Frightful’s Mountain (Excerpt IV)

By Jean Craighead George

She looked at Chup. He bowed his head to her. His respect awoke Frightful to action. She stretched her neck high. She lifted her feathers to look larger and therefore more beautiful to the tiercel. With this feather talk she told Chup she was bonding with him.She felt a closeness to this pleasant member of her species.

[2] Then a slight movement provoked her to peer behind Chup.

[3] Three young peregrine falcons stared at her. The eyases sat on their bums, legs stretched out in front of them. They were very young, no more than a week old. Their plump bodies were covered with white down; their beaks and feet were gray like the rocks.They were huddled on bare earth in the middle of a garden of pink blazing-star flowers.

[4] “Psee psee,” each one cried. “Feed me.” The sound stirred a new feeling in Frightful. She leaned down as if to pluck food, then, not knowing what came next, she stared at Chup.

“惊悚”看着丘普。丘普朝着她低下头。丘普的毕恭毕敬让“惊悚”开始了表演。她把脖子伸得高高，然后展开羽毛，让自己在雄鹰面前显得更大更漂亮。通过羽毛展示，“惊悚”告诉丘普，她愿意和他结合。这个可爱的同类让“惊悚”有了亲近之感。

[2]接着有些细微的响动让“惊悚”朝丘普的身后望去。

[3]三只小游隼直勾勾盯着“惊悚”。幼鸟们坐在地上，腿伸在身前。它们很小，不过一周大。圆滚滚的身上覆盖着白色绒毛；它们的喙和脚都是灰色，像岩石一样。它们挨挨挤挤，直接坐在一片粉红色矮百合中间的地面上。

[4]“普希、普希。”每只幼鸟都在叫。“喂我。”这些叫声让“惊悚”有了新的感觉。她俯下身子，似乎要叼起食物，接着，又不知道该做什么，就盯着丘普。

[5] Chup picked up a half-eaten duck and delicately snipped off a small bite. Folding his talons under his toes,he walked to an eyas and placed the morsel in her open mouth. He pulled off another bite and then another, feeding the chick until she was quiet. When the other two called “psee,” he fed them morsel by morsel, patiently, devotedly.

[6] Frightful watched, her own terrible hunger mounting.

When the wobbly eyases stopped eating, Chup broke off a bite of duck and offered it to Frightful. She swallowed ravenously and waited. She was back in her pattern with Sam. When Sam fed her she waited to see if he was going to give her just a bite and take her hunting again, or carry her home to feast and rest. Chup was not part of this routine. He offered no more bites, nor did he take her hunting. Instead he left.He flew off to do as the peregrine tiercel must do—hunt for his mate and young,until the chicks were well feathered and could keep themselves warm without being brooded. When that happened,the female mate would join in the hunt.

[7] Not Frightful. She looked at the duck Chup had left. According to Sam’s training, it was hers. Gingerly at first,then ravenously, she fed herself. Death by starvation comes quickly to a bird of prey, and strength returns as quickly.With each bite her eyes began to glisten with energy, and, like a flame, she soon flickered and stood tall.

[5] 丘普叼起一只吃了一半的野鸭，然后小心翼翼地撕下一小块肉。他收起脚趾下的利爪，走到一只幼鸟跟前，把那块肉放到她张开的嘴里。丘普再撕一块，又一块，喂那只幼鸟，直到她安静下来。另外两只幼鸟也叫着“普希”，丘普就一小块一小块地喂他们肉，非常耐心、非常慈爱的样子。

[6]“惊悚”在一边看着，她感到自己越来越饿。

等那些摇摇晃晃的幼鸟不再吃肉的时候，丘普就咬下一块鸭肉送给“惊悚”。“惊悚”大口吞下，然后等待着。她又回到跟随山姆的模式了。山姆喂她的时候，“惊悚”会等着看他是否再给她一块肉，然后继续打猎，或者带她回家吃饭休息。丘普却不是这个做法。他没有给她更多的肉，也没有带她去打猎。丘普飞走了，做他雄性游隼该做的事——为自己的配偶和幼鸟狩猎去，直到幼鸟羽毛丰满，不需要父母遮蔽也能保持体温为止。到那时，雌鸟就可以跟雄鸟一起打猎了。

[7]“惊悚”却不知道这些。她看着丘普留下来的那只野鸭。按照山姆的训练，这是给她的。一开始她还小心翼翼，后来就狼吞虎咽地把鸭子吃掉了。对于猛禽而言，饥饿很快就能致死，而恢复力气同样也很快。每吃一口，她的眼睛就开始因为重获力量而闪闪发亮，然后，像一团火焰那样，她立刻熊熊燃烧，昂首挺立起来。

[8] Vitality restored, she lifted one wing and stretched it as far as it would reach. Then she stretched the other,wiped her beak, and sat contentedly.

[8]她又浑身充满了力气，就抬起一只翅膀，尽力伸展开来。然后她又伸展另一只翅膀，擦擦自己的喙，心满意足地坐下来。

【背景知识】山姆不在身边，“惊悚”开始了艰难的求生之路。在她忍饥挨饿之际，碰到了雄鹰丘普。丘普刚刚丧偶，需要一个伴侣来照顾三只幼鸟。打小被山姆养大的“惊悚”并不懂得如何育雏，不过她慢慢适应，学会了如何跟同类交往。这一部分描写也告诉读者，人类的养育会给野生动物带来负面影响，降低它们野外生存的能力。

【第一段】该段为全知视角描写，很有趣味。第三句的awoke Frightful to action不宜直译为“唤醒‘惊悚’采取行动”，会显得生硬，译文引申为“表演”。而feather talk如译为“羽毛对话”也令人费解，译文只描写动作为“羽毛展示”。

【第三段】短语bare earth不一定是光秃秃的地面，这里指幼鸟身下没有干草或羽毛来铺垫，直接坐在地面上。而a garden也不宜译为“花园”，此处只是一片花儿而已。

【第四段】动词stir意思是“激发、激起、引起”，但在句中不好搭配，所以译文使用了“让……”字结构。

【第五段】这一段的描写细致入微，刻画了猛禽游隼爸爸柔情似水的一面。原文使用了通常形容人的词语delicately、patiently和devotedly，为拟人手法，应是有意为之。

【第六段】被山姆养大的“惊悚”不了解如何养育幼雏，也不知道游隼父母应该扮演的角色。她只能边观察边学习。这里的全知视角描写一边细致刻画过程，一边解释游隼的家庭分工，真是寓教于乐。此处翻译难度不大，只要保持语言的简洁顺畅就好。

【第七段】这一段的倒数第二句为比较句，译文颠倒了顺序，把介词结构提前，这样更顺畅。原文最后一句是比喻，译文按照上下文的大意，把flicker（闪烁、摇曳）明晰化为“熊熊燃烧”，因为flicker也包含“火光跳动”的意思。

【第八段】“惊悚”恢复了力气，然后就做伸展运动。她终于度过了第一道难关，开始了新生活。原文的叙述看似冷静客观，实则寓意深刻，引人联想。

【小结】这一部分的重心在于细节描写，再现“惊悚”和丘普初次相遇、相知并相依为命的过程。原文的理解难度不大，但翻译起来有好多地方不能直译和顺译，需要考虑中文的自然流畅而适当变通，原文的修辞手法在中文里也应该有类似效果，译文应简洁，也以生动传神为好。