Julie’s Wolf Pack (Excerpt I)《朱莉的狼群》（節選一）

瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治　吳文安

The wolves of the Avalik River ran in and out among the musk oxen. Their ruffs rippled like banners. Ice crystals danced up from their feet. The pack swirled like a twist of wind-blown snow. Their yellow eyes flashed and dimmed in the coming and going of the ice mist. Like the snow， they made no sound.

The musk oxen stopped and stared at the enemy. Then they lowered their shaggy heads and pawed down to the new grass growing under the snow. Their breath rose in steamy clouds and froze on their brows.

Kapu， the young leader of the wolf pack， reared on his hind legs， leaped to point the way， and led his clan to a turquoise-blue rise on the treeless Arctic tundra.

He carried himself proudly， with his chest forward and head high. His black fur was brushed to a shine by the wind. His body was strongly muscled. He was the leader of the wolf pack that had saved the life of the young Eskimo girl， Miyax—whose English name was Julie Edwards—when she was lost on the Arctic tundra. She， in turn， had saved them by leading them to a new food source and during the great caribou famine. The Yupik and I?upiat Eskimos of Kangik called them “Julie’s wolf pack.”

Kapu was keenly aware of Julie. She was not far away. He whisked his tail. She had read his message to the oxen， for she was no longer afraid that he would kill one. The villagers collected the wool from these sturdy animals to weave into light， warm clothing， and they zealously protected them.

“We are not hunting you，” Kapu had said to the oxen with his body movements. “We chase you for the joy of it. We are wolves of the caribou.”

Kapu and his followers were having fun. The shaggy herd deciphered this and returned to their grazing. Julie deciphered it and told her father， Kapugen. He chuckled and slipped his arm around her shoulders. The two walked quietly home.

Kapu wagged his tail. Chasing the oxen was a fine wolf joke. His rime-gray mate， Aaka， playfully spanked the ground with her forepaws， her rear end in the air. Zing—the beta， or second in command—enjoyed the joke even more than Kapu. His breathing came faster， and the pupils of his eyes enlarged ever so slightly. He smiled by lifting his lips from his glistening teeth. Pearly-white Silver， Kapu’s mother， and her ill-tempered new mate， Raw Bones， also smiled. But Amy， Kapu’s night-black daughter， did not get the joke. She was not old enough to know that her pack preferred caribou to musk oxen. Nor did she know that some packs harvest only deer and ignore moose， or harvest moose and caribou and ignore deer. Others take elk; a few take musk oxen. When the Avalik River Pack had a choice， they were wolves of the caribou. Wolves have their cultures.

阿瓦里克河的狼群在麝牛群中跑進跑出。狼群的頸毛好似旗幟一般飄揚。冰晶在他們腳下飛舞。狼群在麝牛群中兜著圈子，好像旋風卷著雪花飛揚。冰霧之中，狼群時隱時現，他們的黃色眼睛也一會兒閃現一會兒隱沒。恰似飛揚的大雪，狼群并沒有半點聲響。

麝牛群停下了腳步，盯著天敵。然后它們低下長著長毛的頭，用蹄子刨開積雪，尋找雪下面新長出來的嫩草。它們呼出的水汽形成白霧，在眉毛上結了冰。

卡普，狼群年輕的頭領，后腿直立起來，跳起來給大家指路，然后帶領狼群奔向沒有樹木的北極凍原上一片青綠色的高坡。

卡普挺胸抬頭，姿態很豪邁。他烏黑的毛發被大風梳理得閃光發亮。他肌肉結實身體健壯。他就是狼群的頭領，正是他救了愛斯基摩女孩米婭克斯一命。米婭克斯的英語名字是朱莉·愛德華，她曾經在北極凍原上迷了路。反過來，米婭克斯又救了狼群的命。在凍原上北美馴鹿大匱乏之時，米婭克斯帶領狼群尋找到了新的食物來源。因此坎吉克鎮的尤皮克人和伊努皮亞特人（都屬于愛斯基摩人）把這些狼稱為“朱莉的狼群”。

