Julie of the Wolves (Excerpt III)

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The black one greeted Jello by tackling his feet.Another jumped on his tail, and before he could discipline either, all fi ve were upon him.He rolled and tumbled with them for almost an hour; then he ran down the slope,turned, and stopped.The pursuing pups plowed into him, tumbled, fell, and lay still.During a minute of surprised recovery there was no action.Then the black pup flashed his tail like a semaphore signal and they all jumped on Jello again.

[2]Miyax rolled over and laughed aloud.“That’s funny.They’re really like kids.”

[3]When she looked back, Jello’s tongue was hanging from his mouth and his sides were heaving.Four of the puppies had collapsed at his feet and were asleep.Jello flopped down, too, but the black pup still looked around.He was not the least bit tired.Miyax watched him, for there was something special about him.

[4]He ran to the top of the den and

小黑狼抱住果凍的腳算是見面禮。另一個狼崽兒跳到果凍的尾巴上。果凍還沒來得及教訓他們倆，五個狼崽兒一擁而上。果凍跟他們翻翻滾滾地打鬧了幾乎一個小時。然后果凍跑下斜坡，轉過身，停下來。追過來的狼崽兒們又把他圍住，翻滾，跌倒，然后靜靜地躺著。僅僅安頓了一分鐘，大家一動不動，隨后立馬滿血復活。小黑狼甩了甩尾巴，像是旗語，然后大家又跳到果凍身上。

[2]米婭克斯翻過身來，高聲大笑。“太好玩了。他們真的跟孩子一樣。”

[3]米婭克斯回頭看去，只見果凍的舌頭伸在外邊，兩肋快速地起伏。四只小狼崽兒癱倒在果凍腳邊，已經睡著了。果凍也砰然倒地，但小黑狼仍然在四處張望。他一點兒都不累。米婭克斯看著他，因為他身上有些特殊的東西。

[4]他跑到狼窩頂上，開barked.The smallest pup, whom Miyax called Sister, lifted her head, saw her favorite brother in action and, struggling to her feet, followed him devotedly.While they romped, Jello took the opportunity to rest behind a clump of sedge, a moisture-loving plant of the tundra.But hardly was he settled before a pup tracked him to his hideout and pounced on him.Jello narrowed his eyes, pressed his ears forward, and showed his teeth.

[5]“I know what you’re saying,”she called to him.“You’re saying, ‘lie down.’”The puppy lay down, and Miyax got on all fours and looked for the nearest pup to speak to.It was Sister.

[6]“Ummmm,”she whined, and when Sister turned around Julie narrowed her eyes and showed her white teeth.Obediently, Sister lay down.

[7]“I’m talking wolf! I’m talking wolf!”Miyax clapped, and tossing her head like a pup, crawled in a happy circle.As she was coming back she saw all fi ve puppies sitting in a row watching her, their heads cocked in curiosity.Boldly the black pup came toward her,his fat backside swinging as he trotted to the bottom of her frost heave, and barked.

[8]“You are very fearless and very smart,”she said.“Now I know why you are special.You are wealthy and the始吠叫。那只被米婭克斯叫作小妹的最小的狼崽兒抬起頭來，看到她心愛的哥哥沒有休息，就掙扎著站起來，貼心地跟上去。狼崽兒們自己嬉鬧的時候，果凍趁機走到一叢苔草之后休息。這是北極凍原上一種喜濕的植物。不過他還沒躺好，就有一個狼崽兒找到了他的藏身處，撲了上去。果凍瞇縫著眼睛，壓平耳朵往前伸，露出了牙齒。

[5]“我知道你在說什么，”米婭克斯朝著果凍喊，“你在說，‘躺下’。”那個狼崽兒躺下了。米婭克斯四肢著地，想找個最近的狼崽兒說說話。那就是小妹。

[6]“嗯。”米婭克斯叫了一聲，小妹轉過身來，朱莉就瞇縫起眼睛，露出了白牙。乖乖地，小妹躺下了。

[7]“我會跟狼說話了！我會跟狼說話了！”米婭克斯拍著手，像一個狼崽兒那樣搖晃著腦袋，興高采烈地爬了一圈兒。她爬回來的時候，看到五個狼崽兒坐成一排看著她，腦袋翹起來，一副好奇的樣子。小黑狼大膽地朝她走過來，胖乎乎的屁股搖來擺去，來到米婭克斯所在凍土堆的底部，然后吠叫起來。

[8]“你膽子真大，也很聰明，”米婭克斯說，“現在我知道你為什么與眾不同了。leader of the puppies.There is no doubt what you’ll grow up to be.So I shall name you after my father Kapugen, and I shall call you Kapu for short.”你很富有，你是狼崽兒們的頭兒。毫無疑問，你長大了就會是頭領。所以我要用我父親卡普根的名字給你起名，簡單點兒，我就叫你卡普吧。”

【背景知識】迫于求生需求，米婭克斯密切觀察狼群，學習狼群之間溝通的方法。果凍在狼群里地位低下，相當于小狼崽兒的保姆。他與狼崽兒們的嬉鬧有趣之極，也能讓米婭克斯看出很多門道。米婭克斯想到，先從天真無邪的狼崽兒入手，取得他們的信任，不啻為接近狼群的捷徑。

【第一段】這一段動詞很多，靈活準確，翻譯難度大，比如tackle、discipline、roll、tumble、plow into等，需要根據場景仔細選擇對應的中文。倒數第二句雖然簡短，用詞和語序較難處理，譯者在此調整了語序，沒有直譯surprised recovery，而是使用“立馬滿血復活”來表達“讓人驚訝的精力恢復”之意。

【第三段】第一句是客觀描寫的句子，表面上指舌頭伸出，兩肋起伏，實則指果凍跟狼崽兒們玩耍，非常勞累。而小黑狼精力充沛，已經顯示出頭狼的潛質。

【第四段】第二句中的兩個短語in action和副詞devotedly不容易翻譯，需要根據上下文靈活選擇中文詞語。最后一句的動作表情，正是米婭克斯要學習的溝通方法。

【第五段】米婭克斯一邊自言自語，一邊趴在地上，學習狼語。小妹是最好的練習對象。

【第六段】最后一句中的副詞obediently放在句首，這是作者有意為之的強調，因此譯文需要保留這一倒裝語序。

【第七段】口語“I’m talking wolf!”極易理解，如何翻譯卻頗費思量。譯者在此選擇了口語化的表達“我會跟狼說話了！”，以此傳遞米婭克斯的興奮之情。最后一句中的boldly也是倒裝副詞表強調，需要適當翻譯才行。

【第八段】這里的wealthy并非一般意義的富有，而是愛斯基摩人所認為的勇敢、聰明和具有領導能力。倒數第二句中的what在譯文里明晰化為頭領，更易于理解。最后一句也點名了米婭克斯給卡普命名的來歷。

【小結】這一選段總體上翻譯難度不太大，但仍有一些動詞和短語需要反復斟酌之后才能翻譯。此處原文的文風活潑，少女的行為舉止和語氣躍然紙上，所以譯文不應過于書面化和古板，也應該輕松自然充滿童趣才好。□