《羅克斯維爾火車站的貓》（節選三）

瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治

Still hungry， Rachet ran all the way to the tire and dove in.

She turned as smoothly as flowing water， lifted her head， and breathed in deeply. The Roxville Cats were each back in their First Homes. She could locate everyone but Elizabeth. Elizabeth was somewhere in that abandoned lot. But where？ She sought her with her whiskers and nose and finally sensed her in the front seat of a junked truck.

When she had located everyone but Shifty， she went out to hunt anything that moved—bird， mouse， or frog. No sooner was she outside the tire than she sensed Shifty. The red fox was asleep near the mouth of his den under the bridge. Rachet was safe.

With her body in crouch， her tail stretched out straight behind her， and her whiskers bowed forward to feel the vibrations of living things， she crept silently through the dying goldenrod.

Grasses moved. A mouse gleaning seeds took form as it ran. It was near the burrow of its den， and cat wisdom told Rachet to make herself invisible by sitting still.

The mouse finished the seeds and， still hungry， went down his grass highway， looking for more. A caterpillar diverted his attention， and Rachet tucked her hind legs under her， aimed her unsheathed forepaws， and pounced. She slammed down upon the mouse with deadly accuracy， felt it in her grip， but did not bite with her powerful jaws. Instead she lifted one paw out of curiosity—and it got away. She was racing after it when Shifty， out of his den now and right behind her， leaped on her yellow-and-orange tail. Screaming and hissing， she ran， dove in her tire， turned around， and spit. Shifty， she now understood， was more than a citizen of wild Roxville—he was an enemy. Her bleeding tail twitched in pain， and she licked it tenderly. Shifty did not come after her. He saw much easier prey in her wounded mouse and caught it in one graceful leap， his white tail tip held aloft. Shifty swallowed the mouse， then trotted off.

All day Rachet stayed in the tire. In the evening she came out， smelled Shifty nearby， and went back in. Somewhat later， when Shifty was down by the river， she stared out of her tire hole again， only to smell the red-headed boy， Mike， coming through the milkweeds toward her. He walked slowly， quietly， a flashlight in hand.

“Kitty， kitty，” he called when he was almost upon the tire. She drew back farther but not so far that she couldnt see him.

“Here， kitty， kitty. Are you there？” He really wanted her. There was something magical about that cat.

Rachet， for her part， was strangely attracted to the boy and yet afraid of him. He was a human after all. She bowed her whiskers forward to sense him， could not， and curled up in the tire and slept.

還餓著肚子，拉齊特一路跑回了輪胎，跳了進去。

拉齊特轉過身，動作順滑得像流水一樣，然后抬起頭，深呼吸。羅克斯維爾火車站的貓咪們都回到了各自的大本營。拉齊特能確定所有貓的位置，但伊麗莎白除外。伊麗莎白在那塊荒地的某一處。到底哪一處呢？拉齊特用胡須和鼻子搜尋，最終察覺到伊麗莎白是在一個廢棄卡車的前座里。

拉齊特確認了除希夫蒂之外所有貓咪的位置，然后就出門捕獵，任何會動的獵物——小鳥、老鼠或青蛙都行。但她一出輪胎就聞到了希夫蒂。那個赤狐就在橋下狐貍窩的門口睡覺呢。拉齊特是安全的。

拉齊特趴在地上，尾巴在身后挺直，胡須往前傾，來感覺活物發出的震動，然后悄無聲息地從近乎枯萎的秋麒麟叢中爬過去。

草叢動了。有一只正在收集草種的老鼠跑著現身了。老鼠還在自己的洞口附近，貓咪天生的智慧告訴拉齊特靜靜坐著不動，不讓老鼠發現。

老鼠吃完了草種，還是餓，就沿著他的草叢公路前行，繼續找草籽。一只毛毛蟲分散了老鼠的注意力，這時拉齊特把后腿回收到身子下面，亮出了鋒利的前爪，瞄準老鼠撲了過去。拉齊特猛地撲到老鼠身上，準確無誤，一擊致命。她感覺到老鼠就在爪子下面，但還沒有用她有力的頜骨去咬老鼠。她好奇地抬起一只爪子——老鼠逃走了。拉齊特猛追老鼠，不過希夫蒂從窩里出來，就跟在拉齊特后面，跳到了她橘黃相間的尾巴上。拉齊特又是尖叫又是嘶嘶叫，飛跑著跳進自己的輪胎，然后轉身朝著希夫蒂吐口水。現在拉齊特明白了，希夫蒂不僅僅是羅克斯維爾火車站附近荒野里的居民，更是她的敵人。她的尾巴在流血，疼得抽搐，她趕緊溫柔地舔起來。希夫蒂并沒有追趕拉齊特。他發現被拉齊特撲傷的老鼠是更容易捕獲的獵物，于是優雅地一跳，就抓住了。希夫蒂的白色尾巴尖高高舉起以示勝利。希夫蒂吞下老鼠，然后慢步跑開。

