The Cats of Roxville Station (Excerpt XI) 《羅克斯維爾火車站的貓》（節選十一）

瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治 吳文安

Wary of the haunted house， Rachet took up a First Home in a large green briar bush at the edge of the woods amid sumac， maple saplings， and thorns. She scratched out a winding tunnel through the bush to some sticks and leaves and settled down there. Not even Shifty could get past the briars to get to her， and Mr. Vinski now kept Stalin on a heavier leash. The rain did not get through the dense stems， and she was safe and dry.

Even though she had a new home， Rachet still thought about the box of rags by the hot water pipes. If she could claim it she would remove Queenella from her top position in the order of the cats of Roxville Station. She， Rachet， would reign.

She contracted and opened her claws in pleasure at the thought of the food and of the First Home that being top cat would assure her.

The days went from warm to cold several times and then it was May. The Roxville wildlife really became busy. Starlings were building nests， Shifty and Ringx were nursing pups， and Windy was feeding half-grown owlets. She caught them mice by listening to the sounds the animals made， rather than by seeing them. One ear is lower than the other in all owls so that they can triangulate on rustles and movements. Once a sound is pinpointed， they zero in on the prey on a sound crossbar and strike it without seeing.

One night after swooping up a mouse just that way at the Olga River cliffs， Windy flew with it to her owlets， “hearing” the many limbs of the woods without touching one. Her hearing was that precise and accurate. She swept low over the green briar tangle， heard Rachet breathing， and veered out over the field to her owlets.

At daybreak Rachet heard Stalin sniffing her trail， then felt the scraping of his dragging leash coming closer and closer. He was loose. Running hard behind him came Mr. Vinski， and in no time they were at her thicket entrance. Mr. Vinski grabbed Stalin， who barked to announce Rachet’s presence， but Rachet was high in the briar bush. Stalin kept barking until Mr. Vinski hauled him back to the bicycle path. Rachet hissed.

Confused by the warm weather， a female cardinal laid a stick in a shrub fork and started a nest. When she built a nest， her mate didn’t help but sang clearly and loudly that she was his and this was his territory. He would feed her sweet tidbits after it was finished and she was ready to lay eggs. But that would be almost a month from now. This warm and cold weather had mixed up the cardinals as well as the Carolina wrens.

The birds flew off. Sensing only deer in the woods， not fox or owl， Rachet rolled on her back， legs outstretched， and yawned. The deer and her yearling walked right by Rachet. The doe was teaching her fawn her secret path to the best food. She led him to a garden of hostas. They ate them all and casually vanished into the morning shadows. The deer had yarded in the lowlands all winter where they could eat only cedars and twigs. They were now enjoying the sweet young plants in the gardens and yards of the suburb.

拉齊特有點害怕鬼屋，于是在一大片綠色荊棘叢里安置了自己的“老家”。這片荊棘叢長在一片樹林的邊緣，樹林里有漆樹、楓樹苗，還有各類荊棘。 拉齊特在樹叢里刨出一條彎彎曲曲的通道，在一堆樹枝和樹葉里安頓下來。希夫蒂都不能穿過那片荊棘來抓她。溫斯基先生現在也給大狗斯塔林拴上了更粗重的狗繩。雨水澆不透那些濃密的樹干，所以拉齊特在這里又安全又干爽。

拉齊特雖然有了新家，卻仍然思念熱水管道旁邊的那個破布箱子。如果她能獨自占有那個箱子，她就會把女王艾拉從羅克斯維爾火車站貓群頭領的位置掀翻下來。她，拉齊特，就會統領一切。

拉齊特把爪子收緊又張開，因為一想到如果當上了貓群頭領就會有相應的食物和“老家”，她就開心不已。

天氣經歷了幾番冷暖變化，就到了5月。羅克斯維爾火車站周圍的野生動物們都開始忙碌起來。歐椋鳥在筑巢。赤狐希夫蒂和浣熊林克斯在哺育幼崽。貓頭鷹如風也在喂養自己半成年的小貓頭鷹。如風喂雛鷹吃的是老鼠，她抓老鼠是靠聽他們的動靜，而不是靠看到他們。所有貓頭鷹的一只耳朵都比另一只低，這樣才能靠聽到的窸窣聲和動作來進行三角定位。一旦確定了聲音來源，貓頭鷹就會瞄準獵物，不用看便可一擊致命。

一天晚上，就在奧爾加河懸崖附近，如風抓起一只老鼠，叼著朝自己的雛鷹飛去。她靠著“聽覺”穿過樹林，樹枝很多卻沒碰到一根。她的聽覺是如此精準。她低飛掠過那片綠色的荊棘叢，聽到了拉齊特的呼吸聲，然后轉身越過田野飛向自己的雛鷹。

