！?/p>

【背景知識(shí)】這一選段的翻譯難度較大。里面有專(zhuān)有地名、文化知識(shí)、生態(tài)知識(shí)、生態(tài)術(shù)語(yǔ)等，需要譯者詳細(xì)查證之后提供準(zhǔn)確的譯文。另外，這一段有精彩的人物外貌和行為描寫(xiě)，文學(xué)性較強(qiáng)。一些英文句子句式繁復(fù)，需要用恰當(dāng)?shù)姆椒▉?lái)翻譯。

【第一段】第三小節(jié)中有幾個(gè)印第安文化的地名，需要仔細(xì)查證，確保準(zhǔn)確。另外，幾個(gè)長(zhǎng)句句式復(fù)雜，不宜完全調(diào)整語(yǔ)序變換為符合中文習(xí)慣的句子，那樣，一來(lái)譯文會(huì)有翻譯腔，二來(lái)會(huì)打亂原文的信息結(jié)構(gòu)，使得譯文語(yǔ)義不連貫，影響閱讀效果。譯文采取了順句驅(qū)動(dòng)方法，通過(guò)斷句切分、適當(dāng)添加連接成分等技巧，在保持原文信息結(jié)構(gòu)的同時(shí)，盡力讓譯文文通字順，沒(méi)有閱讀障礙。最后一句的代詞it被明晰化為名詞短語(yǔ)，目的是讓譯文清楚易懂，同時(shí)也是基于英漢語(yǔ)言之間的代詞使用頻率之差異。

【第二段】第一句原文簡(jiǎn)潔，比如school只是一個(gè)詞，而譯文轉(zhuǎn)換為一個(gè)短語(yǔ)“因?yàn)樯蠈W(xué)”，這樣意思才清楚。最后一句句末的時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)也在譯文中轉(zhuǎn)換到句首，如此譯文更加簡(jiǎn)潔。

【第三段】第一句的人物行為描寫(xiě)極為生動(dòng)（“Hey，” Charlie said， his eyes almost closed by his big smile.），但不能按照字面意義翻譯，比如“查理的眼睛因?yàn)榇蟠蟮奈⑿缀蹰]上了”。譯文按照中文文學(xué)作品中常見(jiàn)的描述轉(zhuǎn)換為“查理笑得合不攏嘴，眼睛瞇成一條縫”。原文Charlie was more than happy to see her也不能直譯，需要把原文的意義具體化為“看到歌唱鳥(niǎo)，查理高興極了”。

【第四段】這一段是人物外貌描寫(xiě)，原文很精彩。譯文應(yīng)該參照中文文學(xué)作品的寫(xiě)作方式，用文學(xué)化的語(yǔ)言再現(xiàn)。其中第二句和第三句尤其要用心翻譯。第二句中的glow以及第三句中的arch不能按照字面意義翻譯或者簡(jiǎn)單地照搬詞典意義。譯文把glow擴(kuò)展為“（雙頰）泛著紅光”，而原文的動(dòng)詞arch被轉(zhuǎn)化為修飾短語(yǔ)“細(xì)細(xì)彎彎”。

【第五段】第二句的時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)被提前為“歌唱鳥(niǎo)一喊”，是為了譯文更生動(dòng)。第三句原文的比喻很有意思，譯文也稍作變通，翻譯為“偷餅干時(shí)被抓現(xiàn)行一樣”而不是“手在餅干罐里”。因?yàn)橹杏⑽牡牧?xí)慣用語(yǔ)不同，譯文選用了更明白易懂的中文表達(dá)。

【第六段】原文句子Her eyes brightened被擴(kuò)展為“歌唱鳥(niǎo)的雙眼閃閃發(fā)光”，補(bǔ)足了原文的意義。

【第七段】第二句原文很長(zhǎng)，是有關(guān)查理的意識(shí)流描寫(xiě)。譯文添加了語(yǔ)氣詞，使中文表達(dá)更像是心理活動(dòng)。最后一節(jié)中的代詞that被明晰化為“搖尾巴”，這樣中文更清楚明白。

【小結(jié)】在該選段的譯文中，譯者嘗試保留原文一些長(zhǎng)句的信息結(jié)構(gòu)，讓上下文之間語(yǔ)義更加連貫。此外，針對(duì)原文文學(xué)性很強(qiáng)的描寫(xiě)性文字，譯者也用相應(yīng)的文學(xué)性語(yǔ)言予以對(duì)應(yīng)，保證中文譯文的文學(xué)性。譯文中還有幾處語(yǔ)序調(diào)整，以及根據(jù)中英文表達(dá)習(xí)慣不同而做的表達(dá)方式改變。