一整天拉齊特都待在輪胎里。黃昏時，她出來聞到了附近的希夫蒂，就又躲了回去。過了一會兒，希夫蒂到河邊去了，拉齊特又從輪胎的破洞往外看，卻聞到了那個紅頭發的男孩邁克。他穿過馬利筋叢朝她走來。他慢慢地、悄悄地走過來，手里拿著一個手電筒。

“貓咪，貓咪。”邁克喊道。他幾乎踩到了輪胎上。拉齊特往里縮，但是仍然保持能看到邁克。

“來啊，貓咪，貓咪。你在嗎？”邁克真的想要拉齊特。那只貓身上有些神奇之處。

而拉齊特呢，她不可思議地喜歡那個男孩，卻又怕他。他畢竟是人類。她的胡須往前彎過去，想觸碰一下他，卻做不到，于是在輪胎里蜷起身子睡著了。

【背景知識】離開了父母，又沒有人類喂養，拉齊特饑一頓飽一頓，還要提防赤狐的攻擊及同伴的排擠，生活極為艱難。這一選段就是拉齊特獨立生存的一個片段。拉齊特的人類朋友邁克也出場了，他們兩個之間的友誼就此展開。

【第一段】原文形容詞提前，添加了副詞Still，表示強調，是獨特的句式（亦可分析為省略句While she was…）。中文保留了這一強調句式，是為了再現原文的修辭效果。

【第二段】第一句原文使用了明喻手法“像流水”，特指小貓的身子柔軟靈活，譯文加以保留。英文里的Roxville是簡稱，指羅克斯維爾火車站，但中文如果僅僅用“羅克斯維爾”就不太清楚，只好添加“火車站”。

【第三段】因為中英文特點不同，英文代詞多，中文多用名詞，所以原文中的很多代詞在譯文里都用名詞拉齊特替代。貓咪是赤狐的獵物，拉齊特需要十分小心才是。

【第四段】該段有兩個詞語不易翻譯，living things和dying goldenrod。第一個詞語的譯文是“活物”，在中文里略顯生硬。第二個詞語，有幾種表達方式，即“奄奄一息的秋麒麟叢”“半死不活的秋麒麟叢”等，但它們更適合修飾動物，譯文最后選擇了“近乎枯萎的”。

【第五段】短語cat wisdom意思是貓咪的智慧，其實是指貓咪有生以來的本能，因此譯文添加了“天生的”。最后根據中文的習慣調換了方式狀語by sitting still的位置。

【第六段】第五句里有一個when引導的時間狀語，強調突然發生的情況。拉齊特正在追逐老鼠，赤狐突然出現，咬住了她的尾巴。拉齊特朝著赤狐吐口水的動作也許有些令人費解。動物之間，表達憤怒的方式之一是吐口水，貓咪就是如此。英文短語wild Roxville很簡潔，但中文卻只能添加不少信息：“羅克斯維爾火車站附近荒野里的”。倒數第二句中的原文his white tail tip held aloft（他的白色尾巴尖高高舉起）如果保持直譯顯得語意不清，譯文明晰化為“以示勝利”。

【第七段】從貓咪的視角看過去，邁克是red-headed（紅頭的男孩）。譯文明晰化為“紅頭發的男孩”。

【第八段】拉齊特對邁克有一種喜愛之情，因此既害怕，又不想徹底躲開，所以原文有not so far的表達。譯文添加了“保持”來表達這種復雜的感情。

【第九段】最后一句是邁克視角的敘述。他覺得拉齊特身上有一種魔力。

【第十段】第一句中的strangely不好翻譯，譯文選取了旁觀者視角的“不可思議”來對應。

【小結】該選段特色是精微細致的動作描寫，原文語言運用很微妙，語序安排很用心，有些表達簡潔但難以傳譯。譯文盡力維持原文的語序，只在個別地方根據中文習慣做了調換。為了中文譯文更清楚明白，譯文在幾處進行了增譯。