天亮的時候，拉齊特聽到斯塔林在嗅聞自己的小道，還感覺到斯塔林拖著狗繩越走越近。斯塔林掙脫了主人。溫斯基先生跟在后面拼命跑。不一會兒他們就來到了荊棘叢的入口處。溫斯基先生拽住斯塔林，斯塔林狂吠，告訴主人他找到了拉齊特，但是拉齊特已經爬到了荊棘叢的高處。斯塔林一直狂吠，直到溫斯基先生拖著他回到自行車道上。拉齊特朝著狗嘶嘶叫。

天氣如此溫暖，一只北美紅雀雌鳥有些困惑，就在一個灌木樹杈那里放了根樹枝，開始筑巢。雌鳥在筑巢，雄鳥沒有幫忙，只在一旁縱聲高唱，說雌鳥屬于他，這片領地屬于他。雌鳥筑巢完畢，雄鳥會喂她好吃的，雌鳥就準備產卵。但其實那是將近一個月以后的事。這種溫暖和寒冷交替的天氣讓北美紅雀弄錯了日子，卡羅萊納鷦鷯也是如此。

鳥兒們飛走了。拉齊特覺察到樹林里只有鹿，不是狐貍或貓頭鷹，于是翻身仰躺，伸開腿，打了個哈欠。母鹿和一歲多的幼崽正好從拉齊特身邊走過。母鹿在告訴幼崽這一條能找到最好食物的秘密小道。母鹿帶著小鹿來到一片玉簪草花園。他們吃光了這些美味，悠閑地離開，消失在早晨的光影里。整個冬天，鹿群都待在低地處，那里只能吃到雪松和嫩枝。而現在他們能享用郊區花園和院落里鮮嫩的植物了。

【背景知識】冬去春來。由于老婦人叫來了驅趕野貓的工作人員，拉齊特只好逃離邁克的家，躲到一片荊棘叢里安頓下來。這里既安全又干爽，還能與各種動物相處。敵人來了有荊棘阻擋，朋友來了不必介意。這一選段描寫了拉齊特的新家以及周圍的野生動物，屬于生態文學知識普及的范疇。

【第一段】第一個單詞wary（小心的，警覺的）就不容易翻譯。這里指邁克住的鬼屋讓貓咪們受驚了，所以拉齊特被迫換個地方住。因此，wary不能按照字面翻譯，譯文轉化為“有點害怕鬼屋”。第一句是典型的英文句子，譯者很容易調整譯文的語序。但是考慮到原文的信息結構，譯文保持了原文語序，用“樹林里”來銜接上下文。

【第二段】第二句的語序較為麻煩，不宜逐詞直譯為中文。

【第三段】這一段只有一句話，但是語序處理仍然要用心。譯文使用了切分和添加連接詞的方式，這樣既保持原文的信息流不變，又實現通順的中文句子。作者在此使用了全知視角，仿佛鉆入了貓咪內心，講述貓咪的小心思。

【第四段】該段又一一列舉了環境中的野生動物。為了方便讀者，譯者在動物名字前面都加了類別詞語，像赤狐、浣熊、貓頭鷹等，有助于讀者更順暢地閱讀。

【第五段】這里的“聽覺”之所以用引號，是因為實際上貓頭鷹靠回聲定位辨別方向避開障礙，并非真正的聽覺。原文使用了引號，譯文照搬過來，中文讀者也能理解。

【第六段】拉齊特的新家雖然安全，依然有來自惡狗的威脅。好在拉齊特的小徑設計周到，惡狗鉆不進來。拉齊特可以躲在高處嘲笑無能為力的惡狗。這里的描寫趣味橫生。

【第七段】第一句的語序處理是一個難點，不能直譯為“受了溫暖天氣的迷惑”，這樣翻譯腔太重。譯文按照中文習慣做了換位處理。譯文還把she、he、her mate分別翻譯為“雌鳥”“雄鳥”，這樣中文表達更清楚。

【第八段】這一段的描寫充滿趣味和溫情，畫面也很美。拉齊特悠閑地打起了哈欠。鹿媽媽帶著孩子享受了美味。晨光明媚，光影迷離，讓讀者心馳神往。

【小結】該選段有幾個較長的句子，英譯漢時的語序處理是重點。從譯文可以看出，非常地道的英文句子不容易轉化為中文。一旦大幅度調整語序，譯文的信息結構將會大大不同于原文，產生不良效果。但如果譯者采用一些小技巧，比如切分、加連接詞、加概括詞、重復關鍵詞等方法，就可以在保留原文信息流的基礎上創造通順的中文句子。

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