卡普能敏銳地感覺到朱莉的存在。朱莉就在不遠處。卡普甩了甩尾巴。朱莉看懂了他向麝牛傳達的消息，因而不再害怕卡普會殺死麝牛。村民要從這些健壯的動物身上剪取牛毛，然后織成輕便暖和的服裝。村民們會不惜一切保護麝牛。

“我們不會獵殺你們，”卡普用身體動作告訴這些麝牛，“我們追逐你們只是為了快樂。我們是吃北美馴鹿的狼。”

卡普和他的手下只是在取樂。那群長毛麝牛弄懂了這一點，回去吃草了。朱莉也明白了，告訴了父親卡普根。卡普根笑了笑，伸出胳膊攬住她的肩膀。父女倆安靜地走回家。

卡普搖搖自己的尾巴。追逐麝牛是狼群很好的娛樂項目。卡普的伴侶，灰白色的阿卡，這時用前爪拍擊地面來逗樂，屁股撅在空中。津，狼群中的二號頭領，比卡普更喜歡這種娛樂。他變得呼吸急促，瞳孔微微放大。津微笑著張開嘴唇，露出亮閃閃的牙齒。而珍珠白色的銀白，卡普的母親，還有她壞脾氣的伴侶生骨，也都露出了微笑。但艾米，卡普烏黑的女兒，卻不懂這種娛樂。她年紀太小，不知道自己的族群更喜歡馴鹿而不是麝牛。她也不知道有些狼群只獵殺梅花鹿，不理會駝鹿，或者只獵殺駝鹿和馴鹿，不理會梅花鹿。其他狼群獵殺麋鹿;有一些獵殺麝牛。當這群阿瓦里克河的狼群有所選擇，他們就只以北美馴鹿為食。狼群各有自己的文化。

【背景知識】前兩部著作（《狼女朱莉》《朱莉》）的主角都是朱莉，狼群只是配角。到了第三部《朱莉的狼群》，狼群成了主角，而朱莉只是配角。在此，作者近距離描寫狼群以及其中的各種角色，把狼群的生活展現給讀者，栩栩如生，活靈活現。

【第一段】第一段是純粹的場面描寫，有的英文句子很不容易譯為中文。比如第四、第五句，譯者就不能按照字面來翻譯，需要想象當時的情景，然后按照中文常用的描寫句子來處理。

【第二段】第一句中的enemy不宜譯為“敵人”，因為這一群狼并非麝牛的敵人，僅僅是自然界的“天敵”而已。短語new grass growing不能譯為“新草”，不符合中文習慣，所以譯為“新長出來的嫩草”。

【第三段】該段只有一句話，句中的treeless不易翻譯，只能意譯為“沒有樹木的”。

【第四段】第一句中的proudly不好直譯為“驕傲地”，譯文調整了語序，意譯為“姿態很豪邁”。這一段補充介紹了前兩部著作的故事情節，點明書名的來歷。最后一句中Eskimos的譯文放在句中不好安排，所以放在了括號中。

【第五段】第一句譯文添加了“存在”，使句子顯得更完整。接下來，作者解釋了狼群和村民關系緊張的原因：麝牛是村民的經濟來源，會不惜一切保護，絕不容狼群侵犯。所以只有不傷害麝牛，狼群才能長久待下去。

【第六段】這一段是全知視角，借助卡普的語言，說明狼群很聰明，完全了解朱莉的擔憂所在。

【第七段】麝牛懂得了狼群的意圖，卡普根也相信了女兒，彼此間的緊張關系得以化解。

【第八段】該段逐一描寫狼群成員的外表和行為，妙趣橫生，令人捧腹。最后進一步闡明狼群文化：不是所有的狼群都獵食同樣的動物，它們各有偏愛。

【小結】該選段大多屬場面和個體描寫。有群體畫面，有個體特寫，有心理活動，也有動作描繪。有些句子以及詞語無法簡單地直譯，只能結合上下文或添加詞語，或調整語序，或脫離形式僅提取意義，目的是讓中文更順暢，加強文學性。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □