Julie (Excerpt II)《朱莉》（节选二）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治

Julie slowly adapted to her new life. She washed dishes and cooked fish and caribou meat for Ellen. She scraped skins and prepared them for the market， and she chopped ice in the river and put it in the container to melt.

She read Ellen’s books when Ellen was out. Her English schooling in Nunivak had been excellent. She read the books avidly， eager to learn about the outside world. From time to time when no one was around， she would walk along the river and listen for her wolves. Once she heard Kapu， and looking around to see if Kapugen was outside， she cupped her hands and howl-barked a warning. Kapu replied with silence. He had gotten the message.

One day while Julie was scraping a bearded-seal skin to make boots， a new voice came in over the CB.

“Good morning， Kapugen. Good morning.”

“Good morning， Peter Sugluk，” said Kapugen. “You are back， are you？”

“I am back， all right，” he said. “And I am picking up two qivit sweaters Marie asked me to bring to you.” Julie recalled Uma telling her that the women of Kangik knitted sweaters and scarves from the warm， featherweight underfur of the musk ox. Kapugen， she had said， sold these incredibly warm clothes to merchants in Anchorage and Fairbanks for enormous prices， many hundreds of dollars.

“Come on over，” said Kapugen， and turned to Julie. “Peter Sugluk is my business partner’s adopted son，” he said.

“He speaks with a strange accent，” said Julie.

“It should not be strange，” said Kapugen. “He speaks Yupik like we do， not Iñupiat like the people of Barrow and Point Hope.”

The Eskimo language has two branches. Yuk， or Yupik， is spoken in southwestern Alaska and Siberia. Inuk， or Iñupiat， is spoken across northern Alaska， Canada， and Greenland. Julie had learned Yupik in Nunivak and Iñupiat in Barrow. Although she understood Peter， who spoke Yupik， she could not place his accent. She wondered where he came from.

Julie looked up at a bronze-faced young Eskimo. He was tall. His nose was straight， his cheekbones high， and his eyes were bright half-moons under dark brows. He wore a tunic of reindeer over close-fitting leather trousers. His maklaks were of polar bear， trimmed with sled dogs in black-and-white calfskin. Ermine tails with black tips danced along the trim of his sleeves and boots when he moved. He looked old to Julie， perhaps eighteen or nineteen as compared to her fourteen， going on fifteen， years. She looked down at her sealskin and went back to her scraping.

朱莉慢慢地适应了新生活。她为艾伦洗碗、烹调鱼和北美驯鹿肉。她刮擦兽皮好到市场上卖，她到河里去铲冰，然后放到容器里融化。

艾伦不在的时候，她拿艾伦的书来读。她原先在努尼瓦克岛上英语学得很好。她如饥似渴地读书，渴望了解外面的世界。偶尔周围没人的时候，她会沿着河边走，倾听有没有她狼群的声音。有一次，她听到了卡普的叫声，赶紧朝四周看看卡普根是不是在屋外，随后双手成喇叭状放到嘴边朝着卡普嚎叫，发出警告。卡普用沉默回答她。他听懂了这个消息。

有一天，朱莉正在刮擦一张用来做靴子的髭海豹皮，民用波段接收机里传来一个陌生人的声音。

“早上好，卡普根。早上好。”

“早上好，彼得·苏格卢克。”卡普根说，“你回来了，是吗？”

“是，我回来了。”他说，“我拿来了两件麝牛绒毛衣，是玛丽让我带给你的。”这让朱莉想起来，尤玛曾经告诉她，康吉克镇的妇女会用麝牛轻柔温暖的下层绒毛编织成毛衣和围巾。尤玛还说，卡普根会把这些特别暖和的衣服拿到安克雷奇和费尔班克斯去，在商人那里卖出天价，数百美元一件。

“过来吧。”卡普根说，然后转向朱莉。“彼得·苏格卢克是我生意合伙人的养子。”他说。

“他讲话带一种奇怪的口音。”朱莉说。

“不应该奇怪啊，”卡普根说，“他跟我们一样，讲的是尤皮克语，不像巴罗镇和霍普角那里的人讲伊努皮亚特语。”

爱斯基摩语有两个分支。阿拉斯加西南部和西伯利亚讲尤克语（尤皮克语）。而从阿拉斯加北部到加拿大和格陵兰岛讲伊努克语（伊努皮亚特语）。朱莉在努尼瓦克岛学习了尤皮克语，又在巴罗镇学了伊努皮亚特语。彼得讲尤皮克语，朱莉听得懂，但搞不准他的口音。所以朱莉想知道彼得到底是从哪儿来的。

朱莉抬起头，看到一个古铜脸色的爱斯基摩小伙子。他高高的个头，直挺的鼻梁，高高的颧骨，浓眉下是一双明亮的半月形眼睛。他上身穿驯鹿皮的束腰外衣，下面配緊身皮裤。他的雪地靴是北极熊皮做的，带着黑白花小牛皮的雪橇狗图案花边。他走动的时候，袖子和靴子边上的黑尖白貂尾也随着跳动。在朱莉看来，他年纪有些大，大概十八九岁，而朱莉才十四，快十五岁了。朱莉低下头看着她的海豹皮，又继续刮起来。

【背景知识】朱莉逃出荒原，重新跟父亲和继母一起生活，但她仍然惦记着她的狼群。不过生活在继续，追求朱莉的小伙子也出现了。这一段描述了朱莉第一次见到彼得的场景，充满了爱斯基摩人文化元素。

【第一段】第一句是主题句，后面用连续的相同句式描述朱莉的新生活，译文保留了这些句式。艾伦是朱莉的继母，一个白人，是当地的教师。

【第二段】朱莉小时候受过良好的教育，现在派上了用场。她自己就能够广泛阅读英文书籍，这是艾伦想不到的。朱莉知道，为了保护麝牛，父亲卡普根杀死了她的头狼，所以她一直警告狼群不要滞留在附近，否则有生命危险。卡普似乎懂得了她的警告。

【第三段】由远而近，朱莉的男人走进了她的生活。朱莉对他的认识是先从口音开始的。彼得来自西伯利亚，口音和阿拉斯加的当地人不同。

【第四段】第二句和第三句的句式都较为复杂，译文按照常用的中文语序重新进行了组合。原文的最后一句也较长，译文调整了地点状语的位置，但保留了最后的补足语形式。这样更像是口语的叙述。

【第五段】爱斯基摩人主要讲两种语言，卡普根对彼得的口音不太在乎。

【第六段】原文第二句和第三句都是被动语态，如果原封不动转移到中文里会显得很别扭，因此译文调整为主动语态。朱莉搞不准彼得的口音，也很好奇他来自哪里。

【第七段】这一段是十分精彩的人物外貌描写，反映出朱莉将彼得从头到脚看了个仔细。原文中有一些爱斯基摩语非常冷僻，词典上找不到，需要译者多利用网络，反复深入搜索，才能得到相关信息，比如maklaks。搜索词语的时候也要搜索图片，这会有助于理解词语的含义。原文第二句和第三句都用系动词引导，但译文使用了中文人物描写的一般句式，直接用名词短语组句。原文第六句描述的中心是白貂尾，译文按照中文习惯调整了时间状语的位置。

【小结】朱莉是十四五岁的少女，情窦初开，还有些腼腆。她虽然对彼得观察细致，但仍葆有少女的矜持和娇羞，于是假装继续刮海豹皮，不理睬彼得。其实她对比了两人的年龄，心中已经春心萌动。这一选段最大的翻译难点是爱斯基摩人的文化术语，需要译者耐心深入地查证之后才能翻译。